KdK

Katana, you quilt sounds wonderful! I keep expecting to hear Vree whistling when I come downstairs or while I am in the kitchen. He never let his disabilities keep his spirit down. I have thought about maybe getting in touch with a rescue to find a Grey that needs a loving home as a way to celebrate his memory. I need to be able to stop crying when I think about him though!

Thank you all so much. It is comforting to hear from others who love their Greys. Not everyone understands! I had to take his cage out of my living room as it was just to awful to look at empty. My house seems so quiet with out him and I feel very much at a loss for what to do. I miss him so much.

Thank you all so much It has been hard for me to come to this board and see and read about all the happy Greys while my poor boy was so disabled. He was a such a bright light in my life. Thank you Judy, that did help a lot. I see him free and flying and enjoying life instead of struggling through it as he has been. Kiss your Greys for my tonight, Vree always gave me the best birdie kisses and I will miss that.

Some of you might remember my Grey Vree who broke his back in February, well tonight I came home after being gone a few hours to find that he had gone to parrot heaven I have no idea what happened while I was gone as he was fine when I left but I am assuming that he fell (which he did sometimes when he would lose his grip) and landed wrong. I am very sad but also relieved in a way because he is free and no longer living the half life he was. I want to remember him as before his accident. He was always the most cheerful friendly bird you could have ever hoped for and brought so much happiness. Even after his accident he was a brave and courageous parrot always happy and chirping the special trill I taught him when he first came home. Good bye my sweet boy, you were so loved and so precious.

So Sorry for you

So, I apologize again for the length of time between updates...Vree is still good He is definitely stronger, grips better with his feet and spends the majority of his time hanging on the side of his cage, as opposed to laying on the bottom on his cushion which is what he had been doing. He likes to play with his toys and whistles and says to few words and phrases he knows. I need to schedule a vet appointment for him soon to see what they make of his progress. The most frustrating thing for me is that it is very hard for me to spend the same amount of quality time with him as I used to. I have a little perch I would carry around with me where ever I would be in the house so he could be with me, but now since he can't stand I can't keep him with me all the time If he is out of his cage he requires constant supervision and my focus... very frustrating and I know it is for him too. He has more mood swings and cranky spells but I know they are partially a product of less interaction. So as always there are positives and negatives Thank you all for continuing to think about us and I will do my best to not let the next update be so far off.

Sorry I have not updated in awhile...it is breeding season with my horses which among other things has kept me very busy! Vree is about the same. He still can not stand but he climbs very well around his cage. I have a couple toys positioned so that he can reach them while on the side of his cage and he enjoys that. He has figured out that if he eliminates while on the side of his cage it does not mess his feathers which I think is very smart of him! lol We've not done more acupuncture beyond the 3 treatments that were initially recommended simply because I have been to busy to schedule anything and especially since even if I did schedule something if a mare needed to go to the vet for breeding work I would have to cancel anyway! His appetite has been great and he has been maintaining a steady weight that is the same as before his accident. So not the most exciting of updates but he is doing good

What a cool picture!! Love it!

I know I updated last night, but.... Vree was whistling this morning!!! I haven't heard him whistle since he got hurt!!!!! It made me so happy to hear him

So Vree has now had his third acupuncture treatment. It went well, in fact he was so relaxed his eyes kept shutting like he was going to fall asleep! One of his legs is really splaying out to the side so the vet decided to try taping his legs together to try to correct it. He likes trying to chew the tape off so I have had to replace it once already! He is such a good patient...I laid him on his back, cut the old tape off and quietly re-taped his legs and he didn't fuss a bit!!!!! I was SOOOOO proud of him He is still enjoying climbing in his cage and I took a couple pictures of him climbing but they'll have to wait for later as I need to upload them.

So, Vree had his second acupuncture session last Friday and both the vet and the acupuncturist felt that he overall looked better and they definitely noticed and increase in his strength! He also had gained back the majority of the weight he has lost!! So I was really happy to see the weight gain He is still climbing about his cage and looking stronger every day. I also notice him trying to stand up more in the past day or so. We do his physical therapy exercises every night (I call it birdie-cize) and I have purchased some foam to pad his cage and tub so that he is more supported as the vet recommended it based on how he looked last Friday. We go for a third session this Friday and I am excited to continue to see more improvement!! I am so proud of Vree and his never ending cheerfulness despite his current disability!

Good News! Previously Vree had just been climbing up to the top of his cage and then I would pick him up and put him on the bottom of the cage when it was obvious he wasn't going to move anymore. I just saw him climb up to the top, and then around a corner, across one side and then lift his beak off the cage several times, therefore supporting himself just with his feet!!!!! Then he climbed around another corner, across another side and then he climbed slowly down to the bottom!!! So I can't help but feel this is a good sign and he is gaining more control of his feet!!! YAY!

So Vree's bloodwork that was sent off came back today and everything was normal! Yay! He hass not been as active today but I really think his right foot is stronger then it was before the acupuncture...it is slight but I don't think I am imagining it. So we'll keep hoping for more progress! And when I say climbing it is certainly nothing quick and smooth but he can climb from the bottom of his cage to the top! Usually he just kind of hangs there when he gets to the top and I put him back down to the bottom but it is improvement

I have one of these for Vree: http://store.celltei.com/pakobird.html It works very well and he always seems very comfortable in it and we have done a long distance overnight trip (from Texas to Kentucky) in it and he was fine!

Thank you all for your continuing encouragement! The acupuncture went well today. The vet seemed pleased with how well Vree did and said I could look for improvement 24 hours after the treatment. We have another treatment scheduled for the 12th. Vree is currently climbing around his cage and having a good time I am crossing my fingers for some big improvement tomorrow!