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Pile of Kittens posted:They don't work for nails, and they can cause foot problems, so it's better to towel her. Here's a really good pictorial guide to using a towel and velcro restraint: That's what we do for Hannah. He hates it even after all these years. He will be upset for about an hour afterwards, so we give him some treats and then he's fine.
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Nov 19, 2012 01:59
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| # ? May 19, 2024 18:52 |
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That guide is good, but it assumes your bird is cool with being handled in the first place. The problem is she's a fully flighted, semi-tame, non-handraised bird, and is not comfortable with hands coming towards her. Once she's caught and toweled I can get her nails clipped and it's over in seconds but actually catching and toweling her is pretty upsetting. She'll fly to my finger when she's in the mood and she'll take food from my hands if my hands are below/at the level of her feet but she'll knock her beak at my fingers if they come too close. Best I've had is tossing a large towel over her and I managed to grab her before she could get out from under it, but if I miss the first time it gets ugly 
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Nov 19, 2012 02:21
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What I'd like to see is someone toweling a lovebird. I refuse to believe it can be done.
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Nov 19, 2012 02:28
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Didn't go to the vet, figured I'd give it another say since he hasn't sneezed today. I also dusted out his happy hut and cage. Hope it helps. Speaking of toweling:  Got his nails did today, though. And here's a lorikeet that was awesome.  There was also a Queen of Bavaria conure that had just had a bath, looked like it had a tumor on it's chest, but nope, it's just a pig and had a crop full of food.
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Nov 19, 2012 03:15
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Pfft, like there's such a thing as a Lorikeet that isn't awesome.
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Nov 19, 2012 03:24
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Fat Dio posted:The problem is she's a fully flighted, semi-tame, non-handraised bird, and is not comfortable with hands coming towards her. So, at this point you have to consider how stressful it would be for her to be clipped vs how harmful it would be for her to continue the current regime. I would go for clipping and training her to be more hand-tame because of what a problem her flightiness could become in the case of a health emergency or a fire or other issue. I'm letting Novolo have her wings for now because she's been very good about not running away or jumping off me, but if she were to become unhandleable, I would immediately clip her for safety's sake, not just convenience. I know it seems kind of cruel to take away a bird's flight just because it's frustrating and stressful to clip her nails, but do consider emergency situations.
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Nov 19, 2012 06:12
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I think Cheeky has a cold since she was sneezing a bit this morning. I've been putting off getting a gram scale but I better order one just in case so I can better measure their weight in times like this.
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Nov 19, 2012 12:51
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Pile of Kittens posted:So, at this point you have to consider how stressful it would be for her to be clipped vs how harmful it would be for her to continue the current regime. I would go for clipping and training her to be more hand-tame because of what a problem her flightiness could become in the case of a health emergency or a fire or other issue. I'm letting Novolo have her wings for now because she's been very good about not running away or jumping off me, but if she were to become unhandleable, I would immediately clip her for safety's sake, not just convenience. I know it seems kind of cruel to take away a bird's flight just because it's frustrating and stressful to clip her nails, but do consider emergency situations. Thanks  It's simultaneously fun and frustrating to read about everyone's super tame birds in this thread. On the one hand I worry that she's always stressed out and lonely, but on the other hand I look at how much she's changed just in the year I've had her. She's made huge strides in how much she trusts us and seeks us out for interaction, I just hate undoing that when I have to clip her.I'd like to keep her flighted for now, because she seems to get a kick out of flying laps of the livingroom and when I first got her it took a couple months for her to even come out of her cage. She always lands back on her cage, it's her safe place I guess. Edit: Caught and toweled her without too much hassle, and she didn't scream like she has before. Edit edit: Am I right in assuming that bird toenails are like cat and dog toenails, in that the quick will recede with regular clipping? I took the hook off each nail but they're still a bit too long. Fat Dio fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Nov 19, 2012 |
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Nov 19, 2012 15:14
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Yeah, it has a quick. You'll get the hang of how short you can clip them, and it's not the end of the world if you nick her. It helps to have some styptic powder on hand, but cornstarch will do.
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Nov 19, 2012 18:09
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Yeah, I file Ohtori's nails down rather than clip them, since it's hard to see with dark claws and even taking tiny pieces off was still hitting the quick at times. Now his nails are a normal length, but I still file them. Steve gets clipped. I caught Steve to put him away while cooking, and he bit me hard twice, broke the skin both times. I have a mean potato.
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Nov 19, 2012 19:12
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Novolo is eating pellets! But only the green ones and only soaked in pineapple juice. It's a start.
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Nov 19, 2012 23:03
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So, I had a long weekend, and spent the whole time reading everything I could from everywhere about cockatiels determined to lay eggs. After I weaned out anything remotely close to websites that said, "MAH BABIEZ!!!" or looked like something a Grandma put together with Windows 3.1, I think I have some good information. You all may recall my Warkatiel has been hell bent on laying eggs for no apparent reason. I have changed everything I can think of without success. I coddle this potato, damnit! Firstly, laying birds take massive poops. The internet agrees on this. But, they will not poop in what they consider their nest. I was becoming worried because Wandy would go long periods of time without using the bathroom. Apparently, she has claimed the entire cage as her nest box. So, every few hours, I have to let her on top of the cage to poop. (Subsequently, into her "nest box") But I'm teaching her the poop command, so that's a plus. She just isn't getting much shoulder time right now. Also, the internet thinks the following - Some female warks can be dissuaded from laying eggs by taking them once or twice. BUT! Apparently some flip the "make babby" switch and will not turn it off until either A - They make babby B - They deem the eggs not viable This means that, no matter what, I am leaving her latest two in there. I saved her last two I removed as well, and rolled them in for good measure. She has claimed them all and likes to nap on them...or roll them around with her beak...or stare at me. Her is the kicker. Because  s are so they become very determined. I saw them say the female can take UP TO A MONTH to deem them not viable. So, I will be letting my cockatiel out every few hours for perhaps a month to poop. Yay. The rest of the time she will be a poofed up pillow for some eggs.
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Nov 19, 2012 23:55
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Some chickens will sit, even without any eggs on the nest, for a month, so don't get too frustrated. It's hard to fight instincts.
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Nov 20, 2012 00:06
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Ritz has almost stopped sneezing, he sneezed twice this morning, so maybe it's just the weather. Hopefully, but if I notice any change in behavior he's going to the vet.
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Nov 20, 2012 00:07
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Captain Log: Requesting a photo of your derp sitting on her eggs. Photodump of my own:        [  We went to the bird store for pellets, and got two toys for Ohtori plus this stuff. As you can see it looks nothing like how it appears on the box, but he seemed to really like it. A bit sad, the first year or two we went to that store (looking, at that point we didn't have Ohtori) they seemed to really care for the birds despite the small space, and small cages for some. Healthy looking, fully feathered (though clipped), birds out on the counter or in a closed in area to play. Today, after not going for a long time... many of the birds had feathers missing or no tails, species of quite different sizes mixed (Scarlet macaws and Hahns macaws, B&G baby with a small and angry Amazon) and there were quite a few overcrowded cages. There was a cage with five caique babies, no toys and just one branch perch stretched across the whole thing, could only have been about 70cm by 30cm in size. Really sucked to see The guy behind the counter also had no idea what we were talking about when we asked if they had a shower/window perch. Maybe there was a translation issue, but he then said it sounded like a bad idea because they'd walk into the window. What? Battle Pigeon fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Nov 20, 2012 |
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Nov 20, 2012 00:16
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Battle Pigeon posted:Captain Log: Requesting a photo of your derp sitting on her eggs. I think I may have posted this before. This is her, on two eggs, about to do the motherly HISS JUMP RAGE HISS! at my iphone. It's kind of scary seeing her response to something if she is on the eggs and threatened. She flattens out, puffs up and half raises her wings, hisses, then jumps, repeat. But, I can put my hand right up next to her and she gives absolutely zero fucks.  We will see if I can get a picture of her sleeping on four eggs tonight. She is at maximum fluff/poof.
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Nov 20, 2012 01:04
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I like how bird instinct mostly works by apparently they're enough that there's no circuit for "Were you seduced by the enchanting call of a male cockatiel? (Y/N)
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Nov 20, 2012 01:52
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Omg, birds on bowls eating things  I've been sorely tempted to start a birds eating things tumblr because it's so drat cute the way they use their feet!Speaking of window perches-  It's pretty much Zippy's favorite place to be.
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Nov 20, 2012 02:17
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Oh man, I want one of those so bad. Both birds would love it. America gets all the cool bird things. 
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Nov 20, 2012 02:20
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Battle Pigeon posted:Oh man, I want one of those so bad. Both birds would love it. America gets all the cool bird things. That looks like about $15 worth of plumbing tubes and a couple of suction cups that you can get from a fish supply store.
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Nov 20, 2012 02:31
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Speaking of derps, here's Steve trying to seduce Ohtori at breakfast this morning. Not pictured: bowing, stealing the sprouts from his mouth, endless repetition of wolf whistles. Sorry for quality.  Frogmanv2 posted:That looks like about $15 worth of plumbing tubes and a couple of suction cups that you can get from a fish supply store. Yes. However, laziness. We keep talking about making these, or different rope perches, and so on but haven't gotten around to it yet. It would be easier to be able to just buy one somewhere but there isn't the option, and for more interesting things like cool toys, decent cages, etc they're just not available at all here.
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Nov 20, 2012 02:37
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Battle Pigeon posted:etc they're just not available at all here. Where is here?
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Nov 20, 2012 10:49
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My mated pair of lovebirds take two months to decide their replaced fake eggs are not viable. Birds, am I right?  Except when they are viable and you get stuck with a GODLESS MONSTROSITY. 
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Nov 20, 2012 14:59
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Battle Pigeon posted:Oh man, I want one of those so bad. Both birds would love it. America gets all the cool bird things. Check Amazon...
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Nov 20, 2012 15:48
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Frogmanv2 posted:Where is here? Eastern Europe alucinor posted:Check Amazon... It costs more to deliver than it does to buy, even if I had it sent to the UK, so not really appealing. For such a perch we'll just have to get off our asses and do it ourselves. For the grip tape part, what would be best to use? Something that doesn't have glue or whatever that the birds could ingest, and won't go gross if used occasionally in the shower?
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Nov 20, 2012 16:35
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Battle Pigeon posted:For the grip tape part, what would be best to use? Something that doesn't have glue or whatever that the birds could ingest, and won't go gross if used occasionally in the shower? Screw the grip tape. Wrap a towel or wash rag or something bird-safe to hold onto around that bitch and sew it! Maybe they'll eventually chew through it, then just put on another piece of fabric. Bam! Me and Zomo are thinking about making one of these suckers for our shower, maybe if we get one done we can ship you one out for a not impossible amount of money?
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Nov 20, 2012 19:01
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Ughh, so ritz is sneezing again, and I almost wanna say his nose was a little congested last night, or he was grinding his beak ever so quietly. The vet that i wanted to go to (not our normal vet, this place is open late, and half the cost) the avian specialist isn't in until Monday. What would goons do? He still isn't acting weird, and has put on another gram, he's gunna have to go on a diet methinks, he's at 119g right now which is almost on the chubby side.
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Nov 20, 2012 19:09
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Battle Pigeon posted:For the grip tape part, what would be best to use? Something that doesn't have glue or whatever that the birds could ingest, and won't go gross if used occasionally in the shower? I've made a PVC perch for my end table next to my couch. I took some sandpaper to the perch part to rough it up a little so that the birds won't slip off. If something bumps the table pretty hard they still fall off, but I could use a coarser grit paper to fix that.
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Nov 20, 2012 20:07
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SaNChEzZ posted:
Is this at Omars in Brea? I go there a lot and the Lori they have is hysterical. It runs around the bottom and chases balls and acts like the nuttiest animal. It's hilarious. And I think the Queen of Bavaria was super sweet and loved to be cuddled. I like going there to get a good bird fix since I can't get one yet.
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Nov 20, 2012 20:56
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Amaya posted:Screw the grip tape. Wrap a towel or wash rag or something bird-safe to hold onto around that bitch and sew it! Maybe they'll eventually chew through it, then just put on another piece of fabric. Bam! Pip pip pip posted:I've made a PVC perch for my end table next to my couch. I took some sandpaper to the perch part to rough it up a little so that the birds won't slip off. If something bumps the table pretty hard they still fall off, but I could use a coarser grit paper to fix that. Both these are good options, thanks! If there's time this weekend I'll propose a trip to hunt for supplies. SaNChEzZ posted:Ughh, so ritz is sneezing again, and I almost wanna say his nose was a little congested last night, or he was grinding his beak ever so quietly. The vet that i wanted to go to (not our normal vet, this place is open late, and half the cost) the avian specialist isn't in until Monday. I would probably wait, especially if he's showing no other signs of anything wrong, since he's been sneezing a while already. You'll know him best though, and if you're really worried it's better to take him elsewhere and have it be nothing than to not take him.
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Nov 20, 2012 21:13
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I felt something wet hit my cheek and got all worried about Leeloo having a cold. Nope. She had pooped on my shoulder, went for a nibble to see if it was tasty, decided it wasn't, and flicked it onto my face. Birds.
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Nov 20, 2012 21:16
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Sweet CupnCakes posted:Is this at Omars in Brea? I go there a lot and the Lori they have is hysterical. It runs around the bottom and chases balls and acts like the nuttiest animal. It's hilarious. And I think the Queen of Bavaria was super sweet and loved to be cuddled. I like going there to get a good bird fix since I can't get one yet. Omar's in Santa Monica Battle Pigeon posted:I would probably wait, especially if he's showing no other signs of anything wrong, since he's been sneezing a while already. You'll know him best though, and if you're really worried it's better to take him elsewhere and have it be nothing than to not take him. Okay, he's not exhibiting any other signs as I said, I guess I'll wait until Monday to take him to see the cheaper vet. $74 for an office visit where the doc will listen to his breathing is much worse than $43 the other place is charging to do the same thing. I think he's broken, he never plays with his toys while I'm at work, but instead just sits on his perches, napping or preening, but as soon as we're home the toys get mangled. Birds.
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Nov 20, 2012 21:30
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SaNChEzZ posted:
She actually does almost the same thing during the day when I work from home; she enjoys interacting with me for a bit during the day but for the most part preens and snoozes the day away. Pretty sure at this point she gets like 14-16 solid hours of sleep per day.
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Nov 20, 2012 21:41
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Kenshin posted:I think it's a social thing. Zippy does the same thing--she (as far as we can tell) hardly eats or plays with toys during the day, but literally the moment we walk in the door she'll start eating her leftover breakfast food before we even give her her dinner. She's then much more active until it's bedtime. Haha yeah, we use ustream, so I can make sure he's ok during the day (  ) and most of the time he sits in his hut looking out the windows, or preening/sleeping. As soon as we're home, he must ring all the bells as often as possible so mom and dad can't concentrate on what they're doing.
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Nov 20, 2012 21:43
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Outside of their 12-2 warking session the cockatiels don't really do much during the day either. Charlie will chew on some of his wood toys but mostly sits on his perch and talks to himself or teases the cockatiels.
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Nov 20, 2012 22:27
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SaNChEzZ posted:I think he's broken, he never plays with his toys while I'm at work, but instead just sits on his perches, napping or preening, but as soon as we're home the toys get mangled. Birds. Squirts almost the opposite. When he thinks we arent looking he will happily play with nearly anything, though preferably something he can grab and pick up with one foot, and throw off whatever surface he is on. Usually once he throws something off and we turn to see what the noise is, we get a look like "what? I wasnt doing anything. Im just sitting here preening" Im pretty sure this is to hide the fact he sometimes chews on his own foot while playing.
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Nov 21, 2012 01:34
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Nugget and Sprite pretty much nap/space out/preen all day too. Ozzy apparently does different things depending on who is at home with him, so I have no clue what he does when no one is around. If my husband is home, he likes to quietly play with a clock toy and grumble at it. If I'm home, he throws his foot toys around and rattles all his noisy bells around. I think he likes to put on a big hyper show for me because he knows I am more likely to pick up after him.
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Nov 21, 2012 15:05
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He stopped sneezing  !!And he was rather well behaved this morning, gave lots of kisses, didn't bite at all and was more than happy to step up. Maybe he is sick..
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Nov 21, 2012 19:00
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Both our ecclectus sneeze often, never sick, shrug. We separated Luke and LoLo into different rooms and the Luke seems to have ceased plucking, lending credit towards the idea that she was stressing and harassing him. I need to plot out a diet/food schedule for them so they get more good stuff! They both went to town on a hardboiled egg the other morning. Bunch of slack-jawed ferrets around here. This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me.
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Nov 21, 2012 19:12
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Official Bizness posted:My mated pair of lovebirds take two months to decide their replaced fake eggs are not viable. Birds, am I right? Son.of a bitch. Two possible months of having to let my potato out of the cage to use the bathroom. She has been getting very little shoulder time due to the runny "I'm laying eggs" monster farty dumps she is taking. Last night I let her out for a while. She hadn't pooped and decided to try and fly to me. She already flies like a fat kid running down stairs (Badly.) I held out my perch finger and at the last minute, with all her might, she pulled up like a 747 being piloted by cocained out Denzel Washington. From here, all her strength was gone. She quickly careened downwards and away from me and gently binked into a wall and fell to the carpet. By the time I got to her, she was confused and her point of impact was covered with massive momma dump. I at least think she realized in mid flight, "DON'T CRAP ON FOOD/SCRITCH BRINGER!" and bailed with the last of her strength.
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Nov 21, 2012 22:59
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