Pets and their amazing bond [sad vanity]

FR ^ | 6/23/2025 | self

[logi_cal869]

I really don't know why I'm posting this. Perhaps it's just venting, or a lack of ears and a heavy sadness. Therapy, perhaps, or possibly a couple of beers.

My bird - African Gray, "Puffer" - had an event tonight just before I arrived home. I noticed immediately that something was wrong when I opened the door: He greeted me whenever I entered the room - morning & night - and serenaded me when I was out of the room. Despite the species' intelligence & strong vocabulary, his go-to word was "Hello" and he used it smartly. It was oddly silent this evening.

The wife segued into birds after our last of 3 dogs she brought into our lives over 20 years ago - Pandora, a 16 y/o German Shepherd - finally mandated a QOL decision. After getting our first rescue - another African Gray, "Lolita" - a couple of years prior, she'd encountered Puffer at a local bird shop whose owner ran her business out of her home. Whenever she entered the shop the wife said Puffer would go from sad to perky, tossing multiple "Hello"s at her.

She'd inquired and found out that Puffer's prior owner had passed away. Due to stress from the separation, he'd become a 'plucker' and had large bald areas on his chest and wings. A strange looking bird, indeed. Naive myself, I learned that African Grays can live for 80 years. Given the short joy and long sadness over our dogs, I understood the wife's motivation. Initially upset at the arrival of a 2nd large cage in our small house, he grew on me immediately. However, birds are slow to accept others, especially Grays. It took 2 years for him to accept me and eventually he bonded with me stronger than the wife.

Though we had no knowledge of his age - or confirmation of sex - I was convinced that he'd outlive me and already assured that he'd be able to visit me in my passed state so that he could hopefully process why I was gone (in contrast to at least one of his prior owners).

2 weeks ago he was 100% normal. A week ago he clearly had some sort of event which I quickly isolated to one of his feet. But he was back to normal in 2 days other than some tenderness in his right foot. He was eating and dancing for his nightly treat: A small piece of crunchy peanut butter Cliff bar. Even this morning, the only sign there was anything wrong was the lack of his high-pitched TWEET which accompanied his "hello" and lick of my forehead. But note the lack, I did.

I arrived home to find him nearly motionless, my wife stating that he was normal when she went outside and found him that way just prior to my coming in the door. She hadn't even had time to text/call me.

He was on the floor of his cage. His eyes were closed, he was totally limp but his tongue was extending out his opening/closing beak with labored, broken breathing. I picked him up in a towel, held him and stroked his head for nearly an hour believing he would pass shortly.

He did not. In fact, though his body was totally limp, he opened his eyes after seemingly reacting to my words but remained limp.

It just got a lot harder.

I had my wife call the emergency vet, handed him to her and he was much unchanged for the 20-minute drive until I hit the speed bumps in the clinic's parking lot: His eyes opened wide. No apparent pain, but still motionless. I stroked his head and spoke to him as I carried him into the clinic, ANGERED as a gal took him from me into the back "for vitals" by the vet and we weren't allowed to go with him.

They promptly - after about the longest 10 minutes of the past 20 years - brought him back to the room we'd been taken, eyes still open, perhaps a bit of fear. I stroked his head, told him one last time "nighty-night" and said goodbye.

[Albion Wilde]

Mrs. #1 was finally victorious and evicted the nest-breaker.

Wonder how thngs went between them afterward. Talk about your henpecked husband...

[Tymesup]

Words fail me. Peace to Puffer and you.

[redfreedom]

I find that very believable.