Blog Archives

I'm Recovering!

10/30/2013

Hi everybody, it's Ollie here. I wanted to update the blog myself so I could thank each and every one of you for your care and concern while I've been recuperating from my illness this past week. Kidney infections suck, but thankfully the antibiotic is working and I'm recovering. I'm eating, singing, and more energetic each day. Hooray!

The antibiotic is yukky, but it does seem to be helping a lot. I'm getting better and stronger each day. I should finish it in a couple of days, and that will be good.

Thanks again to all of you here and on Twitter for your prayers, winghugs, care, concern, and checking in. I really appreciate it. You're all such great friends! We'll certainly keep you posted.

I hope you have a great end of the week and a wonderful weekend.

Luv,

Ollie

Scary Movies

10/27/2013

They don't make scary movies like they used to. They're all blood, guts, and gore these days. Ugh, who wants that? I like the older movies with a psychological twist to them. Things like The Shining (which daddy is watching now, and is distracting mommy quite a lot) and the old Halloween movies. Sure, Michael Myers stabs people, but they're stupid people. And the question is, why does he stab the people he stabs? They all have a connection to his messed up family. Mommy and daddy also like Salem's Lot, but that's impossible to find on video. Now that was a vampire movie!

Okay, I have to admit that there's another reason why I like Halloween. It means the holidays are next! Thanksgiving and then my all time favorite - Christmas! And then my birthday on December 31. Mommy and daddy get more days off work in November and December, and there's so much fun and celebration. Food, family, friends, and fun. What more could a bird want?

And in other news, Ollie is improving. He was one sick bird on Tuesday, but he's better today. His appetite is up, and he's much more active than he was before. There's still room for improvement, but he's halfway through his antibiotic and is showing good progress. Considering it's a kidney infection, it's going to take more time than my sinus infection took. But he's plugging along really well. And he's fighting that medication like a champ. Mommy still gets it in him, but he's giving her more of a run for it every day. Go Ollie!

Finally, my cozy corner is back! Mommy found it stuck in her pants on Thursday. Silly mommy.

That's all for today. I hope you all have a great week.

Luv,

Zack

Update

10/24/2013

Hi everybody, it's Chloe here with an update on life in our nest.

First up is Ollie. He's slowly improving and seems to be getting stronger each day. He's moving about easier, and his energy is increasing. It's hard to tell if he's eating more overall - it didn't look like he ate much while the parronts were at work, but he has eaten more tonight, which pleased mommy. He's also singing a little more too. He still needs plenty of rest, but he isn't sleeping as much. We know he's adjusting to the medication, but it's obviously helping. We do appreciate your care and concern, and will certainly keep you updated on his progress.

So keep Ollie in your prayers. We hope he'll recover as well as Zack has.

Zack, by the way, is magnificent. He's definitely made a full and complete recovery. And the mystery of the missing cozy corner is solved. Mommy found it stuck in the leg of her grey pants this morning. That's odd, because she checked those pants twice last week and no cozy corner turned up, but today - whoop, there it is. Zack was very pleased.

As for me, I'm just trying to keep my eye on everybody. Mommy is recovering from her infection, and daddy is doing good. Both of them are still busy at work, of course - that's normal, but they're okay.

Thanks again to all of you for being such great friends. We'll keep you posted on Ollie's progress, and on all of the adventures here as well.

Have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a great weekend.

Luv,

Chloe

Ollie Update

10/22/2013

Hi all, it’s Sherri (mommy) here. I’m blogging for the birds to give you an update on Ollie. I was getting ready to leave for work this morning and noticed that he was dragging his left foot behind him, and seemed to be in pain. I called the vet, and they said to bring him in, as they’re booked all week but wanted to see him.

I’m glad I went. The vet weighed him, and he lost 5 grams since his check up. That alarmed the vet more than the leg. He checked Ollie out and said that there’s no leg or foot injury at all. It turns out that the kidney sits on the nerve to the left leg, and it’s infected.

Of course, I freaked out, but the vet assured me that I caught it early. There’s no tumor or physical damage, and he said this can be cleared up with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medication. He gave Ollie a shot and put him on 0.06 cc’s of Baytril for 10 days, starting tomorrow. He also recommended helping Ollie stay still as much as possible to avoid discomfort. We’ve reconfigured his perches so he won’t need to move around so much until he feels better.

I sure am glad I noticed Ollie limping this morning, because an infection never crossed my mind! So friends, please be sure to keep a close eye on your birds. If they seem to be sleeping more, injured, not as active, or just acting out of sorts, get it checked out ASAP. Don’t wait! Birds hide illness, and by the time you notice they’re sick, they could have been ill for days. They’re so small that illness can hit hard and fast. But being small means that the treatment works pretty quick, too.

We’ll certainly keep you posted on Ollie’s progress, here and through Twitter. He’s getting great treatment and right now, we just want him to get plenty of rest. I’ve had a kidney infection – those suckers hurt and wear you out!

Thanks for being such great friends, and for your care and concern.

Luv,

Sherri (mommy)

The Mystery of the Missing Cozy Corner

10/20/2013

We have a real, live mystery here at our nest these days. Late last week as mommy was completing her fall housecleaning, she decided to wash our cozy corners with her late week laundry. Those are cloth strips that tie in a corner of the cage, and you can snuggle it. Zack and I love ours (Ollie rejected his and mommy took it out of his cage). They're nice and warm, and I enjoy sleeping against mine.

Well, she put both of ours in the wash, but only mine came out. We can't find Zack's cozy corner anywhere. It's a real mystery, because she put them in the load last, so she knows they went in. But his never came out. The parronts have looked all over the house - they even dug through the trash! But it's not anywhere. We have no idea what happened to it. And as you can see in the picture here, I even caught a ride to look around for it, and came up with bumkis. Nothing. Poor Zack.

Zack has another cozy corner, which is fortunate because mommy went to the store the next day and they had absolutely NONE in stock. She it's a cozy corner conspiracy. Daddy thinks she's silly and it will turn up - but, she argues (with a good point), if we've looked all over and it's gone from here to absolutely nowhere, then where is it? There's no place on the realm of the physical world where it exists in this house, at least. She thinks a demon stole it, just to piss her off, because everybody knows our parronts are the most organized people in the world and it's extremely rare (and frustrating) for anything to get lost.

I don't know. Daddy thinks it will turn up eventually, and Zack is holding out the same hope. He doesn't bear a grudge - he's too goodhearted for that - but he still won't snuggle up with the new corner, for fear that the old one will turn up and accuse him of cheating. I guess. But it's been 4 days now and still no sign of it ANYWHERE.

It really is a mystery. I have no idea what could have happened to it. Of all the things I've seen from the aviary to here, this is truly the strangest.

That's all for today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope you have a good start to the new week.

Luv,

Chloe

Fall Housecleaning

10/16/2013

Mommy and daddy have been working hard to clean the house the past
couple of weeks! Daddy went out in the yard to clean up, rake, trim branches, digging up weeds, and do some watersealing on the back steps outside. Mommy’s been scrubbing the kitchen and bathrooms, cleaning the floors, dusting and polishing furniture, tidying up the house, and giving our cages a good clean up. The house looks (and smells) really good! They call it their “fall housecleaning,” and I like it!

I’ve heard humans say that they’re either the cooking or the cleaning type. Our parronts are definitely the cleaning type. The house is always neat as a pin. They’re good about keeping it clean and organized. Even Ollie and I are pretty clean, when it comes to birds. We try to keep our “messes” localized to one spot. Chloe, on the other hand, doesn’t mind some mess. She’ll throw some seed on the floor of her cage on purpose just to make a little mess. It drives mommy crazy, especially when Chloe gives a good shovel right after mommy finishes a cleaning and takes the trash out. It’s amusing to watch mommy whale “no, sweetheart!!” as the seed goes flying. Cage cleaning night is also comedy night in our home.

Do your parronts like to cook or clean? Or are they better balanced (some would call it “sane”) and do they do a bit of both? Watch them to find out. It can be interesting – and quite amusing!

That’s all today. Take care and have a great rest of the week.

Luv,

Zack

Daddy's New Adventure!

10/13/2013

Daddy is embarking on a new adventure: YouTube! He's been working with his moviemaker software and has created several cute, funny videos of us birdies. You can check him out on the Rick Moorer channel.

Mommy thinks it's great. She says there's too much online about bad things like animal cruelty and abuse - I think the constant posts (especially on Facebook) about animals about to be euthanized at various shelters really bothers her. Bad stories spread and good stories stall. She thinks it's outstanding that there are so many people and parrots on Twitter that are committed to the best care for birdie buddies.

And it's true. There are a lot of people out there that take great care of their pets, and they need more notice online. Social media is good for connecting us to share stories and advice, but it's also great to show the world the right way to care for your pets. Let's show the world what's right! We need more cute videos, websites and blogs like this, and all the friends on social media we can get to show it's not all cruelty and darkness. There's a lot of good happening too, and countless places where birds and humans live in harmony.

So if you want a smile, check out daddy's channel! Bookmark this website, or follow us on twitter - we're @wazzupzack and @ChloeConure. There's plenty of fun, shenanagins, and silliness to go around!

That's all today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope you have a great week.

Luv,

Chloe

I Can't Win

10/10/2013

I must be having a run of bum luck, because I can't win. After going through sleep deprivation with the church up the road having a big to-do over their annual family fun night and all night bar-b-que last weekend, mommy drug me to the vet for a follow up visit in my infection. I got a clean bill of health and then guess what happened the next day - I started my fall molt! Of all the rotten luck! I get rid of an infection, and then it's time to change the coat for the upcoming winter.

Well, crap!

At least I'm not alone. Chloe is finishing her molt. We usually molt close together, but not at the same time. This is the first time our molts have overlapped. The house has gold feathers everywhere, and that's not an exaggeration. At least Ollie got his molt over with last month. He always molts about a month before we do. I'm not sure why.

The parronts are trying to be good to us. They let us get more rest, feed us well, and keep us clean. They spend a lot of time with us too. I suppose it all works out. We try to comfort them when they don't feel good, and now we appreciate that they're trying to comfort us. Mommy and daddy are good humans. We love them. I'm glad they don't have to go through molting. It's just switch from AC to heat and put on warmer clothes for them. They get one break, at least, and I suppose they deserve it because they're disgusting with their allergies and sinuses and acid reflux and all. Yuk!

That's all today. I hope you have a Happy Friday tomorrow and a good week. Take care.

Luv,

Zack

Follow Up Visit

10/7/2013

I had a follow up visit with the vet today to make sure my infection cleared up, and it has! He said I look good. I'm energetic, breathing well, and my eyes are bright. In fact, he said I'm one of the most energetic birds he's ever seen, and that I looked a lot better today than a few weeks ago!

Well, of course I look good, and I'm a ball of energy. Who wants to sit still when there's so much interesting stuff going on? Food to eat, toys to check out, things to pay attention to - there's no grass growing under my feet!

Mommy and daddy were glad to hear it. They wanted confirmation that all is well, so I submitted to the misery of the vet one more time to give them peace of mind. The only bad thing is that the McDonalds was still serving breakfast when we got out, so no French fries. Mommy said it didn't matter because I had one of their fries from Captain D's yesterday. Well, today is a different day. Yesterday's fry doesn't count. It's a new day and new day = new fry, right? Mommy might need to go back to college and retake her math again. Or maybe retake philosophy and get her logic straight.

That's all today. I hope you're all doing well. Take care, and have a great week!

Luv,

Zack

Quiet Again - Finally!

10/5/2013

Usually, it's pretty quiet where we live. There are a lot of woods around, and traffic is limited to typical times when people are heading to work or school, but usually isn't too bad even then. But once a year, in the fall, the church nearby holds a bar-b-que. It's a huge event - likely their major fundraiser of the year - and as such, they make a big "to do" over it. They start with a family fun night on Friday, then the men spend all night cooking up the bar-b-que in their large parking lot. It smells great, but there are two problems: it draws a lot of traffic, and they make a lot of noise. Especially on Friday night, with their music and PA system. Thank goodness they shut down at a decent hour, but it's still disrupting.

Thankfully, the event is over now, and it wasn't too bad. Still, we were a bit on edge last night and this morning from all of the noise, and traffic up the road. But it is good bar-b-que. And it's only once a year, so we can handle it. But I'm still glad it's over and it's quiet again - finally! Because their big Halloween pumpkin sale doesn't generate quite as much noise or traffic as the bar-b-que does. Or revenue, I'll bet :)

Oh well, Zack said it's still not as bad as Halloween in a neighborhood. He claimed the mooches rang the doorbell and pounded on the door wanting candy for hours. That sounds awful. I'm glad mommy and daddy moved away from there before they adopted me and Chloe. If it's that or putting up with a little noise from the annual family fun night and bar-b-que, I'll take fun night and bar-b-que.

That's all today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Luv,

Ollie

<<Previous