I’ll do whatever I have to!

I’m exhausted.  150% exhausted.  I’d like to go to sleep & sleep for many solid hours.  However, that’s impossible since there isn’t a single human in the house willing to take a night shift or watch over Kiwi closely.  So, I figured I’d write a rambling entry while I wait to head back to the vet in a bit.

Kiwi – a Green Cheek Conure – is sick.  So very sick.

When I realized this last night I immediately began looking for a vet that cares for birds & would do an appointment late on a Sunday night.  And I must say, my husband is such an idiot.  Are you really calling vets for a bird on a Sunday?  Ummmm, yeah, she won’t make it through the night without one.  It’s a bird?  Well, you’re a douche, go away.  You’re going to pay for an emergency vet for the BIRD?  Yeah, obviously, so either help me or go away.  He left mumbling about how he couldn’t believe I was paying for that & we couldn’t even afford it.

Excuse me.  You suck.  Yes, we can afford it just fine.  Money was the least of my worries.  I save MY money for a reason.  I can’t imagine not helping an animal that needs it.  Especially when I had the ability.  Sorry bird, I’ve taken care of you for five years.  I took you into my family.  But, now that you’re going to cost me a few hundred dollars you aren’t family anymore & can just die slowly & painfully through the night.  He did eventually go away & dropped it.  He was also smart enough not to ask me how much I paid last night.  He’d of hit the roof.  Oh well.  If I didn’t know I tried everything possible to save her I’d feel like a worthless human being forever.

He should be well aware of this all after Gator.  I spent thousands trying to save him & prolonging his life a few months.  And if there was something I could have done to still have him here I’d of done it.  No questions.  No amount of money.  I miss that dog with every ounce of my soul almost 18 months later.  It still hurts.  Horribly.  And the ONLY thing that gives me comfort is that I tried.  Somedays even that’s not enough to ease the pain.

So we got to the vet after an hour drive in the pouring, ready to begin freezing, rain at 8 p.m.  She looked her over.  She doesn’t weigh enough.  This means she’s likely been sick for a little while.  Birds hide their illness.  These is there defense mechanism.  In the wild, if they who they are sick or injured, they become easy prey.  So, they hide it.  And once you can tell they are sick.  They are very, very, very sick.  A week ago she’d lost some feathers.  It appeared a normal molt, but this could have been when the sickness began.  She was too lethargic.  Too weak.  Yet, there’s just no way to tell what was truly wrong with her.  We ruled out the horrible things – Egg bound, etc.  So, it could be a virus, a cold, something worse, something minor.  For real, there’s just no real way to tell.

She gave her an injection of antibiotics.  She also gave her a cocktail injection of fluids, nutrition, vitamins & some pain/anxiety relief.  This was a long shot.  She said if she perked up to call in the morning & she’d have me come back for more injections.  I asked if we could come for more injections if she didn’t perk up?  She said, well yes, but honestly, she expected her to either perk up or pass in the night.  🙁  She was very sorry she couldn’t give me more hope, but she was really bad off.  Yes, I know.  I was directed to keep the room at 80, to keep her warm & relaxed & if I was up for it to stay up for the night with her.  Of course I’m up for it.  She’s just like a human.  She thought there was a chance the meds could kick in about 2 a.m. if they were going to help.  I asked if I should feed her & she said I could continue to syringe water as I was but she probably wouldn’t want food.

And home we went.  I spent the entire night.  On the floor.  Next to the travel cage I set up to be a sick cage.  Praying for the best.  Preparing for the worst.  Amazingly at 11 she was suddenly hungry & thirsty.  She struggled to eat, but ate some.  Livened up just a little for a minute & then returned to lethargic.  She slept in the same spot from 1am – 7 am.  I know this because I woke up every half hour to check if she was breathing & warm enough.  At 7 I began to turn lights on to see if she’d wake up herself.  She did & amazingly wanted to eat & drink.

She’s still weak, she’s still very wobbly, she struggles to stand up & eat.  But, she can do it.  She’s seemed to get a little stronger throughout the morning & is even now sleeping on her favorite rope perch I put in the little cage.  I’m sure the vet is amazed she’s alive at all as I really felt like she was trying to let me down easy & expecting the worst.  We’re getting ready to head back in a few minutes for more injections.

I’m praying she pulls through.  She’s only 5 or so.  Far too young for a bird to die.  We’ll see.  I expect another sleepless night tonight.  I did order a heating block & heated perch to put in her cage so hopefully I can sleep better.  But with rush shipping it won’t even be here until tomorrow.  Better than nothing.

The husband has dropped commenting on my bird & my vet care.  Of course I’m doing everything possible to save her.  I wouldn’t settle for less.  However, if it was him I’d be okay if they just put him to sleep.  (Okay, not really, but what he thinks is good for others is good for him too, Right?)  I truly don’t understand why people wouldn’t save their pets.  I keep getting comments on facebook about how they wished everyone treated their animals like I do.  Ummm, hell, I often wish people treated their kids like I treat my animals.  But I truly believe when you get a pet that’s what you’re signing up for & if you aren’t willing you shouldn’t get one.  Pretty simple.

Alright, I better get my stuff together, warm up the car & get ready to go.  At the moment she just finished eating & drinking by herself & appears to be happily sleeping on her rope perch.  Yay.  This is huge progress.

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