COLLAR STILL ON

My dear Beignet has been wearing a collar (collar of shame) since mid December (I think). At first she just chewed on it randomly. However, because she has such a high IQ it wasn't long before she figured where the collar came together and she worked furiously on that spot. It took her four days, but she got it off. She can now get the collar off in four days and sometimes less. That means a vet appointment almost every time. Bob and I are learning the skills to put it back on. She will be wearing the collar at least until the end of March, maybe longer. All of her tail feathers have to grow back in and be very healthy before we can take it off. Then it will be a careful watching time with me setting the timer to look at her and make sure she is doing no damage.

Beignet has been such a good patient the entire time, and seems to have held no animosity toward me for the things I have needed to do for her. To say it lightly, it has been a horrible experience for us both. She maintains her cheerful self and despite the fact that the collar prevents her from talking, she whistles to me regularly.

When Beignet is having something uncomfortable done to her at the vet she just relaxes her eyes and seems to leave her body so that she can get through the experience. It has been a revealing experience to see how well she does with these things.

She has had two surgeries and I have watched both. During the first one she quit breathing and there was a quick ER type episode of getting her breathing again. I was amazed at their efficiency. They said most birds don't make it when that happens but they thought that since she knew I was in the room she "tried" harder to live. I don't know, except that she started breathing and I quit holding my breath.

We went to Hawaii during this time and she stayed with the vet who has four birds, so Beignet had lots of company. It was the safest way to work things so that she could get immediate care if she needed it. I love our vet. She is absolutely the greatest and is always happy. She works really hard to make sure that the animals and birds she treats are always healthy. It is an avian and exotic animal clinic, so I get to see a lot of different types of animals when I go there. Fun!