ziggybird
Member
- Jan 21, 2013
- 81
- 26
- Parrots
-
Meyer's Parrot (Tukki),
Meyer's Parrot (Brooklyn),
Double Yellow Headed Amazon (Ziggy),
Blue and Gold Macaw (Max)
This might be long... but writing about him helps.
Monday morning my blue and gold macaw, Max, passed away. My parents have had him since before I was born. I've never known life without him. He was like my brother. We're all so deep in grief.
Although I haven't lived at home for a few years (max lived with my parents... my dad was his favorite person) I'm profoundly feeling his absence. I keep thinking about all of the sounds of Max... they are so much apart of the soundtrack of my childhood. His words, his vocalizations, the sound of his toes tapping on the floor, nighttime beak grinding... some I have on video... some will now only live in the collective memory of my family. I am so scared of those sounds fading in my mind.... of his smell fading from the feathers I have.
He is so apart of who I am and my identity. He's even apart of my fingerprint (a bite scar from when I was 3). I love him so so so much. I video chatted with him multiple times a week. If I'm being perfectly honest I go visit home more often then I probably would because I need to see my birds (we also have an amazon, Ziggy ,who similarly I've had my entire life).
He was 39. He was with my family his entire life. He was such a good, loving boy A big clown, as macaws are known to be. His favorite place to be was his swing. I was honored to be his 3rd favorite person. He had a great laugh and could say "hello", "max" and sometimes even "hello max". He called my dad "rabba". He could be a snapper, a biter, and ornery at times... these things all made him Max.
A few weeks ago he got really sick- teh vet said his heart was enlarged, lungs had fluid in them, and there was something in his lungs. I flew home immediately. He wasn't expected to make it through the night. He did. He continued to improve and a few days later he was well enough to come home and seemed to be getting more back to himself. I flew back to my current home. Leaving was awful... I knew it could very well be my last time seeing him in person, but I had hope that it wouldn't be.
Everyday he seemed to improve. He had a vet visit this last Friday. They said it looked as though he was responding well to medication.
He was quiet this last weekend. Monday morning he wasn't himself... drank the fresh water my mom offered like she does every morning before putting it in his cage, but didn't want his normal head scratches. A little bit later he started having trouble breathing. My parents put him in the nebulizer (part of the treatment he got from the vet), it wasn't helping, so my dad took him out and held him. He passed in his arms. I'm told it was quick.
I'll forever be grateful for all the time I had with him, especially that last week and that I got to say goodbye. I'm thankful that he was at home my parents who loved him so so much, and who he loved so so much.
It's such a deep and profound loss, and even though I'm not home I feel his absence so strongly. My entire family is going through it. Ziggy was calling for him and is being very clingy to my parents. I'm hugging the parrots I have here so close.
I don't know what else to say other than I loved him so much... there doesn't seem to be enough words or the right words that can express what he meant to me and the pain of his loss.
I'm not really religious... sometimes I'm spiritual. I donno. I hope that one day we'll all be together again... whatever that means and in whatever form it takes.
The world is a much quieter place now.
Here's to Max.
Monday morning my blue and gold macaw, Max, passed away. My parents have had him since before I was born. I've never known life without him. He was like my brother. We're all so deep in grief.
Although I haven't lived at home for a few years (max lived with my parents... my dad was his favorite person) I'm profoundly feeling his absence. I keep thinking about all of the sounds of Max... they are so much apart of the soundtrack of my childhood. His words, his vocalizations, the sound of his toes tapping on the floor, nighttime beak grinding... some I have on video... some will now only live in the collective memory of my family. I am so scared of those sounds fading in my mind.... of his smell fading from the feathers I have.
He is so apart of who I am and my identity. He's even apart of my fingerprint (a bite scar from when I was 3). I love him so so so much. I video chatted with him multiple times a week. If I'm being perfectly honest I go visit home more often then I probably would because I need to see my birds (we also have an amazon, Ziggy ,who similarly I've had my entire life).
He was 39. He was with my family his entire life. He was such a good, loving boy A big clown, as macaws are known to be. His favorite place to be was his swing. I was honored to be his 3rd favorite person. He had a great laugh and could say "hello", "max" and sometimes even "hello max". He called my dad "rabba". He could be a snapper, a biter, and ornery at times... these things all made him Max.
A few weeks ago he got really sick- teh vet said his heart was enlarged, lungs had fluid in them, and there was something in his lungs. I flew home immediately. He wasn't expected to make it through the night. He did. He continued to improve and a few days later he was well enough to come home and seemed to be getting more back to himself. I flew back to my current home. Leaving was awful... I knew it could very well be my last time seeing him in person, but I had hope that it wouldn't be.
Everyday he seemed to improve. He had a vet visit this last Friday. They said it looked as though he was responding well to medication.
He was quiet this last weekend. Monday morning he wasn't himself... drank the fresh water my mom offered like she does every morning before putting it in his cage, but didn't want his normal head scratches. A little bit later he started having trouble breathing. My parents put him in the nebulizer (part of the treatment he got from the vet), it wasn't helping, so my dad took him out and held him. He passed in his arms. I'm told it was quick.
I'll forever be grateful for all the time I had with him, especially that last week and that I got to say goodbye. I'm thankful that he was at home my parents who loved him so so much, and who he loved so so much.
It's such a deep and profound loss, and even though I'm not home I feel his absence so strongly. My entire family is going through it. Ziggy was calling for him and is being very clingy to my parents. I'm hugging the parrots I have here so close.
I don't know what else to say other than I loved him so much... there doesn't seem to be enough words or the right words that can express what he meant to me and the pain of his loss.
I'm not really religious... sometimes I'm spiritual. I donno. I hope that one day we'll all be together again... whatever that means and in whatever form it takes.
The world is a much quieter place now.
Here's to Max.