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Mockingbird!
Jun. 25th, 2006 05:57 pmErm. Not a lot happened today outside of bird stuff.
As far as bird stuff goes, though, a few things happened.
When I woke up in the morning at about 7:30 AM, I noticed the grosbeak was really listless and didn't want to eat or even look at me. So, I thought "Eh, he's either a) stressed out, or b) sick." I decided to see if he wanted to eat in another half hour before I got worried. Well, a couple of hours passed, he still refused to eat (and even wouldn't even let me force feed him) and he went from bad to worse. He was sitting on the perch for much of the morning, but then he went down to the ground and was standing there instead of the perch, eyes closed, fluffed up. That was when I really started thinking "Something's really wrong with this guy." So, I gave Jacqui a call and discussed his condition. We thought out the possibilities, and eventually ruled that it was probably cat scratch fever.
Now, there is one good thing and one bad thing about cat scratch fever. The good thing is if you get some antibiotics in them early, they usually make it just fine. The bad thing is if you don't get the antibiotics in them by 24-36 (sometimes 48) hours after the scratch occurred, there's not a lot you can do. They gradually weaken and die within three days.
I decided to try my best to get some antibiotics and food down him, but when I got off the phone and checked on him (I moved him to another room while I was on the phone in case he's diseased) and discovered he was lying down, quite limp. I picked him up and tried prying his beak open, but it took a while because he was clenching it shut for some reason, squirted some antibiotics in his mouth, and then worried about getting some good in him. He didn't swallow most of it, and didn't fight the second time, so I started thinking "This guy isn't going to make it..." So, I held him in my hand for a little while so he could be warm and cozy, sat there silently, and wished him a good passing. He died about fifteen seconds later like that. It's really weird--I can tell when a bird is going to die soon because when you pick them up, they feel much lighter than a healthy bird would be, regardless of how or why they're going die, and regardless of their usual weight. I don't know why that is, but it always seems to work.
I gave Jacqui a call and told her he died, and we discussed cat scratch fever a little more. We think it had been three days since he had been scratched, so even if I gave him antibiotics the moment I got him, he still wouldn't have made it. Poor guy.
I recover from bird deaths pretty fast (no tears, no lamenting, just quick "Well, I did what I could..." to myself), so I just wrapped him up, stuck him in the freezer (we do this with all dead birds a) for a necropsy, b) for records purposes, and c) as raptor food, as callous as that may sound), disinfected his cages and such, and moved on.
For a while I played the Haruhi game on the computer. I managed to beat all three levels on the demo version, so that made me happy. It's such a cute little game. XD; If anyone wants the URL, just ask and I'll hunt it up for you. It's in Japanese, but easy enough to figure out. Plus, I can give you instructions.
After that, I watched Negima for a little while, simply because it was On Demand and I like to watch a little of everything just to say I can watch it and judge it for myself. It was pretty bad. XD;; Really bland animation, usual cheesy dub, NO PLOT, and it was just generally absolutely boring. The only part I liked was the dancing weasel thing in the credits. I stopped spreading butter on my bread to watch the weasel thing dance.
Becky gave me a call and asked if I'd babysit and/or keep her mockingbird fledgling, and I accepted, so I gave her directions to my house.
I went and watered the chickens, checked on the guinea pigs, walked the dogs, fed the birds, etc., and just as I was feeding the birds again, Becky showed up.
Awww, the mockingbird is adorable! He's got a speckled belly and he's a total rascal. He keeps trying to get out of his basket and nearly succeeding. That, and he's only been here for a little over an hour but he's already mimicking the chickadees. XD;; What a silly little bird.
Mom's talking about getting a peacock or two because there are ten free ones in the paper. We also might get some guinea fowl, so we'll end up with a bunch of odd birds if we do get any of these guys. Well, if we get them any day it'll be tomorrow.
I guess that's all I have to say for now. :P
As far as bird stuff goes, though, a few things happened.
When I woke up in the morning at about 7:30 AM, I noticed the grosbeak was really listless and didn't want to eat or even look at me. So, I thought "Eh, he's either a) stressed out, or b) sick." I decided to see if he wanted to eat in another half hour before I got worried. Well, a couple of hours passed, he still refused to eat (and even wouldn't even let me force feed him) and he went from bad to worse. He was sitting on the perch for much of the morning, but then he went down to the ground and was standing there instead of the perch, eyes closed, fluffed up. That was when I really started thinking "Something's really wrong with this guy." So, I gave Jacqui a call and discussed his condition. We thought out the possibilities, and eventually ruled that it was probably cat scratch fever.
Now, there is one good thing and one bad thing about cat scratch fever. The good thing is if you get some antibiotics in them early, they usually make it just fine. The bad thing is if you don't get the antibiotics in them by 24-36 (sometimes 48) hours after the scratch occurred, there's not a lot you can do. They gradually weaken and die within three days.
I decided to try my best to get some antibiotics and food down him, but when I got off the phone and checked on him (I moved him to another room while I was on the phone in case he's diseased) and discovered he was lying down, quite limp. I picked him up and tried prying his beak open, but it took a while because he was clenching it shut for some reason, squirted some antibiotics in his mouth, and then worried about getting some good in him. He didn't swallow most of it, and didn't fight the second time, so I started thinking "This guy isn't going to make it..." So, I held him in my hand for a little while so he could be warm and cozy, sat there silently, and wished him a good passing. He died about fifteen seconds later like that. It's really weird--I can tell when a bird is going to die soon because when you pick them up, they feel much lighter than a healthy bird would be, regardless of how or why they're going die, and regardless of their usual weight. I don't know why that is, but it always seems to work.
I gave Jacqui a call and told her he died, and we discussed cat scratch fever a little more. We think it had been three days since he had been scratched, so even if I gave him antibiotics the moment I got him, he still wouldn't have made it. Poor guy.
I recover from bird deaths pretty fast (no tears, no lamenting, just quick "Well, I did what I could..." to myself), so I just wrapped him up, stuck him in the freezer (we do this with all dead birds a) for a necropsy, b) for records purposes, and c) as raptor food, as callous as that may sound), disinfected his cages and such, and moved on.
For a while I played the Haruhi game on the computer. I managed to beat all three levels on the demo version, so that made me happy. It's such a cute little game. XD; If anyone wants the URL, just ask and I'll hunt it up for you. It's in Japanese, but easy enough to figure out. Plus, I can give you instructions.
After that, I watched Negima for a little while, simply because it was On Demand and I like to watch a little of everything just to say I can watch it and judge it for myself. It was pretty bad. XD;; Really bland animation, usual cheesy dub, NO PLOT, and it was just generally absolutely boring. The only part I liked was the dancing weasel thing in the credits. I stopped spreading butter on my bread to watch the weasel thing dance.
Becky gave me a call and asked if I'd babysit and/or keep her mockingbird fledgling, and I accepted, so I gave her directions to my house.
I went and watered the chickens, checked on the guinea pigs, walked the dogs, fed the birds, etc., and just as I was feeding the birds again, Becky showed up.
Awww, the mockingbird is adorable! He's got a speckled belly and he's a total rascal. He keeps trying to get out of his basket and nearly succeeding. That, and he's only been here for a little over an hour but he's already mimicking the chickadees. XD;; What a silly little bird.
Mom's talking about getting a peacock or two because there are ten free ones in the paper. We also might get some guinea fowl, so we'll end up with a bunch of odd birds if we do get any of these guys. Well, if we get them any day it'll be tomorrow.
I guess that's all I have to say for now. :P
