Our Goffin's Cockatoo, Bubo, is almost 12 years old. We got her a few months after our BFA Keikoa, and she was gorgeous until soon after my mother's stroke
on 9/11. I was gone a lot, at the hospital and then nursing homes and it took me a little while to realize that Bubo had been feather chewing.
It was a problem off and on, but last winter it became such a problem that I tiold my husband what my bird friend had said when her cockatoo started feather plucking to excess: that she would put her bird to sleep if she started self-mutilating. She couldn't bear that.
Jim was horrified, but felt the same. Bubo's chest and tummy were bare, her wings were like skeleton wings and she had chewed her tail to tiny stubs.
She finally bit a tail feather too deep and was bleeding one night. I stopped the bleeding, but started reading all of the forums I could, and the only thing I
hadn't tried in awhile was "Pluck No More". I had some, ordered some more, and tried it again, religiously.
Every time Bubo started to fiddle with her feathers, I would spray her with the diluted spray and used it in her drinking water.
It worked!
She doesn't have all of her feathers back,but her tail and wings are 75% better, no more bleeding, and her back is mostly feathered!
Her belly is still a bit bare, but she is much better than before. Bubo is very nervous, and we can't have her groomed, she goes into seizures,
but I am hoping that not visiting the groomer or the vet will help her, also. She is a very sweet, and cuddly girl who loves to tell everyone how goofy Goffins are, and I hope she will be around for quite awhile!
Keikoa and Bubo last winter
Bubo and Keikoa now....
Bubo likes a nap after breakfast~
on 9/11. I was gone a lot, at the hospital and then nursing homes and it took me a little while to realize that Bubo had been feather chewing.
It was a problem off and on, but last winter it became such a problem that I tiold my husband what my bird friend had said when her cockatoo started feather plucking to excess: that she would put her bird to sleep if she started self-mutilating. She couldn't bear that.
Jim was horrified, but felt the same. Bubo's chest and tummy were bare, her wings were like skeleton wings and she had chewed her tail to tiny stubs.
She finally bit a tail feather too deep and was bleeding one night. I stopped the bleeding, but started reading all of the forums I could, and the only thing I
hadn't tried in awhile was "Pluck No More". I had some, ordered some more, and tried it again, religiously.
Every time Bubo started to fiddle with her feathers, I would spray her with the diluted spray and used it in her drinking water.
It worked!
She doesn't have all of her feathers back,but her tail and wings are 75% better, no more bleeding, and her back is mostly feathered!
Her belly is still a bit bare, but she is much better than before. Bubo is very nervous, and we can't have her groomed, she goes into seizures,
but I am hoping that not visiting the groomer or the vet will help her, also. She is a very sweet, and cuddly girl who loves to tell everyone how goofy Goffins are, and I hope she will be around for quite awhile!
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