It is with great sadness that I report my beautiful boy Lennie has left us.
Lennie
We had returned from a vet visit. Shortly after, he rapidly took a turn for the worse. He died in my hands. In his last moments, I was able to tell him how much we loved him… That I loved every second of every day that he spent with us… What a wonderful companion he was… I thanked him for everything, for just being Lennie.
My only consolation is that he only spent 19 days without his beloved friend Perry.
His loss is great.
The loss of both Lennie & Perry in such a short time is hard to bear.
On this day, 7 years ago, Dalai came into our home. Here is an early video of him in his quarantine cage, playing on the swing – he was a very focused & determined boy!
Well, this will be quite a long post! Despite Perry’s chilled personality, he managed to collect quite a few health issues over the years.
Perry
The first significant problem was encountered in March 2019, when the vet noticed a lump during an examination, prompted by some weird head shaking that went away quickly of its own accord. (Click here for that post).
Later that year, in October, Perry exhibited some mobility problems. On examination the vet noticed some bruising on his upper leg. His lump was still there, but growing outwards. (Click here for that post).
The first seizure witnessed was in May 2020 (Click here for that post). I had hoped it was a one-off but they returned the following month, which is when the vet was consulted (Click here for that post). The seizures carried on & the vet did various tests, with one of them indicating that he was borderline Diabetes – perhaps the reason why his water intake had increased. (Click here for that post).
Perry remained relatively stable until a one-off drama in November 2021 with a broken blood feather & lots of blood! (Click here for that post). Beak trims for Perry began during 2021, which suggested a liver problem (also a possible cause of the seizures).
A swollen knee joint in February/March 2022 was added to Perry’s list of ailments. (Click here for that post).
Unfortunately, the frequency of Perry’s seizures increased over the summer of 2022. By October, I had decided to give him anti-seizure medication. There are potential side-effects to this, so I had to weigh up the pros & cons. Around this time, the vet also suspected Perry had heart failure. (Click here for that post).
We continued giving him medication twice a day. The morning slot was usually around 10-11am. The evening slot was more fluid & largely dictated by whenever the opportunity presented itself. In his last week Perry was having it around 7-8pm.
Perry resting on one foot
Perry continued to eat well, but never did return to eating from the seed pots. During the daytime when he was mostly in Moriarty’s cage, I would offer either millet spray, or seed in the little red pot. He continued to eat various vegetables & apple, when offered. He would nap during the day, sometimes quite heavily, usually sitting on the branch perch on the far left hand side. When he woke up, he would jump to the big horizontal perch, at which point Moriarty would appear to give him kisses. It was usually the time I offered food & also water.
When Perry retired back to his & Lennie’s cage in the evening, he would initially snooze on the branch perch, & Lennie would often take the opportunity to gently preen him. After a snooze, he would make his way to the triangle perch, where he would eat from the pegged up millet. Perry was always a late eater, known in the past for snacking from the seed pot at midnight. He continued with his late eating, often chomping away at the millet until 11pm. I would leave a part of the cover up so I could spy his movements – if he moved to the left hand side of the triangle perch, that usually indicated he wanted some water, which I then offered.
Lennie preening a sleeping Perry
Mostly, Perry would roost on the far right hand side of the big horizontal perch, that had multiple layers of vet-wrap to soften it for his feet.
Perry was good at conserving energy. In the mornings, the routine was to get Moriarty out first & whilst he was greeting Perry & Lennie through the bars of their cage, I would give his cage a quick clean. The last task was to take his seed pot into the kitchen to ‘dustbust’ the breakfast seed husks away. When I returned it, that was when Perry usually started to stir as he knew I would open their cage up next. He knew there was no point jumping about until I had done that seed pot!
Perry & Moriarty flirting
Previously, I would open the little door & he would make his way into Moriarty’s but in later months, with mobility being hampered, he would step up & I would transport him myself into Moriarty’s. I would lock them both in for a morning flirt & bonding session, whilst I sorted out Lennie’s cage, at the same time, thanking Lennie for looking after Perry overnight & telling him he did a good job.
Then it was time for Perry’s morning medication. He was very much inspired by Moriarty also eating the vegetable that I hid the medicine on, so there was much chicanery going on with getting Perry to eat the ‘loaded’ piece of vegetable & making sure Moriarty did not. A similar feat went on in the evening, with Lennie inspiring Perry to eat the food.
Certainly I could not have looked after Perry as well in his later months without Lennie & Moriarty’s assistance.
Perry
On Perry’s last night, I checked on him, via the baby monitor, before turning my bedroom light off at 2am. I saw him, with his back to the camera, on the mid-height rope perch which suggested he had either had a seizure & had recovered (hence being on the perch) or had clumsily fallen. I watched for a few minutes, then saw him give himself a shake then make his way up to the top perch (under the cover). All seemed to be okay at that point. I woke at around 4am & checked the monitor again. This time, Lennie appeared to be on the mid-height perch (seemed odd) but after about 15 minutes, he too made his way back up. Once again, I thought all was okay & went to sleep. I found Perry the next morning, laying peacefully on the floor.
On reflection, I wonder if something had happened to Perry at 4am (hence Lennie being on the lower perch) but he was not visible due to his position being obscured by the double thickness of the cage door frame & door itself. Or maybe not. Either way, there did not appear to be any major disturbance aside from a fall. A seizure episode would have likely knocked all seed/feathers from the cage floor, but there was no evidence of this. I choose to believe his end was peaceful & calm.
I will leave you with the last video I took of Perry, six days before he left us:
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of our very, dear friend, Perry.
Perry
He died in the early hours of this morning. I found him laying peacefully at the bottom of the cage. All was well the previous evening.
Our hearts are broken. Perry was as near perfect as you can get. He got on with everyone. Everyone loved him. He was easy-going. There was no drama with Perry (even during times of crisis, he still remained low-key). He had no complaints & demanded nothing, even through all his health issues. Perry was open-hearted & free with his love & friendship, with no ill-will towards anyone.
It was an honour to know him.
He will be missed. He is already missed.
I will end with a quote attributed to Charles Dickens, “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” So, until we meet again dear Perry… ♥
On this day, 12 years ago, I posted my first entry on this blog. Somehow, in all that time, I only celebrated the 500th Post at the beginning of 2014, but missed all other anniversaries! Never mind, I am putting that all right by celebrating today!
I had no idea this blog about my beautiful budgies would continue for so long, but I guess the subject matter dictated that there would always be news & content, good or bad. My passion for my birds, every single one of them over the years, has also kept this blog alive. Every single bird, past, present, blue, green, opaline, gentle, bossy, independent, randy, chewy, charming, handsome, chilled, anxious & cheerful, has been & continues to be, loved & cherished.
As we near the New Year, I would like to share my new motto: “Done is better than perfect“. Maybe this will help me to continue with creating blog posts for the next 12 years, knowing that it is better to post than procrastinate, waiting for perfection. That said, this is post 1,045, which means there has been an average of 87 posts published per year, with a high of 209 in the first year of blogging, down to a low of 40 in the ninth year. My blogging has certainly improved from that tentative first post.
Here is a small selection of my favourite posts over the years, in no particular order, but including all the flock, past & present:
I hope you have enjoyed the last 12 years & join us for the next 12!
Happy New Year to you all.
⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺
Note: Recently, I upgraded the blog theme, so I am in the process of checking past posts for formatting, so if some look a bit odd, I have not got around to amending them yet.
Puddings & Toyboys 