By Eleanor McCaffrey
Copyright, No photos or any portion of this text may be, copied,
printed or reproduced
without owner's written permission.
"Cockatiels are toddlers with wings and angels in disguise".
Here She is, my sweet little angel in disguise. Isn't she pretty?
She's a dear and loving companion, filling my
days with sunshine and joy.
Mama is my cherished 1
3
year old cockatiel. Her avian vet said she is now a senior bird.
She is an extremely small, frail and nervous
bird. Because of this and a past, all seed diet, she developed
behavioral as well as physical problems. By 4 years of age she became territorial and a biter.
By 5 years of age she had developed pre-fatty liver syndrome and started losing most of her feathers.
Mama also stopped eating, singing and lost all of her energy. She had to be converted to
a pellet diet with supplemental high protein table foods, as recommended by her
avian veterinarian. I had to learn behavior techniques to stop her from biting.
Her doctor thinks she was probably bred from poor stock and that many of her
ailments are from a genetic pre-disposition. The all seed diet is what triggered them.
Mama was the smallest of the clutch when I purchased her.The other cockatiels were twice her size.
After an emotionally draining year,
she finally stopped biting and her liver condition started to reversed. At the time, her doctor didn't think
that she would live more than 10 years because of a genetic weakness.
Mama has recently learned to play with her toys. She still uses them
to bang against the cage bars when she wants attention or is angry.
In the past, toys terrified her so, that she would stop eating, even
if I left them outside of her cage to see for a week. I must have spent over $500 on
toys over the past 10 years. Now I know the types she enjoys, chewable toys that
are made out of natural fibers. She
still enjoys playing on the kitchen counter or table.
She likes to play with different types of paper, pieces of cloth,
pellets, carrot sticks, things that she can chew on. I've put them in a little
basket for her to play with when she comes out of her cage. She chooses what she
wants to play with or chew and she arranges the small pieces on top of overturned mugs.
There are small dishes full of her favorite foods
around her play area. Snacks and chewables are often dropped off
the counter as Mama plays "Bombs Away."
My kitchen floor is swept at least 4 times a day.
Cabinets are also used as play stations for Mama. She likes to walk back and forth on the
open door, or tap at the wood
and porcelain to make sounds. Her favorite cabinet is the one where I store all
of my pots. She can see her reflection in the shiny metal and she starts singing.
I only allow her this type of play when I'm the ONLY one home and all of the doors are locked.
You can see how many tail feathers she has lost in
this picture.
Mama loves tapping on
things to make sounds.Tapping is
one of our ways of playing. When I say "Bop,Bop,Bob"
she obliges and starts tapping on something.
We also sing to each other.
Mama will keep singing, as long as
I answer her with the same whistle.
She will learn to sing any song
that catches her ear, within 2 weeks. I
enjoy hearing her natural whistles, so I make up melodies. She is very creative, combining them to make
up her own pretty songs. She rarely screams if I leave the room, but if she does I
whistle to her. She will then respond by whistling back.
She just needs reassurance that I am close by.
This is a picture of Mama displaying her wings to her reflection in the
glass. You can get an idea of
what she looks like in full flight with both wings stretched out.
Her long tail is tucked under her wing.When I extend my hand and say "Mama Hop" she flies to me landing on the palm of
my hand. This was easy to teach her. She flew to me whenever I had
food in my mouth. I added the words "Mama hop", then gave her a treat. It took her about 30 seconds to catch on.
I love to see her fly and agree with the theory of supervised
flight time for birds. Flying has physical and psychological benefits, helping birds to cope with
stress. Mama is NOT flying in this picture. She is perched on a door where I placed
her.
Mama enjoys perching on my favorite chair in the family room.
She then paces back and
forth across the chair looking out of the window, doing the birdie waltz and singing to her reflection. During
cold or windy weather I put a rolled towel on the windowsill so she won't catch a draft. Mama is posing for the pictures showing
windows and cabinet glass. Curtains are closed when she is out of her cage and she is not allowed to fly in the
rooms with exposed glass.These are posed pictures.
Here she is, back in her cage, all tucked in safely.
Mama is climbing on
the bars of her cage to come out.I'm always a bit sad at her bedtime.
She climbs on the bars to come out as soon as I start to put her "blanket" on. I want so much to take her out for
one last kiss of the day. I always worry that she won't be alive in the morning because she is so frail.
I give her a bit of a treat and say "Night night". I know she needs her 12 hours of beauty
sleep.
*UPDATE: October 6, 2003
I just received the results of Mama's latest blood test which was taken 3 days ago .
Her blood and liver values are all normal with no evidence
of liver problems. The doctor now feels that she will live a normal lifespan. He attributes
this recovery to her change
from an all seed diet to a pellet based diet! She looks so beautiful now,
with gloriously colored, thick, feathers. She is even a little
overweight, going from 91 grams to 121 grams. Instead of 1 Avi Cake and 1 Nutriberry
each day she will be getting 1 or the other and not both.
*UPDATE: October 1, 2004
Mama had her yearly check up last week. Her weight is down to 110 grams which her
avian vet was glad to see. All of her test results came back normal and were
even better than last year. My avian vet said that Mama is now a senior bird.
This really surprised me because she's still my baby! Where did all of those years go?
*UPDATE: October 2004
Mama had an infection. Her urine turned yellow. She also stopped eating and started
sleeping all day on the bottom of her cage. After a 3 month long infection, starting in late October, her weight went down
to 100 grams. She kept recovering then having a relapse 2 weeks after the
antibiotics prescribed by her avian vet were discontinued. He tried 3 different antibiotics before
she responded to one of them permanently. So far so good. No more infections.
*UPDATE: October 2005
Mama had her
yearly check up. All of her tests are normal and she's a very healthy bird. I had
a DNA test done this time and found out
that my little girl is really a boy! I adopted a second, previously owned
cockatiel in May, 2005. He is an 8 year old lutino named Cookie. The 2 birds
are in separate cages and they are not very compatible. Cookie has
had several health problems, most of them from the all seed diet he was on for 8
years. He was also a feather plucker. Cookie has been wearing a collar that my
avian vet put around his neck for 10 weeks. Now that the collar is off, he seems
to have broken the feather plucking habit. Cookie also had to have his preening gland removed in November,
2005. He had 4 tumors on it that looked malignant. He came through surgery with
flying colors. Although the tumors were invasive and aggressive, a biopsy report
read by several pathologists said they were benign. as soon as I have some time,
there will be a page about Cookie up on CC as well. For more updates and photos
of both birds, visit my message board. The link is on the bottom of the main
page index CLICK HERE
*UPDATE: October 2006
Mama is still doing very well. In the early Spring, she had a gram negative infection and was quite sick.
Her first symptom was a loss of appetite.
Once again I thought I was going to lose her. Thankfully, the antibiotics prescribed by her avian vet worked and
she recovered. Now her avian vet has her on a regime of
apple cider vinegar mixed in with her drinking water to help keep
the natural flora present in the digestive tract, from multiplying. Gram negative
infections are caused by environmental stresses. Her avian vet also has her on Harrison's Avix Booster. In addition to helping
promote the growth of healthy feathers, Booster contains ingredients to enhance the immune system and combat
dry skin associated with older birds. She missed her 2007 yearly check up in the Fall but is scheduled to see
Doc in May.
Please consult an avian veterinarian if your bird
if your bird has any change in behavior or appearance. A sudden change in behavior or appearance
can be a symptom of health problems.
behavior. Changes in behavior can be a symptom of health problems.
Don't treat your bird yourself, wasting valuable time.
Mama Bird's Story
Mama is my cherished 1
Mama has recently learned to play with her toys. She still uses them
to bang against the cage bars when she wants attention or is angry.
In the past, toys terrified her so, that she would stop eating, even
if I left them outside of her cage to see for a week. I must have spent over $500 on
toys over the past 10 years. Now I know the types she enjoys, chewable toys that
are made out of natural fibers. She
still enjoys playing on the kitchen counter or table.
Cabinets are also used as play stations for Mama. She likes to walk back and forth on the
open door, or tap at the wood
and porcelain to make sounds. Her favorite cabinet is the one where I store all
of my pots. She can see her reflection in the shiny metal and she starts singing.
I only allow her this type of play when I'm the ONLY one home and all of the doors are locked.
You can see how many tail feathers she has lost in
this picture.
This is a picture of Mama displaying her wings to her reflection in the
glass. You can get an idea of
what she looks like in full flight with both wings stretched out.
Her long tail is tucked under her wing.When I extend my hand and say "Mama Hop" she flies to me landing on the palm of
my hand. This was easy to teach her. She flew to me whenever I had
food in my mouth. I added the words "Mama hop", then gave her a treat. It took her about 30 seconds to catch on.
I love to see her fly and agree with the theory of supervised
flight time for birds. Flying has physical and psychological benefits, helping birds to cope with
stress. Mama is NOT flying in this picture. She is perched on a door where I placed
her.
Mama enjoys perching on my favorite chair in the family room.
She then paces back and
forth across the chair looking out of the window, doing the birdie waltz and singing to her reflection. During
cold or windy weather I put a rolled towel on the windowsill so she won't catch a draft. Mama is posing for the pictures showing
windows and cabinet glass. Curtains are closed when she is out of her cage and she is not allowed to fly in the
rooms with exposed glass.These are posed pictures.
Here she is, back in her cage, all tucked in safely.
Mama is climbing on
the bars of her cage to come out.I'm always a bit sad at her bedtime.
She climbs on the bars to come out as soon as I start to put her "blanket" on. I want so much to take her out for
one last kiss of the day. I always worry that she won't be alive in the morning because she is so frail.
I give her a bit of a treat and say "Night night". I know she needs her 12 hours of beauty
sleep.
