Manzi didn't make it. Last year I went through one of the most difficult times of my life. It is a long story:
The second half of 2019 and first half of 2020, Manzi didn't like me. He turned against me about 6 months after falling in love with Maui. I still wanted to put him in the outdoor aviary during the day, cause both he and Maui loved it out there. So I tried various techniques and finally was able to train Manzi to go into a carrier, so then I could put him outside without loosing any chunks of skin. This worked very well for quite some time. Manzi slowly started to trust me again and realized I wasn't trying to get in between him and Maui. After nearly a year of using the small carrier cage, Manzi started not wanting to step up to it. Finally, I decided to try using my hand again and he hopped right up. Like he was telling me I could trust him again.
It was a big relief and I started carrying the birds out in my hand again. Then, Manzi was able to find a weakness in the aviary and escape one day. He didn't go far and stayed really close by. He hadn't free flown in many years, so he was pretty nervous. He stayed out overnight (which worried the heck out of me), but the next morning flew back down to me and was happy to be back with his Maui.
I reinforced the aviary and fixed the problem. Things were really good at this time and we were a pretty loving threesome again. Well, Manzi was still skeptical of me and wouldn't let me do much more than scratch his head, but he wasn't trying to attack me. Maui stayed her loving self. They were really happy together too, which was absolutely adorable to see. Often preening each other and whistling together.
Then, in September, as I was bringing the birds to the aviary, I tripped and Manzi was startled and flew off. I usually hold them tightly by their feet, but that morning, I switched hands and didn't hold them quite like normal. So Manzi was able to fly away. I wasn't too concerned cause I figure he'd be back soon. I spent all day looking for him though and didn't spot him even once. Usually, when he's flown off, he's constantly calling to me letting me know where he's located.
By the following day, I was in panicked mode as I still couldn't find him anywhere. I printed flyers, posted everywhere I could find and spent the next week outside, biking around the neighborhood as much as possible. I have three kids now, but my husband took over kid/household duties, while I went out, usually three hours every morning, a couple hours at lunch and then another three hours in the evening. I printed a couple hundred flyers and started getting tips. Surprisingly, 3 other African Greys were found in the local area within just 4 days. None of them turned out to be my guy. The first one, I thought for sure it must be my baby, cause who else would have a grey in the area that just happened to be lost at that time? Unfortunately, it wasn't my guy.
Once, I was calling "MANZI!!" and I heard an African Grey chirp up. I thought I found him and after about 15 minutes, I finally spotted the Grey. It was in a cage in someone's backyard. I knocked on the door and they told me they have a Grey. They were very suspicious of me and I of them. From their point of view, how did I know they had a Grey in their yard? I looked through the fence and saw it, but why was I looking through their fence?
They were really nice though after I told them I lost my boy, Manzi. Theirs is named Monty, so very close names and that's probably why he kept calling back to me when I called out, "Manzi." I asked if I could see him up close just to be sure that he really wasn't my Grey. I know that can be very insulting cause basically I'm saying that I don't trust that they didn't steal my guy, but I wanted to be sure. They said they'd do the same thing though. Up close, I immediately knew it wasn't Manzi.
One day, I even got a call from someone offering to give me their Grey cause they couldn't handle her anymore. I didn't want another Grey though, I wanted my Manzi boy.
After a week, someone called with Manzi. It was an adult daughter visiting her parents a mile away from our house. The neighbors of her parents found a Grey and gave it to someone else. The daughter saw my flyers and figured I must have been worried sick, so she gave me the address of where they had given the Grey.
I showed up at their house, and they were pretty nice about the whole thing. As soon as I called Manzi, even before seeing him, he immediately responded. I knew instantly it was him. They told me they had him for a few days already and he never made a sound, so they were surprised when he called to me. He was in a cage with food and water. I went to get him to step up, and he tried, but then fell over. He head rolled off to the side and my heart dropped. Something was seriously wrong with him.
I carried him home in a box and talked to him. He was so happy to hear me, but really scared. The people who had them said their dogs found him. He wasn't really bloody, but did have a wound on his head and seriously neurological issues. They didn't realize he had any issues at all and thought he was perfectly healthy, but they didn't have any experience with parrots.
I took Manzi went to an ER vet. All the regular avian vets had weeks' long waitlists. The ER vet said they had experience in avian medicine, but when I looked up their vets, none of them were certified avian vets. Manzi went downhill really quickly and within 12 hours couldn't support his head. The vets forcefed him formula and gave him subcutaneous fluids. After two days on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, they said he wasn't getting any better and they wanted to keep him longer. I spoke with the staff and they said Manzi was completely terrified there and would scream any time they came near him. Due to Covid, they wouldn't let me see him either.
I stayed in touch with another avian vet who wasn't local, but very helpful. Then, against the advice of the ER place, I decided to take Manzi home. When they brought him out to me at the ER vet, I broke down in tears. He was shaking so much, all dirty, and absolutely terrified. I figured if they had to forcefeed him to keep him alive and that he might die any time, I'd rather him be home with me and Maui.
I gave him unlimited treats to try to get his weight back up. He had lost a lot of weight. I was able to mix in his medicine with the treats and he gobbled it up. That was the first he had eaten in a few days on his own as he wouldn't eat at the ER vet at all. I held him up to his water dish and he would drink too. I had a little dog crate that I lined with towels to keep him in. I set him next to his and Maui's normal cage and Maui and him would often be as close as possible to each other (just a few inches apart).
Manzi was incredibly flinchy when I brought him home from the ER. He couldn't stand up or hold his head up. I was pampering/babying him all day. Talking to him trying to encourage him to keep trying. Over the next couple weeks, he started to perk up a bit. He finally started gaining weight and was almost back up to his normal weight. He began to hold his head up too, albeit crookedly. He even started climbing around his new crate/cage. At this point, I had hope that he might have a full recovery. Even if he didn't at least he was back to whistling and happy, so my anxiety eased a bit.
A couple times per day, I would hold Manzi in my lap and scratch his head. He would completely relax and really enjoyed this. After having him distrust me for a year, it was really nice to be able to cuddle with him again and for him to trust me again.
Unfortunately, Manzi slowly grew weaker. It was like he was trying his hardest for maybe even a couple months, but the neurological damage weakened his muscles and he couldn't recover. By Christmas, he was going downhill again. I was feeding him a baby carrot every day, along with other veggies/fruit. On the 29th of December, his beak got stuck in a baby carrot and he just fell over, laying there. I was watching him, so I immediately pried his beak off. Then I kept feeding him some carrots, but I chopped them quite finely. I knew his beak getting stuck was a really bad sign. He had tried so hard, but he was getting weaker. He weight began to drop and after a couple more days, he stopped talking to me.
The last two days of his life, I didn't put him down, except when I was sleeping. I held him in my arms, I was too scared and I was begging him to keep trying. He did try, but just couldn't anymore. My heart was completely broken. Manzi was my little sentinel and I loved him so very, very much. It has been several months, but I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it again.
Maui was pretty distraught at first too. She didn't speak for several days, which is not like her. Eventually, she started speaking/whistling again. Now we have a much quieter life. Maui is quite bonded to me, and closer to me than she's ever been. She's always loved me, but she's always had Manzi and her boxes.
People have asked if I will get another Grey or parrot. I don't think I ever will. Manzi was with me for 17 years. He went through so much with me and helped me get through so much. I had some really hard times in my life and he was always there for me, my companion, best little buddy and sentinel. He'll always be in my heart.
