 |
We discovered Ahab was missing a leg (actually the lower part of her left leg) a day after she came out of the nest for the first time. She fell to the bottom of the cage and stayed there. My husband, Steve, picked her up to check her out, and needless to say, the problem was pretty obvious! We started racking our brains! How do you care for a one-legged bird? Did we need to build little ramps to the food bowls? Should we bury one in the nesting material? We were still working on this two days later when we came home from work to find her sitting on a perch. We didn't worry much after that! Ahab has a slouch when she perches. In the past, her favorite place to sit was on a slinky... the curve matched her own. We also placed a little stopper on the end of a branch so she wouldn't slide off of it. These days, she hangs out on the floor most of the time...for ease? Who knows. She likes to scoot around on a ledge about an inch off the bottom of the cage floor. She'll place her left side on the ledge and push herself around the cage with her right leg (left). It's one of the cutest things she does! All in all, she has more personality than any bird we've ever had! |
Like Ahab, I'm handicapped...I'm not missing a leg mind you, but I have trouble with my own... my feet to be more accurate. I developed severe skew foot in both feet from a growth spurt in 1993. I grew 3 inches in 3 months! It took 7 years to get a proper diagnosis and by that time, I was not able to stand for more than 30 minutes. Since 2001, I've had 9 surgeries and have injured my feet countless times. I'm in and out of physical therapy for a host of other joint and muscle complications related to the growth spurt and my poor gait; mostly affecting my hips, back, and shoulders. My PT made a comment recently that if I do not properly care for my hips and back, I will be crippled by the time I'm 40, but that I'm too feisty to ever let that happen...I pray that she's right! I've lost a lot of things I used to be able to do, but in the process, I've found so many more things that I enjoy! Some days are better than others, but there's never a day without a struggle or pain. However, Ahab keeps me grounded...if a little one-legged bird can enjoy her days then so can I! |
 |
| Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. |
TM
