Play date with my rehomies

[Bird woman]

How is mouse this morning ? Do you have antibiotics to give him ? You have a kind heart I know I would rather be with my critters than people. Have a great morning BW

[Pajarita]

He continues to do well if by well one means alive, moving, eating and pooping. It might be that the infection was so huge that it will take a long time for that 'ball' to go down but I have a feeling that is not the case. Thank you for asking but yes, I have antibiotics and of different kinds, too. I have sooo many animals and go to the vet so often that I always have extra and, if I am running out and everybody is doing well (meaning, I don't have to take anybody to the vet), I send my kids a list and they ask their aunt (who is a veterinarian) to get them for me and they send them (that's how I get antivirals, antifungals, oral and injectable antibiotics, prednisone, anti-inflammatories, etc). The only thing I don't get from her is pain killers but I might start with that, too.

[Bird woman]

Meloxicam seems to be the go to for birds and humans BW

[Pajarita]

Yes, that's what I use for the birds but it can be used for small animals, too (like kittens, for example - cats are difficult to medicate for pain because their nervous system is so different from ours -dogs are like us but not cats). I haven't wanted to get any via mail because, although veterinary products are OK to bring in through customs, I am afraid that pain killers would raise a red flag and throw a wrench in the process.

[Bird woman]

I feel pretty. Fortunate to have as good of a repor with my vet now , he will always give me extra and give me the calculations by body weight if need be. He's trying to get me to take what I do under a grant and I don't want to because I know it would get out of control , hell it already is. If I lived in a place where the climate was birdie friendly and they could live free or at least in huge flight avairys I would and who knows maybe someday. Its to hard for me to rehome them , I get to attached and even if the bird is not my cup of tea I still don't want to have there lives disrupted again. The few I have rehomed have absolutely fell in love with there new person well before they ever went home with them. And one that was sent in from the coast went directly to there forever home and didn't even come here. That was miko and you know the miko and dolly love story. BW

[Pajarita]

Well, just because you get a 501(c)3, it doesn't have to mean that you advertise yourself as a rescue. You could make it a sanctuary, instead.

[Bird woman]

I still need to think about it , I would hate to end up like that other rescue that's husband called it quits after she passed. Things can get out of control pretty quick with birds needing good homes and I always want to give the ones I have the best of everything.

[Pajarita]

Well, I tell you, I never did get the tax exempt status when I had my rescue and I now regret it. I had people (2 rescues and 1 sanctuary managers) strongly prompting me to do it but I, like you, wanted to keep 'things simple'... but they never stay that way. I wanted to limit the number of birds and still ended up with over 240 because even though I never advertised myself as a bird rescue to anybody, you can't control word of mouth. I also wanted to be able to make the decisions as I saw fit and, when you have a 501(c)3, you need to incorporate first and have a board of directors who have a vote in everything but I later realized that having the right people working with you is the ONLY way you can do this sort of thing in the long run (I don't know what I would have done if I had not had friends who helped me when I had the chlamydiosis epidemic in the birdroom!). AND, when you have a tax exempt status, you don't only get to deduct every single expense you have (which is a HUGE help, especially for people like you who vets the birds, builds aviaries, gets them good cages, etc) but you are also allowed to request donations - and this means not only individuals but also corporations that, even if they don't actually send money to you, they would be willing to send you free products and/or allow you to buy things like food and cages at either wholesale price and even cost! And I don't know of any avian vet that donates time or services to bird rescues but I am sure that this is something that will happen as it did with the dog and cat rescues.

So, yes, think about it because even if you can afford it now, it might come a time when you will not or when you get too old to handle the work yourself and a tax exempt status can be invaluable under those circumstances.

[Bird woman]

240 birds yeiks!!!! That's exactly what I'm afraid of. My birdies are out running all over , inside ,outside on the lawn where ever they want to be all day long . I couldn't even imagine 10 more running amuck , I would go crazy. It's pretty nice when they can run free but that many you would have to cage and what about cuddle time ? There isn't enough time in a day to make sure everyone gets enough love and attention. 4 of mine are cockatoos and need lots of love and cuddles and then there's max the Quaker he's glued to me all day. Thank god the too's aren't bothered by him and very excepting of his war dance . He tries to intimidate them but they don't pay much attention . The greys like to hang out but there not much for cuddles they would rather play games and tear stuff up. The macaws well I'm just a third wheel there anymore ,they spend most of there time outside except an hour or two when I separate them and work with them one on one to keep them tamed down so I can handle them. I'm still not sure what to think about what they got going on what happened to all the birds??? BW

[Pajarita]

The large number came more from flocks of little ones than anything else, actually. I had flocks of around 35 of budgies, tiels and lovebirds, 5 doves, a passel of canaries, two umbrellas that were bonded to each other and did not need me at all, pairs of amazons, pairs of mini macaws, etc. The greatest majority of the birds I took in did not really like people much so been free and with other birds made them happy. Nobody was caged except the handicapped and they were in flight cages. The house was big (4 bedrooms, 1 BIG home office and family room -which I used as hospital and quarantine, living room, dining room, HUGE laundry/mud room, 3 car garage and a birdroom that was 24 x 13 with big double windows on three sides) and it was just my husband and I so there was plenty of room for everybody. But it was A LOT of work! I was weighing a bit under 100 lb, could not sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night, my blood pressure was completely out of control, etc.

When I lost the house (the chlamydiosis epidemic wiped out any reserve we had and left us deep in debt), I rehomed the friendly ones, kept the old and handicapped and put the others back in rescue by distributing them among three different rescues and a sanctuary (the cockatoos, some amazons and the eclectus all went to sanctuaries because they were all 'special needs' birds and pretty much, unadoptable -not that I believe that there is such a thing, mind you! but for 'normal' standards).