Little ice cream cone man (with judgmental Harriet)
Pascal has been doing a little Extreme Molting (he looks a lot better now, but he was looking pretty rough for awhile)
He's so bean-shaped
@wetleavesandfeathers got the birds some half-log perches as a Christmas present and Pippa has been having a really good time chewing on hers because the color of the bark on the perch has rubbed off ALL OVER HER FACE
I'm pleased to report that Harriet seems to be responding well to the medication! She's able to use her foot almost normally and was feeling well enough this morning to terrorize Nelson by attempting to flirt with him! Thank you all for your messages of support <3
I'm afraid I have some bad news about Harriet.
Yesterday morning when I got the budgies up, I noticed that she wasn't able to use her right foot. (The picture attached was taken before she lost the use of her foot.) I thought that maybe she and Pippa had had a fight, or that she had injured it in some way, so I toweled her and gave her some of Pippa's leftover pain meds and looked at her foot. There wasn't any visible sign of injury, but she was definitely unable to move her toes. By an unbelievable stroke of luck, my vet had an opening at 2pm, so I took Harriet in to get looked at.
Unfortunately, the prognosis is not good. The vet found a significant amount of bruising in Harriet's abdomen, indicating that she likely has some kind of organ dysfunction that is resulting in pressure being put on the nerves that control her right foot. The most likely causes, according to the vet, are either kidney cancer or reproductive disease. Because budgies are so small, and because of Harriet's age (she's 9) and relative fragility (since she's already had surgery for reproductive issues), the vet isn't confident she would survive the major surgery required to determine the problem, and the odds are there wouldn't be an effective treatment anyway.
So the decision has been made to try to keep Harriet comfortable with anti-inflammatory pain meds and in a hospital cage until her quality of life declines enough that it will be kindest to euthanize her. She is still allowed out with the other budgies, so she's not totally isolated, and as of this morning she is still eating well, destroying toys, and being very active and vocal (her wonky foot doesn't slow her down at all!), so right now she's doing well. She has already outlived all my other past budgies by three years (!!!), so although of course I will be heartbroken to say goodbye to this little fierce warrior, I am grateful for whatever time we have left.
Round
(Pippa laid two eggs but appears to have stopped [at least for now -_- ]! She's still getting Extra Bonus Calcium and is not happy about it)
HAPPY 2024!!!! I apologize for the radio silence--work was REALLY hectic at the end of the year and I needed some time to recover. Please accept a fluffy Pascal butt as an apology.
(Pippa has laid two eggs recently because Pascal will NOT STOP FEEDING HER, but she is getting extra calcium and meloxicam to prevent a prolapse and is doing well so far! She appears to be done laying for now but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on her and Pascal.)
The budgies get millet before their bedtime at 6:30pm, so at 6pm the boys perch on the edge of the cages facing the couch and stare at me until I get creeped out enough to go give them their millet
Pascal says, "Just do it"
(I tried to explain to him that if he is trying to be the Nike Swoosh he is facing the wrong direction but he was not receptive to criticism)
Nelson in egg form
Molty Harriet will eat you and everyone you care about