5/26/22 Good News - Jester | Bill: $404.44
Jester’s recheck went pretty good. She’s been forced to wear the “tulip” of shame because she's been picking at her neck area, causing a boo-boo. It's possible that once she lost those feathers, it triggered a reaction in her brain causing her to pick. It could just be that he's itchy and is trying to alleviate the cause. We are currently hoping to ween her out of it. I give her "tulip breaks" on and off so she can bathe and preen - of which Lolo helps out with. As of now, I'm just keeping an eye on her.

6/23/22 Bad News: Piko | Bill: $1162.51
Piko’s turn to cause me emotional damage. I noticed she was doing her "Morning Poop" motion, but nothing was coming out, and she was making little frustrated, sniffley noises. Knowing she tested female and being age 10, I checked her booty area. Suspicion confirmed: Her first ever egg was BIG.

The next available appointment at the local bird vet was set for a week later. Unfortunately, they're not equipped for emergencies, so I thought, "Might as well get her in line."
I kept watching her, to see if she COULD poop. She was struggling too much. I didn’t wanna chance it, so I went back to the Houston ER 3 hours away.
The vet confirmed everything with an X-ray then proceeded to collapsed the egg, pop it out, and then monitor Piko for 24 hours.
I’m SO happy to be able to say she is back to her normal self. This was not the case for JJ the Lovebird who passed away under the same situation. I prayed I wasn't going to lose another bird to egg binding. 

Other than the mega egg, the vet didn't see anything concerning. I asked if she was low on calcium? She was not, but it’s good to start supplementing. Will need a 2nd Lupron shot with the local vet next week.

6/29/22 Bad News - Mikey | Bill: $397.82
That’s not even the end of it. Had to drop off Mikey because despite being a piggy, he still isn’t gaining much weight back and his beak looks unusually rough. They’re going to be doing x-rays today to see if it’s anything that goes beyond his previous, recent blood-tests, which came out ok. I’ll be picking him up later today seeing what’s up. Hopefully it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. ;_; I’ve had him for about 15 years, and he’s shown me such empathy and love. He’s such a special boy. Whenever I cried, he’d stop his trolling ways and come over, stare at my face, and go “kiss kiss kiss” and stare at me, almost like he’s seeing if that helped.

7/12/22 Good News - Lolita

Lolo's liver and kidney function has improved since her last wellness check, so the supplements from Backos Bird Clinic are helping her. Her weight is ok and so is her cholesterol. It’s possible that arthritis is causing her to boo-boo her leg. She’s now on anti-inflammatories (meloxicam) which seems to cause her to ease up on the picking.

She did jail break out of the plastic collar that was made for her, but it took her longer to do it than with my hand sewn felt and velcro ones.

There was some brightness near her heart in the x-ray, but b/c her cholesterol is ok, the vet isn’t too concerned with it right now.

Happy for some happy news!

7/18/22 Good News - Jester

Jester is healing well! Look at those floofies!!!! AAAAAA!!!!! The most important thing is that she still loves me! T^T 

I’m so grateful for the extra money that was donated! I’m trying to save, but as you can see, waves of misfortune can hit you all at once. This is the plight of sharing your life with multiple birds.

Oh, on the personal side: After having insurance and paying $200 months ago for 2nd boobie check due to feeling prolonged pain and new lumps (bewb bumps), now they’re asking for $400. I’m ok, I just have dense breasts, but dang. Breast-cancer runs in the family, I’m 37, so I worry a little more than most.

Whenever you see someone as “poor” know that it’s not always their fault. We all have our own sets of struggles, but some folks were simply born extra unlucky. If you are one of the more fortunate ones, please considering lifting them up like you have done for me. We are all here together.