Friday, August 23, 2002 - Update from Heather

Dr. Welsh called to say that Gandy's preliminary lab results were back and his blood chemistry was normal with the exception of a slightly elevated liver enzyme value (only 2 pts above high-normal).  His blood chemistry is consistent with Gandalf's previous values.  We are still waiting for the results of the cultures, chlamydia, PBFD, and polyoma tests.  His weight is similar to his pre-loss weight, which means he was adept at finding food during his adventure.

Update from James

We noticed -after his bath last night- a dark ring and what looked like a rubbed area on his swollen right ankle. The dark material came off on my arm when he crawled up for a snuggle(not usual behavior), and was flaky and a bit sticky.

Maybe someone had him tethered for a time, and he worked free (A Grey wouldn't stay tied for long). Perhaps that's why he was only recently noticed flying loose in that area. A couple of weeks ago there was a 'for sale' ad in the paper for a Grey in that area, but we were nearly resigned to losing him, and didn't investigate it. Now, we wonder...

The young man who captured him said he would take a bit of food, then fly off without allowing contact. It was only when he offered a drink of water that he got close enough.

Last night Gandy (I'm sure now) indicated he wanted to be picked up, then stood on my arm and buried his head against my chest and just sat there, letting me cuddle him (this is not usual,either) with my hand over his body. He didn't move until I put him down perhaps 5 or 8 minutes later. Then after we settled, he got off the bedpost and came up to my face, demanding some head stroking. He became his usual nippy self ( I wasn't doing it just right) after about 5 or 8 minutes of that, and we all went to sleep.

After his bath, his feathers look much better.
His eyes are still hollow and haunted looking (see the pic).

Thursday, August 22, 2002 - Update from Heather

This is most undeniably our Gandalf. He hasn't said a word yet but I know it is him. He'll get around to talking when he feels like it. Heck, if he never talks again it's fine with me.

He already owns the house. He knows the house and the people and the other fids. He's a little put off by the other Grey and the pipsqueak bird and a couple of other changes we've made. He also has a new gesture - a wing movement that is a bit different.

He has the appetite of a horse and seems to be craving protein. I was cutting some beef for a crockpot stew for this evening and he flew over and tried to grab a piece of raw meat. I distracted him with a piece of cheese. He had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, grapefruit juice, pellets, apple juice, fresh carrots and peas. He also flew over to steal a chunk of new red potato from inside a bag.

Last night he settled down on the bedpost without comment and went straight to sleep.

He seems to accept that "his" cage is not "his" anymore. We have a bit of a dilemma about what to do about that. He or Cameron will get a new cage and a new location in the house. We're just not sure who and where that'll be. We may have some time. For now he seems to be content with sitting on top of a tabletop play gym which is set on top of a bookcase in the dining room. It's next to Sam's cage, which he's sort of been using. He really doesn't like Sam's cage, though, for the reasons I explained yesterday -- Sam is not his friend. And it's too small.

Heck, he hasn't been in a cage for four months - why would he want to be cooped up in one now?

Mostly, I'm letting him be. Letting him set the pace. Letting him explore and be who he needs to be right now.

He really likes James now. He's fine with me and has flown to my head a couple of times but he is very attracted to James. He always had a preference for men which I think stemmed from his breeder, who was male. He did deliver a sharp nip to James' ear this morning after one of the other birds got a bit too close.

He's a bit nippy but not aggressively or fearfully slow. I think it's a matter of being wild and having to live as a wild bird -- using his beak more to defend himself or stake his claim. It will be interesting to observe how this has changed him. He still seems detached and remote but it could be more a sense of him being extremely independent now. After four months of living on his own, he knows he's a bird and can fend for himself. I can hardly ask him to live in a cage full time and go back to being a clipped parrot.  We have some work ahead of us to balance our flock and deal with several flighted birds. But we are firm in our commitment that he remain as he is and be who he wants to be.

Thursday, August 29, 2002 - Update from Heather

A follow up article on Gandy's recovery will run in the San Jose Mercury News on Monday, September 2nd.

Gandy continues to improve.  He's been spending a lot of time preening and trying to put his feathers "right".  It's amazing how much better his feather condition is looking after a couple of baths and lots of preening sessions.  My thought is that he had no time to preen - too busy searching for food, and avoiding predators, and pursuing crows.

He's back to normal in one other way: he hates taking his medication.  The first few days we could get him to swallow the medication right from a syringe.  No more!  He now has to be toweled, which makes him complain bitterly.  Once he's in the towel he seems to realize that it's in his best interests to cooperate and take his medicine.  But we have to be careful to make sure he's not simply collecting it in his lower beak, only to shake his head and expel it as soon as he's released from the towel.

Cameron is still unhappy with Gandy's attentions, although he doesn't appear to be overly upset.  Gandy still wants to feed him, which Cam is not really thrilled with.

Cameron really likes his new cage and its prime real estate by the back window.  Gandalf is not very patient while in his cage.  If we're home he'd much rather be out flying around and investigating things.

Thursday, September 5, 2002 - Update from Heather

He is vocalizing quite a bit. I've noticed a definite increase over time in the amount he vocalizes. At first, these noises were strange and garbled but as time has gone by, they've become clearer.

For example, he has always made this sound that we call his "Mourning Dove on steroids" imitation. It's kind of a coo, with a rolling character to it, like he's rolling his R's.... e.g. RRRRRRRRuffles have RRRRRidges. This was one of the first sounds he made on arrival home but it sounded very peculiar. Now it's getting to be more and more what it used to sound like before he flew away.

This is his very own made up sound so it's not like he's hearing it from us (we can in no way reproduce this sound ourselves) and imitating us.

He was trying to say something last night that sounded like "Sybil"...maybe it was "silly". I don't know - I've always been terrible at understanding what he's saying until he gets it worked out and he's clear.

He did say Doh! (like Homer Simpson) a couple of nights ago - this was his remark for "Gee, that REALLY annoys me when you tell me no or stop me from doing something that is so much fun!". I was objecting
to his destruction of one of the suction cups on a PVC window perch.

His latest fun is standing on the window perch (a U-shaped piece of PVC that has suction cups at both ends of
the U), then prying one of the suction cups off the window. Of course, this results in one end of the perch dropping suddenly, at which point he leaps off and flies away. He is just fascinated in
this activity and has repeated it numerous times. This morning he went one step further - he was ready for the drop when it came and managed to stay one after which he pried the other suction cup away
and leapt clear when the whole thing came crashing to the counter.  This illustrates just how unafraid of falling he is now.

Monday, September 2, 2002 - Update from Heather

Gandalf is doing incredibly well.  He finished his course of medication for the yeast and bacterial today.  He is energetic, flying from room to room, and playing on his boing perch - hanging upside-down and screaming with enthusiasm.  His appetite remains good, with cheddar cheese his favorite treat as usual (he receives a small piece of cheese as a reward for taking his medicine).

He is still quite interested in Cameron but he has started to give Cameron a bit more space.  Cameron remains uncommitted at this point, sometimes showing interest in Gandalf while requesting "rescuing" from Gandy's attentions at other times.

Cameron really likes his new cage and its prime real estate by the back window.  Gandalf is not very patient while in his cage.  If we're home he'd much rather be out flying around and investigating things.

Gandalf has not started speaking yet.  Of course, we are on pins and needles waiting to hear whether he starts saying the words and phrases we remember.  He has made several sounds that are consistent with the "old" Gandy: the noise of our cordless phone buttons being pushed, a beeping noise that sounds like a truck backing up, his "mourning dove on steroids", and his kissing noises.

Last night he also played with me as he used to by gently grabbing my finger in his beak and putting his head down, which is an invitation to tickle his belly and wings while he beaks my fingers and makes kissing noises.

He remains firmly ensconced on our bedpost every night at bedtime.

Friday, September 6, 2002 - Update from Heather

Everything came back clear - the tests for chlamydia, PBFD, and polyoma were all negative. His culture grew Pasteurella, which is interesting because he has been treated twice in the past for the same bacteria. The last time was only a few weeks before he flew away.

All blood chemistry was within normal range except for a slightly elevated liver enzyme (two points above high normal range).

He goes back to the vet on September 17th for a recheck.

He was vocalizing a lot this morning - mostly whistles and yelling but I did hear some speech.  He was saying "OH!" and talking quietly practicing other words that were difficult to make out.

Friday, November 15, 2002 - Update from Heather

It's been a long time since I updated everyone on Gandy's recovery.  It's been three months since our boy returned home and a lot has happened.  Physically, he is doing very well.  His weight is up to 450 grams, his appetite is good, and he has been cleared completely of his pasteurella infection after two courses of antibiotics.  His feather condition is improving and he gradually molting his wing and tail feathers.  The missing feathers on the back of his neck, top of his head, and wing edges are mostly grown in.  His tail is still rather tattered but he appears to be growing in one or two new tail feathers.

He is very energetic and is enjoying flying through the house.  His favorite roosts are the wine rack in the kitchen, the boing perch in bedroom, and the lamp in the dining room (heartily discouraged!).  He decided a couple of weeks ago that he would rather sleep on the boing perch in our bedroom than on the bedpost.  We're not sure why but it may have something to do with James' accidentally knocking him from the bedpost one night ;-)

He is talking again but the words are all new.  He remembers little from his old vocabulary of 300 words.  He says "This is James!" mimicking James' answering the phone, he rings the phone and says "Hello", and he does a number of electronic beeps and noises.

He is rather amorous these days and will step up on my hand and fall over into a "swoon", dangling from my hand and demanding to be stroked.  A nip is delivered if strokes are not forthcoming.  It's impossible to get him off my hand when he is in this mood.  He simply dangles limply and usually has to be scraped off onto a perch or the sofa.

He is impossible with Cameron and does his best to make Cammy's life miserable.  He is not aggressive, unless Cammy rebuffs him.  He mostly pushes Cammy away from food bowls or shoves him off his perch.  Cameron has little use for Gandy and seems to prefer my attentions or the attention of the remarkably handsome Grey in the mirror.

To sum things up, Gandalf has emerged from his adventure a new bird.  He is self-confident, a graceful flyer, a boisterous, playful Grey, and an incredible companion.  James and I are so thankful every day to have him back.  He's definitely a handful and more challenging than ever before but he is alive in every way and that makes our hearts sing.