My mother passed away in February and I took responsibility for her parakeet Sky. He is a lovely little bird, very noisy and feisty, he is not hand tamed and does not like to be touched. Heaven help you if you try! He is about 5 years old, give or take.
Mom used to bring Sky with her when she visited, so she knew how to take care of him, but other than that, she really had no idea about parakeets. I remember one we had as a family pet when she was a teenager and that was it.
Sky and I got into a routine for the first 5 months: I would open his cage door every morning, but he would never leave it. He was happy to flap his wings inside his cage, which is big enough to do it with room to spare.
Then came the day, about a month ago, when he ventured out and the trouble began. On the few times that she did start flying, she flew into walls and had a nasty fall when she misjudged a shelf; this had never happened to him before and he went into shock.
This noisy and feisty little bird went silent, couldn’t hold on to his perch properly and ended up walking on the bottom of his cage, it was truly heartbreaking to watch. He would jump at the slightest movement or unexpected sound and fly away in a panic. I knew there was something seriously wrong when he allowed me to hold him in my hand on 3 separate occasions when I had to rescue him from falling out of his position.
I am lucky enough to be friends with some animal healers and communicators and one of them instructed me on how to give him Rescue Remedy and that helped me. She didn’t see a serious illness with him, just a little sore from his collisions, and healed him from a distance and perked up a bit, but she was still far from returning to her normal self. However, he was much calmer and didn’t panic, so I decided to get him checked out by the vet as well.
Sky was far from happy to be caught and put in a very nice tissue box and taken to the vet, a very nice man who specializes in small animals. She examined him and found that he was underweight, but with no external damage, good eyesight and no problems with his claws. However, he suspected that he might have liver and/or kidney problems and told me that parakeets often only lived 5-7 years and that 15 years (which is what she had read) was the exception rather than the rule. . He gave me some medicine and made an appointment for the following week, but I could tell from his behavior that he didn’t expect Sky to survive.
I was absolutely heartbroken – this little bird had gotten into my heart and was also a connection to mom and I couldn’t bear to lose it so soon.
Synchronicity is a big part of my life and they gave me more information that would be helpful and another piece of the puzzle. I was told again that there was nothing physically wrong with him, but that he was grieving, deeply depressed, and saw no point in living. They suggested I put a picture of my mom in her cage with him and add some curcumin to her food/drink to help her get stronger.
I immediately printed out a picture of mom and put it in his cage and couldn’t believe the change in him. If someone had told me, I would have found it hard to believe. He immediately began eating and drinking as if making up for lost time. Her food was near Mom’s picture and she stayed close to her while she ate. One night I looked at him and he was fast asleep next to her. He too found the strength to return to his perch and began to move around her cage; it was truly miraculous. I also put a piece of rose quartz in his cage and he spent quite a bit of time near that too.
However, I was obviously still stressed, so I canceled another visit to the vet and decided to let nature take its course. With the help of my friends, I did my best and now it was up to Sky to decide if she wanted to stay or not.
It has been an emotional month watching this little bird go through his trauma, and it has been an ongoing healing. Last week he spent 3 days literally sitting on his perch practically motionless, eating a little from time to time, but showing no interest in anything. I felt helpless and wondered if he was longing for company, even though he had always been a lonely bird.
However, just 3 days ago he started to make some noise and showed some interest in his surroundings. The next day he started to play again and climbed everywhere and today he hasn’t stopped chatting. It makes my heart happy to hear it.
Once I snapped out of my emotional state, it occurred to me that the reason he was flying into the walls might be because I don’t have pictures on those particular walls, so he can’t judge where they are. I’ll rectify it before I do. ready to venture out from the safety of his cage. Fingers crossed!!
conclusion
This whole situation confirmed for me the need for a holistic approach to healing. There were a number of people involved in healing Sky and they were all necessary parts.
The healers/animal communicators helped me to help him through his shock and allowed me to feel safe taking him to the vet without causing him any additional stress. They also encouraged me to deal with their grievance for the loss of my mother and give her the necessary attention in that direction.
The vet reassured me as to his physical condition and that he had not been injured while flying.
I really don’t think Sky would be alive today if he hadn’t put my mom’s picture in his cage with him. It may sound exaggerated, but you might believe me if you had seen the almost instantaneous change in him.
It has made me wonder how many animals have died or been euthanized due to emotional and mental issues, rather than physical ones. This is something I didn’t even consider just five weeks ago. I think most of us are aware that dogs and larger animals sigh, but how many of us, myself included, would have considered that a small bird like a parakeet would go through a similar process?
I still spray him with Rescue Remedy and give him a drink, and I add curcumin to his grated carrot. I will continue with that for a while longer, until I feel that it is no longer necessary.
I had a ‘thrown in the deep’ education last month, one I will never forget and I hope my story resonates with some of you who read it.
In the meantime, I am so happy that my naughty and noisy little friend is still around and I sincerely hope he is for many years to come.
Do you have a story about a pet that relates to my experience?
