I received an amazing response from a reader about the recent article on Parrot Respiratory Health. Read about how this fabulous parrot rescue changed two lives.
Hi Diane,
I'm sorry I babbled-on in the note to you. I really wanted to thank you for such a good article on A Parrot's Respiratory System(s).
I was VERY fortunate to meet the right people - by chance - an amazing vet (Dr. Brian Loudis), and a Project Wildlife saint who lives nearby, whose name I was given by a lady sitting near me at the hairdressers! I am my parrot's 5th home in 8 years.
"Gabby" had fungal, bacterial, respiratory infections, and pneumonia. The owners would only pay for the vet visits - no tests. So Dr. Loudis gave her a shot in her chest 3 weeks in a row. I bought a cage on eBay to keep her at my house because they wouldn't pay to board her at the vet. Long story short, the vet wanted to report them and it took all I could do to dissuade him because they were my friends for years. (Now, they don't speak to me.)
Once she was given to me (last October 17th), I took her to the vet to get her "detailed." I got all the bloodwork, tests, wings clipped, nails done, beak shined-up - you name it. She STILL had pneumonia - needed 2 more rounds of shots - and then she was declared HEALTHY!! For 8 years, she was a "he". When the DNA test came back, we found that "he" was a "she"! so, the fact that she never stops talking or singing, I named her, "Gabby."
I've never had a bird, so I got 5 books on Amazons, books for "Dummies", etc. She and I are also going to go to a class soon. I already talked to the Project Wildlife lady in case anything happens to me, so Gabby will have a good home and not just be passed over to someone who thinks they want to "try" a bird.
Gabby had never been out of a cage for 8 years or been given a bath - other than sprayed with a mister to make her keep quiet. Now, she is out of the cage for 5 hours a day, or more. She takes a shower every other day with a warm mister bottle in the bathtub. She went through a complete molt. (I panicked because I thought she was losing all her feathers - the doctor laughed and said she was so healthy now that she had "tons of new fathers coming in.") She was only fed peanuts and seed - rancid seed that wouldn't be changed for days at a time in a filthy cage. Now, she has one bowl with pellets, one with snap peas, and a warm veggie medley, with water all day. At lunchtime she gets 1/2 ear of corn. Some of it she eats, mostly destroys! At dinner, she has more fresh peas, more fresh water, fresh pellets, and a balanced, warm main course.
I am building her a "gym." I'm almost finished with it and am very excited. She's still going through the terrible two's some days, but we work through them quicker and I think the class will help me a lot. She now know the melody (whistling and singing) of "Polly Wolly Doodle All Day."
So, this is WAY more information than you wanted, but I'm so grateful she's healthy now. The vet calls us his "success story" and tells other clients about us. He said he expected her to die the first night, so I'm glad Gabby has willful enough to beat the odds stacked against her.
Thank you for the work you do for birds, too. I have so much to learn about Gabby and Amazons parrots. I am grateful for folks like you who keep the information coming and keep it easy to understand for folks like me.
You're the best!
Karen & Gabby : )
p.s. that's my little glamour girl in the photo!
