Endings and a New Beginning

The summer flew by for us and it was a sad one as far as the animals go. In July we had to have our Pekingese Sadie put down. We knew from the time she was 8 years old that she had a problem with her liver – it was too small and we were warned that her life would be shorter than normal. She would become confused because of the toxins in her body. She had seizures too, so we just gave her the best life we could. Although she lived four more years after the initial diagnosis and we knew it was coming, her final day was a shock to us both.

We really missed having a small dog around the house, so I started searching for my next one. I have always had Pekes, but the last two both had health problems and I decided it was time to look at something else. I was drawn to the Pomeranian and each time I saw one I would ask the owner how they liked the dog. Every time the answer was positive. So, although I vowed that my next dog would be a non-shedding breed, I decided that a Pom would fill the bill quite nicely.


It was hard, but I held off on getting one. I knew that our Shepherd really loved being an only dog and I just didn’t want to make her unhappy by bringing in another pup. Chloe began to look old to me this summer. Her hips started to bother her and she could no longer jump the 3 foot wall to the upper level in the back yard when she went after the squirrels – she had to use the stairs. She also had trouble climbing the flight of stairs to the bird room. Sometimes I would have to take the uneaten bird vegetables downstairs to her if she was having a bad day, but most of the time she slowly made her way upstairs for those coveted veggies.

About a month ago Chloe started acting finicky about her food. She was always a good eater, but we had to change her food because the one she could eat without having an allergic reaction had been discontinued and she seemed not to like the new stuff. This went on for a couple of weeks – we would try different foods and finally we found one and she began to eat normally.


Two days later Chloe had trouble getting up to go outside in the morning. Mark could barely get her back inside before he left for work. When I got up she had no interest in going out, she wouldn’t even lift her head. Two hours later she did get up and go out, but when she came back in and laid down I noticed that her stomach was bloated. A couple of hours later it was even bigger. We took her to the vet as soon as Mark got home – thank God I had purchased a ramp for her earlier this year or we would never have gotten her into the truck.


We saw a new vet that night and she told us there was a note in the file that Chloe was a very good dog – perhaps so no one would be alarmed because of her size. The vet took x-rays and the news was not good. There was a huge mass on her spleen and the fluid in her belly was blood. We were told that if we took her to Cornell right then that they might be able to remove the tumor and she might live six more months. I absolutely refused to put Chloe through that to selfishly keep her alive for such a short time. Then the vet said we could take her home and give her one last night of pampering and say goodbye.


I really couldn’t see that happening. She was obviously in pain and I pointed out to the vet that she weighed over 100 lbs and neither Mark nor I could lift her should she die at home. They brought her back into the room and left us with her to say our goodbyes.


Needless to say, we were completely heartbroken. We expected her to live several more years and to lose her so suddenly like this was devastating. There has been a dog in our house ever since we met – usually two and sometimes three. The house was so empty. Yes, we have the birds, but it’s not the same. We would look for her or think it was time to let her out or time to feed her and realize over and over that she wasn’t there. It was truly awful.


Chloe left us on Monday night. By Wednesday morning I was looking in the paper for puppy listings. We both agreed that we couldn’t stand how empty the house was without a dog. I was glad that I had already chosen the breed of our next pup. I checked petfinder.com and there was actually a 12 week old black Pom pup that needed a home. I tried calling for almost an hour but it was busy. When I finally got through I had to leave a message. I never did receive a return call.


I checked the newspaper. It just so happened that there were five listings for Pomeranian pups. I told myself that I would take a look at all of them and then make my choice. The first person I called gave me an appointment for the next afternoon. The second one said to come right over. I didn’t even take the dog carrier so I wouldn’t be tempted to get the first one I saw.

I was met at the door by at least 10 small dogs – most were Poms, but not all. They were adorable – clean, healthy looking and extremely happy. Both of the puppies that were for sale were black with brown markings, but one of them had a little more brown and although she was a week older, she was the smaller of the two. I held the larger one first and she was a sweetie, but when I held the smaller one she stole my heart – there was just something about her. You guessed it – I bought her right then and there. The breeder even gave me a carrier to take her home in. So much for my plans!

There is nothing like a puppy to help mend a broken heart. Yes, we still miss Chloe terribly, but the pain of her going has been dulled by the sweet puppy kisses of our new baby Sophie Mae.



Cathy

Say Hi to the Birdie

Has anyone seen the commercial about the Margaritaville drink mixer? It features a blue and gold macaw. We usually just fast forward through all the commercials, but of course if we spot any kind of parrot we have to go back and check it out.



When the bird came on I told Alex to look. He became quite excited and exclaimed in a booming voice: "Hi Alex!" Then he blew a kiss to the bird on the screen.

Cathy

Bird Sitting

Again it's been too long since I've posted. Time just flies for me. Seems like I turn around and another month has gone. I really thought time would slow down once I was retired. . . stupid me! Maybe if I didn't have so much to do the time would drag - but that would be boring =]

Last month we babysat someone else's bird for the first time ever. I wouldn't normally take in another bird for fear of disease, but this bird is not a baby and she is the only bird in the household, so we decided to do it.

As I set up a tray table for Rosie's cage, I explained to my birds that we would be having a visitor - she would not be an addition to our flock. She would stay for a week, then return to her home. I don't know if they understood or not, but I thought it was worth saying.

Rosie the cockatiel fit in surprisingly well with our larger birds. It didn't take long before she was chirping and calling right along with them. We decided to let her out of her cage that night because she was doing so well. She immediately took flight and did a few loops around the ceiling. Mark managed to catch her and we trimmed her wings right then and there. It's a good thing she was the first one we let out. I don't want to even imagine what would have happened if she had landed next to one of our birds and they took a bite out of her!

We took Rosie's tray table and cage into the tv room and she happily played on the cage top while we watched tv and held the other birds. At one point she even flew to Mark. Clipping the wings allows the bird to fly straight for a time and to glide to the floor, but not to really get any lift (unless there's a breeze).

We enjoyed our time with Rosie. It was nice to have a birdie visitor. Classy was very interested in her and the cockatiel call is now part of Emelio's repertoire. I actually think they were sorry to see her go home.

A couple of days later Rosie's owners thanked us for cutting her wings. Their daughter wanted Rosie to spend some time in her dorm, so they took her up to the college. The bottom of the cage came off when it was being removed from the car and Rosie took off. Instead of being able to fly away, she ended up walking down the middle of the street. She was easily caught and returned to safety.

Ahhhh - don't you love a happy ending?

- Cathy

Sunday Playtime

Classy just loves his weekly playtime with Mark and looks forward to it. He isn't happy until he's given Mark a good chomp. Luckily for Mark he didn't draw blood (this time),




After he's done playing on the table Classy likes to go on a walkabout. He makes his way through the house just looking around. When something piques his interest he makes this noise that sounds like he's saying "Oooohhhh" in a little sing-song voice. Unfortunately I couldn't get that on video.




What you can hear is one of the calls he uses. The other one sounds kinda like "Ba ba ba bah ba". I suspect these are the calls an Amazon would use in the wild, but I don't know for sure.

Heck, the other birds just call me by my name!

- Cathy

The Mayor

We call Emelio the mayor of the bird room. He just seems to have to be in charge. I had a t-shirt that depicted the personalities of different birds and it hit home so well that I had to frame it and hang it in the bird room. Notice the gray sitting in front of the dog. . .enough said.

Here's a video of Mister in action. By the way, he's obsessed with the cutting board - he loves the noise it makes when he slams it on the counter. Plastic bowls seem to be another thing with him. In fact, most anything that I find annoying he seems to love! Kids. . . jeeessshhh!

Cathy

The Peanut Gallery

Last night we were watching TV and Mark made a comment on what he thought would happen next. Alex was on his T-stand, as usual, and was preening his feathers. He looked up and calmly said “I think so, too” and went back to what he had been doing. Mark and I just looked at each other and grinned.



I love it when Alex does that – it’s like he’s just another person watching the show. His voice isn’t loud and he’s not excited or emotional, he’s just joining in on the conversation exactly like you or I would do. That blows me away.

One night we were watching a murder mystery and at one point some guy was killed in a vat of acid. As I was cringing Alex exclaimed loudly: “Awesome!”

Well, to each his own, I guess!!

Cathy

P.S. My husband had to have an operation on his neck and has to wear a collar for 6 weeks. We were worried that it would scare the birds – after all, they don’t miss a trick and are leery of many new things. They acted like they didn’t even see it!

Roll Playing

The other night Emelio was perched on my finger and Mark was standing in front of him with an empty paper towel roll. Emelio likes it when someone talks through the roll at him – I guess it amplifies the sound or something. Mark was doing just that and after a about ten seconds of listening Emelio must have become irritated with the game because he snatched the tube, flung himself backwards, threw the paper towel roll behind him and ended up hanging upside down from my finger.

Mark and I were dumbfounded for a second, and then we burst out laughing. Of course Emelio joined in too. Getting such a great response just encouraged him and he repeated this new trick every time Mark started to talk through the cardboard tube, chuckling each time he did it.

It just occurred to me that when we laugh like demented hyenas at his actions it’s just as much of a drama reward as freaking out when he pulls over a glass canister. Either way he tries to elicit the same response by doing it over and over again.

That reminds me of the time I didn’t latch his water bowl door securely. He discovered the error within minutes and pushed the ceramic crock right out of the cage. The resulting crash must have been enormously satisfying because he began flinging the bowls out of the holders on his cage top too. At first I replaced the ceramic crocks with plastic ones, but I got tired of it and finally removed them completely.

Oh, by the way, I also gave up on the canisters (see the post titled Mischief from 10/30). Emelio just would not leave them alone. I replaced them with heavier jars that have no lip on the lid for him to grab on to. Oh, he still tries, but just can’t get hold of them and ends up banging the top of the shortest one with his beak in frustration!

Cathy

P.S. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the new year!