Tweedle

I thought I'd put a bit of Pippa's story here - not sure whether it's the right place for it, hopefully I'll find my way round soon enough. Pippa is a 14yo CAG, who I adopted in March 2008. She used to belong to an elderly gentleman who died, and was inherited by his grandaughter. They did not have any other pets, and would not have chosed to have a pet, but it is very hard to get rid of something that swears with your Grandad's voice. They did their best for her, but she developed medical issues that cost a lot of money to treat, and they realised they couldn't afford to treat her if she got sick again. They couldn't bear the thought of her being sold, of people making money from her, so asked if anyone at the clinic where I work would be prepared to take her on. I had come to be fascinated by parrots, but (and this is just my personal opinion here, and I realise that most folks on these forums are doing EVERYTHING they can to meet their birds needs) don't really like birds in cages, would never have bought one and not wanted to support the trade in them, but here she was needing some TLC, so agreed to take her on. She had been treated for Aspergillosis, (O2 therapy, F10 nebuliser, antibiotics) and seemed to recover reasonably well. She had been on a seed mix diet, living off the peanuts and sunflower seeds, though I don't know for how long. Both her legs were deformed and Xrays showed healed fractures. It would appear that poor nutrition led to metabolic disease and pathological fractures, though I can't rule out trauma. Unfortunately, her joints have pretty much completely fused now, and cannot be flexed even under anaesthetic. She can fly, but does so rarely, primarily I think because she has difficulties with landings as she cannot grip firmly and balancing is tricky She is unfortunately a feather plucker, and I have tried to eliminate most causes. It took me 3 months to get her onto Harrisons, but now she doesn't want to eat anything else, though she gets peanuts as training treats. It took months to get her into toys, but hopefully has decreased any boredom element of it. She is on daily Metacam for her legs, so hopefully it's eliminated pain. The two other possibilities are loneliness (I would love to be able to give up work!) or just habit. At the moment she HATES being sprayed, but it's something I'm hoping to work on soon, maybe Aloe might make things more comfortable... Her respiratory system is still very sensitive - ****ing Acrolein!! My husband nearly killed her several times by cooking a roast. She sometimes also gets spontaneous bouts of respiratory distress that appear to have no trigger. So three or four times a year she ends up in an oxygen tent with a nebuliser, and sometimes antibiotic treatment. At the moment her mandible is growing to one side, so every six to eight weeks I'm having to anaesthetise her to straighten it up again. It's a good job I get this at staff rates! Sometimes I want to cry when I see video and pictures of other peoples greys, or when I meet healthy ones at work. They all look so much taller than Pippa, and so beautiful and agile. She is quite determined, but most of the things she does are very slow and deliberate as she hobbles about. Her disabilities do however mean I can leave her out of her cage most of the time as she doesn't go anywhere! She has her cage, Java tree, table and a climbing frame made from a clothes horse. She potters around and does her thing there. She is so very sweet, and I realise how lucky I am when I talk to other bird owners - she doesn't scream, doesn't bite, doesn't destroy the house. And she's so funny. The first week I let her out, she flew into the window. As I picked her up, she exclaimed, with the perfect intonation of an old man, 'Cor, F***ing Hell!'. And she's never said it since. Just when the occassion warranted it. My main reason for being here is for inspiration to make her environment as satisfying as possible for her. I also want to work on training and handling, primarily for husbandry behaviours. I have difficulty in that I would like her to accept body handling rather than just head scratches, but don't want to lead her on!! Much physical interaction and she starts trying to feed me and gives me the whole 'mount me! mount me!' dance. My amorous, deformed legged, twisted beaked, respiratory distressed, feather plucking, non-biting, non-screaming, delightful Pippa

Hello there. I thought I'd like to introduce my Grey, but a couple of lines turned into a huuuuuge essay! Where's the best place to put such a thing? I thought my profile would be a good location for it to refer back to, but can't squeeze it into 1000 characters. The briefest summary: Pippa, 14yo CAG, adopted 2008 with aspergillosis, metabolic disease, pathological fractures, part naked. Disabled, but the most delightful creature. I'm here looking for inspiration to make her environment as satisfying as possible for her, and ideas for body handling and training for husbandry behaviours. My amorous, deformed legged, twisted beaked, respiratory distressed, feather plucking, non-biting, non-screaming, delightful Pippa