So a funny/bizarre story - my parents bought a pretty young (under one year old at the time of purchase) imported B&G Macaw in 1971-72, from a pet shop that used to be in DC back in the 60's and 70's - one which even sold wild-ish pet *bears!!!* at the time!!!
They were assured it was indeed a her by the owner, back in the days long before DNA sexing was even a scant thought - naming her, from what I can only imagine seemed "groovy" way back in the 70's, "Luv". Yet despite that name, she was most certainly not hand raised, and wild as sin - get too close, and you'd get the furthest thing in this world from luv/love!
Now currently sitting at the ripe old age of 46, I grew up with her from the day I was born. About ten years ago just now, I started working tirelessly (and often quite painfully on my end!) to tame her down with me. It'd take an hour or better to coax her out of her cage, have her climb/jump down to the floor, where I could then get her onto my arm. I myself got a Moluccan Cockatoo when I was 13, and had also gotten a Parrot Tower intended for the Cockatoo. Once finally down and out, I'd then put Luv on the stand, keep her out for several hours while I watched TV and gave her occasional treats. Long story short, years later, Luv has become even tamer than the hand raised Cockatoo with me.
However, a month ago, Luv suddenly began having what appears to be seizures about once a week - and only when she was asleep. Afterwards, she'd cry out loudly in panic as she was unable to move her toes for about twenty minutes each time prior to fully recovering - I'd difficultly get her out and keep her calm and peaceful each time as she recovered.
After the third time, although never having been to an avian vet before (The couple emergency issues *long* ago, whilst still wild, required the vet to come to our house), I finally took her to the same local avian vet practice (different vet, though) that had come to our home previously.
Now I'd always had a sneaking suspicion about Luv - the Cockatoo, although obviously wildly different in nature, was still wayyyy too different, indeed. She's laid several infertile eggs now, aged 19. Her sexual panting and antics, are things Luv never once displayed.
Likewise, the Vet and his assistant both seemed to agree it was female based on appearance, size and head size - quite convinced Luv was correctly a female Blue and Gold. Since this particular health issue required blood tests, however, I sought to finally have it 100% confirmed as to its gender by DNA. I joked with the Vet at the time that we could be looking at the latest Caitlyn Jenner - a super-late-in-life transitioning to the opposite gender.
A week and a half later, the shocking phone call of a lifetime. After 46 long years of "Hey, Girl!" and "Good Girl!", as Maury Povich might say, the DNA tests were in...
And Luv was now officially Mister Luv! After nearly some half century of being mistakenly+wrongly called a woman, this majestic and sweet male blue and gold finally had the mistake of a quite literal lifetime corrected, if only at long, long last!
It still seems incredible and unbelievable three days later, to realize my little baby girl (well, okay, he/she's 13 yrs older than me!) is a sweet and loving dude. Amazing!
As far as the health goes, the Keppra and Lyrica-like medicines seem to have stopped any further seizures. Meanwhile, everyone in the vet's office that day remarked that the now *MISTER* Luv was the oldest macaw they'd ever seen by a country mile - previously their eldest patient was only 34. And, most certainly, that same 34 yr old didn't end up having as a result a DNA-based trans-gendered pro-noun swap!
But, even so, it seems too late in life to turn Hey Girl into Hey Boy and whatnot. He'd probably never even before heard the word boy in it's life, and so switching things around now would be confusing to it bordering on cruel. Sure, I'll undoubtedly slip in a "Mister Luv" on occasion, but that'll probably be the extent of things there.
At least now I finally know for sure that Luv is a male, not a gal. That's satisfaction enough for me. I just wish my mom, who died 19 months ago aged 68, had survived to have learned this shocking revelation, as well!
And I wonder... are there any other similar stories of any newly transgendered (DNA, of course!) macaws from anywhere even remotely close in age as my sweet, ancient 46 year old Blue & Gold...?
This latest news was most certainly a true shock, if nothing else. And whilst Luv might be blissfully unawares, somewhere, in the back of his head, satisfaction that all these stupid humans can finally call him for the stunning big boy that he is - although he appears quite happy to be keeping the name Luv, its relativistic femininity be darned.
They were assured it was indeed a her by the owner, back in the days long before DNA sexing was even a scant thought - naming her, from what I can only imagine seemed "groovy" way back in the 70's, "Luv". Yet despite that name, she was most certainly not hand raised, and wild as sin - get too close, and you'd get the furthest thing in this world from luv/love!
Now currently sitting at the ripe old age of 46, I grew up with her from the day I was born. About ten years ago just now, I started working tirelessly (and often quite painfully on my end!) to tame her down with me. It'd take an hour or better to coax her out of her cage, have her climb/jump down to the floor, where I could then get her onto my arm. I myself got a Moluccan Cockatoo when I was 13, and had also gotten a Parrot Tower intended for the Cockatoo. Once finally down and out, I'd then put Luv on the stand, keep her out for several hours while I watched TV and gave her occasional treats. Long story short, years later, Luv has become even tamer than the hand raised Cockatoo with me.
However, a month ago, Luv suddenly began having what appears to be seizures about once a week - and only when she was asleep. Afterwards, she'd cry out loudly in panic as she was unable to move her toes for about twenty minutes each time prior to fully recovering - I'd difficultly get her out and keep her calm and peaceful each time as she recovered.
After the third time, although never having been to an avian vet before (The couple emergency issues *long* ago, whilst still wild, required the vet to come to our house), I finally took her to the same local avian vet practice (different vet, though) that had come to our home previously.
Now I'd always had a sneaking suspicion about Luv - the Cockatoo, although obviously wildly different in nature, was still wayyyy too different, indeed. She's laid several infertile eggs now, aged 19. Her sexual panting and antics, are things Luv never once displayed.
Likewise, the Vet and his assistant both seemed to agree it was female based on appearance, size and head size - quite convinced Luv was correctly a female Blue and Gold. Since this particular health issue required blood tests, however, I sought to finally have it 100% confirmed as to its gender by DNA. I joked with the Vet at the time that we could be looking at the latest Caitlyn Jenner - a super-late-in-life transitioning to the opposite gender.
A week and a half later, the shocking phone call of a lifetime. After 46 long years of "Hey, Girl!" and "Good Girl!", as Maury Povich might say, the DNA tests were in...
And Luv was now officially Mister Luv! After nearly some half century of being mistakenly+wrongly called a woman, this majestic and sweet male blue and gold finally had the mistake of a quite literal lifetime corrected, if only at long, long last!
It still seems incredible and unbelievable three days later, to realize my little baby girl (well, okay, he/she's 13 yrs older than me!) is a sweet and loving dude. Amazing!
As far as the health goes, the Keppra and Lyrica-like medicines seem to have stopped any further seizures. Meanwhile, everyone in the vet's office that day remarked that the now *MISTER* Luv was the oldest macaw they'd ever seen by a country mile - previously their eldest patient was only 34. And, most certainly, that same 34 yr old didn't end up having as a result a DNA-based trans-gendered pro-noun swap!
But, even so, it seems too late in life to turn Hey Girl into Hey Boy and whatnot. He'd probably never even before heard the word boy in it's life, and so switching things around now would be confusing to it bordering on cruel. Sure, I'll undoubtedly slip in a "Mister Luv" on occasion, but that'll probably be the extent of things there.
At least now I finally know for sure that Luv is a male, not a gal. That's satisfaction enough for me. I just wish my mom, who died 19 months ago aged 68, had survived to have learned this shocking revelation, as well!
And I wonder... are there any other similar stories of any newly transgendered (DNA, of course!) macaws from anywhere even remotely close in age as my sweet, ancient 46 year old Blue & Gold...?
This latest news was most certainly a true shock, if nothing else. And whilst Luv might be blissfully unawares, somewhere, in the back of his head, satisfaction that all these stupid humans can finally call him for the stunning big boy that he is - although he appears quite happy to be keeping the name Luv, its relativistic femininity be darned.