MyAG scared of me

[Kikumpenzi]

I have had my AG for 7 years. He thinks I’m his mate, trusts me fully and we have a very close bond. Recently he got an infection and I have been giving him meds twice a day. I was worried he would become scared of me but it has been mostly fine although he is a little more hesitant to step up on me from his cage because he knows I have to give him meds.

Today after bringing him to the vet to check on the infection, he fell and started bleeding from his beak. I rushed him back but I was panicked because he was losing blood so things were chaotic. At the vet they stopped the bleeding and gave him an anti-inflammatory injection in his stomach, during I left the room because he was screaming and doing a deep wurring sound and it pained me to hear him. I brought him home thinking we would spend the day together calmly, but as soon as I got home and put him on his perch he was scared. I tried to put him back in his cage because it’s the safest place but he was flapping his wings (can’t fly) jumped off and was running around the floor screaming and trying to hide. I was at that point trying to get him in a towel to put him in his cage. I eventually gave up and now left him hiding in the bathroom. I put food and water but I am so scared that he won’t let me pick him up. I still have to give him meds for another 10 days. I am so nervous. Does anyone have suggestions for how I can rebuild trust with him? I’m worried that him being stressed/ scared of me while sick will make everything more difficult but also make him deteriorate. Please help

 

[Cottonoid]

You both must be so worried and have had a really hard day!

Maybe today you can sit in the bathroom with him and just read or watch something on a phone, so that you're just hanging out calmly near him without doing anything.

You could also talk to him and tell him all the things you shared here, that you were scared too but now you want to help him feel better. And that you know he doesn't like it, and you don't like doing it either, but getting medication is part of feeling better.

I've never had a grey, but I feel like 7 years of trust won't be completely undone by the recent medical needs and scary events, even if he wants to avoid anything that hurts or is unpleasant.

It's so hard when they cry out like that, isn't it?! It's hard for me to stay calm and happy about what I have to get done when my parrot is running around the floor screaming like I'm trying to eat him but I know that as soon as I'm also anxious and feeling bad, he gets even more scared. So I do try to just talk out loud the whole time and stay positive and explain why I'm doing everything.

If he lets you give his medication ok today, make sure to give him lots of praise and yummy treats afterward if those are things he normally likes. If he doesn't let you, maybe toweling him is what you'll need to do for now to keep him safe?

Hopefully someone with more experience than me has some good ideas!

 

[texsize]

This is a hard situation and one of my biggest fears with/for my CAG.

 

[wrench13]

How is he doing today?

 

[Kikumpenzi]

You both must be so worried and have had a really hard day!

Maybe today you can sit in the bathroom with him and just read or watch something on a phone, so that you're just hanging out calmly near him without doing anything.

You could also talk to him and tell him all the things you shared here, that you were scared too but now you want to help him feel better. And that you know he doesn't like it, and you don't like doing it either, but getting medication is part of feeling better.

I've never had a grey, but I feel like 7 years of trust won't be completely undone by the recent medical needs and scary events, even if he wants to avoid anything that hurts or is unpleasant.

It's so hard when they cry out like that, isn't it?! It's hard for me to stay calm and happy about what I have to get done when my parrot is running around the floor screaming like I'm trying to eat him but I know that as soon as I'm also anxious and feeling bad, he gets even more scared. So I do try to just talk out loud the whole time and stay positive and explain why I'm doing everything.

If he lets you give his medication ok today, make sure to give him lots of praise and yummy treats afterward if those are things he normally likes. If he doesn't let you, maybe toweling him is what you'll need to do for now to keep him safe?

Hopefully someone with more experience than me has some good ideas!

Thank you for your empathy. I wasn’t able to give him his meds that night. Yesterday I did in the morning and evening, but this morning we’re back to the wurring sound. As soon as he started that I let him go back to his cage, without the meds, which was probably a bad decision in retrospect. I just couldn’t bear for him to freak out like that again. He won’t step up on me anymore… I can’t express to you the emotional and mental pain I am feeling. I just want him to be better but I know that’s not possible without the meds…