bri_923
Moving in
- Joined
- 10/21/23
- Messages
- 9
- Real Name
- Brianna
Okay, this is a bit of a long story, so thank you in advance for taking the time to read this...
Lacey is a 28 yr old sulphur crested cockatoo that lives at the vet clinic I work at. She was the bird of two nice elderly people who had been bringing her to our vet clinic since she was a baby. She has always been a feather plucker and worn a soft e-collar on her neck. She was more the woman's bird than the man's. He and Lacey had a rocky relationship - she liked to bite him. The wife was in a medical rehab while the husband had to go in for surgery for his cancer. Lacey boarded with us indefinitely while this was going on. Unfortunately, the woman passed away from health issues, which left the elderly husband recovering from a major surgery. Meanwhile, Lacey was doing well with us at the vet clinic. She bonded with a few of us. We would have her out of the cage at lunch time and eat with her. There are three of us that she loves and will step up to. She allows about ten more to pet her and has a good relationship with them. She HATES the veterinarian! I think she does not like men & she has had him as her doctor her whole life. Since she was doing well with us after about a month or two, and the couple's adult kids were unable or unwilling to help with the bird, the veterinarian offered for us to take Lacey as an office bird permanently. We went to the house & got all of her supplies and large cage. Unfortunately, since then, the husband has also passed away from health issues
Now Lacey lives with us at the vet. We are a small animal general practice (dogs & cats mainly, birds, some rabbits & guinea pigs). We are in the office from ~ 8:30 am - 7:30 pm. She gets covered overnight. On the weekends, there is kennel staff that comes in for the boarding animals & cleans her cage & gives fresh food and water. I am the main person that she is closest to & there are two others that she loves. She normally comes out of the cage when we have lunch - sometimes it's just too busy - and at the end of the day, we take her out and sit with her. When we are slow and there is enough staff, I take her out of the cage as well. She loves boxes, bags, and drawers with paper in it to dig through. She chews on some toys in the cage but not much. She eats zupreem pellets, wheat thins, and whatever we eat for lunch. She gets loud when she wants out of the cage or she knows the day is winding down and she will come out soon. When she is with us, she is content. She still plucks her feathers, but has gotten SO much better with it. In the past 2 yrs, there have been ~ 3 times where she mutilated her leg. She has chewed down to the tendon once and we had to suture and bandage it for a while. The cone is not long enough to protect her leg (if it was, she wouldn't be able to climb around her cage). I take her collar off when she is out with me, so she can have a break and preen. I have to fix it up daily because she like to chew on it. We also try to give her a bath about once a week. She seems to be happy with us. She gets a lot of stimulation on work days with the amount of people and things going on.
Now, besides her plucking, she also has some behavior things that are difficult to deal with. She NEVER bites those of us she loves out of aggression (she likes to pick scabs off our arms). Remember the veterinarian that she hates? Well, there has been one unprovoked incident when she was left in the drawer she plays in for a few minutes alone. She walked across a chair and jumped on the vet (who was getting vaccines out of the fridge) and bit him a few times and wouldn't let go. When she bites like this, she puts all her weight into it and breaks skin most of the time. There was another time, when the vet didn't take her seriously and put his hand for her to step up and she attacked him again. Every now and then, we leave her on the table in one of the rooms. There have been a couple times that she has jumped off the table and chased workers that she dislikes. Of course, we should not leave her unattended. Due to these events, we are now much more careful with not leaving her out without us there. However, this now means that she has less time out of the cage, as we still have to work. She also has some displaced aggression. When the vet comes close or his dogs run in the room, she panics and bites us very hard, drawing blood. We are now being told that we cannot stay too late just spending time with her while clocked in. I am concerned that she will not get the time she needs out of the cage.
So here's the thing... Ideally, she needs a real home. The vet has mentioned it multiple times. She does not have stimulation on the weekends. But rehoming a parrot is obviously not as easy as rehoming a dog (which is difficult enough as it is). She is happy and doing pretty well right now. Not plucking too bad. She has those of us that are her people/flock. All of us have our own animals or situations that prevent us from taking her home. Also, we are always at work! I have struggled with this for a while, and I feel like it's a betrayal and disservice to her to disrupt her life and move her somewhere else. She already lost her family and now if she gets rehomed, she'd lose another.
I love this bird so much. She also loves me. I've never seen such strong bond from a bird. I have gone as far as thinking about moving out of my parents house (to not have the dogs there). I have thought through just taking her home and trying to make it work. But this is not the right home for her. Everyone tells me to just take her home, but it is not practical to try and change my entire life around to take her in. She would not be able to be out of the cage enough and it's an extremely huge responsibility to take on.
How do we go about finding the perfect home? One with a woman that is home all the time, treats her as her child, and is not deterred by the mess of a cockatoo, or the bites that break skin? One that has the knowledge of her needs so that she doesn't regress and self mutilate? Also, is it even the right decision to try and find a home? I am at a loss as to what to do....
Attached are photos of Lacey being her adorable self, some bites she's done, her self-mutilation at it worst, and a before & after of her feather quality.
Thanks for listening, Brianna
Lacey is a 28 yr old sulphur crested cockatoo that lives at the vet clinic I work at. She was the bird of two nice elderly people who had been bringing her to our vet clinic since she was a baby. She has always been a feather plucker and worn a soft e-collar on her neck. She was more the woman's bird than the man's. He and Lacey had a rocky relationship - she liked to bite him. The wife was in a medical rehab while the husband had to go in for surgery for his cancer. Lacey boarded with us indefinitely while this was going on. Unfortunately, the woman passed away from health issues, which left the elderly husband recovering from a major surgery. Meanwhile, Lacey was doing well with us at the vet clinic. She bonded with a few of us. We would have her out of the cage at lunch time and eat with her. There are three of us that she loves and will step up to. She allows about ten more to pet her and has a good relationship with them. She HATES the veterinarian! I think she does not like men & she has had him as her doctor her whole life. Since she was doing well with us after about a month or two, and the couple's adult kids were unable or unwilling to help with the bird, the veterinarian offered for us to take Lacey as an office bird permanently. We went to the house & got all of her supplies and large cage. Unfortunately, since then, the husband has also passed away from health issues
Now Lacey lives with us at the vet. We are a small animal general practice (dogs & cats mainly, birds, some rabbits & guinea pigs). We are in the office from ~ 8:30 am - 7:30 pm. She gets covered overnight. On the weekends, there is kennel staff that comes in for the boarding animals & cleans her cage & gives fresh food and water. I am the main person that she is closest to & there are two others that she loves. She normally comes out of the cage when we have lunch - sometimes it's just too busy - and at the end of the day, we take her out and sit with her. When we are slow and there is enough staff, I take her out of the cage as well. She loves boxes, bags, and drawers with paper in it to dig through. She chews on some toys in the cage but not much. She eats zupreem pellets, wheat thins, and whatever we eat for lunch. She gets loud when she wants out of the cage or she knows the day is winding down and she will come out soon. When she is with us, she is content. She still plucks her feathers, but has gotten SO much better with it. In the past 2 yrs, there have been ~ 3 times where she mutilated her leg. She has chewed down to the tendon once and we had to suture and bandage it for a while. The cone is not long enough to protect her leg (if it was, she wouldn't be able to climb around her cage). I take her collar off when she is out with me, so she can have a break and preen. I have to fix it up daily because she like to chew on it. We also try to give her a bath about once a week. She seems to be happy with us. She gets a lot of stimulation on work days with the amount of people and things going on.
Now, besides her plucking, she also has some behavior things that are difficult to deal with. She NEVER bites those of us she loves out of aggression (she likes to pick scabs off our arms). Remember the veterinarian that she hates? Well, there has been one unprovoked incident when she was left in the drawer she plays in for a few minutes alone. She walked across a chair and jumped on the vet (who was getting vaccines out of the fridge) and bit him a few times and wouldn't let go. When she bites like this, she puts all her weight into it and breaks skin most of the time. There was another time, when the vet didn't take her seriously and put his hand for her to step up and she attacked him again. Every now and then, we leave her on the table in one of the rooms. There have been a couple times that she has jumped off the table and chased workers that she dislikes. Of course, we should not leave her unattended. Due to these events, we are now much more careful with not leaving her out without us there. However, this now means that she has less time out of the cage, as we still have to work. She also has some displaced aggression. When the vet comes close or his dogs run in the room, she panics and bites us very hard, drawing blood. We are now being told that we cannot stay too late just spending time with her while clocked in. I am concerned that she will not get the time she needs out of the cage.
So here's the thing... Ideally, she needs a real home. The vet has mentioned it multiple times. She does not have stimulation on the weekends. But rehoming a parrot is obviously not as easy as rehoming a dog (which is difficult enough as it is). She is happy and doing pretty well right now. Not plucking too bad. She has those of us that are her people/flock. All of us have our own animals or situations that prevent us from taking her home. Also, we are always at work! I have struggled with this for a while, and I feel like it's a betrayal and disservice to her to disrupt her life and move her somewhere else. She already lost her family and now if she gets rehomed, she'd lose another.
I love this bird so much. She also loves me. I've never seen such strong bond from a bird. I have gone as far as thinking about moving out of my parents house (to not have the dogs there). I have thought through just taking her home and trying to make it work. But this is not the right home for her. Everyone tells me to just take her home, but it is not practical to try and change my entire life around to take her in. She would not be able to be out of the cage enough and it's an extremely huge responsibility to take on.
How do we go about finding the perfect home? One with a woman that is home all the time, treats her as her child, and is not deterred by the mess of a cockatoo, or the bites that break skin? One that has the knowledge of her needs so that she doesn't regress and self mutilate? Also, is it even the right decision to try and find a home? I am at a loss as to what to do....
Attached are photos of Lacey being her adorable self, some bites she's done, her self-mutilation at it worst, and a before & after of her feather quality.
Thanks for listening, Brianna
She looks to be a Citron cockatoo to me, I did not realise they were so petite. 
