Dreamed I was at a conference, perhaps a vet conference. Couldn't find my car and while searching the parking lot came upon a truck with a box trailer. On the trailer was a cage with a tailless female cockatoo. The driver was a young man. With him was his wife and a young girl, perhaps 3 or 4 years old. Asked him where he was going and he said Idlewild out near Esk. Don't know whether there is an Idlewild near Esk but as it was very cold and the cage was uncovered I suggested it would be better for the bird if she was in the cab with them rather than exposed to high winds and freezing temperatures. Loose in the truck cab was a budgerigar and a cockatiel. The little girl was suddenly, as in the way of dreams, in the cage with the cockatoo, as was I. She poked the bird on the beak, quite savagely. I grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Turning to the man I gave him my card, one of the vet business cards, with my number scrawled on the back. Told him if he wanted to rehome the cockatoo to give me a ring. The poor bird was very nervous and agitated which explained why she'd removed her tail feathers.
Jack is very firm in not wanting to eat pellets. I went out a few minutes ago and ate some in front him, oohing and aahing about how delicious they were. He'd deign to take it in his mouth but he wouldn't bite down, wouldn't chew. We'll keep trying. He does get his fruit and veggies and at 3pm he gets seed (sans sunflower seed) so he's not doing without. Today is the first time I was able to reward him for lifting his head out of the attack stance. It is so obvious he'd have me if he could reach me. His head is lowered, level with his body, his eyes are beady and his stare obdurate. I held the spoon with tiny bit of almond and gave it to him when he relaxed his stance and lifted his head a little. Managed to do it again too - not that he's made the connection. I'm sure he hasn't. Just shows it's possible. It's interesting that when he was sick he was sweet and amenable. Now that he's well he's on for a stoush.
We wonder if Jack is Jackie for he's dug a nice shallow hole in the rear of the aviary and is lining it with chewed cardboard. Male cockatoos assist with nest building (or excavating as they use tree hollows) so perhaps it's not so odd that Jack is getting clucky. Saw Casuarina and Grevillea in flagrante delicto this morning...and they're both girls. Fern and Obama seem to have a love/hate relationship. It would be very good if they bonded. We don't want babies but it would be great if they formed a true relationship.
Two very hard days at work. Worry sometimes that I'll miss it, that I'll be lessened somehow by ithe absence of a job but then there are days like these and I realize I won't miss it at all. The exhaustion (fell into bed at 8:30 Monday) is one thing, but the sadness is another. We had a cat come in, had been attacked by 2 dogs, one of which was a staffie, most of its left front leg was chewed off at the shoulder, other injuries were less obvious but it's kidneys were swollen too. It was in so much pain Monday I wanted to put it to sleep. Despite pain relief, it was in agony. Woke up and worried about that cat, a very pretty, quite chubby black and white semi-longhair. Yesterday we amputated the leg. In one day it had festered and was starting to rot. I don't get too bothered with the usual stink of a vet surgery but this was rough. Never wear gloves to clip and scrub but I did yesterday. As it was I could still smell it on my hands. Anyway, we took the leg off, I cleaned him up as best I could where blood and dirt and dog spit had dried and we put him away. He was in obvious pain when I left last night and although I know it's hard, I no longer want to put him to sleep. If he can just bear this it will get better although K expects there will be some die-back as so much flesh had been crushed in the attack. His flesh looked like diced tuna when she opened him up. I know we do good work, do good things to make sick animals better but sometimes it is so hard to do. Sometimes I feel shell-shocked with what I see, what we have to do (blood samples from the vein in the neck of cats - I HATE that), that the means to an end can be such a difficult route.
No comments:
Post a Comment