I thought that since everyone enjoyed hearing Allie's story so much, and since Krissi's one-year death date just passed (April 23rd), and Ava's two-year death date is coming up on October 2nd, I would share their stories..how they came to live with me and how they ultimately left our home, but never our hearts.
I decided that Kirk needed a birdie friend so we went to the flea market again about a month later and we found Ava. She was a beautiful Pearl hen and I was just dying to have her. She looked different than any other cockatiel I had seen before. Her nares were more prominent and her overall facial shape was unique. She was beautiful and perfect in every way to me. Being that I was a beginner bird-owner I did not know about quarantine. So my sweet girl came home and met up with Kirk and they developed an instant bond.
Ava and I had a connection that I probably will not ever experience with another bird..she was truly my feathered baby. Any time I was around, she was cuddled on my chest and chewing my necklace cooing as I rubbed her soft cheeks. She always ate wonderfully, and millet were her absolute favorite thing in the world. She would sit on a platform inside the cage and Kirk would bring her pellets to eat..they were so very cute together.
One Thursday, nearly a month after I had had her she was acting extremely docile but it didn't strike me that anything could be wrong with her. On Sunday, three days later and the twenty-eighth day in my care, she was on the cage bottom fluffed up, weak, and terrible looking. I took her out of the cage and held her to my chest; she weakly chewed my necklace and cooed softly at me. I tried giving her some millet but she would not eat. I called all the avian vets in my area, only to find they were all closed.
Adrian and I rushed her to the Animal ER and we were told to wait in a private room to reduce her stress. The vet tech told me she was terribly emaciated and had a 10% chance to live. We placed her into the travel cage and we waited. Ava slept most of the time. About 15 minutes after waiting, a tech came in and told us they had an emergency case with a dog and we would need to wait longer. After being in the private room for nearly an hour, Ava seized on the cage bottom. As I took her out of her cage, Adrian ran to get a tech. I held her nearly lifeless body once more, and they took her away to put her on oxygen. We left with an empty cage..I paid $280 so they would keep her overnight on oxygen with crop feeding. If she made it we were to take her to the bird hospital next door in the morning. Two hours later we received a call..I made Adrian answer it. She hadn't made it. When I picked her up they had wrapped her in a towel. I was refunded all but $60 and received a sympathy card from the clinic. I buried her with my necklace, her favorite ring, and a sprig of millet.
Ava taught me a lot...and I think that was her purpose here. Without her, I would not have learned about avian disease symptoms, quarantine, and I could have possibly lost Kirk without her. Kirk and I were treated that week for chlamydiosis. Without Ava there, Kirk may have succombed to the same disease. They came from the same place so I can only assume they were both carriers.
..and they say to quarantine for 30 days. I lost my baby on day 28.
I only have 2 photos of Ava, and for that I am ashamed. Here is the better of the 2; Kirk has never been the same since she left:
Krissi's story is bittersweet. She was very well loved, but her previous owner was misinformed about bird nutrition and Krissi suffered for it.
I found her on Craigslist; a young woman in San Antonio was moving to Florida and could only take with her what she could fit into her small Toyota Tacoma. I spoke for a long time with Amber until I knew she was comfortable with me and knew I was knowledgable about cockatiels. I sent her pictures of my flock, their cage, told her their diet, and everything I did with/for them. When she sent me a picture of Krissi, I told her about Ava..both of them gorgeous Pearl girls.
When I got Krissi, she was going through an extremely heavy molt and was terribly malnourished. She had been on an all-seed diet (with fillers in it) for the entire 13 years of her life. She tested clear of all diseases, but the vet still insisted on doing an xray and many other tests--which in the end proved unneccessary. This was my free bird who cost me $700 in the end (money was and is not a matter when it comes to birdie health, I assure you). She had early-staged liver disease as well as a Vitamin A deficiency..other than this she was just malnourished.
Amber and I stayed in touch for as long as I had Krissi. I sent her pictures and updates on her progress every two weeks. I didn't ever succeed in getting Krissi to eat vegetables, but before she left me I had tricked her into eating Nutriberries by putting them into one of those cheap plastic millet holders from Walmart. And just a few days before she passed, she had even begun to eat fruity pellets. I was a proud tiel momma to see her eating pellets!
Her overall feather quality improved greatly under my care, her uric acid and liver enzyme levels returned to normal, and she gained over 10 g when she was with me. She was a very special girl who immediately trusted everyone and flew beautifully. She left us on April 23rd, 2012. A necropsy revealed she had a malformed egg in her oviduct and that her heart was enlarged; the vet determined her cause of death was from a heart condition.
Her "nest" she protected:
Her sweeter than sweet personality:
This is something I made for both myself and her previous owner; I framed it and placed a tail feather in the center:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g264/bjkhot06/Krissi Bird/KrissiCollage.jpg
The saddest part of this story is that I always intended for Krissi to make it back to her home with Amber. Amber planned on visiting her during the time she was in Florida, and then we planned for Krissi to go back on the plane with her. Shortly after Krissi passed, Amber revealed to me she was planning to move back to Texas; had Krissi held on just a few weeks longer her and Amber would have been reunited.
Amber and I still chat occasionally, and we're friends on Facebook. Though she was saddened about Krissi's passing, she also expressed to me how appreciative she was that I gave her love and good care during the last few months of her life.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll start with Ava, as she came into my life first. My birdie love first began when my boyfriend and I went to a local flea market and saw a lot of cockatiels for sale. This is where we got Kirk the Lutino cock..honestly, I did not know any better at the time that a flea market would not have been the right place to get a bird. I decided that Kirk needed a birdie friend so we went to the flea market again about a month later and we found Ava. She was a beautiful Pearl hen and I was just dying to have her. She looked different than any other cockatiel I had seen before. Her nares were more prominent and her overall facial shape was unique. She was beautiful and perfect in every way to me. Being that I was a beginner bird-owner I did not know about quarantine. So my sweet girl came home and met up with Kirk and they developed an instant bond.
Ava and I had a connection that I probably will not ever experience with another bird..she was truly my feathered baby. Any time I was around, she was cuddled on my chest and chewing my necklace cooing as I rubbed her soft cheeks. She always ate wonderfully, and millet were her absolute favorite thing in the world. She would sit on a platform inside the cage and Kirk would bring her pellets to eat..they were so very cute together.
One Thursday, nearly a month after I had had her she was acting extremely docile but it didn't strike me that anything could be wrong with her. On Sunday, three days later and the twenty-eighth day in my care, she was on the cage bottom fluffed up, weak, and terrible looking. I took her out of the cage and held her to my chest; she weakly chewed my necklace and cooed softly at me. I tried giving her some millet but she would not eat. I called all the avian vets in my area, only to find they were all closed.
Adrian and I rushed her to the Animal ER and we were told to wait in a private room to reduce her stress. The vet tech told me she was terribly emaciated and had a 10% chance to live. We placed her into the travel cage and we waited. Ava slept most of the time. About 15 minutes after waiting, a tech came in and told us they had an emergency case with a dog and we would need to wait longer. After being in the private room for nearly an hour, Ava seized on the cage bottom. As I took her out of her cage, Adrian ran to get a tech. I held her nearly lifeless body once more, and they took her away to put her on oxygen. We left with an empty cage..I paid $280 so they would keep her overnight on oxygen with crop feeding. If she made it we were to take her to the bird hospital next door in the morning. Two hours later we received a call..I made Adrian answer it. She hadn't made it. When I picked her up they had wrapped her in a towel. I was refunded all but $60 and received a sympathy card from the clinic. I buried her with my necklace, her favorite ring, and a sprig of millet.
Ava taught me a lot...and I think that was her purpose here. Without her, I would not have learned about avian disease symptoms, quarantine, and I could have possibly lost Kirk without her. Kirk and I were treated that week for chlamydiosis. Without Ava there, Kirk may have succombed to the same disease. They came from the same place so I can only assume they were both carriers.
..and they say to quarantine for 30 days. I lost my baby on day 28.
I only have 2 photos of Ava, and for that I am ashamed. Here is the better of the 2; Kirk has never been the same since she left:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Krissi's story is bittersweet. She was very well loved, but her previous owner was misinformed about bird nutrition and Krissi suffered for it.
I found her on Craigslist; a young woman in San Antonio was moving to Florida and could only take with her what she could fit into her small Toyota Tacoma. I spoke for a long time with Amber until I knew she was comfortable with me and knew I was knowledgable about cockatiels. I sent her pictures of my flock, their cage, told her their diet, and everything I did with/for them. When she sent me a picture of Krissi, I told her about Ava..both of them gorgeous Pearl girls.
When I got Krissi, she was going through an extremely heavy molt and was terribly malnourished. She had been on an all-seed diet (with fillers in it) for the entire 13 years of her life. She tested clear of all diseases, but the vet still insisted on doing an xray and many other tests--which in the end proved unneccessary. This was my free bird who cost me $700 in the end (money was and is not a matter when it comes to birdie health, I assure you). She had early-staged liver disease as well as a Vitamin A deficiency..other than this she was just malnourished.
Amber and I stayed in touch for as long as I had Krissi. I sent her pictures and updates on her progress every two weeks. I didn't ever succeed in getting Krissi to eat vegetables, but before she left me I had tricked her into eating Nutriberries by putting them into one of those cheap plastic millet holders from Walmart. And just a few days before she passed, she had even begun to eat fruity pellets. I was a proud tiel momma to see her eating pellets!
Her overall feather quality improved greatly under my care, her uric acid and liver enzyme levels returned to normal, and she gained over 10 g when she was with me. She was a very special girl who immediately trusted everyone and flew beautifully. She left us on April 23rd, 2012. A necropsy revealed she had a malformed egg in her oviduct and that her heart was enlarged; the vet determined her cause of death was from a heart condition.
Her "nest" she protected:
Her sweeter than sweet personality:
This is something I made for both myself and her previous owner; I framed it and placed a tail feather in the center:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g264/bjkhot06/Krissi Bird/KrissiCollage.jpg
The saddest part of this story is that I always intended for Krissi to make it back to her home with Amber. Amber planned on visiting her during the time she was in Florida, and then we planned for Krissi to go back on the plane with her. Shortly after Krissi passed, Amber revealed to me she was planning to move back to Texas; had Krissi held on just a few weeks longer her and Amber would have been reunited.
Amber and I still chat occasionally, and we're friends on Facebook. Though she was saddened about Krissi's passing, she also expressed to me how appreciative she was that I gave her love and good care during the last few months of her life.
