<p>I was home this past weekend, and it felt so lonely to work without my bird to keep me company or to cut up safe fruits or vegetables without giving her any. My mom says that she often tears up a bit when buying bananas (my bird’s favorite food–she knew the sound of them being sliced and would dance excitedly while eating them).</p>
<p>I hear you, Psych. My parrot would sit on my shoulder or desk, helping me study thru school. We had another bird when son was growing up. I think tears and sadness just shows your compassion.</p>
<p>So sorry, psych and juniebug. We had out beloved standard poodle put to sleep a year ago March. the whole family was there to hold her and we all cried for days. it was a Wednesday and my girls couldnt go to school on Thurs or Fri. We have a new puppy now put the first dog is the one in my heart…she was 13 1/2 and luckily sick for only two days…but very suck.</p>
<p>psych, I can just imagine your parrot and how lonely it seems without him. We also have a beloved cockateil who is very tame, loves to cuddle, and flies around the house.</p>
<p>What kind of parrot was your bird? there are so many different kinds…</p>
<p>@psych_ </p>
<p>Of course certain things will remind us of our beloved pets that have passed. My Missy loved squeaker toys, LOVED THEM, so I cant look at one w/o thinking of her. </p>
<p>The song, We’ll Sing in the Sunshine, played on the radio during the last days before my Mittens died. I sang it to her til the end. Now, when it comes on the radio, I still cry.</p>
<p>(Gale Garnett)</p>
<p>We’ll sing in the sunshine
We’ll laugh every day
We’ll sing in the sunshine
And I’ll be on my way</p>
<p>There are songs that trigger memories of the loss of our pets. None of them actually have anything to do with the dog/ cat . When we lost our corgi , unexpectedly , I was on my way to the vet’s office and Mumford and Sons song, White Blank Page was playing on my iPhone. Love the song but it triggers than memory. We also lost a cat unexpectedly and the song that reminds me of him was The Wallflowers, One Headlight…</p>
<p>We put our 17 year old dog down on Sunday night. He had a horrible seizure followed by a prolonged period of loud crying and screaming. When we brought him to the emergency vet that night we were told due to his age he would never “come back” from that event. He was 17 so we knew the end was near, but we still felt completely devastated by it. We have been crying all week. My kids know no other family life. It is a tremendous loss.</p>
<p>So sorry to hear of your loss, burlmom.</p>
<p>Never be ashamed to cry for a pet , no matter what kind it is, they come into our home and our hearts, each in its own way. I have had pets, anything from fish, gerbils, cats, dogs, and now two birds (one parrot, one lovebird) and they all are special, it is part of being human:). </p>
<p>With a bird especially, because they can be so intelligent and interactive, they literally are another family member. Our lovebird, who is one of the smallest of the parrots, has a king size personality for something that weighs maybe 2 ounces, but she lets us know she is there, she has likes and dislikes, and lets you know if she is mad at you (has an incredible Bronx cheer and scolds you with the best of them). She can be cute and cuddly, then tries to climb in the sleeve of your robe because it is soft and fuzzy, then bites your arm for daring to be in there…</p>
<p>We have a yellow naped Amazon, who now is 11 I believe, and if you have never experienced them they are very intelligent, they are very dominant and they can enforce prompt discipline for violating protocol (put it this way, I have no problem believing birds are the descendants of dinosaurs, our parrot is a dinosaur!). They are like a human companion in some ways, they can cuddle, and they interact in ways that simply grab you, it is definitely another personality in the family:). And they can be all so charming, after biting you and breaking skin cause they are mad about something, they can turn around and sing a little song and then say “good boy”, very hard to stay mad…For the record, while they are wonderful, interesting animals,. they also are difficult, they require a lot of attention and stimulation, they love making a mess (reseeding the rainforest, don’t yo know,. when they fling messy bits of fruit and such on the wall), and they can be moody and can inflict serious pain, and if they aren’t stimulated and treated well it is both pathetic to see and also dangerous if they are in that kind of state. They can live a long time (they can easily outlive us, Amazons and African Grays can live to their 80’s), and they aren’t the kind of companion that passes away before you lose interest. Sadly, there are a lot of parrots and other birds in rescue programs and shelters, because people didn’t realize how much care it takes, how interactive they are and how cranky they can be…and if you are tempted to get one as a pet/companion, do yourself a favor and do the research, talk to people who have them, and see if you can interact with them, because they are marvelous animals but are kind of like old Aunt Harriet, that everyone else in the family can’t get along with but you love,are not easy. They also are susceptible to certain kinds of diseases, Parrots have died from catching something from peanuts in the shell that came in a food mix and can catch viral respiratory diseases and such, so you not only have to be careful with them (I am very, very careful about boarding them, would prefer someone taking care of them in my home) but also have to be aware that no matter how careful you are, it is always a possibility they can pass suddenly…</p>
<p>As far as being embarrassed crying, I cried for several hours after reading the memoir about Alex the African Gray parrot who absolutely blew apart assumptions about animal intelligence (among other things, Alex could recognize phonemes and their use in words, something Noam Chomsky and others claimed no animal could do), when the author describes how he passed away I lost it, and I am not necessarily that emotional (I think what touched me were his last words to her, on leaving the night before “Goodnight, Irene, I love you, I’ll see you in the morning”)…so in other words, it is okay:)</p>
<p>So sorry Burlmom and all others who have lost a beloved pet. We euthanized our sweet lab 8 days ago. Today, I had to go to the vet and pick up his ashes (or “cremains” as they called them which I first heard on the cremation thread a couple of weeks ago). </p>
<p>It has been a hard week+. Not unlike when a human family member dies, there are decisions to be made and people to notify and I found it draining. My husband is really struggling so I am trying to take care of as much as possible. </p>
<p>A few things that have helped me feel somewhat productive this week:</p>
<p>I contacted the rescue that we adopted our dog from and gave them anything they could use: heart worm prevention and other meds, blankets, etc. Included a check.</p>
<p>Found a dog on another rescue site to sponsor. I am not going to be ready for awhile to do this again, but in the meantime, I can help. I found a black dog as I heard they are harder to adopt out and sponsored his vet care etc. for a couple of months.</p>
<p>Gathered lots of pictures of our sweet pup and made photo collages on Costco.com. Different pix for each family member. My husband did his own and interestingly all his photos were solos of the dog. I picked a mix of human/dog shots and dog only shots for me and the kids.</p>
<p>When I went to the vet today, I gave them his leftover dog food. He was on an expensive prescription diet and they assured me they knew a family that would benefit from it. </p>
<p>Probably the hardest was writing a letter to the sweet lady that boarded our dog. She was there every time we needed her for family emergencies, vacations and whenever we had a need… She loved him like her own and I had a hard time explaining to her how much of a relief it was to find her since he hated being boarded before we found her. She and her staff found his quirks unique instead of annoying and just loved him. </p>
<p>Hugs to all of you missing your pets tonight.</p>
<p>Thanks Whitepicketfence, and so sorry for your loss too. We’ve had a very tough week here and we’re all really struggling with the loss of our dog. I really like the idea of making collages with some of his puppy pictures. We’re picking up his ashes in the next couple of days and would like to put them with some pictures. Maybe we’d all write down some of our favorite stories and memories of our many happy years with him.</p>
<p>I’m hoping this gets easier. We miss him terribly.</p>