Valentino's well bird check up

Instead of waiting until this spring I made the appointment for today to get Valentino's well bird check up done. I mostly wanted to make sure all the stress has not affected him and to make sure he is healthy.

I was very pleased that he did not scream once while in his carrier while I was driving. I had sinus surgery on Monday so I am still a bit sore and tired from it so him not screaming was a huge plus for me. Instead when music was playing he would sing. It was very cute

The appointment was the first one of the day so after I arrived I was lead straight back to the exam room. Once I set the carrier on the steel table Valentino began his dance stamping his feet back and forth wanting me to let him out. Since I was a little bit early I did let him out and he went straight for the cuddle. He loves to shove his body under my chin and lay his head on my shoulder. His feathers are so soft I always end up holding and petting him when he is like this.

Dr. Blair and my not so favorite tech came in and Valentino greets them with "Hi Baby!" Dr. Blair said "Hi Handsome" and of course Valentino does the baby squeak. I told Dr. Blair my concerns for Valentino's health because of the eminence stress this past year but fortunately his weight is very good, has nice muscle mass because of all the flying he does, and the doctor commented on how pretty his colors are getting.

I did notice that Valentino did not like the vet tech holding in with the towel hold. I do wrap Valentino in a towel so that he is not afraid of it and so that I can dry him after a bath so he does not mind the towel but I am thinking he could feel that I don't really like the vet tech (I had issues with her while Dr. Blair and I were working getting my Noble macaw Mihijo well) After Valentino get weighed Dr. Blair asked him to step up and he shoves his head in her hand. "No I'm not going to pet you. Step up." She told him but he was being a butt head. The vet tech forced Valentino to step up and he pinched her. I told Valentino. "NO" and she promptly said "It didn't hurt." I replied "That's because I bite pressure trained him. He knows better than to hurt people."

Dr. Blair pronounced him very healthy and well adjusted parrot. She did not see stress bars or signs the household stress affected him. Lupe has been moved out for a month now and I have noticed Valentino does scream less. I am sure his CBC will come back normal.

I really do love how Dr. Blair draws blood. Not once did Valentino cry out in pain or struggle against her. He was very still for her. Dr. Blair is very good with blood draws.

Lupe offered to pay half of the bill so I took her up on that. I am going to be short later in the month with food stamps so I can use the money to buy his fresh foods.

Dr. Blair was very happy to learn that I was committed to keep Valentino instead of finding him a home. Unless things go totally sideways and I end up with no where to move to I will need to find Valentino a stable home with people who love him as much as I do. I pray every night things get better and my situation becomes resolved so that I can keep my boy.

I feel so much better that I was able to get Valentino in for his well bird check up.

Glad you & Valentino had a good day.....

I am so glad that things went so well at Valentino's check up!
I am also thrilled that things seem to be settling down for you both.

Glad he's healthy. I know it's been a very stressful year, but I think you've done everything in regards to your Valentino in his best interests. It sounds like he is very bonded to you, and has probably taken all the major changes much better having you be there for him

That's a great update! I know it must be a relief to know for sure that Valentino is in perfect health. Keeping your baby boy was the right decision for you both, you need each other. I'm so glad things are looking up for you a little, I know it's been a rough year. I wish you and Valentino the very best.

Thank you all for the kind responses. Dr. Blair called me last night to discuss his blood draw lab results. She is very happy with his numbers as they all fall in the normal range. She called the results "perfect". She told me Valentino is very well adjusted and healthy parrot.

I talked to her about my erratic schedule with the part time job I took. I am afraid with Valentino being the only parrot here he would get too lonely while I was at work. He is not use to me being gone so much and I fear that he would turn into the "angry macaw" Mark (birdman) talks about when they are caged too much. When I am home I do spend as much one on one time as I can with him. I leave a radio playing for him so he will have "company" in a way. Dr. Blair said Valentino should be alright with the radio playing and the foraging toys and destructive toys I have for him but I cannot help but worry.

When I first let him out of the cage he is on me like velcro but he does do this weird sound I can only describe as a "soft scream". It sounds like a scream but not nearly as loud as a RFM is. I check his foods and if it is in the evening at the time I give him his nuts I give them to him and he will devour them. I have come home to find his pellet dish filled with powder and his fresh food gone but when I refill pellet dish he does not act like he is starving. The daily offering of nuts are done around the same time very day and I suppose if I am late with the "offering" he gets rather insistent.

I try to take comfort with my talk with Dr. Blair but I just returned to the job after a week of recuperating from surgery. They have me scheduled 6 days in a row with many shifts longer than 5 hours. The positive part is I am getting a lot of time with perfecting job performance but I am away from home a long time and every muscle in my body hurts.

When my living situation becomes more stable I would like to get another parrot so I can have two again. One of my local rescues has a female Illiger's macaw for adoption and since I am familiar with the species I would love to try to adopt her but the timing is all wrong.

I believe Valentino will be able to weather though my new work schedule but I don't want to end up with the angry macaw spending too much time in his cage.

Glad his blood work came back as all good!

It may take him some time to adjust, but I'm gone from 6 am until about 430 every day and Zoe seems to do fine. We try to rotate toys so she doesn't get bored and she's mostly glued to one of us when we get home (except for the time she gets her dinner.)

Over the summer I took a temporary job that kept me out from 6am to 4:30pm five days a week. Valentino didn't care for that schedule but he weathered though it. Lupe was still living with me at the time so maybe the tenson with the situation was not helping with Valentino's screaming at the time.

This time it is different because I am scheduled to work days or evenings where I have no set schedule for Valentino anymore so I do worry this erratic work schedule will affect him. I spend as much time as I can with him when I am home. I do hope over time he will get use to the weird hours. I have a feeling over thanksgiving and Christmas I will be home even less.

What Dr. Blair suggested is to make sure he has plenty to do in the cage and to leave a TV or radio on for him. I do leave the radio on and make sure he has plenty to do. Yesterday evening when I came home Valentino was calling out excessively and I found his pellet dish on the table NOT IN HIS CAGE so he went all day and all evening without any pellets. Lucky I did give him a second helping of fresh food and some nuts before I left for work. I didn't get home until 11:30pm and he was STARVING. I have to be more careful of not making those kinds of mistakes. I felt horrible and almost took the coffee grinder I used to make his hand rearing formula when he first came home and made him some. Instead I of course put the pellets back in his cage and gave him a second helping of his nuts. He ate for the first 15 mins then spent until 1:30am with me.

I know I need to be extremely diligent with his foods. I just feel bad he went all that time without having anything to eat. This job is kicking my butt.