mh434
New member
- Oct 28, 2014
- 473
- 9
- Parrots
- Yellow-naped Amazon "Sammy"
Love birds (4)
Green-cheeked Conure "Skittles" - now, sadly gone from my life
Blue-Crowned Conure "Tequila"
African Grey "Reno" - sadly, now gone from my life
I lost my beloved Pauli a few weeks ago. I rescued him when he was about 7 years old, and was near death, lying in the bottom of a cage, unable to rise. He had been adopted as a very young bird by a man in his 90's, a bit of a hermit who spoke no English, and who had no inkling of the special needs of parrots, much less Amazons. When the old man died, no one found him for weeks and, of course, Pauli had been without food or water for all that time. As it turns out, the old man had only ever fed Pauli hamster food (that's all there was in the extra bird food dishes, and there were bags of it in the apartment).
It took a long time to nurse Pauli back to (apparent) health, but after a while he was plagued with weird ailments. At one point, he went blind, with profound cataracts (confirmed by three bird eye specialists). I made arrangements for eye surgery for him but, strangely, the cataracts disappeared over a few weeks! I was able to speak to one of the world's premiere bird eye specialists who, luckily, makes occasional visits to my area, and she confirmed that 1) He had had severe cataracts, and 2) this was the first recorded instance of recovery & regaining sight without surgery.
Unfortunately, his early lack of nutrition led to other issues including gout, which made one foot clench into a claw and the other open like a spread hand. He could not perch, and we had to make a special bed for him to lie on without putting pressure on his keel.
In the end, his kidneys and liver shut down and, despite increasing doses of strong pain killers and weekly vitamin A injections etc. at the vet, he reached the point where we could not control his pain. Even then, though, he was still a spectacularly beautiful boy.
I will never forget the look in his eyes on his last day. I don't know that I'll ever get over the horror and doubt of our last decision, or the vacant space in my heart that he filled with his happy cooing and trilling.
Farewell, little Pauli. We will meet again.
It took a long time to nurse Pauli back to (apparent) health, but after a while he was plagued with weird ailments. At one point, he went blind, with profound cataracts (confirmed by three bird eye specialists). I made arrangements for eye surgery for him but, strangely, the cataracts disappeared over a few weeks! I was able to speak to one of the world's premiere bird eye specialists who, luckily, makes occasional visits to my area, and she confirmed that 1) He had had severe cataracts, and 2) this was the first recorded instance of recovery & regaining sight without surgery.
Unfortunately, his early lack of nutrition led to other issues including gout, which made one foot clench into a claw and the other open like a spread hand. He could not perch, and we had to make a special bed for him to lie on without putting pressure on his keel.
In the end, his kidneys and liver shut down and, despite increasing doses of strong pain killers and weekly vitamin A injections etc. at the vet, he reached the point where we could not control his pain. Even then, though, he was still a spectacularly beautiful boy.
I will never forget the look in his eyes on his last day. I don't know that I'll ever get over the horror and doubt of our last decision, or the vacant space in my heart that he filled with his happy cooing and trilling.
Farewell, little Pauli. We will meet again.
Your unconditional love for Pauli shines through loud and clear, as does the pain you are feeling.
