My mother passed away in February and I took over the responsibility of her parakeet Sky. He is a lovely little bird, very loud 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 didn’t really have a clue 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 her. He was happy to flap his wings inside his cage, which is big enough to do it with room to spare.

Then the day came, about a month ago, when he ventured out and the trouble started. On the few times she did start to fly, she flew into walls and took 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 around at the bottom of his cage, it was really heartbreaking to watch. He would jump at the least unexpected movement or sound and fly away in a panic. I knew something was 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 to be friends with a few 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 she healed him from a distance and cheered 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 have him checked out by the vet as well.

Sky was far from happy that he was 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 without 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 budgies often only lived for 5-7 years and that 15 years (which is what she had read) was the exception and not the rule. . He gave me some medication 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 very helpful and another piece of the puzzle. They told me again that there was nothing physically wrong with him, but that he was grieved, deeply depressed, and saw no point in living. They suggested that I put a picture of my mom in her cage with him and add some curcumin to her food/drink to help him get stronger.

I immediately printed 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 started eating and drinking as if making up for lost time. Her food was near Mom’s picture and she stayed near 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 really miraculous. I also put a piece of rose quartz in his cage and he spent quite a bit of time around that as well.

He was obviously still stressed though, so I canceled another visit to the vet and decided to let nature take its course. With the help of my friends, I did everything I could 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 now and then, 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 began to make some noise and showed some interest in his surroundings. The next day he started playing again and climbed everywhere and today he hasn’t stopped chatting. It warms my heart to hear it.

Once I snapped out of my emotional state, it occurred to me that the reason I was flying towards the walls might be because I don’t have images on those particular walls, so you can’t judge where they are. I’ll rectify it before it does. ready to venture out from the safety of his cage. Fingers crossed!!

conclusion

This whole situation confirmed to 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 animal healers/communicators helped me through his shock and allowed me to feel safe taking him to the vet without causing him any additional stress. They also prompted me to deal with his grievance for the loss of my mother and give him 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 like an exaggeration, but you might believe me if you saw the almost instant change in him.

It has made me wonder how many animals have died or been euthanized due to emotional and mental problems, 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 budgie would go through a similar process?

I still spray him with Rescue Remedy and give him a drink, and add curcumin to his grated carrot. I’ll continue with that for a while longer, until I feel like it’s 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 very happy that my mischievous and noisy little friend is still around and I sincerely hope that he will be for many more years.

Do you have a story about a pet that relates to my experience?