PETA, I laugh at thee.

Ok, I know I promised that my next blog entry would be about cats (and I’m working on it! I swear! The draft is saved!), but I just saw this tonight and had to comment.  I was driving north on 35 and saw this billboard in Round Rock:

To which I respond:

A grain field stops an ENTIRE LIVING ECOSYSTEM FILLED WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF BEATING HEARTS.

Oh, PETA.  Please actually learn something about animals.  Learn something about plants.  Learn ANYTHING about where your food comes from, how it grows, or how the natural world works in general before putting your sentimental and entirely uninformed propaganda on billboards.

This has inspired me to write a very long piece about animal rights vs. animal welfare.  It’s going to take a while to put together because there’s a lot to say and I want to make sure it’s done right.  But it’s going to happen.

And, incidentally, this post segues nicely into my post about cats.  So stay tuned for that.

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February 2012 Pets of the Month: Gucci, Vos, Hank Ophelia, and in loving memory of Tula

I know that, thanks to the blog entries about Archie’s progress, this blog has been pretty parrot-heavy lately.  Dog and cat lovers, I haven’t forget about you!  My very next entry is going to be about cats (I promise!).  In the meantime, some very special birds deserve to be in the spotlight this month.  My client Mary Farley has a sweet little flock of parrots and ducks, and they all have a special story.

Gucci

Mary adopted Gucci, a Black Lory, and his mate Jasmine in 2004 when they were 5 years old.    Sadly, Jasmine passed away in ’07 due to hemochromatosis, but Gucci has adapted to life as a bachelor and is an incredibly sweet, affectionate, and playful bird.  As you can see in the photo above, he loves giving kisses, especially to the ladies!  This picture was taken the second time I ever pet sat him, so you can see how quickly and easily he gets attached to his lady friends.

Vossy

Mary got Vossy the Vosmaeri Eclectus from a breeder when he was a baby 15 years ago, and she is his favorite person in the world.  He loves her, and like Gucci, is partial to the ladies.  But he’s also taken it upon himself to be the protector of Mary and her home. “He is sort of the hall proctor of the place. Whenever I get to the house in Marfa, he does a patrol of the premises to check things out,” says Mary, and that sounds very much like what he does when I’m there to take care of them.  He likes to roam around and make sure everything is being done properly.  He’s a special guy for sure!

Hank and Ophelia

Mary was recently surprised by a pair of ducks that her boyfriend brought home.  Even though they were an unexpected addition to the flock, Mary says that this pair of Crested Blue Swedish Ducks are an endearing couple.  They spend their days outside, and then come to the back door when they’re ready for bed.  Mary doesn’t have a pond of her own, though, so she says they really need a home with a pond that they can call their own.

Tula

Mary got Tula, also a Vosmaeri Eclectus, from a different breeder than Vossy’s in 2002.  She was a very happy, lively, outgoing bird who loved to spend time with Mary and anyone who came to visit.  She liked to talk, laugh, and be the life of the party.  Sadly, about six months before I started pet sitting for them, Tula started demonstrating some troubling symptoms.  She started plucking her feathers, self-mutilating, developed a chronic sinus infection, and got quieter and seemed depressed.  Mary did everything she could to make Tula’s life better.  Several trips to the vet, changes to her diet and environment, herbal supplements, medication… she did everything she could, but the vets never could find the cause of her illness.  Then, on November 28, 2011, Tula passed away.  Even with a necropsy and histopathology, Tula’s vets still never were able to determine what caused her illness and death, but I know that she knows that Mary loved her more than words can describe and did everything she could to give her the best life possible.  I know she knows how much she is loved and missed.  Even in her illness, she was a sweet and gentle bird, and a joy to be around.  I wish I had had the privilege to know her longer.

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An evening of new experiences for Archie!

I know I literally just wrote a blog entry, but this just happened this evening, so I kinda feel like I have to write about it now, too.

Since Archie’s arrival, I have been so focused on teaching him to forage, teaching him not to shriek constantly, and helping to improve his relationship with Chuck, that I hadn’t really tried to do anything else with him.

Tonight, however, I figured it was time for Archie to get used to the concept of training.  So we started with targeting.  Which, by the way, he learned in under five minutes.  He was literally running across the sofa and hopping from one of my knees to the other to touch his target by the end of our five minute session.

Since that went so well and he still had plenty of spunk, I figured I’d see how he reacted to being in the shower.  His feathers have been filthy ever since I adopted him, but desensitizing him to water was lower down on the priority list.  Tonight, however, I took him to the shower, targeted him onto the shower perch in only three approximations, then turned on the water.  His reaction?  He made the gurgly water noise!  As soon as I switched the water from the faucet to the shower, he immediately drooped his wings and got this blissed out expression:

Ok, so the flash of the camera killed the bliss a little bit, but you can imagine what it was like.

Anyway, he stood perfectly still and let me clean and straighten out all his feathers.  It’s difficult for him to properly groom since he doesn’t have a tail to help him balance, so I could tell that he was loving every second of my grooming.

When we got out of the shower, he started shivering.  It’s pretty cold in the house right now, so I was worried about him getting a chill.  The thing is, he was pretty scared of towels when I went to pick him up, so I wasn’t sure how he’d react if I tried to wrap him in a towel.  I put one on my chest, asked him to step down onto my chest, then slowly folded the towel over his body.  He immediately relaxed into it, and soon feel asleep.

After a several minute nap, he woke up, stretched, climbed out of the towel, and finished drying out on my knee.

I’m so proud of him and his good-natured approach to all these new experiences tonight!  He’s such a love!

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Home remedies to the rescue!

This is Ernie, my Bronze Winged Pionus:

Just hangin' out. You know.

Yes, I know; he’s adorable.  But that’s not why I’m writing about him today.  A few weeks ago, Ernie started sneezing.  A few days later, the sneezes started being accompanied by discharge from his nares.  Needless to say, a trip to the vet was in order.  Since his energy level, behavior, eating habits, weight, and poop were all normal, the vet told me that she wanted to do a saline flush of his sinuses, but would leave it up to me whether or not we wanted to send out a culture and sensitivity of the mucous to determine the presence of bacterial or fungal infection.  She wasn’t particularly concerned, because the discharge was clear and thin, rather than thick and yellow or greenish in color.  However, because he has a delightful habit of dropping food in his water bowl and turning it into a lovely microbial soup, I was concerned that he may have inhaled some debris that was growing its own little pathogenic army in his respiratory system (and yes, I know that I should get a water bottle for him; it’s on my to-do list).  So we sent out the C+S and waited.

About a week later, the good news came back: no positive growth!  The pathologist found only inflammatory cells, indicating an allergy rather than an infection.  What he had suddenly become allergic to remains, at present, a mystery, since the sneezing stopped shortly after our vet visit.

Unfortunately, shortly after the vet visit, Ernie’s poop changed dramatically (yes! This blog entry is about poop! You’re welcome).  First of all, it noticeably increased in volume in fecal material and urine; secondly, there seemed to be a decrease in urates; thirdly, the fecal material would sometimes be unformed, indicating diarrhea; and finally, after only one day, the droppings on the bottom of the cage would be covered in a layer of greyish-white fungal fuzz.  I thought that perhaps the house was too humid, which would speed up the growth of fungi naturally present in the air and environment, but none of my other birds’ droppings had any indication of fungal growth.  Ernie was alone in this phenomenon.

Of course, this was very scary.  Fungal growth on the feces could possibly indicate fungal infection in his GI tract, which can be very difficult to treat, even deadly.  He had never had these symptoms before we went to the vet, so I wasn’t sure if he had contracted a nosocomial infection, or whether the stress of the visit had lowered his immune system enough to leave him vulnerable to environmental pathogens, or whether it was merely a coincidence that this was occurring so soon after his vet visit.

Whatever the case, I was still paying off my Care Credit account from previous vet visits and was just breaking even financially (as is always the case in the first quarter of every year), so I didn’t have money to make a trip to the vet at that point.  Plus, I hope to avoid antifungal medications as much as possible, as they are very expensive and can be as dangerous to a bird’s health as the infection itself.  These drugs can trash the liver and the immune system, and can negatively effect the body’s ability to excrete toxins.  All in all, not a pretty picture.

Fortunately for me, I had on hand a few supplements at home that I figured I could try out to see if they could help Ernie’s body to heal without needing another trip to the vet.  I used the following:

Organic Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) functions as a prebiotic, creating an environment in the GI tract that supports the growth and re-establishment of normal, healthy gut flora that has been lost due to medication, inflammation, immune suppression, or any other reason.  It has also been shown to possess anti-fungal properties.  In Avian Medicine: Principles and Applicationthe recommended dosage is 3 tsps/qt of water, but it has been reported to be effective in smaller doses.  I use about 1 tsp in a bowl of water.  A couple of important things to note:

* ACV is useless if it is pasteurized and filtered, so unless you are buying an organic, unpasteurized product in which you can see floating pieces of the “mother”, or “scoby“, it won’t do any good whatsoever.

* ACV should not be given as a daily supplement, as long term use of ACV has been noted to leech calcium from the body, in some cases causing hypocalcemia or even metabolic bone disease.  However, a few weeks at a time should not cause a problem, especially if the bird is provided with cuttlebone or Manu mineral blocks so he can somewhat self-regulate his calcium intake.

Lily of the Desert Aloe Herbal Detox Formula (Aloe Detox): Aloe Detox is comprised of several herbal supplements, all reported to have healing as well as prophylactic properties.  Among other things, it includes: filtered aloe, acacia gum, milk thistle, dandelion leaf, and Slippery Elm leaf.  Filtered aloe is reported to reduce inflammation, increase absorption of nutrients, increase immune function, provide antioxidants, and reduce nitrate levels (nitrates are one of the chemical groups vaguely referred to as “toxins” when in reference to being in our bodies).  Acacia Gum acts like a prebiotic, similar to ACV.  Milk Thistle helps support liver function and detoxifies liver cells.  Dandelion Leaf also helps support liver function, and reduces inflammation in the kidneys and urinary tract (which was particularly helpful in Ernie’s case, since I was concerned that he might have some renal distress, considering the increase in urine and decrease in urates).  And finally, Slippery Elm is another anti-inflammatory.  I mixed 1-2 tsps in his chop’n'freeze, of which he gets 2 heaping tablespoons every day.  The only drawback to the Aloe Detox was that it also has Burdock Root in it, which acts as a diuretic.  For a bird who already has an elevated urine output, that’s not the most desirable supplement to be giving; however, since I didn’t notice a further urine increase after I started giving it to him, I assumed it was not adversely effecting him.

Herb mix from Mountain Rose Herbs:

I make my own herb/supplement mix and add it to their chop’n'freeze, but I added a couple of extra spoonfuls of it to his chop each day, primarily because of the following ingredients: Montmorillonite clay, Eucalyptus, cinnamon, and turmeric.  Montmorillonite clay is similar to the clays that South American parrots eat, and serves the same purpose that Eucalyptus serves for Australasian parrot.  Both are chelating agents (which means they should NOT be given while your bird is on medication, as they will bind to the medication and neutralize it, so it passes through the body without doing any good), as well as reported anti-inflammatories.  These serve a vital function in the wild, as parrots frequently eat plants that are toxic or contaminated by pathogenic organisms.  By eating clays or eucalyptus first, they protect themselves from harm.  Cinnamon and turmeric are both believed to possess antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, among other benefits.

So, after adding these supplements to his food and water every day, this is what happened:

Day 3: The fungal fuzz stopped appearing on his droppings.

Day 7: The fecal material became more solid, more formed.

And finally, today, Day 21: The urine has returned to a normal amount, and the urates are a normal amount, as well.

I’m still going to give him these supplements for a few more days before removing one at a time to see how he does.  Ideally, I would have started giving them one at a time, too, so that I could tell which supplements, if any, are helping, and which are just along for the ride.  However, since there was a very real possibility that he had a fungal infection, I didn’t want to risk being cautious and methodical about it, so I took more of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach.  And so far, it appears to have worked!  Hooray!

So, in closing: I know I’ve already written way more than most people would ever want to read about my bird’s poop, but there are a few closing comments that I feel are important to mention:

1) Empirical responsibility.  You might have noticed that I often used phrases like, “are reported to have” or “are believed to possess”.  That is because many natural remedies have not undergone scientific study, or if they have, they have been done for humans, not parrots, or if they have, I don’t know about it, because this is a blog entry, not a formal article or book.  I’m simply not going to invest that much time doing research for a blog.  Sorry.  Besides, the ancient wisdom of human civilizations across space and time, the anectodal evidence of thousands of birds enthusiasts around the world, and my own personal experiences are convincing enough for me.  Still, even though I use and even promote the use of herbal remedies, it’s important to not make unfounded claims.

2) Supplements are not replacements for a good avian vet.  I would never, ever advise someone not to take their bird to their vet if they were ill or injured.  Supplements are great for trying to nip a potential illness in the bud, especially if you are temporarily broke, you live very far away from your vet, or your vet is temporarily unavailable (weekend or holiday), but the moment your bird might take a turn for the worse or simply fail to improve, they need to be seen by an avian vet ASAP.  If Ernie’s droppings hadn’t improved so drastically by Day 3, I would have begged, borrowed, or stolen to get him seen.  Fortunately, that proved unnecessary.  But the point is: don’t underestimate the value of an avian vet.

3) Know what you’re giving and why.  A lot of people think that because supplements are natural, they are therefore harmless, but people, that is not the case.  Drugs are made from plants.  Poisons are made from plants.  The reason herbal supplements work is because they contain chemicals that do impact our bodies.  So offering supplements willy-nilly, without really knowing what they do, why they do it, or what the right dose is, goes beyond irresponsible to downright dangerous.  If you want to delve into the wonderful world of the natural pharmacy, read up on it!  I highly recommend Holistic Care For Birds, and if you want to get really gung-ho, there’s also some great information in Avian Medicine: Principles and Applications (linked above).  There’s also a wonderful forum on Avian Avenue called “Holistic Avenue“, where you can find a links to a lot of helpful articles and get advice from other bird owners.  Fair warning: the advice you’ll be getting is mostly going to be anecdotal and not necessarily scientifically backed, but as I said earlier, there is certainly value in anecdotal evidence and personal experience.

Ok!  So if you’re still reading this, kudos!!  I know how painfully long this blog entry is–because I wrote it, and my fingertips are numb!  But I thought it would be nice to share an example of success with home remedies and provide some background information as well.  I hope at least one person finds this helpful!

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Progress.

In the week or so since I last wrote, Archie’s vocalizations have slowly started to improve.  Chuck reports that he is quiet when I’m gone, and when I am home he makes mostly cute noises except when: a) I’m making high pitched noises (I mean, he has to join in! Amirite?), b) I first get home (he gets so excited!), and c) mid-afternoon, when he inexplicably feels like being loud.  But even then, I can encourage him to use quieter, cuter noises.  So…things are looking up!

He’s also back to looking forward to seeing Chuck, and thinking of him as a treat machine rather than a mortal enemy to be destroyed.  We haven’t tried one-on-one interaction yet, but I think in a few days we’ll be ready to give it a whirl.  Wish us luck!

In the meantime, here’s an adorable video of him in his favorite foraging toy.  And no, that’s not a typo: I did say “in” it.  He likes to take a nap in it, too.

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Combating discouragement and burnout.

A few days ago we had a setback.  It’s as if Archie went, “Wait a minute!  We’re getting along way too well.  I need to push my boundaries!  Test their limits!  Make them earn my fabulousness!”  This is a fairly common move that birds seems to pull when moving into a new environment.  It always passes, eventually.  But oh lord, getting through it sometimes seems a daunting and endless task.  There were moments when Cah’ya and Ernie were going through this phase that I seriously doubted my abilities as a trainer and thought I’d have to send them to a sanctuary.  I laugh when I think back on those moments of despair, as now they are my two sweetest, cuddliest birds.

It started when, just a day or two after my last blog entry, Ernie was hanging out on my lap and Archie was playing on the playgym above his cage:

Chuck walked into the room and Archie flew at him, landed on his arm, and bit the crap out of him.  It was seemingly unprovoked and quite a surprise, given the huge strides Archie had made in trusting and being closer to Chuck.  I wanted to put Ernie away before trying to handle Archie, since I wasn’t sure how the two of them would interact in such close proximity.  It took me a few seconds to do so, and in the meantime, Archie was on the floor, lunging at Chuck’s feet, and Chuck was dancing around, trying to put the trash can between himself and Archie.  I asked Archie to step up, which he did calmly, and then I put him back in the cage.

Since that incident, his vocalizations went from vastly improving to being worse than ever, and Chuck has had to go back to square one with winning Archie’s trust–which is more difficult this time now that Archie has lost quite a bit of his trust, too.  Needless to say, the last few days have been rough.  Archie’s loud, shrill shrieks make having a conversation, listening to music, or watching TV an impossibility, and both Chuck’s and my nerves have been on edge.

Yesterday was a low point.  Archie was at his worst, Chuck and I were both spiky and irritable, and the house was filthy.  I was trying to get house chores done since I’m about to leave for a week-long housesit, but I kept getting interrupted by phone calls, emails, or stupid little distractions.  All of the other birds were also being loud as a reaction to Archie, and when I finally got around to cleaning the Ekkie room I discovered that my cat, Lola, who shares their room, had vomited hairballs three times on my bed and peed on the floor.  And Copper, Chuck’s dog, seemed hell-bent on getting underfoot, especially while I was trying to clean up the cat’s messes.  He even danced through the vomit-and-pee trash bag, just for good measure.

Full disclosure: I had officially reached my boiling point.  I fantasized about releasing all the animals out the front door, taking a flamethrower to the house, getting in my car, and driving away, never to return.

It’s when I reach this point of absolute frustration that I have to step outside of the situation and assess myself as the learner and my meta-self as the trainer.  Clearly, the learner is overwhelmed by her environment.  What can I do to set her up to succeed?  How can I change her environment to change her behavior?

Here are a few things I’ve learned to do to help myself get through these moments of burnout and regain composure, perspective, and joy:

* Stop forcing myself to do something stressful and find something fun to do instead.  With 11 animals in the house, the cleaning chores we will always have with us.  Finding something both fun and productive to do, like toy making, will help to alleviate some of the angst.

* Retreat!  When an animal is being flooded, the trainer should remove them from the stimulus.  So when my environment is flooding me, I remove myself from it.  Yoga classes, errands, meeting up with a friend–anything to remove myself from the stressful environment for a while, give myself some breathing room, and allow me to collect myself before heading once more into the breach.

* Making sure my basic needs are met.  Almost always, when I’m feeling overwhelmed, there is a physiological factor involved.  Am I hungry?  Am I thirsty?  Am I tired?  Am I in pain?  Addressing those basic needs will help bolster me for the task at hand.

* Small victories.  When I was a little girl and I felt overwhelmed by the mess in my bedroom, my mom would tell me, “Don’t look at the whole mess.  Just pick up on thing at a time.”  I have taken that life skill into the adult world, and have learned to do the same.  Yes, Archie might be screaming his fool head off, Chuck might be frustrated and threatening to eat him for dinner, and Copper might have spread Lola’s urine all over the carpet.  But the bird cages are clean and the carpet is vacuumed.  HOLLA.  The rest will happen in its own good time.

* Learning to say “no”.  Man, this one was the hardest to learn.  I nearly ran myself into the ground in the first few years of my business because I didn’t know how to say no to clients, or vet clinics, or anyone, for that matter.  But when I’m already maxed out and someone is asking me for more, learning to say “no” is literally the difference between a total meltdown and calm, happy productivity.

Edit: *Don’t be afraid to ask for help!  I can’t believe I forgot to include this one, but a HUGE lesson I had to learn is how to ask for help when I need it.

It’s a miracle what a difference those few simple life skills can make.  I went from pulling my hair out yesterday to kicking ass and taking names today.  And as for Archie?  I have faith–in him, in Chuck, in me.  We will get through this.  And someday we’ll laugh when we look back at those moments.

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Jackpot!

Archie’s awesomeness continues to expand, and I’m not ashamed to publicly admit that I am approximately 100,000% head over in heels in love with this bird.  Since I last wrote about him, Chuck has been faithfully purveying pistachios to all of the birds while they are in their cages, including Archie.  At first, Archie’s approach to taking nuts from Chuck was a sort of snatch and grab affair.  Over the course of a few days, however, he became calmer and more gentle when accepting the treats.  And finally, for the past few days, he’s been downright eager.

Yesterday, I had Archie on my lap on the sofa, and whenever Chuck would walk in the room I’d give him a pistachio.  After about an hour, Chuck picked up the bag of pistachios to give one to the other birds, and Archie flew straight at Chuck.  As you might remember, last time Archie flew at Chuck, he attacked his ear, so naturally Chuck immediately dropped into a turtle pose and flipped his hood over his head.  Archie landed on Chuck’s back but then slid to the floor.  Chuck stood back up, but Archie was looking intently at Chuck without any sign of aggression.  So I picked him up and asked Chuck to try giving him a treat.  When Chuck reached for the treat bag, Archie flew towards him again.  Chuck turtled himself again, and Archie once again landed on his back.  But again, no aggression, just calm body language and quiet chatting.  I once again asked Archie to stand up, and then Chuck and I stood there in the kitchen while Chuck gave Archie pistachios.  Each time Chuck offered a pistachio, I took a step closer to him, until the two of us were almost touching and Archie was standing on my hand touching Chuck’s treat hand.  He happily munched away on nuts, without the slightest hint of aggression.

Jealousy issues?  What jealousy issues?  Archie thinks Chuck is the bee’s knees.

His unpleasant vocalizations are improving, too.  He still gets obnoxious from time to time, but he’s been quiet throughout the night for a while now, and he no longer contact calls constantly while I’m gone, either.  He’s also quiet during large periods of time during the day.  The only time he really gets loud and obnoxious now is when the ambient energy of the house is kind of jacked up.  When the TV or Cah’ya gets loud, so does he.  When I had a stressful drive home and arrived feeling kind of cross and tense, he got loud.  When Chuck had a frustrating conversation with a client and was telling me about it, he got loud.  This is all completely normal and to be expected, and is a vast improvement on his seeming indiscriminate loudness when he first arrived.  We’re still working to improve it, though.  He gets ignored for the loudness and praised for the cute noises.  Considering it’s only been two weeks since he came here, I’d say he’s making some damn fine progress.

And also, it turns out, he’s a total cuddlebug.  Whozawhat???  Birdy bliss, thy name is Archie.  While he was hanging out with me yesterday, I tentatively reached out a finger and lightly touched his wing to see how he’d respond to scritches.  He instantly popped up that wing, exposing the underside.  I tentatively touched him under his wing, and his face just melted into utter bliss.  He sank towards my fingers, lifted his other wing, then let me scritch all underneath his wings (Note to those of you who are thinking to yourselves, “She shouldn’t be doing that!  She could be sexually stimulating him!”:  Yeah.  I know.  I am fully aware that touching him under his wings, around the vent, or on his back could indeed induce sexual behaviors.  However, he’s in his twenties and so far hasn’t displayed any sexual behaviors towards me whatsoever, so at this point in our relationship I’m more interested in determining what kind of manhandling he is comfortable with than in avoiding touching him for fear of any potential issues down the road.  For instance, now that I know he’s comfortable with being touched on and around his wings, I’m going to make harness training a priority because I know it will be much easier to train him than, say, Yodit, who is not a fan of anyone touching her wings, thankyouverymuchyoutouchyfeelyhumansyou).  I then tried touching his crest, and he lifted it enough so I could get my fingers between the feathers and then pressed his head into my hand so that my fingers could get all around his neck, beak, and throat.  The whole time, he was chatting softly and had the most adorable blissed-out look on his face.  I WANT TO SQUEEZE HIM AND SMOTHER HIM IN KISSES.  His cuteness far exceeds any reasonable quota that an individual animal should be allowed to have.

As if that wasn’t endearing enough, he also loves to burrow.  Here’s a video of his charming, burrowy ways:

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January 2012 Pets of the Month: Oscu and Dan Dan

And now, finally, a blog entry about something other than Archie!  I know, I know.  You thought it’d never come.  I am bringing back my old tradition of featuring one client’s pet(s) every month, and I’m starting off with long-time client, friend, and tattoo artist extraordinaire, Nick Baxter:

When I first met Oscu and Dan Dan I pretty much fell in love instantly.  Nevermind the fact that it took Oscu six months to let me pet him; he was nevertheless an instant charmer.  The two characters stole my heart, so they’re the ones to kick off the revival of my Pet of the Month.  Here’s what Nick has to say about them:

Dandan is a retired ‘grand champion’ showcat from a New Jersey-based lineage of Siamese. He is an approximately 8 year old flame point. His show name is Dalmane, which is the pharmaceutical name for a type of sleeping pill. I adopted him from the breeder at approx 2 yrs of age after he had been shown and bred, and he’s been a pampered retiree ever since. He enjoys belly rubs, laps, and his status as Seriously, The Best Cat Ever. His favorite foods are strawberries and bananas.

Oscu is also approximately 8yrs old, but his past is shrouded in mystery. Originally named Oscar in homage to Oscar de la Hoya, he was rescued from a dumpster in Connecticut and passed through ‘the system’ and onto several caretakers, finally ending up in my care.  His highly neurotic nature and traumatic past make him a constant nuisance yet his endearing intelligence and intuition make him an exercise in forgiveness and compassion. He’s characterized by 5-minute bursts of extreme affection, in between long periods of can’t-be-bothered fakery. His favorite foods are chickpeas, tortilla chips, and Ruffles potato chips.

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Trouble in Paradise

I knew it!  No bird can be as perfect as Archie initially seemed!  He *does* have a flaw!  The rest of us can now breathe easier knowing that we do not, in fact, have to strive to some seemingly impossible standard that Archie had set for perfection in sentient beings.  As it turns out, he’s got some obsession and jealousy issues.  As I’ve handled him more and become more familiar with his vocalizations and habits, I’ve noticed that he is extremely tuned in to every single thing I am doing, and what initially seemed to me to be random vocalizations, in fact turns out to be direct attempts to communicate with me.  If I raise my voice or make high pitched baby talk to the animals, he starts shrieking.  If I clear my throat, burp, or play-growl at the dog, he makes the “hocking up a loogie” noise that we filmed a few days ago.  If I’m pouring bird food into foraging toys, he makes a swishy noise that actually sounds pretty similar.  If I open my bedroom door, which squeaks, he squeaks with impressive mimicry.  If I leave the house, Chuck reports that he loudly contact calls the entire time I’m gone.  In other words, he has made me his world.

While this might seem flattering, it’s actually not a desirable trait.  First of all, he needs to gain a sense of self, and be able to be independent.  His happiness should not rely on my presence.  Secondly, it isn’t pleasant for Chuck to have to listen to him contact calling any time I’m away from home.  But most importantly, he is seriously jealous of Chuck, which is no bueno.  A couple of nights ago, we were sitting next to each other on the couch and Archie was hanging out on my chest.  He looked over at Chuck and decided that he had no business sitting next to me, so he flew/ran over and attacked his ear. Fortunately, I was able to detach him before he did too much damage, but he did draw blood.

So we do have our work cut out for us after all.  First of all, Chuck and I are sharing the feeding duties, and Chuck is the only one who gets to give Archie pistachio through the cage bars.  Secondly, I’m going to have Chuck take part in training Archie to perform some basic tasks, like targeting, accepting liquid from a syringe, and perhaps raising his crest on cue.  Thirdly, when I have Archie out with me, he’s going to get a treat every time Chuck walks into the room, and when he’s calm about that, he’ll get treats for exhibiting calm behavior as Chuck decreases his distance between us.  We’ll go from there.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how we’ll be able to film any of this, since both Chuck and I will be handling Archie so neither of us will be in a position to film. Perhaps it’s time to buy a real camcorder with a tripod.

In the meantime, here are a couple of somewhat boring videos of Archie and me hanging out together.  In the first one, he had been bunny hopping towards me on the floor, which I wanted to film, but then of course he stopped.  In the second one, he had flown around the room – including making full turns, without a tail, magically enough - which I again was hoping to film, but when I put him back on the sofa arm where he had initially launched himself, he was only interested in hanging out, as you will see, should you decide to watch them.  In summary, both videos are failed attempts at recording something interesting and instead capturing something entirely unimpressive, but if you’re really in the mood to watch a cute little Hawkhead be his delightful self, here ya go:

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Nevermind. Forget what I said earlier.

Today I have re-learned a lesson that I’ve learned before and should have already known.  Namely: take a pet’s history with a grain of salt. I had been told by Archie’s previous owner that he was afraid to come out of his cage, and that, except for the move to Austin from his previous city, he had not been out of his cage for almost 9 years.  I had also seen with my own eyes how Archie had panicked when we opened the door to his cage when it was time to move him to my house, and how it took us over an hour to figure out how to get him into the carrier without traumatizing him further.  It broke my heart to watch him thrash around and to hear his panicked wheezing.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when this was his reaction when we set out to do our first recorded training session (sorry it’s sideways for most of the recording; I guess Chuck didn’t realize that the phone doesn’t automatically correct its direction):

My interest in being able to document the training sessions teaching him to come out of his cage is far outstripped by my excitement to discover that he isn’t really very fearful at all.  After we stopped recording this, I decided to try sliding his cage tray out of the cage while he was sitting there.  I moved it slowly and watched his reaction, and he didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed.  I eventually got it all the way out, changed the papers, and started to put it back when he jumped down onto the tray and started laughing hysterically.  At that point, I had to get him to move so I could put the tray back.

I should have asked Chuck to record it, but I offered my hand, and within five approximations he had stepped completely onto it and was gently exploring my fingers and begging for more pistachios.  I then pushed the tray back in, set my hand inside his cage, and he calmly stepped down onto the tray.  No big whoop.

THEN, I left his cage door open while I got some foraging toys to refill his cage with.  When I came back in the room, he flew towards me, landing at my feet.  I offered my hand, and he stepped up and then climbed up to my shoulder, singing happily to himself and occasionally laughing.  I sat on the sofa, and he moved down to my chest.

For a few minutes, he explored the sofa and chatted away to himself, but then after a while he came back to my chest, pressed his body as close to my face as possible, then fluffed up his feathers and hunkered down for a nap.

So what I said earlier about, “We have our work cut out for us?”  Yeah.  Ignore that.  Because clearly, this little guy has made himself at home.

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