S.O.S. Goat down!

@phendrick ღԵհɑղƘՏ!
Taking care of myself will be top of the list from here on out, that’s for sure!! Number one rule, don’t ever miss a dose of blood thinner, clots can happen quick!

@Lynnerizer You’ll probably have to be putting some plans on hold. That’s OK, though. Plans don’t always work out, anyway.

@Lynnerizer Also, I had several extended stays in the hospital due to heart and lung issues, many years ago. The latest one occurred while a group of doctors were trying to figure out what was causing all the trouble. There was a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, and even a rheumatologist treating me. They were then trying to manage persistent AFib which caused my heart to throw a pulmonary embolism. After about a week and a half in the place, I was going stir-crazy and wanted to go home; I had been there through a birthday and had even missed the Super Bowl – first I had missed since they started them. But they said I needed to stay until I stabilized on the coumadin (AKA warfarin, AKA rat poison) they had already prescribed.

I had also been getting shots of an anti-coagulant in my stomach every day.(don’t remember what that medicine was) until the coumadin could be relied on. They said the only way I could leave before several more days would be if I could give myself those stomach shots at my home (my wife didn’t want to have anything to do with needles/syringes). I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to do that, but I decided to try it – I gave myself the shot later that day at the hospital. Guess what? It turned out to be NO BIG DEAL. And it hurt less than when the nurses had done it! So, later that evening, I packed up, checked out, went home, and gave myself several days worth of shots.

TL;DR
You can do whatever it takes to take charge over your own well-being. Just think it all through. Double-check all your dosages. (I had a small tiff with a nurse over the dosage of a beta blocker I had been on for a while. She couldn’t do arithmetic. I was on leave from teaching college mathematics.
Also, when I was first put in the room, I was on an automatic pump for the saline drip with antibiotics in it. I watched them set it up. Couple days later, it stopped with a bag still mostly full. It had timed out. I opened up the cabinet, looked at the operating guide, and redid the programming to start it up and gave it enough time to finish the bag. I got a mild chewing out from the staff, but not too bad because they recognized I had corrected someone else’s error. Heh.)

You own your life. Take charge. You have to be in good shape to help others with their lives. Best wishes.

---

If you read all the above, you are now ready for that nap you need!

@Lynnerizer @phendrick BASED DIYer. I remember reading up on the machines they had me hooked up to after my motorcycle had an altercation with a stubborn slab of concrete (it turned out to be the case that the concrete had the right-of-way). Some people naturally tend to adapt to their environments while others seem more interested in adapting their environments to suit themselves. ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ

@Fuzzalini

░♡░┳┣I░A░Ⓝ░К▒❀▒УOЦ░♡░

@tinamarie1974
show us that whip

@tinamarie1974 That is a tempting offer.

@tinamarie1974

One complaint from anyone and I’ll take my whip out of the closet and beat their ass

I not sure I like your tone… (will that work?)

@chienfou that actually looks like my whip!!!

And, well, You need to assume the position

@tinamarie1974
yes mistress…

@chienfou

@chienfou @tinamarie1974 In case we don’t want to place any more stress on @lynnerizer, but want to avail ourselves of your services in that area, what does your fee schedule look like.

@tinamarie1974
MY kind of girl, thanks you Tinamarie! As soon as I saw you meant buisness with your whip I just knew that would get the peanut gallery going! It’s gotta mean something good when the chatter of beatings, whips, and sloppy wet kisses by a bunch of dirty old men, (well, the dog’s looking mighty fluffy and clean) makes me grin from ear to ear! I just LOVE sloppy wet kisses!! ღԵհɑղƘՏღ again Tinamarie AND your beautiful furry friend! (It’s so frustrating, just can’t remember his name)

@chienfou @Felton10 @Lynnerizer you know what they say. If you have to ask…

/giphy I’m worth it

@Lynnerizer always happy to help! How are you feeling? And Charlie is always willing to give a sloppy kiss, but you will need a tool to dry off!

As far as fluff, you have no idea, this is post bath and blow dry…

@Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974
Does he shed a lot??

@Kyeh @Lynnerizer at the moment ssooooo much. Not sure if it is the loss of puppy hair and/or winter coat or maybe both. Daily brushings are necessary

@Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974
My cat is weird - every other cat I’ve had loved being brushed, but Toby gets agitated when I do, which is frustrating. One of my cats got kind of deaf when he got older and would actually let me vacuum him! That was nice.

@Kyeh @Lynnerizer OMG I would love to vacuum Charlie! It’s would make my life so much easier. I am trying to get him use to the vacuum cleaner to hopefully one day be able to do it. With his anxiety though it is a slow process.

I didn’t realize cats would allow their human servants (j/k) to brush them. I always thought they were more aloof

@Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 I wouldn’t call this cat aloof :
Here he’s pulling my hand so I’ll keep stroking his head. I do choose cats for their friendliness; no aloof kitties for me!

@Kyeh @Lynnerizer aawww sweet kitty

@Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 I have cats who will do that (hold my hand in place). I had one cat who hated to be groomed. The rest love it, come running and several begin to purr before I even start on them. I had one I could vacuum. He was scared and would bury his head in my elbow, but would allow it. I stopped doing it because he never really got over being. scared

@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974

@Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 I had a cat like that once. I was fostering a cat who’d come up to you and gently tap you on the thigh when he wanted picked up and held rather than jump into your lap.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 all the cats would let me brush them if I wanted too but they are all shorthairs and not really necessary.

The young one when she’s em… On her cycle. Is very clingy and just wants to be touched and will grab you. I mean she’s does that anyway but it’s a whole lot more

@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 @unksol So that girl cat is young? I remember you weren’t sure at first because she looked so bedraggled.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974

There are 2 girls. Coco is the youngone. She is clingy and always sleeping with kitcat and she’s fine. And solid black. Twixie is the black tan one and the old girl. and she and kitcAt constantly get in each other face and whine/howl at each other for an hour. 3 inches away. Sometimes ending in some flailing. Which I thought they were never actually hurting each other. And would get over it. But she has a spot on the side of hair pulled out. And she always wants out. I’m not sure if she is stressed out and did that to herself… Or he did it. being indoors or… I can’t let the other two out. And I don’t like the idea of just letting get out to wander off…

I mean she just showed up outside and walked in the door. And wants out. I’ve never had an actual outdoor cat. But if she’s been seen outdoor cat her whole life and being stuck in the house is stressing her out… Idk.

@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 @unksol Oh - yeah, that’s so difficult. We had cats who were used to going outside and then they got pancreatitis. The vet said they had to stay inside from then on, but they were never happy about it. But so is your young female cat not spayed?

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 coco the black one wandered into the yard looking half starved and pregnant. The vet and I both though she was about to have kittens and needed food stat. then she never did. Must have had them already. I’m guessing they died cause I couldn’t find them when she wandered up and her ribs were sticking out. I think she gave them everything then got desperate when she had nothing left.

Anyway. Couldn’t do anything at the time cause the vet. Then there was a pandemic. And she’s not hurting anything/there’s no one around to knock her up. So I can deal with some crying/clinging

@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 @unksol I see. So you haven’t actually had her very long, then?

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 there was a thread so three months.

https://meh.com/forum/topics/so-this-weirdo-showed-up-at-my-back-door

It’s not like they fight over food. Sometimes he just goes over to her and sometimes she growls at him and sometimes they go around a corner or want to follow up the stairs and get face to face and just. Growl/whine. Which can escalate. Even if I stand between them. Which happens several times a day.

And sometimes everyone is chill on the couch as long as there is space.

But if she’s picking at her self cause stress or they are actually hurting each other/can’t adapt… Eh… Normally cats do and he’s adjusted too three younger girls but something is not working with them in general.

I need to keep an eye on her and see if she’s picking at herself. Maybe they got at each other but that’s still not good. If they have just decided to murder each other…

@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 @unksol No, I remember when that kitty showed up. I was talking about Coco - it sounds like you’ve only had her a couple of years?
And I hope you can find a way for them to tolerate each other - that’s not good if the newest girl is causing the older guy kitty distress!

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @Lynnerizer @tinamarie1974 coco is probably 2.5 and well behaved with she’s not wandering the house crying at the top of her lungs.

@tinamarie1974

OMG I would love to vacuum Charlie!

Resurrecting this to ask if you’ve seen this on Sidedeal? It says it’s quiet…a pet fur vacuum:

@mikibell good call. That was the first thing I looked at when I got to the thread.

@RiotDemon thank you so much!!

@mikibell @RiotDemon
Thanks so much to the both of you!! Can’t believe I spaced out on something like that!! The LAST thing I need right now is another crazy person creeping around our house, the two that I live with are bad enough! Lol…

@unksol Black beauties!! They’ve got gorgeous shinny coats!
Early bird gets the worm.

@Kidsandliz Thanks! Todays my birthday and i’ve been hospitalized now for 15 days, IDK who I miss more, my guy or my cat? Truth be told, MY BED is in the running too. Lol… We’ve actually talked about smuggling Tucker in for a visit, I can only imagine what he’s going to look like without my comb outs at least twice a day. Yeah, he’s spoiled!

@Lynnerizer HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Here are some birthday wishes

And from your cat (after multiple tries I am failing to embed these, sorry)
http://gph.is/29epkgb
http://gph.is/1za9SvR

@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer happy birthday. Hope you can get home soon to celebrate with the cat you love, and your man

@Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974
Thanks for the happy b-day wishes! Seeing all of these wishes a few days later is par for the course, STILL, always late for the party! Lol… when does it end?

And Toby says "please get better soon!"

@Kyeh Thanks Kyeh! I’m hanging in there, not so much “strong like bull” as I first thought i’d be. With clots this large, filling more than half of both legs, it doesn’t take hardly any movement to cause total exhaustion. Can’t wait to see improvements!
You’re a handsome guy Toby, thanks for the well wishes!!

@Lynnerizer I hope you have the happiest birthday possible under the circumstances!
And hope you’re home soon for a real celebration…!

@Lynnerizer
/giphy birthday

@Kyeh
Thanks Kyeh! The nurses surprised me with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup cupcake and singing to me happy birthday! My sister came, she gifted me a long awaited piece of art that i’d been waiting for her to pass on to me for 20+ years! I was thrilled to get out yesterday, now i’m waiting to get around better so we can go celabrate.
Woohoo, summer FUN is about to start up!

@Lynnerizer I’m glad you did get a celebration on your actual day, even if it was small - very nice of the nurses and your sister!
And I hope now that you’re out of there you can do some more belated birthday things!

@Kyeh @Lynnerizer aawww that was sweet of your nurse. Glad you had some celebrating! How you feeling? Getting better??

@riskybryzness
Thanks Freyja! I must’ve been catching those good vibes. I’m feeling better and back in my own bed!
I’ve gotta say Freyja, you’ve got the longest kitty fingers i’ve ever seen. The mice must not have a chance with you on the prowl! Yum, YUM!

@Lynnerizer That’s so great to hear!

She’s got some fierce murder mittens! No one really stands a chance with her

@riskybryzness
Great shot! You’ve got to be pretty darn quick to snag a shot like that! When my guy Tuc is “in flight” i’ve usually got my hands covering my face in protection mode! They can be quick! (And dangerous!)

@Lynnerizer Ha! I know, she’s insane when she gets playing. We have a big 'ol fancy camera we shoot with and it’s so much fun. There’s been a couple times where I thought I was in the clear but ended up with a cat stuck to me like velcro.

@sillyheathen
“My, what long ears you have, Willow.”
“The better to hear you with, my dear.”

@Felton10
You’re looking strong and capable, Walter!

And my neighbor’s quince and crabapple are gorgeous:

@Kyeh that is beautiful!!

@tinamarie1974
Thank you! I hope they make it through the weather we’re supposed to be getting.
?!?!?

@Kyeh you are getting SNOW?!?!?!?!? That is not good. Ill keep my fingers crossed 4 u

@tinamarie1974 Thanks! Kind of ridiculous, isn’t it?

@Kyeh terrible. If it is ok to ask, what part of the country?

@tinamarie1974 Colorado front range.

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 There has been snow about 30 minutes south of me both yesterday and today.

It has been cold and wet at my house in Northern PA. Most of the day drizzle and low 40’s. I am ready for double that and dry.

@Kyeh @speediedelivery blows my mind that we are seeing snow in May! High 40’s here in the Lou

@speediedelivery @tinamarie1974
It seems like all the norms are off anymore as far as the weather goes. I’m tired of cold temps, but I’m happy for the moisture after those fires last year.

@Kyeh @speediedelivery @tinamarie1974 we were getting garbage in northern Indiana this morning. It’s BS and I need to mow. When it’s not raining it’s randomly snowing. Not normal for may and we are low elevation.

@speediedelivery @tinamarie1974 @unksol
Wow! Yeah, I need to mow too!

@Kyeh @speediedelivery @tinamarie1974 @unksol It was in the 80s here today while I was mowing & weeding…

@compunaut @Kyeh @speediedelivery @unksol that sounds lovely! In addition to the colder temps we had intermittent rain. I was lucky it stopped long enough to grill dinner

@Kyeh I’m temporarily in Bowling Green OH, and it snew and it blew yesterday.

@OldCatLady Crazy! So far we’ve only had rain, but there’s still a chance for a few inches to fall by tomorrow.

@Star2236 @Lynnerizer
Hey, you two -

@remo28 he is just adorable

@remo28 so cute!!

@Kidsandliz
Must be a mountain goat cat!

@Kyeh Or a vulture. The blinking red light on the hard wired smoke detector attracts her. Goes from the dresser to the top of the door goat style. Her exit is vulture style - flying leap to the bed. My others don’t do anything as entertaining with respect to where they hang out.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh One of my cats does this door thing. It always freaks me out when he does it. Crazy cats

@Kyeh Another photo of her looking out the window from the shed I used to live in

Here is three of them (they have informed me that this is not my chair)

Any my two (no longer) ferals looking out the back window prior to the building of the moat and mud swamp for the pigs that no one has bought yet.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh awwww so sweet!

@Kyeh I just noticed on the back fense you can see the bird feeder where I snatched the yellow kitty (aka back yard bird feeder dinner bait kitty)

@Kyeh That looks about right. Occasionally when she swoops to the bed she lands on my legs or feet. It hurts me. Must hurt her more. Doesn’t stop her from swooping again though.

@Kyeh Exactly!!!

@stolicat have you seen the beak on Walter? Lol he might want to pick a smaller bird

@stolicat @unksol yeah, but what exactly is he gonna do with the shoelaces? He may want to tie walter up?!?!?

@stolicat @unksol Yes Walter has drawn blood. A number of years ago my wife called frantically to me to take Walter off her hand and blood was dripping on the floor from his bite while she was holding him.

If you stick your finger near him it should be sideways so his beak goes around your finger and not so the tip of it is contacting the skin. He often uses his beak as sort of a range finder wrapping it around my finger (not hard at all) before he gets on my hand.

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 kinky

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 @unksol does Walter have a safe word?

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 @unksol Yelling “No” real loud usually makes him stop what he is doing.

@Felton10 @stolicat @tinamarie1974 I mean technically in this scenario Walter would have to say his safe word which is funny since he can actually talk. But we don’t really know what dusty is up to

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 @unksol We have bigger problems with Walter. Yesterday he followed my wife into the bathroom twice and when she went into the water closet and closed the door, he started banging on the door with his beak. She had to call me on her cellphone to rescue her by moving Walter away from the door. Walter is out of control.

@Felton10 @stolicat @tinamarie1974 maybe the power went to his head

@Felton10 @stolicat @unksol Sounds like a political scandal!!!

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 @unksol More like freedom goes to his head-For some reason at night, Walter climbs down from the top of his cage where he is perched and decides to have a walk-a-bout which usually ends up in our bedroom and then our bathroom.

Finally wife gets tired of chasing/putting him back in the den (my office) and closes one of the pocket door and puts the baby gate up so we both are closed in.

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 @unksol Definitely a battle of wits.

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 @unksol Think it is a small price to pay for giving Walter freedom that most pet birds don’t have. If I was a bird or any animal for that matter, I wouldn’t want to be cooped up in a cage 24 hours a day. They recommend out of the cage time for every bird-certainly not as much as Walter gets though.

@Felton10 @stolicat @unksol what is recommended?

@stolicat @tinamarie1974 @unksol A couple of hours at least.

@Felton10 @stolicat @tinamarie1974 we know he doesn’t like to fly but I wouldn’t be surprised if he could climb that gate if he really wanted to. She might just be making him learn new skills.

@ybmuG this is strange. And strangely satisfying. And why.

@unksol @ybmuG and so stinkin cute!!

@tinamarie1974 @unksol @ybmuG
Yeah, that’s fantastic! Not photoshopped, actually real?

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol no photoshop

@tinamarie1974 @unksol @ybmuG
Incredible! I love it!

@Koolhandjoe aawwwww

@ironcheftoni
Awwww - Missy is so elegant,
and Squeaker is just darling.

@Kyeh aww, thank you! I think they are pretty special. when Missy saw I had the phone out to take her photo, I had to wait for her to wash her face first.

@ironcheftoni Such a little lady!
And what a perfect cushion behind her there…

@Felton10
Bring it, Walter.

@Felton10
Who has the pretty conure?
@cengland0, is that you?

@Kyeh
Yes, thats me.

Here he is after he took a bath and is all wet.

@cengland0 @Kyeh so cute and colorful!!

@cengland0 @Kyeh What is his name and how old is he?

@Felton10 His name is Emerald. I bought him 3/3/2012 and they said he was 8 months old at the time. I think that makes him 9.8 years old. He has an enlarged heart so he probably will not live to see 30 but I will try to give him the best life possible while he’s in my possession. He has his own room in the house but is a full flight bird so he follows me around everywhere I go inside the house.

@tinamarie1974 Thank you. I think he’s cute too.

@cengland0 @tinamarie1974 So he flies around the house-not like Walter who walks although every once and a while he takes flight when he remembers he is a bird and can fly (since it has been a year since he had his wing’s clipped). Too bad about his medical issue.

@Felton10 Well, he doesn’t just fly around randomly but flies to follow me. For example, as I’m leaving the office (his room), he will fly to catch up to me and then land on my shoulder. I’ll be in the livingroom with him watching TV when something could startle him making him fly back to his cage in the office. He never flies out of the office again unless I go back to retrieve him.

I don’t have any videos of him flying but I do have this one of him taking a bath. Warning, may not be safe for work because there is a naked bird in the video.

@cengland0 @Felton10 so sweet. Does he talk?

@tinamarie1974 No, my conure doesn’t talk. I tried teaching him some English words and Mrs cengland0 tried Spanish (since his species comes from Columbia). No results. I think either he must be stupid or this species of parrot doesn’t talk much. I’ve never seen a video of a jenday conure talking so that might be normal but I’m not sure.

Here he is trying to go to sleep in the palm of my hand. The camera woke him up.

@cengland0 How often do you bath him? We know Walter wants or needs a bath when he goes in his water dish. You may have seen the pics of him I posted with him standing on his perch in the shower with me spraying him with a spray bottle. Doesn’t get anywhere near the soaking that your bird does, but with birds you take what you can get or they will give you.

@cengland0 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 I know, I know-Walter is a boring gray except for his tail. Well he does match the wall and flooring not to mention the furniture in the house. He does have that going for him.

@cengland0 @Felton10 @tinamarie1974 Hey! Walter is very elegant! It’s a different look entirely, but he’s a handsome guy. We just haven’t heard a lot about Emerald yet, but don’t worry, Walter and his adventures are still captivating!

@cengland0 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 Well Walter’s colors are subdued that is for sure and not as splashy as other parrots. Guess it depends what you were looking for in a parrot.

African Grey’s are very temperamental and stubborn as we found out. They are big feather pickers-vet says that over 50% of the AG she sees have picked their feathers either due to lack of something in their diet or boredom. Probably best talker and smartest bird. So we won some and lost some with Walter.

@Felton10 Emerald wants to take a bath multiple times a day. Every time I wash my hands, which is a lot due to OCD, he flies into the bathroom with me to try taking a bath at the same time. He will stay in the water all day if I let me so I try to limit it to once per day. The other times I have to wash my hands quickly and sort of push him away from the water. I feel bad about it but I don’t have that much time to sit there all day while he splashes around 10 times a day.

Emerald does weird stuff. When I’m at home, I have to wear grunge shirts because he likes to go inside the shirt and make holes in the shirts. He sleeps on my shoulder and holds onto my earlobe with his beak so he doesn’t fall off when he sleeps. He likes to destroy anything made of wood. I have wooden structures around the house specifically for him to chew up because if I don’t he goes for the baseboards instead.

@cengland0 Walter went for the wood cabinets in our old house, but otherwise is content to chew on the wood toys and cardboard blocks I get from Bonkabirdtoys. I’ve tried to put a bigger water dish in his cage, but to be frank he only baths in his water dish with clean water, the rest of the time he ignores it even for drinking. He gets his liquid from over ripe cantaloupe and Honey Dew.

@Felton10 Emerald likes honeydew, cantaloupe, apples, and pears. Doesn’t like mango, kiwi, strawberries, or blueberries. When he does “eat” fruit, he takes off a chunk then chews it up then spits it out before going for another bite. I don’t think he swallows anything but the juice.

Emerald loves peanut butter and corn chips too.

@cengland0 Walter eats cantaloupe/honey dew, string beans and fried eggs in the morning, tuna salad or pizza for lunch (or what ever we are having) and his usual chicken leg at night 9 (or lamp chops which he loves). He does have sweet tooth so any pastry with filling he loves. And we share a banana before bed.

In his cage he has a big hunk of cantaloupe/honey dew and a bowl with bird seed with lots of safflower seeds which are his favorite and whole almonds which he loves to eat the shell.

@cengland0 @Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 The shelter had an african gray (at least I think that was what he was - he looked an awful lot like Walter except he was half naked feather wise). OMG that thing had a foul mouth on him. It was hilarious except when kids came in (he was in the lobby, often out of his cage and you had to watch out when you walked by or you’d get nipped). He would tell himself, in the third person, to shut the fuck up. “Hey Bud. Shut the fuck up you stupid bird”. He knew a huge number of phrases, at least half of them NSFW. He also appeared to know probably 30 commands or phrases that were associated with anything from get back in the cage, to are you hungry. Smart little bugger. Got adopted by someone who had heard plenty of his foul mouth. No idea if his feathers ever grew back or if he kept plucking them out once he had a home again.

@Felton10

and fried eggs in the morning, tuna salad or pizza

Emerald likes hard boiled eggs. He’s a tiny bird so we usually share an egg together.

About the pizza, are you giving cheese to Walter? I ask only because my vet gave me a list of things not to feed Emerald and dairy products is on that list.

a bowl with bird seed with lots of safflower seeds

Regarding bird seed, I’ve been advised to not feed my bird seed. Apparently, bird seed is high in fat and birds that are in the home don’t get enough exercise so that much fat isn’t good for them. My vet recommended that I use pelleted food so I use ZuPreem brand pellets. It has all the proteins and minerals he needs.

Emerald like drinking anything that I’m having. He likes coffee (I only let him take one sip when it cools down because caffeine is on the bad list), wine (one sip of this too), orange juice, and smoothie. I only let him drink the smoothie if I made it out of plant protein and not if I use whey. Rare for me to use whey anyway. The smoothie has strawberries, blueberries, and mango in it which he will not eat separately but will drink it from the smoothie. It also has to be from my glass and not a separate dish just for him. Spoiled brat!

@Felton10 I forgot to mention that Emerald likes bananas too. Loves them actually. It’s impossible to eat one around him without him trying to get a piece. He will not eat it if I take off a piece and put it in a bowl. I have to be holding the banana and then he will eat it.

@cengland0 They obviously say to limit dairy he doesn’t eat that much of the cheese and since the seeds and in his bowl in the cage, he doesn’t eat them until right before bed when he gets the munchies after dinner. He gets a wellness ck by the vet every year when I take him in for his wing, talon and beak trim/clipping. She uses a dremel on his beak. His weight has stayed pretty constant.

@cengland0 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 Since most birds are birds of habit, once they start pulling out their feathers, it is pretty much a lost cause-they let them grow back and then pull them out again. My brother has a bird that has been doing that for 20 years.

@Felton10 I never have my bird’s beak trimmed after the last time I had it done. It causes so much stress to my bird that I could tell something was different with him when I got him home. Can’t remember if they sedated him or not but definitely remember he didn’t want to socialize with me for several days after.

I don’t even trim Emerald’s toe nails. I let him do that himself. Last time the vet trimmed them, he had difficulty staying on my shoulder as I walked around the house because he couldn’t grab onto my shirt and frequently fell off.

My bird always has the munchies. No matter how much he just ate, he will always find room for a corn chip or two. I don’t know how much of that chip he actually swallows because there’s a lot of debris I have to vacuum up after he’s done. I don’t have a still photo of him eating a corn chip but I do have a video that I haven’t posted to youtube so I cannot share that on meh. I do have a still photo of him eating a Honeynut Chex though.

@cengland0 I put Walter’s breakfast dish in the holder but he doesn’t come down to eat until we sit down at the table and similarly when we sit down for lunch he comes down from his high perch to see if we have given him anything extra to eat.

At the vet they grab him with a towel and hold him while they trim and dremel him (his beak and his talons). He is usually quiet the rest of the day after a vet visit, but seemingly no lasting effect.

@Felton10

once they start pulling out their feathers

Now that you mention that problem, Emerald has a problem but I’m not sure it’s a real bad problem or not. He chews on his feathers. Doesn’t pull them out but is constantly gnawing on them. Here’s an image of one of his feathers and you can see how one side is thinner than the other and has signs of chewing.

You would think that it could be mites or dry skin but he takes daily baths and he chews on my beard and neck hair the same way as he does his feathers. He actually plucks out my hair and that hurts but he doesn’t pluck out his feathers. Of course feathers come out while he’s preening but that’s normal for all birds and they are mostly coming out during molting season.

Is this something I should be concerned about and is there anything I can do to stop him from doing it?

@cengland0 Obviously feather picking/pulling could indicate something is lacking in his diet, but given what you said don’t think so. Once birds get in the habit of doing anything at all it is very hard to break them of that habit.

@Felton10 Quiet because you sent him to a place that where they were going to cut his feet and face off!
My cats swear I am going to cut off their feet everytime I try to trim their claws.

@Felton10

Obviously feather picking/pulling could indicate something is lacking in his diet, but given what you said don’t think so. Once birds get in the habit of doing anything at all it is very hard to break them of that habit.

I know I’m providing him the right diet but I fear that I’m giving him too many choices to have treats like the peanut butter and corn chips. He doesn’t eat too much of his ZuPreem pellets. The problem is that he begs for treats by looking at Mrs. cengland0 and flapping his wings rapidly until she gives him a corn chip or other non nutritious treat. He’s so cute when he does that it’s hard to ignore him and not give him something.

@cengland0 Walter is not that demonstrative about what he wants-he’ll try anything once and is not that picky. But not surprised about Emerald’s disdain for bird food-after eating people would you want bird pellets?

@ironcheftoni I doubt he thinks of it like that, but when he sees the towel come out he knows what is coming and tries to flying away. They always uncover his face and he bites on the towel, but rarely makes a sound so I doubt he is that traumatized by the whole process.

@cengland0 @Felton10

But not surprised about Emerald’s disdain for bird food-after eating people would you want bird pellets?

Haha - I hope you left a word out of there!

@cengland0 @Kyeh Good catch-I did-but considering Walter has taken bites out of me and my wife-maybe not.

@Felton10
Emerald gets me sometimes but usually only if I’m holding something in my hand like my phone or keys.

@cengland0 @Felton10 Yeowch! That’s a bigger bite than what I get from my cat when he gets overexcited and wants to play-fight my hand!

@Kyeh Emerald is very protective too. I had a friend over and he attacked him and went for his eyes. Ended up biting him in the eyebrow drawing blood. I put him in his cage for the remainder of my friend’s visit. Then my brother came to visit and he attacked and went for his eyes too and got him in the eyebrow and drew more blood. Now he’s no longer allowed out of his cage if I have company.

Hard to believe he’s so loving to me and Mrs. cengland0 but nobody else. It wasn’t always this way. When I first got him, everyone was able to handle him and pet him and he seemed to love it and loved everyone. As time went on, it has become so territorial that nobody but me or Mrs. cengland0 are allowed to be in the house.

@cengland0 @Kyeh Walter has never been like that-like I said can put him on anyone’s hand or arm and he just sits there like it is a perch. When we moved there were movers walking all around his perch and one of them put out his hand and Walter got right on it and he walked around with Walter for a bit while before putting him back.

He has been to the same pet motel when we travel about 30 times and one of the women there has taken a liking to him and every time I go to pick him up, he is out of the cage or she is carrying him around.

Think since Walter has not had any bad experiences with people he regards everyone as his friend.

@Felton10 these aren’t my birds, but they are sitting right outside. close enough?

@cengland0 that is cute.

@cengland0 @Felton10
The distressed look!
Very fashionable, I think.

@cengland0 destroys or improves? air conditioning vents?

@cengland0 I had a Golden Retriever that would do that. He had separation anxiety when my ex was being the high tech road warrior back in the day. His favorite was windowsills.
Most conversations went like this…
“How’s my dog?”
He’s eating the house.
“No really, how’s he doing?”
Like I said, he’s eating the house.

@ironcheftoni Emerald chews almost anything so I have to be careful what I have around the house that is unprotected. He even crawled under the couch and chewed up an electrical cable from a power strip. Surprised he didn’t die. It was plugged into the wall and he did expose both alive and neutral wires.

@cengland0 yikes!

@cengland0 @ironcheftoni Walter chewed a few wires in his time-an ethernet cable and a cable one to the TV.

@cengland0 @ironcheftoni I had a coworker whose lab puppy bit chunks out of the corners of the walls!

@Felton10

Walter chewed a few wires in his time-an ethernet cable and a cable one to the TV.

Emerald destroyed low voltage ethernet and phone cables too but it’s the 120V A/C cable that concerns me the most.

I had to remove the legs from the couch to prevent him from getting behind it to get the replacement power cord. I also took some sheet metal and screwed it to the couch to make a barrier between the couch and the wall so he cannot get back there. I used to have wood there but he eventually chews through that and makes it behind the couch so the only way to prevent that is with metal. What’s with the infatuation with the area behind the couch that he does anything he can to get back there?

@cengland0 @ironcheftoni @Kyeh my pup gnawed on the corner of one wall. That is when he got enrolled in day training

@cengland0 @ironcheftoni @tinamarie1974 I guess there’s no such thing as obedience training for birds! I had no idea they were so high-maintenance.

@Kyeh

I guess there’s no such thing as obedience training for birds!

I wish there was obedience training (and that I could afford it). He’s very smart though. Surprisingly he’s even potty trained. He rarely poops on me or the chair and will squat down to make sure the poop hits the floor. So in the office I put cardboard down and that’s where he goes. Just recycle the cardboard for easy cleanup.

@cengland0 @Kyeh I think Walter knows not to make when I am holding him, but otherwise he goes where ever he wants. And of course the bigger the bird the bigger the poop.

Luckily we have wood laminate all over the house (no carpet) and Walter has a SS cage that I can pressure wash the hell out of it with no paint coming off.

@cengland0 @ironcheftoni @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 You just figured that out after hearing everything cengland and I have said. Owning birds is not for the faint of heart and is a lifetime commitment given how long they live.

@ybmuG
I took these in the Flower City, or maybe it was brighton, I don’t remember.

@er1c Brighton counts. It borders the city and is actually the closest suburb to the Lilac Festival (no i didn’t measure, but I’m pretty sure). At least they’re having it this year.

Did you take that at a park somewhere or at someone’s home?

@ybmuG Ah, on second inspection of my google photos data, I was very close to where I was living at the time, in Henrietta. I really should go to the Lilac festival, I’ve heard it’s a beaut.

@er1c well, that’s very close, too - right next to Brighton!

Going to school here?

@ybmuG I have been for a (relative) while! Been living in the area since 2016. How about you?

@er1c Native. Other than about 3 years, all my life.

@er1c @ybmuG I grew up in Brighton. My mother drove through Highland Park last week and said it was beautiful.

@sammydog01 @ybmuG Wow! Small world, eh. How about them Wegmans?

@er1c @ybmuG When I was a kid Wegmans was just a grocery store. Now it’s a destination.

@er1c @sammydog01 Gotta love the rooster at East Ave

@sammydog01 @ybmuG Have you ever been to a stew leonard’s?

@er1c @sammydog01 no I haven’t, but I’d bet Danny or Colleen have!

@er1c @ybmuG We have Tom Leonard’s- that’s Stew’s son. There are dogs that sing and play instuments and a monkey that does flips. The kids hated them.

@er1c @sammydog01 does look like a fun place, though.

@tngrannyd

A bit of advice about coumadin…pickles are considered green vegetables. I got on a pickle kick while on coumadin and messed up my PT-INR for a couple of weeks. Ended up in the ER getting IV vitamin K. I had given up my daily salads and all greens but it didn’t dawn on me about pickles.

OK, I’m a bit confused about this…
Pickles are ‘considered green vegetables’
Green vegetables contain vitamin K which you need to keep regulated to keep your PT/INR in the correct range.
Vitamin K is given IV if your PT/INR is too high (blood too thin, i.e. not clotting sufficiently) to ‘reverse’ the excess blood thinning from the coumadin.
So if you were on a pickle binge why would you need the vitamin K?? Did you suddenly stop eating them and THEN have a rise in your PT/INR??

@tngrannyd
OTOH, coumadin is at least reversible, unlike Eliquis or Plavix…

@chienfou @tngrannyd well…hmmmm…It has been 10 years ago and details are fuzzy. I know I had to go every day for blood work for a while and she kept changing my dosage. Levels varied widely every day. I assume I ate lots of pickles on some days, but not others. I had just discovered Uncle Dave’s Sweet and Spicy and couldn’t get enough.

@dyounghbic @tngrannyd
Yeah, I understand. As an ER nurse I was just curious as to the chain of events. Glad you got it sorted out!