GraciesMom
New member
Hi all.. I’m new to registering but I have been a diligent lurker in the forum for the past month since Gracie a beautiful CAG has come into my life along with a pretty big suitcase of baggage.
Without knowing it you guys have helped Gracie & me tremendously.. Which we thank you for
Her history is basically non-existent. No band or paperwork – has had 2 homes in the past year (I’m the 3rd) and is supposedly 2 – 2 ½ years old. No vet records since no one ever took her to see one (I suspect older).
The problems reported to me were – won’t say any words (was squirted or “shh’d” for too much “noise”), doesn’t step up, won’t come in or out of cage, aggressive (especially towards women). I was also told “hey you can change “her” name “he” doesn’t really know it”. Hates water even water in a dish & doesn’t drink much at all.
The last owner had her for 10 months and didn’t even have her in a bird cage (he had one dismantled in storage for her though that I could have) it was a rabbit cage without perches so it could be lifted on and off for access. Gracie got a new big cage that she loves.
Her diet was peanuts (lots and lots of peanuts), seeds and whatever was for dinner (including McDonalds). Her favorite treat I was told was Fritos corn chips.
I wasn’t told any of this until I went to pick up and the owner started to come clean on a lot of the problems mostly because she was acting up right there & he wasn't able to handle her. It didn’t matter.. No way was I leaving her there a minute more.
Gracie & I have pretty much corrected all of the problems with simple time, trust, encouragement and confidence. Gracie talks.. and talks and talks in a month she is up to at least 25 words and she did know her name that was her first words “Gracie is a gooood girl?”. I’ll be honest I chocked up because it wasn’t a statement it was definitely a hesitate question. I had read somewhere on the forum that it was best to let her keep her name especially since it was all she really had in her life – I’m glad I did. I would have loved her even if she never said a word.
Gracie is not aggressive.. 3 homes had it wrong. Gracie was weak from poor diet and bad muscles. I noticed right away she was very wobbly and scared she’d be dropped I imagine, she’d bite to try and hold on – I let her until she was trusting me not to drop her (she doesn’t steady with her beak anymore). Constantly telling her I got you it’s ok and “clucking” at her with “step up” and telling her “easy” when she used her beak and I have yet to get bitten in an aggressive manner.
I’m a woman sooo much for the “hates women” statement. Comes in and out of cage and Pak o Bird easily. Even says “C’mere and get me” when she wants to move.
Hates water.. That is true … or was true until today. I tried the shower again only this time I showered and let her stay in it towards the back dry area. I did the normal talking and this is fun and in less than 5 minutes she was under me and playing in the water on my feet.
We exercise a lot.. climbing, flapping and this week she learned to turn over and hang upside down from my hand without holding on with her beak so we are doing birdie pull ups to help the muscle toning that the vet said had atrophied. Gracie didn’t really know how to perch in her cage – that didn’t get better until the second week when she got a bit stronger – now she’s an Olympian!
Diet has been trickier to correct & is still a work in progress. Gracie weighed only 297 grams when I got her. She also seems to have a bit of OCD when it comes to food & rejects most everything – by tossing it to the dog lol I am now familiar and have probably every veggie there is and keep going thru them over and over trying everything, different shapes etc. I have resorted to blending up leafy dark greens, pellets with a bit of organic juice and soaking the veggies that she will eat (carrots, peas and lima beans) which has worked. I have tried and retried a bunch of pellets all rejected. Constantly add new veggies to try. She is up to 421 grams.
So that was the good part.. Now for the bad. As I mentioned I did take Gracie to an avian vet I wanted a full work up.. whatever the doctor wanted to run & I thought as a baseline in case we needed it for any problems down the road. The doctor spent over 2 ½ hours examining Gracie and making her comfy with everything they did. She was upfront and based on Gracie’s past diet (fatty & unhealthy), poor muscle tone & inability to exercise even in a cage, lack of any sunlight & high urine output she is concerned that Gracie has liver and kidney disease/damage. I’ve been mulling this over for the past week waiting for the test results. The only thing I’ve gotten back was fecal is negative, no infections & Gracie is indeed a girl. Which the doctor was hoping she was a boy
Any advice on what I can do diet wise to help her or whats best to support the liver and kidneys? The vet says I’m doing everything I can and the usual things they’d say to change I'm already doing but I feel like i should be doing something .. anything. So what now and what does this mean for Gracie’s future?
I’m really sorry this is so long. I think I needed to tell her story and get it out of me to folks that have been there, done that and probably wrote the book. I really appreciate the outlet
ANY and ALL advice is very much appreciated.
Without knowing it you guys have helped Gracie & me tremendously.. Which we thank you for
Her history is basically non-existent. No band or paperwork – has had 2 homes in the past year (I’m the 3rd) and is supposedly 2 – 2 ½ years old. No vet records since no one ever took her to see one (I suspect older).
The problems reported to me were – won’t say any words (was squirted or “shh’d” for too much “noise”), doesn’t step up, won’t come in or out of cage, aggressive (especially towards women). I was also told “hey you can change “her” name “he” doesn’t really know it”. Hates water even water in a dish & doesn’t drink much at all.
The last owner had her for 10 months and didn’t even have her in a bird cage (he had one dismantled in storage for her though that I could have) it was a rabbit cage without perches so it could be lifted on and off for access. Gracie got a new big cage that she loves.
Her diet was peanuts (lots and lots of peanuts), seeds and whatever was for dinner (including McDonalds). Her favorite treat I was told was Fritos corn chips.
I wasn’t told any of this until I went to pick up and the owner started to come clean on a lot of the problems mostly because she was acting up right there & he wasn't able to handle her. It didn’t matter.. No way was I leaving her there a minute more.
Gracie & I have pretty much corrected all of the problems with simple time, trust, encouragement and confidence. Gracie talks.. and talks and talks in a month she is up to at least 25 words and she did know her name that was her first words “Gracie is a gooood girl?”. I’ll be honest I chocked up because it wasn’t a statement it was definitely a hesitate question. I had read somewhere on the forum that it was best to let her keep her name especially since it was all she really had in her life – I’m glad I did. I would have loved her even if she never said a word.
Gracie is not aggressive.. 3 homes had it wrong. Gracie was weak from poor diet and bad muscles. I noticed right away she was very wobbly and scared she’d be dropped I imagine, she’d bite to try and hold on – I let her until she was trusting me not to drop her (she doesn’t steady with her beak anymore). Constantly telling her I got you it’s ok and “clucking” at her with “step up” and telling her “easy” when she used her beak and I have yet to get bitten in an aggressive manner.
I’m a woman sooo much for the “hates women” statement. Comes in and out of cage and Pak o Bird easily. Even says “C’mere and get me” when she wants to move.
Hates water.. That is true … or was true until today. I tried the shower again only this time I showered and let her stay in it towards the back dry area. I did the normal talking and this is fun and in less than 5 minutes she was under me and playing in the water on my feet.
We exercise a lot.. climbing, flapping and this week she learned to turn over and hang upside down from my hand without holding on with her beak so we are doing birdie pull ups to help the muscle toning that the vet said had atrophied. Gracie didn’t really know how to perch in her cage – that didn’t get better until the second week when she got a bit stronger – now she’s an Olympian!
Diet has been trickier to correct & is still a work in progress. Gracie weighed only 297 grams when I got her. She also seems to have a bit of OCD when it comes to food & rejects most everything – by tossing it to the dog lol I am now familiar and have probably every veggie there is and keep going thru them over and over trying everything, different shapes etc. I have resorted to blending up leafy dark greens, pellets with a bit of organic juice and soaking the veggies that she will eat (carrots, peas and lima beans) which has worked. I have tried and retried a bunch of pellets all rejected. Constantly add new veggies to try. She is up to 421 grams.
So that was the good part.. Now for the bad. As I mentioned I did take Gracie to an avian vet I wanted a full work up.. whatever the doctor wanted to run & I thought as a baseline in case we needed it for any problems down the road. The doctor spent over 2 ½ hours examining Gracie and making her comfy with everything they did. She was upfront and based on Gracie’s past diet (fatty & unhealthy), poor muscle tone & inability to exercise even in a cage, lack of any sunlight & high urine output she is concerned that Gracie has liver and kidney disease/damage. I’ve been mulling this over for the past week waiting for the test results. The only thing I’ve gotten back was fecal is negative, no infections & Gracie is indeed a girl. Which the doctor was hoping she was a boy
Any advice on what I can do diet wise to help her or whats best to support the liver and kidneys? The vet says I’m doing everything I can and the usual things they’d say to change I'm already doing but I feel like i should be doing something .. anything. So what now and what does this mean for Gracie’s future?
I’m really sorry this is so long. I think I needed to tell her story and get it out of me to folks that have been there, done that and probably wrote the book. I really appreciate the outlet
ANY and ALL advice is very much appreciated.
