Before I scare you all with my story of this evening, I should tell you that Tumi is currently nestled with his tissue girlfriends in his sleeping cage.
This evening, Tumi and I were hanging out eating. He was throwing his mash everywhere and I was eating a bit of food before I would go to make a sandwich in the kitchen. When he had eaten his fill, we walked to the kitchen and I placed him on his cage right beside the kitchen because I don't let him in the kitchen even with nothing cooking. Nothing was hot, and he protested, so I set him on TOP of his cage not inside. I was about four feet away making my sandwich when he decided that he had had enough with waiting and took off flying across the apartment, and slammed into my window! I had a horrible moment when I spotted him, dazed and looking like he must have at least broken a wing. I ran to him, scooped him up, frantically found the wire carrier and frantically called his vet. His vet told me that there were no vets there at the moment, so they gave me the address and number of the emergency vet in the area. I grabbed my purse and car keys and jumped into the car to find the place, driving with the wire carrier on my lap because the passenger seat seemed too far away. He was not looking good, and I was convinced that he must have broken his left wing at least. On the drive there, he started to calm down a bit as I sang to him his little song that I've sung to him since he was a little guy, and started to chirp a bit. By the time we were almost there, he was asking for scritches, which I provided. When we got there, they took him into the back without me for the exam (NOTE TO VETS: DON'T SEPARATE THE HUMAN FROM THE ANIMAL! IT IS ONLY STRESSFUL FOR ALL INVOLVED!). They finally came out to talk to me, telling me that there weren't any apparent fractures but he started panting during the exam so they had him in the oxygen cage. The vet (not an avian vet, btw, but the emergency vet is the emergency vet and they are much better than no care) said they wanted to treat him like a head trauma case and keep him overnight, but that everything is very stressful and stress is very dangerous for little birds. She brought me back to see him, and I could tell that he didn't like the room and that the room wasn't a calming bird environment. We went back to an exam room together to see if he was well enough to come home to me, and while he isn't 100%, he was MUCH calmer and happier with me. I decided that it would be safest for him to come home with me, and so he is sleeping in his sleeping cage while I sit nearby. The vet sent me home with Metacam for him, and told me to give him his first dose at home (Tumi managed to bite the assistant, so I don't think they know how to deal with a parrotlet without getting bit). Of course, we entered my bedroom for bedtime, I let him out of his carrier, and HE TOOK OFF FLYING to my bed like it was a normal night and he would just do the normal bedtime "I don't wanna go!". I gave him his meds and put him to bed with millet within easy beak reach. Hopefully he will be okay in the morning, but the idea of him in the ICU room of an emergency vet that sees all species just wasn't going to work, and they only thing they could do for him would be oxygen. I decided that normal air and calm was better than oxygen and stress for him. Hopefully it was the right call, and the bedtime escape attempt was definitely a good sign. Now I'm off to put a hot water bottle beside his cage to make it warmer for him. And as soon as he is completely recovered, he is losing those flight feathers. I can't ever do that again.
This evening, Tumi and I were hanging out eating. He was throwing his mash everywhere and I was eating a bit of food before I would go to make a sandwich in the kitchen. When he had eaten his fill, we walked to the kitchen and I placed him on his cage right beside the kitchen because I don't let him in the kitchen even with nothing cooking. Nothing was hot, and he protested, so I set him on TOP of his cage not inside. I was about four feet away making my sandwich when he decided that he had had enough with waiting and took off flying across the apartment, and slammed into my window! I had a horrible moment when I spotted him, dazed and looking like he must have at least broken a wing. I ran to him, scooped him up, frantically found the wire carrier and frantically called his vet. His vet told me that there were no vets there at the moment, so they gave me the address and number of the emergency vet in the area. I grabbed my purse and car keys and jumped into the car to find the place, driving with the wire carrier on my lap because the passenger seat seemed too far away. He was not looking good, and I was convinced that he must have broken his left wing at least. On the drive there, he started to calm down a bit as I sang to him his little song that I've sung to him since he was a little guy, and started to chirp a bit. By the time we were almost there, he was asking for scritches, which I provided. When we got there, they took him into the back without me for the exam (NOTE TO VETS: DON'T SEPARATE THE HUMAN FROM THE ANIMAL! IT IS ONLY STRESSFUL FOR ALL INVOLVED!). They finally came out to talk to me, telling me that there weren't any apparent fractures but he started panting during the exam so they had him in the oxygen cage. The vet (not an avian vet, btw, but the emergency vet is the emergency vet and they are much better than no care) said they wanted to treat him like a head trauma case and keep him overnight, but that everything is very stressful and stress is very dangerous for little birds. She brought me back to see him, and I could tell that he didn't like the room and that the room wasn't a calming bird environment. We went back to an exam room together to see if he was well enough to come home to me, and while he isn't 100%, he was MUCH calmer and happier with me. I decided that it would be safest for him to come home with me, and so he is sleeping in his sleeping cage while I sit nearby. The vet sent me home with Metacam for him, and told me to give him his first dose at home (Tumi managed to bite the assistant, so I don't think they know how to deal with a parrotlet without getting bit). Of course, we entered my bedroom for bedtime, I let him out of his carrier, and HE TOOK OFF FLYING to my bed like it was a normal night and he would just do the normal bedtime "I don't wanna go!". I gave him his meds and put him to bed with millet within easy beak reach. Hopefully he will be okay in the morning, but the idea of him in the ICU room of an emergency vet that sees all species just wasn't going to work, and they only thing they could do for him would be oxygen. I decided that normal air and calm was better than oxygen and stress for him. Hopefully it was the right call, and the bedtime escape attempt was definitely a good sign. Now I'm off to put a hot water bottle beside his cage to make it warmer for him. And as soon as he is completely recovered, he is losing those flight feathers. I can't ever do that again.