Molly Update

It's been over a year since our last update on Molly!

He's doing really well at CARE, but we'd love to place him in a home.  We are just a temporary stop for these birds, who need to find placement in a family.

Here's a video of Molly waving.

He has much love to give and if you've been thinking of adding a cockatoo to your life, please stop by and meet him.  It might just be a perfect match!

Bongo

Like Snowball, at 25, Bongo isn't actually a senior parrot, as he very well could have decades yet to live.  However, since he's one of the older macaws that we currently have up for adoption, we're featuring him this month.

We first introduced you to Bongo last month.  As we've gotten to know him better, we're falling in love with him.  He will make a wonderful companion to the right person.  He is very in love with Sweet Pea, the amazon with whom he lived in his previous home.  However, Sweet Pea is quite indifferent toward Bongo.  While we'd love to find them a home together, they should do fine in separate homes.

Bongo really wants someone to bond with.  Severe macaws are known for their intense bonding and loyalty to one individual.  Hopefully we can find that person for him soon!

He loves being out of his cage, and as soon as you open his cage door, he puts his foot up to step up.  In the right home, we know he'll come out of his shell even more and find happiness.

Please stop by if you'd like to meet him!  We'd love for his last years to be his best.

RIP, Pepper

We're taking a break from talking about our senior pets to talk about one who recently died before reaching that senior age -- all due to poor care and bad nutrition in his previous home.  This is really inexcusable as there is so much correct information out there, that with a little bit of research, Pepper could still be a happy, living parrot.

We introduced you to Pepper, an approximately 16 year old red lory, back in August.  His previous owner fed him fruit loops (yes, the sugar-laden breakfast cereal) as his main diet, supplemented only with grapes.  Lories require a specialized diet, and neither sugary breakfast cereals nor grapes are proper food for them to eat.

We'd taken Pepper to the vet on several occasions and were working to get his liver working properly again.  We were able to do this, but he was obviously not feeling well -- sitting puffed up in his cage and not playing with toys or interacting with people.  We took him to the vet again yesterday.  His abdomen was quite distended, and the vet removed quite a bit of fluid from it.  Ultimately, given his poor physical condition, the tough decision was made to euthanize him and end his suffering.

We had a necropsy performed immediately, and it confirmed our suspicions: Pepper suffered from iron storage disease.  There is no way to combat this.  Only prevention, which would have happened had he been fed a proper diet.  He was so young and this should not have happened.

CARE gets many birds in who are suffering from malnutrition due to poor care in their previous homes.  Many times we are able to reverse the damage once we get them on a good diet.  Unfortunately for Pepper, his diet was so poor for so long that we were unable to save him.

RIP, Pepper.  You were loved and we miss you.

Puzzle Update

We last talked about Puzzle here, when he was featured as one of our less adoptable pets. He's still up for adoption. The only reason he's listed as less adoptable is that, due to poor care in his previous home, he will likely always need milk thistle supplementation added to his diet.

This is a miniscule amount of extra work compared to the joy that Puzzle brings!

He's definitely going to have to pick his person, as he can be choosy about who he does and doesn't like. And when he's in love, it's amazing to see.

If we can't find him a home, I suppose we could consider hiring him out to do administrative work:


Of course we are joking about that :) He just has the adorable habit of standing up tall and saying "hello!" when he hears the phone ring.

Please stop by if you're interested in Puzzle as we need to make sure his new family understands the importance of feeding him a proper diet, including his necessary supplementation.

Holly Update

Even though our last Holly update was just earlier this month, we took a video of her that we wanted to share. Also, she is so adorable -- how hasn't she found a home yet?

When Holly sees people she likes, she hangs from the top of her cage -- it's her way of begging to come out.

When she comes out of her cage, she is so excited to come out that she throws herself at the arm -- there is nothing delicate about this action! She is so full of happiness and life that it always puts a smile on our faces.



We put a towel over our arm to have her step up. This is to help her grip when she comes flying out -- to prevent her from falling if she over- or under-shoots in her excitement. Sometimes she throws herself at the towel when it's even further away. She appears to have been a bit camera-shy here :)

Holly is still looking for a home. She'd love to be in place with a new family by the end of the year! Although she does have a disability in her dislocated hip, we were able to discontinue all pain killers once her health improved under our care. She currently requires no special care, though will need an observant owner and may possibly require pain killers at some point in the future.

Snickers Update

We introduced you to Snickers here. He was going to be one of the birds featured last week because we couldn't understand why he took so long to find a home. He'd probably tell you it's because sometimes good things are worth the wait!

Thank you to his new owners for giving him such a wonderful home. We look forward to hearing about his exploits in his new home!



He's been in his new home for over a month now, and doing really well! Here is a recent picture, along with an update:

From his new family:

In less than 3 weeks, Snickers has blossomed into an unexpected delight. Having 3 Senegals, I wanted a bigger bird that talked more and was easily trick trainable. When I went out to CARE to get a few supplies, I was not specifically looking to adopt. I wanted to see the greys Lori had.

Well, Snickers kind of attached himself to me. He talks all the time, some things we can't understand. Others come out as though a person was speaking, like "Better call a lawyer", hmmmmm.

Last night he said, something and "shoot me". He is becoming very gentle. I am absolutely thrilled to have him. He is very happy here, I can tell. Lori and the gang at CARE do a wonderful job rehabbing these precious creatures to be adoptable. I call Snickers my new used bird and always get a chuckle. Thank you.

Holly Update

This week, we're going to feature birds that we can't understand why they are still with us. Instead of "Adopt-a-less-adoptable-pet-week," it's "Adopt-a-super-adoptable-but-under-appreciated-pet-week." I know, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But these are the Susan Luccis of CARE.

Many people think of rescue birds as damaged in some way, but we've learned time and time again that's not the case. Unfortunately, far too many people who are not equipped to own parrots purchase them, and then the birds suffer. True, there are some birds who, due to their innate personality or past experiences with humans, are difficult, and many of those birds find their way to rescue.

However, the majority of birds find their way to us because they outlived their owner, or their owner has a major life change and is unwilling or unable to include the bird in that change. Additionally, there are parrots owned by people who didn't do their research on what living what one of these intelligent creatures involves, so they are unprepared for the noise, mess, and cost of living with one.

Luckily, parrots are extremely resilient and the vast majority of them will quickly integrate into a new home.

We've talked a few times about Holly, an adult severe macaw. Here is the last time she was featured. Holly came from an animal hoarder, so we have no information on her. When she first came to us, we suspected that she was in her 30s, due to her condition. Holly, a few weeks after surrender:

However, she has made such amazing progress since being with us that we think we may have prematurely aged her. She might be a spritely teenager! Can you believe this is the same bird?

Holly is an incredible joy to be around. When she sees her favorite people, she starts swinging from the top of her cage and begging to come out. She leaps on their arm and is one happy lady.

She will always have a dislocated hip, but since being on a good diet at CARE, her arthritis has disappeared, so she is no longer on any kind of pain medication. Her dislocated hip does not impede her in any way -- she has a normal cage, with normal perches, and normal toys.

We don't understand why she's been here for nearly a year. She isn't aggressive at all, and is quite charming. She is relatively undemanding and just wants to spend time out of her cage with people.

In a home environment, where she'll receive more one-on-one attention, we suspect that she'll reveal many more delightful surprises. She is quite the treasure, and we hope that she will soon have a home of her own. We're just not sure why she doesn't have one already!

Tammy Update

Tammy is a Nanday Conure that we've written about frequently on the blog. Here's a link to her introductory post. As we wrote at the time, she was in such bad shape that we weren't sure she'd make it through the night, but she's a fighter and wound up thriving.

About a year ago, we adopted her out to what we thought was a great home, only to find out a few months later that they were trying to sell her on the internet! Once we got her back safely, we really thought she'd be a resident of CARE. She's been through so much in her life, and we needed to make sure that she would be kept safe.

But then the perfect home for Tammy showed up, looking to adopt a bird with special needs. They looked at a few other birds, but were drawn to Tammy. How lucky for Tammy to finally have a loving home where she can get more attention than we can provide at the Center!

Here's a picture of her preening herself:

Getting a kiss:

And settling in for a nap with her new owner:
Tammy had a long, circuitous route to find happiness, but she finally got there! These are the kinds of success stories we love to hear about!

Holly Update

It's been a few months since our last Holly update. This charming, personable severe macaw is still looking for a home. She is incredibly sweet and we don't understand why she hadn't been snapped up yet!

As she's been with us, she has regained her strength and blossomed into quite a charmer. She wants nothing more than to hang out with her favorite people. Her feathering and demeanor have improved so much during these past few months; it's hard to believe she's the same bird!

At this point, Holly has improved enough so that she is no longer on pain medication! However, her new owner will need to work with an avian vet to determine when pain medication might be necessary due to her injury and the resulting arthritis.

We're hopeful that the perfect home will come along soon and Holly can live out the rest of her life as part of a loving family.

More Sebastian pictures

We introduced you to Sebastian here. Not that long ago, but in the ensuing weeks, we've been getting to know him. What a charmer!
He can be a bit cage-aggressive at times, though this is to be expected as he is not used to coming out of his cage. We are working with him on this and already making progress!

Sebastian can be strong-willed at times and would benefit from an experienced macaw home. He loves to dance and entertains us with his antics.

Alumni story: Tango & Ellie

It's been three months since our last update on Tango -- he's still doing extremely well! Look at him -- does it get any cuter than this?

Tango's owner was so pleased with how everything was going that they were considering adding another bird to their house.

What perfect timing as CARE had a parrot that desperately needed to go into a foster home -- a Congo African Grey, Ellie. While most parrots do very well at the Center, there are some that don't do as well. They have trouble adapting to the relative chaos after having lived in a private home. In those cases, we work to place the bird in a foster home.

Though a grey hadn't been what they were thinking about, Tango's owner agreed to foster Ellie, and things have gone even better than expected!

Here are the two of them, hanging out:
With the nicer weather, they have been going outside to get some natural sunlight. It's important to remember to always have your parrot properly restrained when they are outside -- in a cage, (like here), carrier, or harness. Even if their wings are clipped, they can be gone in an instant, never to be seen again.

Tango has a big attraction to greys. He doesn't physically interact with them, but he loves to talk to them and they perk up his spirits. When he was at the Center, whenever he'd see a grey, he'd get excited and start saying "hello!" Interestingly enough, he did this with every grey, and with no other species of parrot!

Ellie went to her foster home, and the magic happened. As Tango's owner wrote, "Tango likes Ellie. And Ellie likes me."

Sometimes when a new bird is added to the house, the old bird can act jealous of the interloper. In this case, Tango welcomed a new friend and both birds quickly adapted to the new routine.

A big thank you to Tango's owner for giving Tango and Ellie such fantastic lives. What a fabulous success story!

Holly Update

Holly is off of medical hold and looking for her forever home! Due to her dislocated hip, she will always perch differently than a normal severe macaw, as seen here:
You also have to be a bit more careful when walking around with her so she doesn't fall, but that's about the only adaptation she needs! She readily steps up out of her cage and loves attention. She follows her favorite people around the room while in her cage by climbing to the corner closest to them. She begs to come out and is very personable!

Stop by if you'd like to meet her!

Peanut Update

It's been 8 months since our last update, but Peanut is still at the Center, looking for a home.We keep a bird at the Center until he/she is adopted, but we'd prefer to get them in homes sooner rather than later.

Stop by if you'd like to meet her! Hopefully her lucky day will come soon.

Mork Update

Mork is still at the Center, searching for a retirement home. He just craves attention!He loves getting his head scratched, and he frequently won't step up out of his cage until he gets the obligatory head scratches as payment:
Though he's already elderly for a Patagonian conure, we're hopeful he will find a home in which to live out the rest of his life with as many scratches as possible!

Perky Update

Perky, who we last wrote about here, is back at CARE. He became hormonal at the home he'd been at for a few years and started showing aggressive behaviors. They were not willing to work with him on these issues, and instead decided to return him to us.

Given his background and the fact that we don't want him bouncing around from home to home, we've decided that the best option for Perky is to be placed in a sanctuary. Cockatoo Rescue and Sanctuary is willing to take him into their program. This will give him the opportunity to interact with other birds and live a life closer to one he'd have in the wild. This was not a decision that we made lightly, but we feel it's in his best interest.

Here is a picture of Perky and another cockatoo at the Center (Snowball) preening each other. We suspect he's really going to like living among his own species!
It will cost around $500 for us to get Perky out to his new home. This includes costs related to his health certificate and vet exam, an airline approved carrier, and airline charges.

If you are able to help by making a tax-deductible donation to cover some of these costs, we would really appreciate it. We hope to be able to share Perky's progress with you over the years at the sanctuary.

You can drop a check off at the Center if you'll be visiting anyway, or mail it to us at: 3053 Beechwood Industrial Court, #1, Hubertus, WI 53033. You can also donate to us through paypal.

Thanks for your support!

Ditto Update

Ditto, who we've written about here and here, is still at the Center, looking for a home. You can read her history by clicking on the first "here" in this post. She's been with us for around 4 years now.

Ditto loves to exercise! When we take her out of her cage, one of the first things we do is lift her high in the air. Make sure to hold on tight to her feet as she starts flapping wildly and sometimes gets a bit of lift off of your hand if you're not careful!

Here she is, in mid-flap:When she's had enough, we bring her back down while she recovers, then we repeat. She normally likes to do this at least three times.

Exercise is so important for these captive wild animals. In nature, they'd be flying for miles and getting lots of exercise. They are far too sedentary in our homes. As much as possible, we try to get the birds panting at least once a day. Each bird is an individual, so we need to find a way that is fun for each one. This helps with their physical health as well as providing behavioral benefits!

Back to Ditto -- she's still looking for a home. We can't understand why she's still here -- we suspect it has something to do with her plucked appearance. She has an amazing personality, and though we'll miss her very much when she finally finds a home, we really hope she's able to have a permanent home of her own soon!

Bo Update

Our last update on Bo was in September. He was very lucky and found his new home last year. He is very loved and doing incredibly well. Here is a recent picture his owner sent us:

Once again, these happy outcomes are what fuel the volunteers at the Center. It's so great to hear updates on these birds we love and see how well they're doing!

Hop on

One of our volunteers was moving a cage around the Center, and one of our residents, Daisy, decided to hop on for a ride!

A trip to the vet school

Last week, Lori went with Dr. Bloss to the University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Veterinary Medicine to discuss with vet students how vets and rescues can work together, and also to go over some interesting cases that Dr. Bloss has worked on.

CARE is very lucky to have an amazing resource in Dr. Bloss. She is very competent and efficient when dealing with the many well-bird exams she does for us, as well as cutting-edge and inventive when dealing with some of the more challenging medical cases we bring her.

Along for this talk were three case studies: Rocky and Tammy:And Chip:These pictures were taken as they returned to the Center.

Everyone had a great time! The parrots enjoyed getting out and meeting new people, Lori and Dr. Bloss enjoyed talking about some of what they've been able to accomplish with some of our sickest surrendered birds, and hopefully the vet students gained some insight into working with these amazing creatures!

We hope to work more with the vet students in the future!

Durante Update

Speaking of Durante in yesterday's post, here's a recent picture:She's really settling into life at the Center, and every day surprises us with more of her wit and intelligence.

She definitely requires a home experienced in dealing with large birds! She frequently decides immediately upon meeting someone if she likes them or not, though we're not saying she's a good judge of character!