Rescued Cockatiel

[Mr.BlackMask]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday morning my mom called me frantic about a Cockatiel that one of her clients owns. She works for an SLS agency with adults with mild disabilities. Anyhow, the lady that owned the cockatiel (we'll call her Emma) was really distraught about what was wrong with her bird. Her bird was super sweet and loved her, was always playful and would step up and love on her. She couldn't perch and could barely move.

Emma has had her tiel about a month now, making the baby about 4 months old. I got there and the sweetie couldn't even hold her head up. I knew the situation looked dire but I didn't know what else to do, so I wrapped her in a washcloth, stuck her in my jacket to keep her warm and took her to a certified avian vet specialist that owns a bird store here. These people are great! It's where I got my lovie and I trust them as much as my vet. I visit thier store quite often and I am amazed to see that they handfeed and care for all these birds and the birds are all tame, loving and socialized. Even thier littlest ones.

Anyway, I didn't waste time, feeling or poking at her to see what was wrong, I just went right away, so I didn't have any clue what we were about to find. When we got there the lady, Denise questioned me about all the toxic stuff that Emma may have had in her house, I said no to all those questions so she examined her a bit and we discovered that the bird was starving to death. They immediately warmed the bird and started handfeeding her. She ate immediately and I stayed until after the second feeding. You could tell she had gotten some of her strength back because she was able to hold her head up and actually perched for a minute on the lady's hand. Denise told me that if she made it through the night and this morning that she would most likely live and that if she did live she wanted ME to take her in. I was so sad and scared for that bird. Of course I said yes that I would take her!

I went over to Emma's house after I left to pick up the cage and stand. I asked Emma when the last time she fed her bird was, her reply was "Sunday". I asked "Sunday yesterday? Or Sunday last week?" I almost cried when she told me she meant "Sunday, last week." I felt bad for Emma too because you could see the anguish and guilt in her eyes. She told me that she didn't know that they were supposed to eat so often. I then was outraged at the fact that someone hadn't realized that Emma (who owns dogs and a guinea pig) would need instructions on how to care for her bird. She takes care of her other pets just fine, but nobody told her to feed her bird everyday .

So, Denise just called me and she told me that the tiel made it through the night and she's doing so much better! . She's perching, eating and drinking and being quite playful for the condition that she was in yesterday. She's going to keep her for a few weeks for me to get some weight back on her, but I'll probably be bringing her home in about 2 weeks or so. . I'm so sad that this bird had to go through this but I'm so happy that she made it and I was able to have a small hand in saving her life. Emma's agency is going to be letting her know that she won't be getting her bird back. I do feel sorry for her because she loved the bird but can't properly care for it.

But the biggest lesson here is EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE!

Well, that's my story. I'm glad I was able to have a hand in helping this baby yesterday and I'll definately post pictures and an update when my tiel comes home!

[birdsnreps]

glad it has a happy ending, but come on, how could you not realize that your pet is hungry?? thats ridiculous :( they finish their food in their cup, and they need some more.

[phoenixwaller]

poor baby! glad that you were able to help it.

[Mr.BlackMask]

birdsnreps...I agree, I'm not defending Emma, but I do want to add that she is mentally retarded. So, I'm not sure that logical thinking is in place. Also,, I do not think she really knew a thing about birds (obviously). I wonder if she was seeing the shells of the seeds and such still in the dish and not realizing that they were already cracked and eaten. Whatever the case, it's sad and should have never happened. Ideally she shouldn't have had a bird in the first place. But, what's done is done, and I'm just so glad that the bird is going to make it and have a new happy home.

[birdsnreps]

ahh, i see :( poor woman...i cant say i really know anything about how mentally retarded people think. who did she get the bird from that they didnt tell her to feed it every day?

[Pa. Nancy]

Glad you helped save the bird, but couldn't someone just tell (educate) Emma on what to do for her bird, and then check up on her to make sure that she is taking good care of it? You said she takes good care of the other animals. I would at least give her a chance. I'm sure once she is educated on how to take care of him she would. After all we ALL had to learn.

[Tishrei]

But the biggest lesson here is EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE!

And this is the pure truth. I have no disabilities and I can say that I had to learn by experience and Ducky is simply lucky to be alive because I was so very ignorant. The only things I knew about birds when he came to live with me was no caffeine, avacados and no cooking in non stick pans. That was it. For instance, I used to have him in the bathroom with me when I was getting ready for work and didn't think twice about hairspray. Sometimes I think back on those days and wonder how his little lungs survived. The only way I found out that this was a no-no was I had contacted a bird person because of his feather plucking and he asked me a few questions about Ducky's routine and I happened to mention that. If he had not told me, Ducky probably would not be with me today.

Gosh, there are so many things that I did wrong with Ducky, it's crazy. I didn't know you were supposed to say "step up" so when I wanted to pick him up, I simply reached in and grabbed him with both hands and forceably pulled him out. It was Ducky that taught me that he would step up if I simply asked him to. He probably wondered about who was this nut that he chose to live with.

So yes, education is so critcally important.

[Mr.BlackMask]

Unfortunately I don't know many details on the selling/buying situation with Emma and her bird. Yesterday was the first day I met the bird. However, I do know that Emma is in agreement that maybe a bird is not the right pet for her. I think she's at peace with the situation, and mainly relieved that her bird survived. That's the most important thing. :)

[Suesue]

I have worked with several mental disablility people as well. Just like with her other two pets that she did take care of she probably could take care of a bird buttttttttttt, the thing is with most of them you have to tell them each thing to do. They can't think like us but most can follow simple steps such as when you get up each am you put clean food and water in bird cage.

She was probably told that with her guinea pig and dogs. It is sad that someone seeing she has a need for a little extra instruction before they allowed her to adopt a bird didn't follow thru on there end.

I am glad that you were there.

[Lori~D]

Im so glad God sent you to look after this little bird. Some mentally CHALLENGED people can have pets but it is really up to whoever is their responsible guardian. It is the Guardians responsibility to say weather or not the person can care for a pet and then supervise as such. I have seen the same situation in homes for seniors where there were community pet birds and there was not one person in particular who was responsible for them.
I went to "train" a little dog once that belonged to such a girl. I ended up training the entire house of Guardians on how to deal with this type of dog and teaching them HOW to teach the dog to work with them. I had to explain to them that the dog was just like another one of the persons who lived in the home and needed to be supervised and that the person who owned the dog was like a small child. Once i changed the way of thinking away from just "dog ownership" to family member like a child - everybody got it and now everybody can deal with the dog and the dog is under WAY less stress and doesn't have to go to the pound!!