Harley had his annual vet check-up today. He was very well-behaved, apart from regurgitating lunch like crazy! He sat on Bruce's shoulder at every opportunity — but considering where we were, that wasn't a problem. He stepped up very well for me (except when it was time to get back into the travel cage, but then he stepped up nicely onto a couple of tongue depressors), and he even stepped up for the vet! Of course, the minute he saw the towel he flew away and started barking like a dog. (Bruce hadn't heard that before, and was quite impressed with both the volume and the dog-like qualities!)

The vet confirmed that he's gained 7 grams since his last check-up, but she checked him carefully and decided he didn't feel overweight. As long as he doesn't gain another 7 grams by next years' visit, he should be fine. Otherwise, she declared him fit and healthy. And very handsome, of course!

Then, since it's been two years, we decided to draw blood for a few tests. Last time, they whisked Harley away for the blood draw, but we decided to watch this time. The less stress for a bird, the better, so even the minute or so it might take to transport him to another room was worth saving.

"You know we use the jugular?" the vet asked before she began. Yes, well, the right jugular vein is the biggest, and therefore the easiest to use for drawing blood in companion parrot-type birds. Not all vets use the jugular vein, but I'd heard about it before. You can click here for a bigger version of this photo — but don't worry, you can't see much. Unfortunately, the vet wasn't able to get too much blood. She jiggled the needle around quite a bit, but for some unknown reason the liquid just stopped coming, and after what felt like minutes but was probably just a second or two, she decided to stop. Hopefully we'll have enough for tests on liver and kidney functions. Since he looks fine otherwise, we should be safe with that.

Poor bird has to go back again for a toenail trim on Saturday, but hey — a dremel tool is nothing compared to a needle stuck in your neck!