Monday's Story

[TooDusty]

I am sad to say that one of my lovebird flock members died today. She came into my life unexpectedly, but she was certainly not un-wanted!
Here is her story:
I do bird sitting and I advertise on my local kijiji and craigslist and one Monday I got a call from a superintendant of a nearby building. She said that she had a bird that she needed to find a home for that someone had left behind when they moved out. I immediately said that I would take her and see what I could do.
I get to the apartment and the woman shows me this tiny rusty metal cage with a huge pyramid of poo in the middle. Above that pile was a skinny lovebird. There was a outside water container and an empty food container inside the cage. The woman explained that she'd just found the bird the day before (it was 17th) and the tennants had moved out on the last of the month. She hadn't gone inside the apartment to clean it or anything because there were no potential new tennants until yesterday. There she found this bird and she had no idea what to do with it! She found my ads and called me and there I was! She had tried to give her food and water but the bird wouldn't let her put her hand in the cage to get the food bowl so she just filled the outside water container. She knew that when the people moved in 8 years ago that they had a bird, but she didn't know if it was the same one.

I took the bird home on a Monday and by the end of the day when I couldn't think of anything better, she became Monday! She got a cage about six times the size of her old one and I refilled her food bowl 5 times over the next two days. I took her out to clip her nails and while she was on her back I noticed a lump on her abdomen. The vet said she had a tumour and that the best thing for her was to just keep her comfortable because operating on her would likely kill her. Also, the tumour was causing her colour to be weird as she had unnatural red colouring. So she came back and became my paper shredder! She could destroy a dictionary in a day with her jaws! She never learned to fly, but once she was out of her cage she was actually very friendly and would let us pet her. She never slept on perches at night, only on the ground.

A couple of months after she came, another lovebird came into my life. Harley is was a constant source of stress in his owner's life because he was a nervous wreck. He chattered his beak all the time, was very excitable and almost seemed like he would go nuts with energy. She tried different diets, toys, hormone injections and behaviour modification, but nothing seemed to help. The owner spent thousand on him at the vet. His worst habit was regurgitating into the feathers on the nape of his neck. She thought he was stressed because she moved too much and he was alone during the day, so she wanted him to be somewhere that he could meet other birds. Now he flies free in my home and still has odd mannerisms, but he's not as bad as when he first came.

Harley loved Monday from the day they met and he used to sleep outside her cage at night. After a couple of weeks he was sleeping inside her cage with her at night, so I moved her into his cage. It was honestly like they were together forever! They lived together for about two years until today, Monday, April 20th, 2009 when Monday passed away.

I'll miss you Monday but you are truly in your third and final home.

[RicosMom]

I am so sorry for your loss. Monday was lucky to find you! She is a beautiful girl.

[slic102]

That is so sad...she died on a Monday. She was a beautiful little girl! How is Harley taking it? I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Tom Lawless]

What a wonderful way you allowed little Monday to spend her final days. I hope Harley is doing O.K.

[RubyMuse]

I am so sorry for your loss but deeply moved by Monday's story. You are a hero for giving her a better cage, better food, a mate - and most of all: dignity. Leaving an animal behind to starve is without excuse - it takes nothing to drop it off somewhere like a pet store, humane society, or kind neighbor in the worst of circumstances. Thank God for people like you.

I hope Harley will be okay.

[becca623]

I'm very sorry for the lost of Monday. Hugs for you and Harley. Thank you for sharing Monday's story with us.

[TooDusty]

Thanks guys. Harley is taking it better than I expected. He's acting really flirty with my lovebird babies and if there is one he likes best and and it likes him then we'll keep it for them to be together. He grooms all of them and they chase him like he is the conga line leader. Maybe he's just keeping himself busy. I think he'll get through it okay.

[new guy on the block]

i am deeply sorry for your pain, i too recently lost a lovebird "clide" he was inly about 2 months old. his partner "bonnie" went a little but crazy and managed to take down my fully grown galah (but is ok now). i didnt know what to do with her untill i was given a little blue bugie, the two became inseperable and even try to breed - she sits on a clutch of 7 eggs not realising that they wont hatch