Cockatoo

Lady is doing very well, she’s had all new toys this week, and has already destroyed one of them! I also bought a Teacher Toy for her to play with when she’s sat on my lap, she likes me to give her the rings so she can chuck them all over the floor!!

Lady will be facing a new challange very shortly, because in a few weeks she, along with the other birds, will be moved to the parrot room which is currently being decorated. I’m hoping it won’t be too stressful for her, it’s only a small room, but it will be better for all of them. They’ll be able to climb up walls and swing from ceilings, so should be a lot of fun.

Here is a picture I took today.

It’s almost time to book her into the vets for another bloodwork, and I am hoping that her liver function has improved slightly, but I’ll have to wait and see.

Lady is doing very well, all 3 birds will be having another blood work done at the end of September, this will check their livers to see if they have improved since the last test. I have stripped their diets right back, they now just have pellets, parrot mash, fruit and veg, and I have been giving increased doses of milk thistle, so I’m hoping to see some improvement. If not, then Lady will be x-rayed and endoscoped.

Lady has been her usual happy self, chewing and playing, wanting cuddles and fuss, she’s shown no signs of any illness or distress, well except for the plucking of course.
The reason I had their blood work done in the first place was to check for any problems, because with parrots, you never can tell!!!
I cannot stress enough the importance of an annual bloodwork and health check!!!

A few weeks back, I took Lady and my other 2 birds for their annual health check. They were booked in for a full blood work.

With Lady and my Amazon both being rehomes, I knew their results were not going to give them a clean bill of health due to their previous poor diets, and exposure to all things nasty.

Having their bloods taken was traumatic enough, but the results of the tests were worrying!!

All 3 birds showed a problem with their liver! To which the Pathologist wrote on the bottom of the paperwork HAVE THESE BIRDS BEEN TESTED FOR PSITTACOSIS?!?

The answer to that was YES and they all tested NEGATIVE!!

After having a chat with my vet, and going through the possibilities of a positive result, a negative result, or the possibility that it could just be a virus of some sort, it was decided that they should be retested as a first port of call. He suggested that I combine all 3 samples together, at first I was unsure about this, as I wanted them each to have a separate test. However, after deciding that if one bird had it, they all had it, and not wanting to know which ones could test positive, and which ones may not, I decided to combine the sample and have 1 test for all 3 birds.

Due to the fact the builders were due to start work to finish the extension, I decided to wait until they had started work before collecting samples. This was to ensure that the birds were under a stressful situation when the samples were collected, because Psittacosis usually rears its ugly self when birds get stressed. I also decided that I would take the samples over a longer period of time, which was 9 days in total.

When I spoke to the vet about the possibilities and treatment, he informed me that the usual treatment via injection was imported, but were being stopped until later on in the year!! Which meant an alternative, but less effective treatment would be used.

I had prepared myself for the worst……. My babies testing positive, my babies being treated but to no avail, my babies having to be put to sleep…

The tears I have cried, and then one morning I walked into the livingroom to find Lady chewing on a toy that she’d previously refused to go anywhere near!! That was it!!! I was not giving up on my babies!!! I have worked too damn hard and have made too much progress to give up…….. I would fight this all the way!!! Later that day, the sample was ready to be sent off, and today I had the results!!!!

My biggest concern was that the disease would be lying dormant, and therefore would not give a correct test result, but speaking to the vet, and researching the tests available, the test that was done ( the PCR ) is the most accurate test available, which does not test for trace in the sample, it tests the DNA.

The result – Psittacosis NEGATIVE!!!!!!!

However, this does not mean that we are out of the woods just yet!!

My vet is on holiday until next week, but I need to discuss with him the possibility of an alternative test, ie a DNA blood test, to completely rule out any chance of Psittacosis. The vet had stated that if we get a negative result, he would like to endoscope Lady to take a biopsy of her Liver, as she had the worst results, but before I consider putting her through that, I need to be sure that the Psittacosis risk is zero!!

So, stressed doesn’t even come close to how I’ve been over the past few weeks, Lady however, has been her usual cheeky self.

Lady has been with us 1 whole year next month!!

I can’t believe it’s gone so quick, and the progress she has made during the past year has been amazing!!

When she first arrived, she was a very nervous bird, who wanted constant attention. She wouldn’t play with any toys, and all she wanted to do was sit on our shoulders all day, and of course she plucked. Although she is still a nervous bird, she now loves to play with her toys, and doesn’t take long accepting new ones. She still wants to be on our shoulders all day long, but she will happily entertain herself with her toys whilst we are out and has become very independant.

Lady has a strong charactor, and can certainly rule the roost at times, she picks a fight with the dog, the cats, and chases the kids out of the livingroom!! So, there are times when she has to be rained in, but overall she’s an amazing bird.

During the week, I made the decision to change Lady’s cage. Her cage was quite old, the only thing that was decent about it, was that it had a play top. It was extremely difficult to clean, and was very small. The spare cage I had was a little bigger and it had an open top.
So, with my mind made up, I proceeded to strip Lady’s old cage down, and swap everything to her new cage. I had braced myself that the change over would be traumatic (as she’s probably had her cage for most, if not all of her life) and that she would pluck herself naked.
The change over was a little traumatic for her, however, she only plucked her ususal few feathers but she didn’t eat for over a day!! She’s absolutely fine now, and is eating again, she’s still a little nervous climbing around her new cage, but overall she’s accepted the change well. I think it helped that I placed her toys in a similar positions to her old cage. This change will only be temporary, as I want her to have a bigger cage, hopefully before the end of the year.

Lady is booked in to the vets next week, along with my other birds, for a full blood work, so this will upset her!!! I am hoping they will get the all clear, and be 3 happy, healthy birdies

Lady has become a big part of our family, and I couldn’t imagine life without her, and I’m looking forward to spending many more happy, fun filled years with her

Here is a pic of Lady on her new cage

Well, after Lady took to her last lot of new toys so well, I decided it was time to order another £120 worth

Unfortunately they’ve not arrived yet, but there’s going to be a bounty full of chewing and shredding delights

Due to Lady being a plucker, I try to select toys that she can chew or shred to keep her occupied, toys like willow chews, palm toys, shredder rolls etc, and the bigger they are, the better
Last time I purchased a shredder roll toy for her, I was a little concerned that she wouldn’t take to it, as the casing is acrylic, but she loves it. Whenever she is in her cage she always plays with it, and trys to shred the paper hanging down, she hasn’t master the art of pulling the paper down as yet, but I’m sure she’ll figure it out at some point.

Although Lady is still plucking, there are periods where she looks amazing with all her new feather growth. I have specifically barred people from discussing her feather growth, because every time someone comments on how amazing she looks, she goes hell for leather at her feathers again which is just sods law. It doesn’t matter to me though, she’s my little cheeky pluckatoo
The only time I will intervene, is if she starts to mutilate.

Lady’s been with us now for 10 months, she has settled amazingly, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her. She has become very confident, and VERY dominant, she’ll chase the kids, the cats, she antagonises the dog and my Grey, and I’m pretty sure she’s been taking chunks out of my poor Ammie to which we’ve had to have a move around!! Despite all that, she’s still one hell of a charactor, and never fails to make me laugh!!!

Here is a pic from earlier in the week