A Reason, A Season or A Life Time

This is something that has comforted me over the years and explains many relationships to me.  It has comforted me over the loss of Dong.  I hope that it has meaning to you as well.

A Reason, A Season or a Life Time

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or
a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you
will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is
usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have
come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you
with guidance and support, to aid you physically,
emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a
godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason
you need them to be.

Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an
inconvenient time, this person will say or do something
to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.

What we must realise is that our need has been met, our
desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you
sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON . . .
Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount
of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things
you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional
foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the
person, and put what you have learned to use in all
other relationships and areas of your life. It is said
that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Author Unknown

What You Should Know About Medications and Parrots

Due to the death of Dong the African Grey, it has prompted me to write this article. 

We have a tendency to want to fix things.  It’s in our nature to want to help and make things better.   However’, in many instances we end up causing more harm than good.

Even what we believe can be harmless medications on humans and other animals can have adverse affects on birds.  Their physiology is so very different than ours and other animals.  Medications that may help a child, dog or cat, might end up killing your parrot or making it much worse.

Over the counter treatments, as an example, polysporin and cortisone creams are designed for humans in mind, and the dosages are based on human use.   Most people think that it is harmless, as you are only putting  it on your skin.   At the very least it would have to be diluted many times to make it safe for a parrot, if in fact it is safe at all!  The chemicals absorb into the skin and find their way into the organs of the birds.  Given at full strength, these drugs could introduce toxic levels into the birds blood stream and organs.

This also applies to herbal treatments and “all natural” products.  Most of these type of natural treatments have not even been studied on humans, never mind other animals.  Some herbs can be quite potent as was the case with Dong.  The dosages are also designed for human consumption and in most cases have not been studied for a birds physiology. Even if it has been tried by someone else and didn’t seem to hurt the bird, no testing was done on internal organs to see how the treatment affected them’in the long run.

In Dong’s case, Chinese herbs were used as a means of treating a mutilated wing.  What ended up happening to Dong is her wing ended up mummified and badly infected.   The flesh was hardened and dried out.  The bones were exposed, which created a breeding ground for infection.  One of the herbs was probably for pain relief.  Dong removed the bone from her wing, probably because she did not feel the pain that she was causing herself!   Many different bacteria were found in her wing, including ecoli.  Her kidney function was 3 times normal due to the introduction of the chemicals into her blood stream. She had to have her wing amputated and was treated with antibiotics.  She eventually died after valiant efforts to save her. You can read her story on this blog as well.

Even though the family that kept Dong were knowledgeable about herbs and their uses, they did not know what affects they would have on Dong.  The family wanted to save money by treating with home remedies, which instead cost Dong her life.

It does cost money to take your parrots to the vet.  A single visit and advice on treatment will cost somewhere in the range of $40- $90, for good and sound advice about medicating your parrot.  It is definitely money well spent.  Some vets will answer single questions over the phone about medications at no charge but don’t count on it. 

If your bird is mutilating, it is important to get it into the vet for testing and treatment to make sure the wound is not infected and to determine any secondary casues.  In the early stages an antibiotic regimen could help.

Take the bird to the vets at the first sign of trouble, don’t wait until it gets worse.  If you start treatments early, the treatment will be less invasive to the bird and will probably end up saving you money.  We all know that birds will not show signs of illness until they can no longer hold themselves up.  The first sign of trouble is usually an indication that the problem have already bypassed the stage where they can be easily handled.  Putting a collar on the bird does not treat the root cause.

Even if you believe that stress is the factor that started the mutilating, there is in most cases a secondary, underlying issue also.  The stress is just the catalyst that started the behaviour.

Seeking advice from friends and what they have tried is not the same as getting good advice from your vet.  Many prefer home remedies for the money saving aspect.  But have these been studied in a clinical setting?  Is this just one person’s opinion? Is it really worth taking a chance?  Googling articles on herbs is not the answer.  There are many self proclaimed experts out there.

I am not an expert on medicating parrots and the only advice I can give you is;  don’t use anything, no matter how harmless you believe it is, until you have asked your vet! 

It’s too late for Dong, don’t let it be too late for your precious pet parrot!

Dong the African Grey’s Story

We are posting the story of Dong and her ongoing recovery. We will continue updating this story as she has her surgery and goes through recovery. Please keep her in your prayers. Surgery is booked for tomorrow. You can check back here for more updates on her. I will keep this in the form of a diary and will add pictures. How we got involved We received a call on Friday Jan 23 from the family of Dong, an African Grey parrot. They were asking for help as Dong was mutilating his wing. I explained how to make a collar and wrap her wing to protect her and told them that she needed to see the vet immediately! Here are the pictures then sent me on the Friday Night. They are graphic but still hard to see.

They took her to Amherst Veterinary Clinic on Saturday. I recieved a voice mail when I got home but it was too late to return the call. It was the vet. She did not want to send the bird home with the owners and wanted to know if we could care for the bird. Since she couldn’t reach us she did allow the family to take her home but told them they had until Monday to relinquish the bird into our care or she would call the SPCA.

She told the family that she wanted to speak with me prior to picking up the bird. I did not make any commitments to the family at this time as I wanted to hear what the vet had to say first. I called the vet Monday morning and discussed the issues of the bird. She originally saw the bird Dec 6th for a small wound on the wing and perscribed Baytril. She swabbed the area and found heavy bacterial infection. The next time she saw the bird was on Saturday Jan 24th when the family brought her in on my urging. She was shocked to see how bad the bird had become and that she had not been brought in sooner. She felt that the family was incapable of caring for the bird. She also was very underweight and was possibly blind in one eye. The family stated the only time she had been to a vet was when she was brought to Canada from China over 20 yrs before. Dr. Minnich informed me that Dong had been on a sunflower seed diet and was underweight. She asked if I would be willing to take the bird as she did not want to have to call the SPCA as she knew they would take Dong and put her to sleep. The vet said she did not want to give the bird a death sentence. She felt that Dong deserved a chance at life.

I asked her what was involved in helping Dong and she said it would involve an amputation of the wing due to the fact that the bone was missing and infection. I asked her to quote me on the surgery. She called back a while later with a price of $1200 which would include the surgery and two days stay in the hospital as well as bloodwork. She did say I should also check with my own vet for a price. I called Dr. Maser of Cavan Hills and he was out of the office but did give an estimate over the phone without seeing the bird. He quoted $1000 approximately. I called back Dr. Minnich from Amherst (My apologies, I just found out the link to the Amherst Clinic was incorrect. I had no idea there would be more than one Amherst Vet Clinic. It appears the one in Scarborough does not have a website!) who then pleaded that I not return the bird to the family. I ensured her he would stay with us if a suitable home could not be found once she was healed. She said she would put a donation bin up in her office to assist us in covering the expenses. I then started the Facebook cause to try and get more funds together.

We had 11 birds arrive this month at the rescue and our resources are tight without any adoptions taking place since we close down over Christmas as we do not want people adopting birds as gifts. We had depleted our reserve funds due to no adoptions. We immediately started getting responses from people and donations started coming in towards Dong’s care. The support has been amazing! (At this point we are still not there. We are short $300 just for surgery alone. There will also be aftercare expenses and more followup visits to the vet.) I arranged for surgery the next day and drove to pick up Dong.

She was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a sickly scared little bird but she was fiesty, talkative and eating well and very calm. She went to see Dr. Maser the following morning. The doctor, upon viewing Dong felt that additional tests needed to be performed to see if he could determine the cause of the mutilating before he would operate as well as other tests for overall health. He also felt that a 5 day stay in hospital would help keep the chance of infection down. Dr. Minnich agreed and felt it would be better also.

What I got from both of these Vets is they both felt that Dong was a bird worth saving. They both want to fight to keep her alive which is what has prompted me to fight right along side them and help her. Had either of them said that she should be put down, I would have considered it. But it is not even in their thoughts as they both feel she is worth saving. Dr. Maser’s exact words “It’s a no brainer, she needs to live!”

He was very concerned with the wound. As he said mutilating is common in many species and some will mutilate and expose the bone. He has never seen a case where the bird had actually removed the bone. He questioned whether it was a possible trauma that could have caused the original mutilating and is hopeful that is the case as her chance of recover and leaving the rest of her wing alone will be good. However we have not been able to find out if that is the case. He decided to postpone surgery and kept her there and started her on high doses of antibiotics to gain control of the infection and to help in the healing process. He did the additional tests that were sent off to Guelph. I would also like to add that Dr. Maser gave us a 25% discount on all her care as he wanted to see her live also.

Our new goal was $1000 tax included. Both vets as well as myself see no other alternative but to remove the wing. There is very little left of the wing as infection has taken most of it along with the mutilating. Also the bone that is left is protruding and is an area of concern for further infections. Dr. Maser has successfully performed this surgery numerous times and was confident that Dong could live a long and healthy fulfilled life.

Updated January 28 2009 The test results came back late this afternoon. White cell count was through the roof but was expected. His biggest concern was her kidney function was 3 times normal and was concerned she hadn’t been getting enough fluids. He again postponed surgery to add subcutaneous fluids and another day of antibiotic treatment for her. All this will help her get through surgery better but he doesn’t want to prolong the surgery either. There is no question, the wing needs to be removed or Dong will die. Both vets feel she can still have a good quality of life as she is really a trooper and even in her present state she is feisty and talkative and climbing around her cage! There is not much left of the wing and the stump of the bone is exposed and needs to be protected. The only other option is euthanasia and no one has considered that as an option for her. I am glad that both vets are in agreement with treatment and diagnosis. We have recieved $688.23 in donations to date and are still short over $300 just for the operation, testing and hospital stay. This will not include check ups and medications for after the surgery. Estimates for that is an additional $500 if all goes well. She is now scheduled for surgery first thing tomorrow morning. Please send your thoughts and prays for both her and the doctor. I will update the blog in the morning once I hear from the doctor.

UPDATE Jan 29 2009 Dong made it through surgery, we have not heard from the vet as yet as he is still in surgery operating on other animals. The staff said she did great! As soon as I get more details I will post them.

UPDATE Jan 30 2009 I went down this morning to check on her and spoke to the vet. They said she did well but went downhill a bit at the end of the surgery. He said that Greys have a high metabolism and due to not eating well and the length of the surgery is what caused it. She ate a little this morning that was handed to her but is not reaching in her bowl for food. My husband is running some husked sunflower seeds down to her now. Hopefully they will be a bit easier for her to eat. As it is her primary diet we don’t want to stress her with new stuff. She is being kept in the area of the vet techs so they can keep an eye on her. They have her under a heat lamp. She is standing on her own and protesting the pokes and prods. She does look tired and weak. As she doesn’t know me anymore than she knows the vet techs, I am really no comfort to her and don’t want to stress her out more with my presence. It does look like it will be touch and go for the next day or so. They are still giving her fluids and keeping a close eye on her. As soon as I hear more I will let you all know. Again thanks for all your support.

EVENING UPDATE I just called to check on her for the night. They said for a while they didn’t think she would make it. She is having ups and downs. They are concerned about stress. They are putting an intravenous in to get more fliuds in her. They also started force feeding her. He said she is more alert now and as I was on the phone she took a seed from her bowl. I asked what her prognosis was, he said “I am cautiously optimistic but if you had of called me and hour and a half ago I would have said we don’t think she is giong to make it.” She is back on antibiotics also. They did mention also that she ws struggling with her balance but that was to be expected given the missing wing. She will learn to adjust. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Just some information on why the amputation was performed

This is the skeleton of an parrot. By viewing the photo, I can describe the wound in more detail. Dong’s Humerus was missing from the Radius to the shoulder. The Radius was fully exposed and completely bare of flesh and was dried out and badly infected. The Ulna was not exposed but was infected. The only parts that were not badly infected were from the Carpal to the Digit B. There was nothing to attach the unaffected area to as most of it was missing or badly infected. It would have been like trying to attach a hand to your shoulder. I hope this gives you a better understanding of why the amputation was necessary and there was no way of saving even part of the wing.

UPDATE – January 31, 2009 I called down to the clinic this morning and spoke with the vet. They said Dong was more alert than the day before but still week. She was starting to eat on her own but were still supplementing her with handrearing formula.

UPDATE – Sunday February 1, 2009 I called the clinic this morning for an update. I am waiting to hear back from the vet for the medical update. The tech I spoke to said she is eating. They now have some chinese words to say to Dong which should make her feel a little more comfortable. They plan on giving her more fluids today and supplements. One nice thing about our vet is the clinic is open 7 days a week so we know we can always reach them. There are several vets on staff that rotate shifts. Not all have avian experience but are in training as Dr. Maser specializes in exotic animals including parrots and has been working with them for over 20 yrs. He is also the on call vet for Jungle Cat World and sometimes you can go to his office and see him operating on a tiger on the front lawn of the clinic! Some of the vet techs from the clinic have joined our facebook group. It’s nice to have you here! If they get permission from the Vet they will post some information there as well. They certainly have my permission! They are such a caring group of people! As soon as I hear from the vet with a medical update I will update the site again. I understand the blog is not working very well due to the website being down. My apologies about that. I am updating it still. We are hoping it will be up and running again first thing tomorrow.

After The Vet Called Back Well the news was not so great this time. The vet just called and said that Dong is very weak. They are concerned for her. She had her first bowel movement on her own. (She had a catheter put in prior to this). They are still giving subcutaneous fluids, supplementing her foods, pain medications and antibiotics and she is under a heat lamp. He said last night when he checked the chart, she was perching but today she is not. They are very worried about her at this point. I am going down this afternoon to see her. I wish i was more of a comfort to her. I was really hoping for better news. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts.

I had an idea The vet asked if I wanted to come down as a comfort to her. Since I only met her the night before taking her there, I know I am not any comfort to her. But I had an idea and contacted Dong’s family and asked if there was a chance they could get to the clinic and see Dong. It is my hope that having familiar people around her will help her recover. She must be terrified being around a whole pile of strangers that do not speak the same language. I was really glad to hear back from the family that they had arranged a ride to the clinic. They do not drive and the clinic is about an hour away from them. I made arrangements with the vet’s office to see her. Lets just hope that this will help her.

Monday Feb 1, 2009

Monday Afternoon –

I just got back from checking on Dong. The family did not make it there yesterday but the father did come today. I have taken a couple of pictures of Dong with her new collar and one with the father spending time with her. When I arrived, Dong was laying on the bottom of her cage and was not looking good. She is on intraveous still, pain medications and has a new elizabethan collar as she was trying to chew at the stitches. She looks very weak. I tried to give her scratches but it stressed her more than comforted her so I stopped. The father arrived and immediately Dong perked up and said her name. She stood up and allowed some scratching from him. He tried to hold her but it seemed to cause her stres. She was clawing at the bars like she wanted to see him. He did say they typically don’t hold her.

There was definitely a remarkable difference in her behaviour with him there. I only helps her to build her strength. He said they had been trying to treat Dong with traditional Chinese medicine and herbs. Prior to taking her to the vets. This probably had a detrimental affect on the wound making it worse. The vet has extended her stay as there is no way she will be ready to come home tomorrow. I expect her to have to stay at least a few more days. We spoke more extensively to the vet tech that was in assisting during the surgery. She said the infection in the wing was quite extensive and was into the bone. The bone was removed right up to the shoulder because of it. The biggest concerned was they could not remove all the infected area, so need to continue treating with heavy doses of antibiotics. It was nice seeing her more alert. The father said he would stay for a couple of hours to comfort her. As they don’t drive, he needed to rent a car to make the trip.

Our donations total: $942.63 We know the amount estimated will probably rise because she will now have to stay in the hospital for a few extra days as she was expected to be released tomorrow. She also spent an extra day over the estimate before her surgery. Tomorrow I will ask the vet for an updated total to date and post it here.

Tuesday Feb 3 Update – Finally some good news!! I just got back from visiting Dong at the clinic. She was much more alert and eating well today. The vet tech gave her some apple and she ate quite a bit of it. Dong allowed Brett (my husband) to scratch her head. The vet did say that she seemed to prefer men. Brett spent a good amount of time with her and she seemed to really enjoy the interaction. She is still on intravenous, pain medications and antibiotics. I asked the vet when felt she might be ready to go home. He said not for a couple more days for sure. He said he would like to also check her kidney function again but not quite yet due to her ups and downs. He is now wondering if it the kidney issues may have had something to do with the Chinese medicine the family had been treating her with.

They described the wound as appearing mumified which was a pretty good description of the would before her surgery. It was a good news day as we also had an appointment for another bird who has been with us for about 4 years who has a paralized beak and gets chronic ear and eye infections as well as seizures. Her overall health was good too! I asked the vet for an updated cost so far. He said that the original cost stands. He said this is a group effort and he’s committed every bit as us to make this bird healthy and happy! So we have met our goal for donations. He will keep her there as long as she needs and we don’t have to worry about additional costs! I told you it was a good news day! I would like to send our deepest thanks those that donated towards Dong’s medical expenses.

Donations to date: $952.07

DONORS
Dr. Richard Maser
George Worsely and Jaqueline Lappin
Ian Fitzpatrick
Dale Goddard
Jay Simms
Tammy Philips
Kathy Freer
Jane DuBroy
Lynn Kavanaugh
Corrado Fermo
Wu Elke
Traci Dow
Cynthia Sanderson
Mike Apthorp
Phil Crossley

1074.15 Total Donations Recieved (including money from the family)
920.61 Expenses paid to vet
153.54 Balance

We would also like to thank the following for offering services and items that will benefit Dong in her recovery. Donations In other Forms

Susan Tuck of Oliver’s Garden
Oephebia Starrs of Animals Can talk to me

We understand that there are more donations due to arrive by mail. Names will be included here once we recieve the funds. If we do find that we go over with donations, they will be put into a vet fund for future use towards Dongs care. There still may be some after care expenses that we are unsure of at this time otherwise it will go to the vet fund for any of the parrots here.

Wednesday Feb 4th UPDATE Another good news day! I just called down to the clinic to get our daily update on Dong. They said she is doing well again and eating on her own. They placed a carboard box in her cage and she is showing signs of activity by destroying the box. She is still unable to perch on her own. They removed the cathater last night which is another good sign. I will head down in a couple of hours for a visit.

Afternoon Update Here are some pictures I took this afternoon while visiting Dong. She is much more alert, eating on her own and the intravenous has been removed! She was grumpy with the staff this morning but they take that as a good sign. She has been actively chewing up the box in her cage as you can see by the picture. She did not want head scratches from Brett but they think that’s because they did quite a bit to her today and she was probably not wanting anymore attention.

A little close up shot of Dong.

Thursday Feb 5, 2009 – UPDATE I called down to the clinic today. Dong is still showing improvements. She is tearing away at the box in her cage and eating on her own. She is still not perching. Dr. Maser is not in until Saturday so Dong will probably be released on Saturday if she keeps showing improvements. Dr. Maser mentioned the other day about retesting her kidney functions as he was concerned about the last test. We are unsure if the poor test results were due to not eating and drinking properly for the few days she had the cape on as she could not reach her bowls on her own and only when the family held the bowls up to her was she able to get food and water so we have no idea how much she got or if it is long term damage due to her poor diet or if it had something to do with the Chinese Herbal Medicines.

Now that she has had the subcutaneous fluids for the week and now that she is eating and drinking on her own, he should have a more accurate test result. I won’t be able to get to the clinic today as I have my own Doctor’s appointment. But she is definitely on the mend!

I am glad to hear that she will remain there until Saturday. Everyday she spends there will only make her stronger.

Friday February 6th UPDATE – Some Concerns I just got back from the clinic. Dong was not very alert. She is sitting more on her bum then standing on her feet. Her head is also tilted off to the side. She seemed very tired. They said that she still isn’t perching and we tried to put her on her perch while I was there and she just fought the effort. The vet came out of surgery and we had a discussion. He said he was all prepared to send her home today until he saw her right then. He said she has ups and downs everyday and is still unsure if she will survive. His biggest concern is the infection. Although they are giving her heavy doses of antibiotics by injection, there is no telling how the infection has affected other organs or if they could become affected. He is unsure if the weakness she is exhibiting is due to the pain medication or her. He said each day she survives brings more hope that she will get better but she is definitely not out of the woods. They are doing everything they can for her at this point and all hope she will make it through this. Everyday for her has been a miracle. As he said it was a miracle she lived with a wing in that condition, a miracle she survived surgery and a miracle she has lasted this long. We are all hoping the miracles will continue for her. I was expecting her to probably be released tomorrow but now we are looking at her remaining there for a few more days at least. Dr. Maser and I both agreed that she is better there where they have all the necessary tools to treat her and he has no problem with her remaining their and continuing her care.

On to another topic. A very sick man has posted some nasty comments on kijiji Toronto about Dong making several false claims in the process and has posted the phone number to the SPCA trying to get people to call demanding that Dong be put to sleep. The SPCA is not very happy with him for posting their number and are well aware of Dong and have made copies of the blog and the information posted on kijiji. This man is well known to us and the police (although he’s never been here) he is now claiming to be a worker of some sort (we don’t have employees or workers). He posts nasty comments about Parrot Adopt Southern Ontario about once a month on kijiji for the past few years. We have recieved several calls informing us of the comments made already. We are already in the middle of a court action against this person, his goal is to try and discredit us anyway he can.

I can not discuss details of the case as it is still in progress but be rest assured that steps are being taken to stop him from continuing these activities. We would like to ask you that anytime you see one of his postings about our rescue on kijiji to please email me and then report the ad as we are tracking these for the court case. You can go on kijiji.ca toronto and read what he has written for yourself.

Normally I do not acknowledge this man but I have recieved many calls and emails from people that are hurt and upset by what he has said and while looking at the ad 500 people have viewed it . Most people in Ontario involved in the avian community are aware of this man and his antics. I just felt I needed to address this as you are all following along with Dong’s care and are concerned for her well being.

Saturday Feb 7 2009 – Update

Here is little Dong today feeling a little better. I called down to the clinic this morning. They said Dong was doing better. Her head wasn’t tilted so much and she is eating. I went down to see her myself this afternoon. She was more alert and standing on her feet this time. She still looked tired but she took some seeds from my hand.

I got the chance to speak with Dr. Maser. He seems a little perplexed by her. He said he is waiting for her to get over the hump and on the road to recovery. Every time he thinks she’s there, she has a slump. He thinks part of the problem could be the collar as she seemed to do better with the cone. So tomorrow they are going to put a cone on her during the day and a collar only at night when she is left alone. He is hoping that may get her more active. The reason they switched her to the collar was that she was trying to get at the stitches. I sent out and bought some little pink socks we can put over her collar that may distract her from trying to get at the wing. They also put another box in the cage but she has not chewed on it at all. I asked if he felt bringing the family back in would help. He said it may cheer her up but would not get her over the hump. I will call the family and see if there is a way they can make another trip.

Sunday Feb. 8, 2009 UPDATE

Sunday Update on Dong First I would like to thank Jane DuBroy for kindly picking up Dong’s family and bringing them to the clinic today. It was very much appreciated by us. Dong was much better today. I am leary at this point of being too positive because of all her ups and downs. She spent a good hour and a half with her owners today sitting on their laps and eating seeds and the banana cookies Jane brought for her. She still has the full collar on and I think it is difficult for her to find her balance and eat in it. I am hoping tomorrow they can switch her over to the cone style instead. She allowed them to scratch her head and had a nice fill of the seeds. She was alert the enitre time. I will post more pictures and a small video I tried to take until I ran out of disk space! All in all she was very good today and seemed to have more energy. She was sitting on her feet which was also a good sign

UPDATE – Tuesday February 10, 2009 Great News, she’s coming home! Sorry there was no update yesterday and its late today. I was teaching grooming and Parrot behaviours up at Georgian College and got back fairly late tonight. I called down to the clinic to check on her and they said she was still doing well. After I got off the phone with the clinic I checked my voice mail and there was a message from the vet asking me if I was ready to take her home! I will be heading down to the clinic first thing tomorrow to pick her up. I am glad to hear she is well enough to leave! I will have more information once I speak with the vet on duty. Dr. Maser is not back in till Thursday.

Diane Dwyer is making a special collar for her so that she will be able to preen herself but will protect her wound. I would also like to thank Oephebia Star for offering her remote healing. Wish me luck! W

Wednesday, February 11 2009 Dong is Home! Well we went and picked up our little girls this morning.

They have given me quite a bit of instructons on her care. She will be on hand feedings three times a day to help fatten her up. She is on anti-inflamatories as well as antibiotics for the next 30 days. She has a Doctors appointment on Sunday for a check up. She is still eating her sunflower seeds. The vet techs said as first she was fighting the hand feedings but has learn to enjoy them. There is a liquid nutrient that they gave me to add to the hand rearing recipe. We have her in a semi secluded area of the house were she can see a couple of the birds and I can see her but keeping her away from the majority of the birds at the same time. I have a lamp beside her for extra warmth. I will post pictures later today. Right now I just want to make her feel safe and secure and get her eating. I have put a small cardboard box in the cage for her to chew and she went at it almost immediately! She is still struggling with the collar as she has a hard time getting at her food. Diane Dwyer is sending a better one down for her tomorrow. Hopefully it won’t be as much of a struggle for her. We want to again send our hearlt felt thanks to everyone that has helped to get her to this point!

Afternoon Update She is climbing around, eating well and ripping her box apart! She is really trying to climb up and down the cage. Here is a small video of Dong from her first day home. The vet bill was paid in full today. Tomorrow I will post the totals. Some promised donations have not arrived so i will recalculate on what has been recieved to date.

NOTE** We seem to be having some technical difficulties with the blogger program. My apologies. Not sure what is going on but I look at the blog and all the paragraphs run together. Other times they are normal. It seemed to happen when I added the video of Dong. I will try and post it differently.

Update and Opinions wanted – Feb 13th, 2009

I would like you opinions for posting announcements. I was considering posting a daily report in the comments section and only sending out one or two announcements a week so as not to overwhelm everyone. If you have an opinion please let me know. Either is fine with me.

I am keeping a diary of all her food intake so the vet will know how much she is getting.

After her morning syringe feeding she sat on my lap and let me scratch her head for about 15 minutes. I had to teach at the collage again today so had one of our foster parents come and give her lunch and her meds. She ate everything. She does seem to like the slurry. I held it away from her for a minute and she started to beak it like she wanted more! That is a great sign to me!

Well let me know your thoughts on how you would like to be kept up to date on Dong and her progress.

What to look for in a rescue or sanctuary

There are various types of rescues for birds and I would like to discuss some of them here. People have different visions for their parrots after they can no longer care for them.

Some wish to see their birds flying free out of doors or in huge aviaries. In most instances, and in our Canadian climate these conditions are not possible.

I have even been told  that some plan on having their pets put down as they do not feel anyone would either want them or would care for them they way they do. I find this quite sad, as there are many wonderful homes out there that would love to give a second hand parrot an excellent and loving home and would willingly follow the previous owner’s routines and provide plenty of years of love to a parrot.

There are shelters which provide temporary care and usually some behavioural help until the parrot finds another wonderful family to care for it.

There are those that have wonderful aviaries with trees and play areas and keep all the birds and refuse to adopt out. They believe this is the only environment for a parrot. However they take in more and more and at some point the birds no longer recieve the attention they deserve.

The pros and cons of this are that birds that enjoy that type of environment would thrive in there. It would be a wonderful place for ex breeders and birds that do not enjoy human companionship. The sad part is those birds that love attention from human companions as most of the time they do not do well in this type of environment. They would rather be cuddled and snuggled and talked to and played with regularly. These birds you will find cowering in the corners of these aviaries, frightened of the other birds. Even volunteers can not offer these birds the bonding and attention an individual home can offer.

There are others that house the birds in any type of container they can find and are stacked on top of each other with 500 or 600 birds! This environment is not good for any bird! They do not adopt out birds and also feel their system is best.

Although it might be nice to see a bird flying around in an aviary, we need to remember that these birds were hand raised and conditioned to wanting human companionship.

We at Paso feel that each bird is an individual and needs to be assessed based on their needs, history and experiences. We do not feel that ALL birds can fall into one category. Although a nice sanctuary setting would be wonderful for some. It is not for all. Some birds would thrive much better in an individual home where they would receive one on one attention in a family setting.

We certainly don’t feel any place with 600 birds is good for any bird!

When choosing a rescue/shelter/sanctuary for your bird, carefully look at how the birds in the sanctuary are. Are they happy? Well adjusted? Are those running the rescue able to handle ALL the birds they presently have? Do they look comfortable with the birds both large AND small? Remember these people will be your birds care givers for a long time and maybe permanently. Do they rely on volunteers to work with the birds instead of themselves? How many volunteers do they have? Is it clean? Do they try scare tactics to avoid checking other rescues? Most of all do the birds at the rescue look comfortable with the rescuers!

These are more important than clinical cleanliness! We all know parrots make messes and rescues are no exception! Most importantly is how do the birds react to their new rescuers? Are they fearful and is the rescuer capable of handling your parrot?

These will make your parrot integrate into the rescue easier and will assure both you and the bird that they are in good hands.

Can you get references for them through your local bird clubs, zoo’s, SPCA et cetera. Word of mouth is another form but not the end all to be all. Does the rescue cut up other rescues trying to get “your business”? Does the rescue use scare tactics? Does it look like they are trying too hard, or does it appear that they ramble on? If these things are happening it’s probably due to the lack of skills on their part so they make up for it using these tactics.

You are the advocate for your parrot. Make sure to check the rescue and get outside references such as those described above.

Parrots and Toys

I have seen some strange things during our time rescuing birds, and I would like to point out a few things that have just floored me when it comes to people’s thoughts on bird toys.

Here is a sample of some of the things I have heard,  ”he doesn’t like toys he just wrecks them” or “this is the only toy he hasn’t destroyed”. Well, birds do wreck toys. That is why they have toys! To destroy them. They use the toys to keep themselves busy and it also helps condition their beaks and nails. There are many types of toys, such as preening toys, foraging toys, swings, wooden toys, leather toys, feather toys, foot toys, paper toys. You name it, there are toys for just about everything. We all know toys can be expensive, however this is an expense that any bird owner should count on as a monthly expense when you own a parrot. Toys should be changed regularly and if they are destroying the toy then WONDERFUL! That means that the toy has fulfilled its purpose and the bird is getting exercise, conditioning, and stimulation.

Toys can be made out of plenty of house hold items or even things found in the dollar store. It doesn’t have to be a huge expense! Having 30 plus birds here at any given time has forced my creative juices to flow in order to keep this gang entertained.

One of my favorite secrets that I am about to share is the Goodwill Store, as they typically have bins full of small rattles and plastic chains and little stuffed animals the birds love to pull apart! You can get a bag of small toys for around $2.00! The dollar store is also a great place. You can find baby blocks, plastic spindles, popsicle sticks, beads, plastic golf balls and any number of other items that can be used to make toys!

All it requires is a little imagination and within minutes you can have many different enjoyable toys for your birds.

One trick I like to use as you obviously have internet access to read this is to Google search parrot toys and you will have more ideas then you will know what to do with!

I hear people say sometimes that their parrot does not like toys because they show no interest. There could be several causes for that. One is that they do not play with toys everyday but once in a while they will destroy a toy until it is gone. The other reason is probably because it is not the right toy!

The birds should have a variety of toys made of different items. Your parrot will probably chose one or two as a preference. If these ones are getting destroyed then they are obviously the parrots favorite and should be offered up regularly to the parrot.

Toys with paper for shredding are usually a favorite for many birds. Newspaper or adding machine rolls can make a wonderful toy that the birds can spend hours destroying! Make your toys colorful and bright and they will bring plenty of hours of busy beaks to your bird. 

What is even more important is to ensure that the materials you use are safe for the bird.

There are lists of safe woods posted on the site as well as an article about zinc and metal poisoning that should be read before making toys for the parrots.

Here is a list of safe materials:

- Wooden or plastic beads
- Almost anything plastic
- Adding machine rolls
- Vegetable tanned leather strips
- Stainless steel nuts and bolts
- Anything stainless steel
- Popcorn can also make great toys
- Popsicle sticks
- Wooden skewers for shiskabobs
- Plastic golf balls
- Unbleached coffee filters
- Straws
- Cotton rope or stainless steel chain can be used for threading and hanging the items
- Chunks of wood made from pine or apple branches are wonderful! Be careful about the type of woods you use. Make sure to research which are safe! Cedar is definitely NOT safe! Green woods are also unsafe.
- food coloring or Wiltons cake dye makes vibrant colors of your wood and comes in a great variety of colors!

This is only a small list but out of the list can come 100′s of toys!

Some tools that can be used:

- a drill for drilling holes through wood and plastic
- scissors for cutting the ropes, leathers, straws and coffee filters
- a bowl for mixing the food coloring
- a pan for drying the objects that have been colored
- a hole punch can be used for items that do not require a drill

With the above items or even a partial list of items can make hours of enjoyment for your parrot!

I do not find toys that are indestructible to parrots of any benefit. First the birds don’t typically like them, they do not help in the conditioning process and last they are extremely expensive!

There are also a few online clubs for making parrot toys. If you find you are lacking in imagination you can always join a club or purchase toys at your favorite pet store!