VIP Service. Make that “VVIP”

Today my wife and I drove to Gainesville to take food to Marvin, my parrot friend who has been ill since night before last.

This morning, I got a bad report. The vet said Marv seemed somewhat worse off than the day before. I discussed the situation with her. We talked about ways to stimulate Marv’s appetite.

I asked what they had been feeding Marv, and she mentioned seeds, carrots, tomatoes, and greens.

Very discouraging. I had to tell her Marv would turn down those vegetables regardless of his condition. I expected this, however, because the vet is a lady, she works at a university, and women and university employees lean left. Leftists are very self-righteous about food, and they project their own beliefs onto others, sometimes including animals.

I mentioned the possibility of trying meat, which Marv loves. Unsurprisingly, the vet made a wild claim, saying African greys were essentially “vegan.”

This is an old wives’ tale. Parrots are omnivores. African greys mainly eat seeds in the wild, along with other plant parts, but they also eat bugs and carcasses. They have been seen swarming on dead animals.

I said Marv liked yogurt, but she said parrots were not set up to eat dairy foods. Other vets have specifically recommended yogurt for birds, but okay.

I made rice with butter and salt, and I stirred a couple of eggs into it. I shelled some roasted peanuts and put them in a bowl. Off we went to visit Marv.

I was praying and commanding healing and so on most of the way up.

I appreciate everything they’re trying to do for Marv, but I am concerned that their prejudices may harm him.

They put us in an exam room. While we waited for them to bring Marv out to us, I was tense. Yesterday morning, he was in a bad way, and they had said he was worse today. When he came out, he looked a lot better than he had the previous morning. He was standing. He was alert. He talked. He wasn’t throwing up or seizing. He didn’t have poop stuck to his feathers.

They left us with him, and I took a spoon and fed him a tablespoon or so of the rice mixture. He wasn’t voracious, but he ate willingly. I got him to eat a tiny bit of a peanut. They brought some peanut butter on a spoon, and he ate a small amount.

I got to rub him and pet him and tell him what a great bird he was and how he had been a blessing to me all of his life.

When they came in to check on us, they were surprised to hear him talking. I guess he had been quiet since we left yesterday. He asked for food, saying, “Here you go, Marv.” He thanked me with his thank you noise. He said “bird toy” a few times. I think this is his new name for me.

I had to pick him up because I needed to smell him. When birds get fungus in their crops, they smell sour. He smelled like a hamburger. When I put him back in the cage, he surprised me by climbing on top of it. He could not have done that yesterday morning.

I didn’t want to pick him up, because he was somewhat weak and wanted rest, but I thought it was important.

I anointed Marv’s beak with oil and laid hands on him. We prayed for his healing, and I told God I believed his promise. He has said that if we lay hands on the sick, they will recover.

We got a call maybe 90 minutes after we left, and the vet said he was still relatively energetic. He didn’t crash from exhaustion when we left.

I keep saying “he.” Marvin laid a surprise egg two years ago.

That’s the situation. We had lunch at PF Chang’s. The Gainesville location is excellent. Now we’re at home, and Marv is still receiving care.

They didn’t look at Marv’s poop until today. I persuaded them to do it. Ordinarily, it’s the first thing a vet does. We are waiting for results.

They shot an antibiotic into him yesterday or today. I can’t recall. I think they should have done that at the start, because it was unlikely to do harm and could have turned out to be a quick cure. But I’m not a vet, so I am guessing.

From the natural standpoint, things are bad, but not clearly dire. I am approaching the situation from the supernatural direction as much as possible.

They now think he could have been poisoned by fumes from nonstick cookware. The old wisdom was that it was safe around birds unless it burned, but now there is suspicion that it can do cumulative harm even if you use it correctly. I find it hard to believe it’s the problem. I wouldn’t expect this issue to come on suddenly, over a few short hours.

When you smoke every day for 60 years, you don’t wake up one day with COPD or a huge tumor. When you drink too much, you don’t develop cirrhosis in a day. The vet says Teflon causes lung burns. Well, surely if Marvin had large lung burns, we would have seen some kind of evidence earlier. Generally, when you hear about birds being killed by Teflon, it happens over a few minutes because someone left a pan on the stove.

We didn’t do anything extraordinary with Teflon the day Marv got sick.

As far as I know, a burn is an acute injury, so it doesn’t sound like it fits Marv.

They’re shooting in the dark, to be honest. They are checking every angle, hoping something pays off. I think Marv has some kind of infection or ate a ball of rat poison or something. We recently had a mouse intrusion, and the mice stole rat poison and moved it around the house. I believe we kept Marv away from it, but I could be wrong.

I sprayed a piece of furniture with a bug product, and although Marv was never close to it, I suppose it could have affected him. The active ingredient is harmless to birds, but the carrier may not be.

I hope my little pal comes home tomorrow, and that we are able to give him at least 20 more years of improved care. God is kind and forbearing, and if he loves me, surely he loves Marvin. I remember how angry he got at the man in the parable who killed a pet sheep.

If you prayed for Marv, thank you and may God bless you.