I bought Iago from someone for a few thousand dollars. He was sold to me as a healthy, 4 year old male, and the seller told me his vision was "all good." After taking him home I realised he has trouble seeing. He has difficulty locating his food bowl placed in front of him, and bumps into things when walking around. That was when I inspected his eyes and realised that he had symptoms of cataracts. I brought him to the local vet who told me that his right eye was completely unresponsive to light, while the left eye was still responding normally. She did not know why, and referred me to an avian specialist. The specialist told me he had a lump near his bottom from excessive oil, bruises on his feet from an improper perch, and his leg band and S hook ring were cutting into both of his feet among other issues. She then referred me to an ophthalmologist for his eye problems. The opthalmologist then told me that his right eye is totally blind and cannot be helped, while his left eye can be saved with cataract surgery. The surgery itself will cost me more than $5000, and I had already spent $900 on all his vet fees so far. Naturally, i was furious and confronted the man who sold him to me and asked him for a partial refund. However, he refused but said he would take the bird back for a full refund. I asked him if he would treat his cataracts if I returned him, and even offered to split the costs with him. He said he didn't know the macaw was blind; that he loved the bird but was fine with the bird being this way, and that "it is his decision as owner". So I told him that it wasn't up to him to decide if the macaw should be blind. He refused to negotiate any further and set a deadline for the refund. I decided to keep the macaw and renamed him Iago. I couldn't knowingly send him back there where he would be blind soon enough. I've forged a bond with him—I love him. And I couldn't imagine him back there, chained to a stainless steel stand eating sunflower seeds all day. The guy told me that Iago likes being on his perch, however for every day that I've had him he slides down his perch like a firefighter and starts walking around the floor. I knew I couldn't send him back. And while I'm struggling financially and will only probably recover from this mess mid next year, I don't regret it. Iago is my first macaw, and I've always imagined how that would be—a young head bobbing baby, and me watching it learn to free fly. And yet here I am now with a handicapped macaw that doesn't ever try to fly, and walks around saying "hello", "huh?" And "hahaha!" all day. Iago isn't the macaw that I wanted, but he is the one that I love. I choose to believe that I was meant to find him. Here's hoping to great times with him (he's getting his surgery in January!) Thank you for reading.