u/Huffingfluff

Jerry’s crest is short but fabulous.

and yet barely wet

Hobbit came to us while we were still grieving the loss of our cockatiel, Zoe. I jokingly asked the universe to send me someone to take care of, all this love need to go somewhere. And somehow, the universe answered with a baby girl who looks like our Zoe and even had the same 2 dots behind her head.

We became fosters for Hobbit, she had been rejected by her parents. She couldn’t walk or fly, and she was ill when she arrived. She got a full checkup, an X‑ray, and had to be syringe‑fed because she was so dehydrated. We nursed her and she thrived. She went from 50 grams to 83 grams in just three weeks. She learned to walk, to flap, to explore. She did so well.

And then she got sick. One day I noticed she was tilting her head. From experience, I knew it could be an injury or an ear infection, so we took her to the vet. They didn’t find anything alarming besides the tilt, but to be safe, she was given antibiotics and Baytril for inflammation.

From Tuesday to Friday, she declined quickly. She lost weight and strength. By Friday she couldn’t feed herself anymore, so I hand‑fed her every two hours. I cried and prayed 100 Hail Marys that night. By Saturday she needed to be incubated and gavage fed. She was hospitalized for a week and the vet staff did everything they could. They were wonderful.

The Baytril helped a little, antibiotics and prednisone didn’t help. By the next Thursday, her central nervous system had deteriorated so much that she could only open her eyes. The next day we made the decision to let her go.

She was such a delightful baby bird. She was only with us for a month but it felt like a whole wonderful year. I fed her, taught her to waddle around the house, tossed her gently to help her learn to fly. I watched her make her first loops in the air. She slept on my shoulder, nuzzled my cheek and lifted her tiny face for a kiss.

Hobbit came exactly when I needed her. And she needed us back. She was a gift. I‘m forever grateful for this small and beautiful gift.

Ok I’ve cried enough. Thank you if you read this whole thing. Kisses to your babies and give them a good long sniff.