A eulogy for a Friend

This is Neal...

Bobby died yesterday, and I lost it.
I have been trying to handle the stress of all the other things going on, and the grief of Bobby's impending death. Phoenix brought her (turned out to be a girl) to Dr. Holder, and her cancer had progressed and there was nothing they could do. The put her under anesthesia and gave her sodium barbitol.

Phoenix had been crying all the day before, and most of yesterday, and as I started to take down her cage, I just totally lost it, and wept.

Bobby is a special story because she was wild caught and had such a miserable life before us. She was several days from dying when we got her and she was in bad shape. With us she got good food, a huge cage with plenty of toys, and we let her grow her feathers out so she could fly. She loved to fly around the room and would squawk seemingly with joy at her freedom of movement. She was caught in the wild over 15 years ago and brought to this country to be a breeding bird, and lived all that time in a small dirty cage, pumping out babies for her owners profit. When she got sick, all they cared for was to unload the bird on someone else and make a profit.

Phoenix found her like this at a bird show. The breeder was drunk and Phoenix desperately wanted to buy her to save her, and I wouldn't let her because it just encourages the breeders behavior.

That night Phoenix had nightmares, and she tracked down that breeder and bought her anyway.

We rushed Bobb(ie) to the vet and had her treated for a bacterial infection, and she had surgery to remove a tumor on her cloaca. $900 later she was healthy... for the moment.
We knew that she still had cancer, and it was just a matter of time, but she was an amazing fighter and she did her best to stay alive.. When she molted, she went from having dull sickly feathers to bright new ones, and when her wings had finished growing, she would test them on her t-stand like a helicopter ready for take off, Squawking the whole time. She then would fly around the room in circles, enjoying what birds were meant to do.

I was hoping so much to finish the outdoor aviary so she had more room to fly, but that was not to happen.

Several days ago, she started to rapidly go down hill, and Phoenix would hold her to let her know she was loved. Finally, we had to take her to the vet, and release her from the pain she was obviously in.

Later the vet told us that she had cancer all through her intestinal track, so really there was nothing that could be done.

Bobby was an inspiration, and one of the reasons I do what I do. I hope that Phoenix and I made up, even just a little bit for the horrible things that were done to her, and gave her a little joy in life.

Bobby, we love you, and hope you now can fly free.