a step forwards, a step backwards

So, just as I was posting my update yesterday about Aziza and her latest round of hormone treatments, she threw another wrench in the works! I got a call from home at about 1:30 in the afternoon: "Her vent looks really big!" To which I replied, "Yes, that happens when she's hormonal, she's looked that way for a few weeks." Actually, what was meant was: "Her vent is really red and inflamed, and she's pushing, and when she does, something white shows."

So, when I got home it took about 5 minutes to discern that she was, indeed, straining on an egg which was right there but which she could not push out on her own. After a panicked call to the vet, I packed her up and drove her back to the office. I should have known her awesome weight gain over the last three days was suspicious. The vet helped push the egg out, gave her a calcium shot, and I brought a much lighter Aziza and a 12-gram egg back home. She spent an hour or so looking sleepy, but later in the evening was eating and drinking. She looks sore, though!

This morning I put her on the headboard while I went to the kitchen to fix the birds' morning rations. She walked over to the far side to look out the window, as usual. As I was dishing the food out, she walked back over to be put on her perch - without any prompting - and started eating right away (usually, she isn't in that much of a hurry). So she was hungry this morning. Hopefully, she will keep this up, because she's down to about 215 g now, and remember, I would really like her to be around 240 g. She has been eating well the past few weeks, but has been putting all of that into making eggs!

My day yesterday: Drive to work. Drive back home, pack up bird. Drive bird to vet's office (which is actually not far from work). Drive bird back home. Drive back to work. Drive home at end of work day. Drive back to vet's office with egg-bound bird. Drive home with egg-relieved bird. Total: About 85 miles, a lot of asshats in traffic, one exhausted bird, one exhausted bird owner, and $105 in vet charges.