Duncan tested negative for hyperthyroidism, so now we’re treating him for irritable bowel syndrome. If he responds well to the treatment, then that’s probably what he’s got. If not, we’ll be looking at lymphoma, which is a kind of cancer. (It killed my last cat, Flea, but he was 19 years old. Duncan’s only 11.)
I’m giving him an antibiotic/anti-inflammatory pill twice a day, and a B-12 injection once a week. So far he’s the Best Patient in the Whole Entire World. The vet warned me that the pills are very bitter and I should try to prevent him from actually chewing them because he’d never eat another one if he ever tasted one. But so far he’s had four of them, and he chews them up and swallows them like they’re treats. (I do wrap them in pill pockets first, but still.) As for the injection, he didn’t even flinch.
I think he’s feeling better, too. A bit happier. A bit sprier. Speaking of spry, check out this video. I was just recording it for the bird sounds (they love music), but I happened to catch some impressive Duncan action at about the one-minute-15-second mark.
I worry about that little bird sometimes. Usually he’s asking for it, but as you can see, sometimes he’s just minding his own business, eating the mail, and not pestering anybody.
You’d think the poor little guy would be petrified, living with predators, but he loves it. He’s a daredevil and a tease, and there’s nothing he likes better than the thrill of being stalked, hunted and chased. But one of these days, I fear his luck will run out.
He even brings out the predator in Rosie! She hasn’t lunged yet, but she stares at him so intently,. and she quivers with interest. Naturally this hasn’t escaped Oboe’s notice. He actually flies down and lands on the open door of her crate, and whistles at her.
We thought of getting a dog that could live with a couple of cockatiels, and had decided on a poodle. Our minds changed after the vet told us of a poodle/cockatiel household where everything had gone well for 5 years. But one day the owners came home and discovered only a few feathers were left of the birds.
We remain a two cockatiel household.
Good luck in your house.
Cara, do you know if the birds were in their cage at the time of the attack? I just assumed they were all relatively safe in their cages, especially if the cages are too big for the dog to knock over. I only let the birds out if I’m around to supervise, but as you can see, things can happen very quickly.
We had a fantastic dog, named Logan, who was with us for close to twenty years. Logan was kind and gentle, and was only ever aggressive once when a rabid fox who came into our yard, and a couple of fights with the dog down the street.
At one point, when we were living in the country, we had seven cats. Logan was protective of all of them. We even had a hamster at one point, and Logan would give it rides.
When we moved into my mom’s boyfriends (now husband of twenty+ years) place he had some birds — I don’t know what kind, but I’m pretty sure they were budgies. One of them liked to dive bomb Logan, sometimes even landing on his head.
Long story short: the bird disappeared after my parents went out for dinner one night and someone left the cage door open by mistake.
I think, if Logan had killed the bird, he wouldn’t have eaten it. So it’s possible the bird escaped into the outside somehow.
But once in a while Logan would snap at the bird, I even saw him do this thing with his head once where, once the bird was planted, he ducked, then raised his head quickly so the bird was off-balance, then snapped… it was close.
Short story shorter: dogs are dogs.
I can’t remember if the birds were in their cages most of the time. Our’s aren’t so that’s one of the reasons we decided against a dog. Recently, this was reinforced when we discovered that someone who offered to look after our birds had a dog that like to attack cages. (The woman realized her offer wasn’t such a good idea as she was telling us about her dog.)
Take care — and Oboe, too. :))