I made it to the bi-centennial mark! Big milestone!
I made the 1st post on this blog when I started it back 7/10/08.
I totally neglected to mark when I reached the 100th post on 3/07/2010.
It seems I am averaging 100 posts every 18 months, or one post every 5-6 days. That's all the adventures I can take in that time frame!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
A Week of Uncertainties: Day 4-8
On day four Ciro continued to make small progress. :) She even vocalized a bit in the morning and responded with motion when I called her. She only ate a bit of grape the night before, and few hand-fed seeds when we went for another feeding in morning at the vet. They took a more accurate weight measurement (since she was moving a lot yesterday) and she actually has 58 grams. Very slim!
I left her at home and setup a monitoring system of sorts; I couldn't find a monitoring software without time limitations, so I had skype connection open with my brother and he was on it during the day. I had all her bowls down on the floor level in the cage, but she was not used to eating there so she climbed up a few times looking for food at her usual place. She didn't eat anything during the day.
That evening we had another freak-out: She seemed willing to eat. She ate seeds, grape, and a treat. I then offered her some food from plate as I ate at the coffee table. She took a bite of a carrot, chewed for a second, and in time it took me to take a bite she wobbled to the edge of the table and fell down! I freaked out! This was certainly not the first time she fell off of that coffee table, but usually she just lands on her feet and moves on. She also landed on her feet this time, but when I picked her up I think she just freaked out too. Few seconds later she started to stiffen, raise her wings, tilt her head back, as if she was going to start seizing again. I held her, started getting that Valium and syringes out, looking at the watch to see how long it will last. But, thankfully, it last maybe just 15 sec. I think she was just in shock. She was fine after that, didn't feel weak like after a seizure, and was soon grooming her self in the cage. Whew! I felt just terrible....
On Thursday she continued to make progress. I figured out how to have a new skype account at home automatically pick up a video call when I call from work, so I was monitoring her every day since then. She spent 70% of daytime hours sleeping and the rest moving around in her cage. In the evening she climbed into her tent to sleep, which is where she usually sleeps, so it was a signal to me that she doesn't need the ICU of towels at the bottom any more.
Friday I got her some pallet mix at Petco, Kaytee Exact Rainbow Parakeet/Lovebird, but it may take weeks before she starts accepting it as the only food. I saw they also have Fruity and Veggie versions of this brand so I might look for those as well.
On Saturday we went in for another weigh in, and I was really hoping she has gained 1-2 grams, but she hasn't. The tech used two different methods to weigh her, and both times she was around 57.7gr. Last time I think they rounded it to 58gr. I offered her formula with applesauce few more times, but she started eating her own food more on her own. I guess it will just take some time to gain that little weight back. Who would have thought 2 grams is such a big deal.
Sunday afternoon we had another scare: she was in her tent taking a nap and chirping as she often does while napping. And out of the blue, still in the tent, she start seizing. I quickly grab her, struggling to pull her out of the tent, and held her little twitching body. Luckily, this again lasted just 15sec. She was fine few minutes later.
So that was our roller-coaster week. She is still not fully stable, easily flips if she moves too much, gets scared and then feels weak. I hope that as she continues to eat she will gain her energy back enough to be her normal self again.
I left her at home and setup a monitoring system of sorts; I couldn't find a monitoring software without time limitations, so I had skype connection open with my brother and he was on it during the day. I had all her bowls down on the floor level in the cage, but she was not used to eating there so she climbed up a few times looking for food at her usual place. She didn't eat anything during the day.
That evening we had another freak-out: She seemed willing to eat. She ate seeds, grape, and a treat. I then offered her some food from plate as I ate at the coffee table. She took a bite of a carrot, chewed for a second, and in time it took me to take a bite she wobbled to the edge of the table and fell down! I freaked out! This was certainly not the first time she fell off of that coffee table, but usually she just lands on her feet and moves on. She also landed on her feet this time, but when I picked her up I think she just freaked out too. Few seconds later she started to stiffen, raise her wings, tilt her head back, as if she was going to start seizing again. I held her, started getting that Valium and syringes out, looking at the watch to see how long it will last. But, thankfully, it last maybe just 15 sec. I think she was just in shock. She was fine after that, didn't feel weak like after a seizure, and was soon grooming her self in the cage. Whew! I felt just terrible....
On Thursday she continued to make progress. I figured out how to have a new skype account at home automatically pick up a video call when I call from work, so I was monitoring her every day since then. She spent 70% of daytime hours sleeping and the rest moving around in her cage. In the evening she climbed into her tent to sleep, which is where she usually sleeps, so it was a signal to me that she doesn't need the ICU of towels at the bottom any more.
Friday I got her some pallet mix at Petco, Kaytee Exact Rainbow Parakeet/Lovebird, but it may take weeks before she starts accepting it as the only food. I saw they also have Fruity and Veggie versions of this brand so I might look for those as well.
On Saturday we went in for another weigh in, and I was really hoping she has gained 1-2 grams, but she hasn't. The tech used two different methods to weigh her, and both times she was around 57.7gr. Last time I think they rounded it to 58gr. I offered her formula with applesauce few more times, but she started eating her own food more on her own. I guess it will just take some time to gain that little weight back. Who would have thought 2 grams is such a big deal.
Sunday afternoon we had another scare: she was in her tent taking a nap and chirping as she often does while napping. And out of the blue, still in the tent, she start seizing. I quickly grab her, struggling to pull her out of the tent, and held her little twitching body. Luckily, this again lasted just 15sec. She was fine few minutes later.
So that was our roller-coaster week. She is still not fully stable, easily flips if she moves too much, gets scared and then feels weak. I hope that as she continues to eat she will gain her energy back enough to be her normal self again.
Monday, July 25, 2011
A Week of Uncertainties: Day 2&3
Monday morning I was awaken by a neighbor's dog at 6.18AM. Way early. With a bit of fear I reached down inside the cage next to me, still in the dark. And Ciro bit me! I don't think I was ever before happy when she bit me. :)
She got some energy back! She was still sitting in the little hide-out place I made for her, and I don't think she left that place the entire night. But she had enough energy to stand on it and not be laying down.
My brother came in around 8am to stay here while I went to work. Before I left I managed to hand-feed her 10-15 seeds and couple of bites of grapes. I think I also managed to give her two bites of mashed carrots, but she didn't like that texture. She usually likes to bite on cooked carrots, but she was not happy with that mush. And she seemed to get tired from me handling her and forcing her to eat. It was now harder to use the dropper because she wiggled and turned her head away.
I called the vet again, Dr. J. and left another urgent, sweet message. I finally got to talk to her around noon, but her schedule was full for most of the week. She told me maybe Tuesday afternoon she might have one opening, but it was very iffy and she wasn't going to know for sure until the morning. She recommended I get some baby-bird feeding formula and start feeding her that. My brother tried feeding her at home and she slid down his legs on the floor. So, he concluded he can't do the feedings. I then got the formula, went home and did my best to feed her a little bit of that mix. I think she ate maybe just 2ml, though. I felt like she was loosing more energy fighting me off than she was gaining from the little formula I got into her.
She was relaxing the rest of the day on the towels in her cage. I put a heating pad underneath so she wouldn't loose extra energy trying to stay warm. Lovebirds' body temp is 104F and they burn quite a bit of energy just to keep that temp going. In the evening, when she was all cuddled under my chin as we were both relaxing on the couch, I offered her some food again. She took, and I counted, 60 seeds over 10 minutes. I was so happy to see her eat by herself and not get tired after every bite! Couple of hours later she again took grape from my fingers and ate for another 10 minutes!
That was amazingly hopeful end of the day. We both slept better that night; she with a full belly, and me knowing she ate something willingly.
Tuesday morning she seemed alert again, even groomed herself a bit. But she was not interested in eating at all. I stayed and worked from home that day.
Mid morning was a complete 180 from how she seemed first thing in the morning. She all of a sudden seemed really weak. So much so that I thought it was the end. She was flipping to the side, couldn't hold her head, and I even thought she twitched couple of times. My first thought was to try to make her eat again, so with one hand I managed to mix that formula and give a bit to her. Maybe half of that little dropper. Even that weak she was wiggling away.
I got in touch with Dr. J. again, and she unfortunately was not going to be able to see us that day. She recommended another vet at a clinic where we were before, and in the meantime to try giving her something sweet for immediate energy. I gave her some mashed apple and honey, and she came back a bit.
Luckily, that vet agreed to postpone his surgery and see us in the afternoon. Ciro did pretty well, was more alert but it was probably a mask. She was 60gr, vs 64gr last time at the vet. He stated that to really know what's going on with seizures, he'd have to do testing, starting with blood work and on. I liked that he didn't push any testing at the moment. He concluded that we should give her nutrients to make her stronger. So the decision was made to give her few feedings, with a tube down her throat. We had couple of those in the afternoon, 4 hours apart. He also gave me a little bottle of Valium, syringes, and lube, for if she has another long seizure. I would give her the smallest doze, 0.02ml, and more if that doesn't have effect.
In the evening she was again more alert and grooming herself. So she got a burst of energy she needed. We boarded for another night in the ICU - towels and heating pad in the cage sitting next to my bed.
She got some energy back! She was still sitting in the little hide-out place I made for her, and I don't think she left that place the entire night. But she had enough energy to stand on it and not be laying down.
My brother came in around 8am to stay here while I went to work. Before I left I managed to hand-feed her 10-15 seeds and couple of bites of grapes. I think I also managed to give her two bites of mashed carrots, but she didn't like that texture. She usually likes to bite on cooked carrots, but she was not happy with that mush. And she seemed to get tired from me handling her and forcing her to eat. It was now harder to use the dropper because she wiggled and turned her head away.
I called the vet again, Dr. J. and left another urgent, sweet message. I finally got to talk to her around noon, but her schedule was full for most of the week. She told me maybe Tuesday afternoon she might have one opening, but it was very iffy and she wasn't going to know for sure until the morning. She recommended I get some baby-bird feeding formula and start feeding her that. My brother tried feeding her at home and she slid down his legs on the floor. So, he concluded he can't do the feedings. I then got the formula, went home and did my best to feed her a little bit of that mix. I think she ate maybe just 2ml, though. I felt like she was loosing more energy fighting me off than she was gaining from the little formula I got into her.
She was relaxing the rest of the day on the towels in her cage. I put a heating pad underneath so she wouldn't loose extra energy trying to stay warm. Lovebirds' body temp is 104F and they burn quite a bit of energy just to keep that temp going. In the evening, when she was all cuddled under my chin as we were both relaxing on the couch, I offered her some food again. She took, and I counted, 60 seeds over 10 minutes. I was so happy to see her eat by herself and not get tired after every bite! Couple of hours later she again took grape from my fingers and ate for another 10 minutes!
That was amazingly hopeful end of the day. We both slept better that night; she with a full belly, and me knowing she ate something willingly.
Tuesday morning she seemed alert again, even groomed herself a bit. But she was not interested in eating at all. I stayed and worked from home that day.
Mid morning was a complete 180 from how she seemed first thing in the morning. She all of a sudden seemed really weak. So much so that I thought it was the end. She was flipping to the side, couldn't hold her head, and I even thought she twitched couple of times. My first thought was to try to make her eat again, so with one hand I managed to mix that formula and give a bit to her. Maybe half of that little dropper. Even that weak she was wiggling away.
I got in touch with Dr. J. again, and she unfortunately was not going to be able to see us that day. She recommended another vet at a clinic where we were before, and in the meantime to try giving her something sweet for immediate energy. I gave her some mashed apple and honey, and she came back a bit.
Luckily, that vet agreed to postpone his surgery and see us in the afternoon. Ciro did pretty well, was more alert but it was probably a mask. She was 60gr, vs 64gr last time at the vet. He stated that to really know what's going on with seizures, he'd have to do testing, starting with blood work and on. I liked that he didn't push any testing at the moment. He concluded that we should give her nutrients to make her stronger. So the decision was made to give her few feedings, with a tube down her throat. We had couple of those in the afternoon, 4 hours apart. He also gave me a little bottle of Valium, syringes, and lube, for if she has another long seizure. I would give her the smallest doze, 0.02ml, and more if that doesn't have effect.
In the evening she was again more alert and grooming herself. So she got a burst of energy she needed. We boarded for another night in the ICU - towels and heating pad in the cage sitting next to my bed.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A Week of Uncertainties: Day 1
I have been delaying to write about this until we are completely out of the woods. I don't think we are there yet. So, I am writing this with cautious optimism.
At 4.50 AM last Sunday morning I heard Ciro banging in his cage. It wasn't too loud as when she has her regular seizures, but it was still more loud than her moving around. I hesitated for a moment before leaving room, and then I heard it again. I got to the cage to find her trashing at the bottom of the cage. I picked her up as she was twitching and contorting.
Her regular seizures last 1-2 minutes, and then she feels week for 10-15 more minutes after which she is fine. So, I didn't even turn the lights on thinking this will be short. But it kept on. She was stiff, her wings twitching, and head tilting. After 10 minutes she got few minutes of break, but then the seizure started again. This went on and off for about 30 minutes.
But then the breaks stopped and she just kept seizing. It was actually not exactly the same as the regular seizures. She was twitching inward, instead of tilting her head backward. It still had a strong hold of her. I kept holding her, folding her wings and straightening her head. It was painful to watch. I turned the lights on and started praying.
I called one emergency animal clinic in Round Rock at 6.30AM, but since they don't accept birds they referred me to another emergency clinic on 183. When I called that place I had to repeat 4-5 times that I have a lovebird. The girl couldn't understand the name, even asked "what, a lab bird?" That of course didn't give me any confidence that they are bird experts, even though the girl said they see birds. She said they would try to stabilize her until I can get her to an avian expert on Monday.
At around 8AM she finally calmed down. We laid down on the couch to get some more sleep. That lasted around and hour, and then I felt every now and then she breaks a little twitch. She was still in my left hand. Around 10AM the twitches became more intense and frequent.
At this point she has been in my hand for 5 hours. She was in the same position, leaning with her right side onto my fingers. I could see her left side twitching, her little head bobbing to the left side, her left wing/shoulder raising up and the left leg twitching up toward the head. I wrapped her in a towel and left on the couch while I went to wash my hands and face.
Then I went on the Internet. Ciro was still twitching every two seconds with her left side. She was wrapped up to her head because her left leg was uncontrollably hitting her head. With one hand I was stroking her head and with another looking for answers on the web. I even called one place in Arizona that was open on Sunday and they told me to keep her warm and try to feed her something.
When we had baby lovebirds in Sarajevo, we used to mix sweet cookies, hard boiled egg yolks with some water and give that paste to the parents to feed the chicks. So I combined that with orange juice and some mashed apple and force fed her with my fingers around noon. My brother and his wife came around 4PM and brought syringes, so it helped with the feeding and water.
I left a message to the only good avian vet I heard about in Austin, Dr. Jakubowsky who has a traveling clinic. I also posted on several web sites looking for some answers. On justanswer.com I got in touch with a great avian pet S. August Abbott (who is also an ordained minister!) at around 5.30PM. We had several communications that day, and were in touch over the next days.
Ciro's twitching slowed down around 6PM, but she was making little noises with almost every breath. She was very weak and was leaning/falling on the right side. I kept trying to feed her that egg mixture, few bites of grapes and some mashed carrot. By 9-10PM the twitching finally stopped. That's around 15 hours.
I made a little fort with kitchen towels for her in the bottom of the cage, put all her food bowls around it, and another towel on the top. I placed the cage next to me overnight. She was calm but completely exhausted and was just laying down.
I was exhausted too.
At 4.50 AM last Sunday morning I heard Ciro banging in his cage. It wasn't too loud as when she has her regular seizures, but it was still more loud than her moving around. I hesitated for a moment before leaving room, and then I heard it again. I got to the cage to find her trashing at the bottom of the cage. I picked her up as she was twitching and contorting.
Her regular seizures last 1-2 minutes, and then she feels week for 10-15 more minutes after which she is fine. So, I didn't even turn the lights on thinking this will be short. But it kept on. She was stiff, her wings twitching, and head tilting. After 10 minutes she got few minutes of break, but then the seizure started again. This went on and off for about 30 minutes.
But then the breaks stopped and she just kept seizing. It was actually not exactly the same as the regular seizures. She was twitching inward, instead of tilting her head backward. It still had a strong hold of her. I kept holding her, folding her wings and straightening her head. It was painful to watch. I turned the lights on and started praying.
I called one emergency animal clinic in Round Rock at 6.30AM, but since they don't accept birds they referred me to another emergency clinic on 183. When I called that place I had to repeat 4-5 times that I have a lovebird. The girl couldn't understand the name, even asked "what, a lab bird?" That of course didn't give me any confidence that they are bird experts, even though the girl said they see birds. She said they would try to stabilize her until I can get her to an avian expert on Monday.
At around 8AM she finally calmed down. We laid down on the couch to get some more sleep. That lasted around and hour, and then I felt every now and then she breaks a little twitch. She was still in my left hand. Around 10AM the twitches became more intense and frequent.
At this point she has been in my hand for 5 hours. She was in the same position, leaning with her right side onto my fingers. I could see her left side twitching, her little head bobbing to the left side, her left wing/shoulder raising up and the left leg twitching up toward the head. I wrapped her in a towel and left on the couch while I went to wash my hands and face.
Then I went on the Internet. Ciro was still twitching every two seconds with her left side. She was wrapped up to her head because her left leg was uncontrollably hitting her head. With one hand I was stroking her head and with another looking for answers on the web. I even called one place in Arizona that was open on Sunday and they told me to keep her warm and try to feed her something.
When we had baby lovebirds in Sarajevo, we used to mix sweet cookies, hard boiled egg yolks with some water and give that paste to the parents to feed the chicks. So I combined that with orange juice and some mashed apple and force fed her with my fingers around noon. My brother and his wife came around 4PM and brought syringes, so it helped with the feeding and water.
I left a message to the only good avian vet I heard about in Austin, Dr. Jakubowsky who has a traveling clinic. I also posted on several web sites looking for some answers. On justanswer.com I got in touch with a great avian pet S. August Abbott (who is also an ordained minister!) at around 5.30PM. We had several communications that day, and were in touch over the next days.
Ciro's twitching slowed down around 6PM, but she was making little noises with almost every breath. She was very weak and was leaning/falling on the right side. I kept trying to feed her that egg mixture, few bites of grapes and some mashed carrot. By 9-10PM the twitching finally stopped. That's around 15 hours.
I made a little fort with kitchen towels for her in the bottom of the cage, put all her food bowls around it, and another towel on the top. I placed the cage next to me overnight. She was calm but completely exhausted and was just laying down.
I was exhausted too.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Day Trip To Brenham
This Saturday I went with few friends to Brenham. Now, there is not much going on in Brenham. It's a small town on HW 290, halfway to Houston, with population of just 13,507 (2000 Census).
But we managed to have a good time.
First, I loved it that we didn't have to leave early. We met at noon, so I was able to have an easy Saturday morning.
The main purpose of the trip was a winery tour and tasting that couple of people in the group won at an auction. It was for Pleasant Hill winery, which is a fairly small operation. The owner, Bob Cottle, gave us the tour of the vineyard, explained the soil, differences in grapes, and the history as we sipped chilled vino blanco under the blazing hot sun. There was just a little breeze in the air, and I managed to get sunburn in just those 15ish minutes.
The tour continued in the cellar, a 64F COOL cellar! Oh, yeah! No one rushed to get out of there! We tasted their Cabernet Sauvignon directly from the barrel and heard ins-and-outs of wine making. The entire tour took almost 1.5 hours and we hang around there until about 4 PM.
Next we went to see miniature horses! There were Franciscan Poor Clare Nuns who had a monastery until just a month ago. Now I think there is another order there and the horses are being sold. They were so cute! We fed them and pet them, and took lots of pictures.
The gps was not helping us find one place for dinner someone has recommended to us. I guess Brenham is changing faster than gps can catch up. So, we ended up at K-Bob's Steakhouse, which was just as good!
Good times!
But we managed to have a good time.
First, I loved it that we didn't have to leave early. We met at noon, so I was able to have an easy Saturday morning.
The main purpose of the trip was a winery tour and tasting that couple of people in the group won at an auction. It was for Pleasant Hill winery, which is a fairly small operation. The owner, Bob Cottle, gave us the tour of the vineyard, explained the soil, differences in grapes, and the history as we sipped chilled vino blanco under the blazing hot sun. There was just a little breeze in the air, and I managed to get sunburn in just those 15ish minutes.
The tour continued in the cellar, a 64F COOL cellar! Oh, yeah! No one rushed to get out of there! We tasted their Cabernet Sauvignon directly from the barrel and heard ins-and-outs of wine making. The entire tour took almost 1.5 hours and we hang around there until about 4 PM.
Next we went to see miniature horses! There were Franciscan Poor Clare Nuns who had a monastery until just a month ago. Now I think there is another order there and the horses are being sold. They were so cute! We fed them and pet them, and took lots of pictures.
The gps was not helping us find one place for dinner someone has recommended to us. I guess Brenham is changing faster than gps can catch up. So, we ended up at K-Bob's Steakhouse, which was just as good!
Good times!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Mockingbirds
This little family has built a home in the crape myrtle tree next to my house. I see the mom mockingbird always somewhere near around. She gets a bit nervous if I spend too much time around the tree. I saw her even chaise a squirrel that got a bit too close!I am always amazed how well they build the nests. They have some clear plastic bag/wrapping paper there, and I have no idea what that black mash-like pieces are.
Last time I looked, couple of weeks ago, three bluish, speckled eggs were there. I checked on the nest today, and these little ones were asleep. It was so funny when with just one little movement of the branches I made, they transform into these orange pits. :) Their little bellies, visible through the transparent skin, don't seem to be very full. Momma, better get back to the feeding!
I love their songs. It's as if they are always trying to invent beautiful new melodies. Now, there will be three more in that choir!
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