Leaving town..

[Mare]

We are leaving town for seven days, starting Saturday..we as in myself, Tim and our youngest, Wyatt,,not the birds. They will be in good hands with our son, Noah but he doesn't handle Amigo..at ALL! Amigo has mellowed out with Noah over the years but there is still a great fear factor that Noah has and I can't blame him.

I walked Noah through the whole feeding routine, yesterday and he just kept smiling! I finally asked him what he thought was so funny! He says, "You, Mom..I know how much you love your birds and I promise to take good care of them...except I'm not letting Amigo out!" Ok, fair enough..

Does anyone else still go through anxiety when having to leave their babies?

[The Pinkertons]

I sure do, even if I go out for a few hours.

[Mare]

I remember when I tortured myself by not leaving them.. I missed family vacations because I worried that no one else could do as good for them, as I...birds aren't cats, dogs, or horses and I worried about them more. My family finally convinced me, (kicking and dragging all the way), that "they will live" without me and I'm so glad they did. Not that they truly knew..but it worked out fine :)

[Dragonlady2]

I struggled daily with going to work and leaving the birds at home. I even had the luxury of scheduling my own hours, but I was on call 24-7. I finally decided that I needed to retire early....not sure if that was the best idea...the birds are getting spoiled with too much attention. I can relate to the anxiety, still am anxious if I have to leave for too many hours. Everything is tightly scheduled. This seems to be an issue for many bird owners. I am interested in replies to see how many others there are.

[Mare]

Helena, I think what saved me from the guilt of leaving them "alone", was having other birds around them to sorta communicate with. It looks like you have others..if I were you, I wouldn't worry so much. I only say this because Amigo was my first bird and as I've added on..their little community seems to have become more relaxed.

[PlaxMacaws]

I sure do, even if I go out for a few hours. Same here. I even worry about my guys while I'm merely out running errands. I tend to think about the 'what if's' :th_shakehead:

Mare: You're fortunate to have a responsible son to watch over your flock and I'm sure he would handle any urgencies that may arise very well. Enjoy your 7-day break :D

[Mare]

Thank you, Tony! :). Noah is very responsible and has numbers for the vets, if needed. We are heading to Baja and we will have phone communication. Believe me,,I will be in touch! :)

[kendrafitz]

I get anxious as well. We are leaving tomorrow for our spring break trip and I feel terribly guilty. Thank goodness I have my mom. Rosie and the dogs love her. My mom makes sure she gets a shower every day and usually teaches Rosie a new word by the time we get home. It's funny, Rosie doesn't really learn her words from me, 90% are from my mom. Which tells me she is happy with my mom and eases the guilt a bit.

Have a great trip!!

[spiritbird]

Please have lots of fun. Hoping for your good photos again.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

I think it does the birds good for us to get away for a break. It makes them realise how well we treat them. They may not appreciate this though and tend to give us grief when we get back.
Actually, Casper is very fortunate that when we go away, he goes to stay with the same people each time and knows them well enough to enjoy their company.
Last time we were away we received a short video of Casper sitting on Bea's shoulder whilst she was doing some ironing - the caption was Busy busy busy.
His cage is placed in their house next to a set of glass doors that look out onto the garden. In good weather the doors can be folded back completely to make the house and garden one. We understand that Casper is not confined to his cage when the doors are open so this must be lovely for him. I'm surprised he lets us bring him home.
Have a great time, enjoy yourselves and DON'T WORRY - THEY WILL BE ALRIGHT.* :)

*Amigo maybe a little stir-crazy :pinkgrin:

[Mare]

Haha! Jean-Pierre, poor Casper having to come home to you and Margaret! :). A lucky bird, indeed!

Kendra, you are very fortunate to have your mom..a loving person , like yourself.

Last time we left for a week, it looked like a bomb had gone off in his and Sassy's cage!! These cockatoos like to chew/destroy! :)

[Lady]

Well you guys know the saying while the cat's away the bird will play! Relax and enjoy your short freedom, it doesn't happen often enough. You have done well giving their care over to the best people you know will do the job with love.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

My advice: Don't leave the keys to the bulldozer where Noah can find them. You know what kids are like. :)

[Doublete]

I hate going away. I have a good friend who loves animals and does wonderfully taking care of mine (17 horses, 3 birds, 9 cats, 2 dogs)
I make the food easy for her for the birds. But she is a little scared of Chiqui so only Loki comes out when she's there. But she's awesome!

[PlaxMacaws]

My advice: Don't leave the keys to the bulldozer where Noah can find them. You know what kids are like. :)Yes. Especially those who may have watched violent cartoons :th_wink:

[mdg1109]

We usually got to the OBX every summer for a week, I told my husband he and and our sons could go but I could not leave Charlie for a whole week! Our neighbor has a blue fronted Amazon said she would be happy to take care of him while we are gone but I just can't bring myself to do it. I have even thought about bringing Charlie with us but that is a lot for just a week.

Even I am gone a lot during the day I am constantly going "oh Charlie needs to be let out" or "Charlie is not going to be happy with me today". It is funny how these feathered creatures fly into our hearts!

It is good that your son is going to take care of the birds, at lease you know they will be well taken care of! Enjoy your trip out of town.

[Mare]

Thanks, guys! I plan on enjoying and getting lots of vitamin D!

Doublete, that's wonderful that you have someone you know and trust with your animals. It makes your time away a little less worrisome, for sure!

Yes, they sure do bury themselves deep in our hearts, Michelle :). I hope you and Kendra have fun safe trips, too!


Oh! One more thing! Noah loves playing with the dozer, he plans on scraping the dirt roads around here and fix the mess the rain has caused so I think we'll leave him the keys :)

[PlaxMacaws]

Oh! One more thing! Noah loves playing with the dozer, he plans on scraping the dirt roads around here and fix the mess the rain has caused so I think we'll leave him the keys :)Too bad Noah and Amigo aren't great friends... I can just picture Noah piloting the dozer with Amigo perched upon his shoulder supervising :th_biggrin:

[mdg1109]

Thanks, guys! I plan on enjoying and getting lots of vitamin D!

Doublete, that's wonderful that you have someone you know and trust with your animals. It makes your time away a little less worrisome, for sure!

Yes, they sure do bury themselves deep in our hearts, Michelle :). I hope you and Kendra have fun safe trips, too!


Oh! One more thing! Noah loves playing with the dozer, he plans on scraping the dirt roads around here and fix the mess the rain has caused so I think we'll leave him the keys :)

Unfortunately for us no trips this spring break and I still have not convinced myself to schedule our trip to the OBX this summer, I cannot leave Charlie.

We are actually possibly going to get some snow this weekend (I am cringing just thinking about it) which is sad because the trees are starting bud and the early spring flowers are looking beautiful.

I plan on heading to the REDBOX machine and stocking up on movies for my kids and the liquor store to stock up on wine for me because on top of it being spring break it looks like we might be stuck inside for a couple of days due to the weather.

Mare and Kendra I hope you have great trips and take lots of pictures!:pinkgrin:

[kendrafitz]

Michelle - your Charlie is still a baby. So I absolutely understand. I was similar with Rosie when she was a baby.

That being said, if I didn't get away I would go insane! Rosie is super high maintenance and wants my undevided attention all the time. The quiet, being able to talk to Jef and the kids and being able to shower alone are a great change. Then I come home recharged and excited to see my little red devil....ummm, diva, I meant diva. ;)

It's awesome you have an experienced neighbor, which I have a feeling you may be using in a year or so. At least if you are anything like me. Lol