Page 11 - Spring 15

Adventures with Lucky the Cockatiel By Cheryl Sears, UK
Lucky had a narrow escape with death as an 8- 10 year old. His loving carer died suddenly in a car crash, and Lucky was forgotten. No one thought to lift the cover off his cage until about a week later, when they found him exhausted, dehydrated and starving on the floor of the cage. He was cold and filthy, covered in his own excrement, when they rushed him into the local vet. The vet had an arrangement with Love Birds Wild Birds Rescue in Ferndown, Dorset, where he was nursed back to health. One of the helpers, Angela, adopted Lucky with all his considerable emotional baggage and that is, where my part in caring for Lucky health begins.
I first met Lucky in September 2003 for behavioural issues. He was 10-12 years old at this time and a very opinionated bird. He had made friends with/tolerated another bird, Saffron, that Angela was fostering.
Lucky had free run of the flat but would go and stand in the corner with his head lowered down. According to Angela “he was going to die”.
Lucky came with no worldly goods and he developed a habit very quickly of picking up tiny pieces of paper and placing them into a carrier bag, which he then dragged around the floor with him (his possessions). He would defend “his bag” fiercely against anyone, who tried to touch or steal it and against the universal enemy, the vacuum cleaner.
Lucky is a moody bird, who can be very friendly with visitors, especially men. He will perch on their heads and groom them for hours. But he can be very temperamental with Angela, one minute grooming her and then removing chunks of flesh from her hands and face. He will fly screaming at Angela’s face trying to grab mouthfuls of flesh and he is very persistent. The kitchen “is his domain” and he can be very territorial of it at times to the extent that not even Angela can gain entry.
Angela had given Ignatia 30C, when Lucky first came to her and it helped a little. I
prescribed Natrum mur 30C following on the theme of grief and again it helped a little and the dose was repeated on a few occasions over an eighteen month period. He was also on Bioforce Over Dominant drops in his water daily for a few months.
In March 2005 I saw Lucky after Saffron had died. While Lucky will socialise with people, he prefers to be alone with his carrier bag. Angela says “all his emotions go into these pieces of paper” and he is beside himself, if he cannot find all the pieces.
Once he is happy, he has them all, he will hide away underneath them.
Now when Angela leaves him alone, he refuses to eat, but will happily feed, whenever she is there. She feels she is being subjected to emotional blackmail as a result of his past life. He was still very aggressive at times towards her.
It was at this stage I introduced Peregrine Falcon 30C for 5-7 days. I had just completed a day on Bird remedies with Jonathon Hardy, who thought this remedy was useful for prisoners in solitary confinement, who had been thrown into a cell and forgotten about, laying in their own excrement and near death. I felt sure Lucky behaviour was still harking back to the terrible ordeal, he suffered four years previously. Following the remedy Lucky was less frantic and less grumpy with no real anger attacks. The remedy was repeated after 6-8 weeks with not much of a response. I was reluctant to increase the potency at this stage with him.
By September 2005 he was again having mood swings, especially when Angela brought other birds or small furries into the household. He was particularly jealous of any attention given to them. At this stage he became like a screaming banshee crossed with a Stucka Dive Bomber.
Hyoscyamus 30C came to the rescue and according to Angela “ he was a pleasure to live with” and was becoming very affectionate
towards her and now eating happily, when left alone. He was also not as obsessed with his possessions.
Over the years Lucky has had a number of health issues including chronic kidney problems diagnosed about eight years ago and the odd dose of snuffles that rears its head from time to time. Lucky has been on Alfalfa 1x daily for his kidneys since the diagnosis was made and a few years ago we introduced Berberis 3X into the equation following a bit of a dip in his kidneys.
In the last few years moulting has become a big issue for Lucky, it can be a protracted affair and he becomes exhausted and anorexic. A few doses of Ignatia 200C usually sorts him out with some Vetri DMG (dimethylglycine) drops for his immune system. If anything further is required, then the Bach Flower Essences Crab Apple and Walnut usually suffice.
In 2014 it was thought Lucky had a candida infection, as his droppings were abnormal, he was anorexic and very weak. Droplets of fluid sometimes sprayed from his mouth. He was happy to be syringe fed a high energy mix for sick birds and to this we added Vetri DMG drops and Colloidal Silver three times a day. The colloidal silver appeared to do the trick and within 48 hours Lucky showed signs of improvement and was back to normal after about 7-10 days.
Lucky’s current regime is Vetri DMG drops and Bach Flower Crab Apple one day alternating with Alfalfa 1X and Berberis 3X the next day. He is now at least 22 years old and as I write this article quite stable. He can still summon up enough energy to become jealous, when a sick animal requires Angela’s attention. Hyoscyamus 30C leaps to the rescue and peace is restored yet again. Lucky is quite a character and has taught me a lot about bird emotions and behaviour over the years. Long may he continue to do so.
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