Val update.

Well, the vet said she has liver disease. But it sounds pretty treatable and she is already responding well just to the fluids and no meds yet. I am going to pick up some meds today.

Cats.......and more....

Me and my Buddy at a Parrot Hope event...www.parrothope.org!

Madison with Howie!

Katelyn with unstable Maybel!

My Baloopy~cuz I love him~

And my new Greyhound tattoo!

Well, cats are the hot topic at the zoo right now. Our Valentina has lost a significant amount of weight and was dehydrated so off to the vet for blood work for her. We are awaiting results.

Then we were outside jumping on the trampoline *I was supervising only.....and Madison went into the garage to get her car and heard a cat crying. A cat had gotten up into the rafters and was afraid to come down. Uh huh, the CAT needed MY help to get down. So I got our pool ladder and stood on the top two rungs coaxed him down with some canned food onto a cabinet above the tool bench and then said a prayer and grabbed his scruff to bring him down the rest of the way....knowing that if he decided he didn't like me that we were both going to have a nasty fall! But an animal in need....well, we both made it because he is a super nice boy!

The rat babies are now almost 5 weeks old and are separated by gender now. We have had some interest but not as much as we normally do. The economy has caused a decline in adoptions just like everything else.

I finally got my Greyhound tattoo!

We do have a new addition to the zoo because, well, I am a moron! Buddy our foster Hahns Macaw is now a permanent resident at the Gibbons zoo!

And another bird update~Our Howie has 4 eggs in his sleep sack...turns out he is a girl!

Maybel, our foster Beagle is moving to Indiana this weekend and we are going to have a little fun while taking her home. We are going to the Indianapolis Zoo and Caribbean Cove indoor waterpark! A little vacation over spring break!

That's all for now!

My Mariah

Here she is at Bow Wow Beach in Stow!

Well, Miss Mariah had surgery in November and though it finally healed she now has a new tumor on her foot and one on her hip too! She is also losing her hearing. Poor Mariah is still enjoying life...as you can see in the above photos....but I don't know how much time she has left. Though I tend to over-react and exaggerate because I stress so much about having to make such awful decisions!

A little past due.....

One of the babies from our foster rat mommy, Phoebe. She had 16 babies February 28th. One of them didn't make it though. 12 and under is average litter size so she does have a lot to care for! This baby will be a hooded.

This baby will be a PEW (pink-eyed white)

I haven't looked at all of them too closely yet but there is at least one berkshire in here too.

This is mommy's prego belly and her sweet little face!

OK. Lots going on but my computer has been on the fritz so..... We are fostering two birdies for Parrot Hope. http://www.parrothope.org/

Buddy~a Hahns Mini Macaw (he may have a home---we did a home visit for him a couple of days ago. http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12820579

And Eli~a white capped Pionus (he is not yet listed and I do not have pix yet. (I just got him last night).

We also rescued a pregnant rat who just had babies last Friday~she had 16 but one didn't make it. Average litters are typicall 12 or under so she has a lot to take care of.

Cherry

The little lovebird that we took in because she was "free to good home" got really sick last night and had a crazy seizure. We took her to the bird vet in Brunswick in a blizzard to hear that her prognosis was not good and since she was not tame the treatment would have been really difficult on her so we made the decision to euthanize her. She is in a better place with no more fear or illness but I still feel like I failed her. Poor girlie!

Newest Nikita's Wish foster.........

This boy was with another "supposed rescue" but the lady kept him for a month with constant diarrhea and never took him to the vet but instead asked her niece to take him to have him euthanized! He is a good 50 lbs underweight ....35" at the shoulder and a mere 93#.

Check out this poor baby's photos.....

And his story at www.nikitaswish.org

Do I hate people?

Well, years ago I liked people and enjoyed working with them but then I began to see how dishonest, ignorant and lacking in compassion they were and I began to hate them.

While volunteering as an animal rescuer over the past 8 years I have come across some really crazy animals. Biting animals, peeing animals, unpredictable, distrusting, etc. and have each time had compassion and understanding...realizing that these animals are the product of their environments.

Why am I saying all of this....well, this week, the people hater that I have become started a new job.....at a hospital and found myself liking my job though my fat body hurts from all the bending and more than once I have come home teary-eyed from the pain I still actually like the job...why...the people! PEOPLE???? Yep. I like walking into a room to get a person's trash and smiling at them in their time of great need. To pray for them as I walk out...for God to bless them and their families and give them the kind of peace that only he can.

So in conclusion I have now determined, that, I , in fact, do not hate people but instead I hate lack of compassion and ignorance and finally realize that people, like animals, are also the products of their environments and are not born lying jerks....they become that way because they were taught ignorance and lack of compassion and if I hate them than I too lack compassion and I too am ignorant. So, as a way to not hate myself, I hereby withdraw my statement that, "I hate people".

The End!