# The story of Cocky, my 11yo male cockatiel



## implicity (Nov 20, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I'd just like to share the tragic story of my beloved 11 year old male cinnamon cockatiel, Cocky, who passed away 2 days ago.

Cocky was always very playful and endearing when he was young. He'd always demand head scratches from everyone in the family, run around and chase me, and would be the sweetest birdie around. After about 2-3 years, he began plucking his feathers out and becoming progressively more aggressive to everyone. I took him to a avian vet in my city who was rude, brisk, and pretty much shrugged Cocky off, saying it was a psychological problem and there was nothing that could be done. I took this as gospel, even though I knew it couldn't be boredom because Cocky had all the toys he could want, and if I wasn't there to take him out of his cage for a play, someone else was always around. Also, Cocky had a predominantly seed diet, with a number of pellets sprinkled on top daily, fresh pre-boiled water daily, vitamins in his water 3-4 times a week, and fruit and vegies almost everyday, so I had no reason to suspect that his diet had anything to do with the plucking. 

As the years went on, the plucking and screeching that accompanied it got worse, and Cocky began to wear his e collar full-time, though he somehow always managed to get around it. Some mornings, I'd wake up to him and his cage being covered in drops of blood as a result of his plucking. His temprement changed, and though I was the one he'd bonded to initially, most days he didn't even want me to play with him. He spent most of his days plucking his feathers and sleeping. My entire family began to assume that he was getting older and that as a result he didn't want to play anymore. 

I'd still try to take him out everyday, even though in his last 2 years he grew more nervous and uncomfortable being anywhere outside of his cage. Even if he were with me, he'd always try to fly back to his cage, and if he even heard the slightest sudden sound, he'd leap into the air and not fly particulalry well. Cocky was constantly puffed after he flew - we blamed this on a lack of exercise, even though he'd fly at least once a day. His tail began to bob slightly, but unfortunately I was not aware that this was a sign of breathing difficulties.

Last week, Cocky lost his voice. His behaviour was fine otherwise, but I didn't want to take him to the same vet after the last experience (I didn't want to fuss and then have the vet tell me it was only something simple like a seed stuck in Cocky's throat). Thus, I made an appointment to take Cocky to another vet, considerably further away from me, 5 days later. I couldn't get any time off work and I don't drive so I had to wait until someone would be able to take me on the weekend. Amazingly, Cocky's voice improved over the next 2 days, though he had developed a mild clicking sound whenever he breathed. He flew a bit that day, but was more puffed than he'd ever been, so I figured the best thing to do was keep him warm until his appointment, with as little stress as possible.

On Saturday morning, Cocky was breathing audibly with his beak open - I knew something was wrong. I had to wait an hour until the vet clinic opened, but they took Cocky in straight away as it was very obviously an emergency. This new vet was fantastic - Cocky did not attack him and bonded to him immediately, it was almost as if he knew that this doctor was trying to help him. His gram stain showed that fortunately there wasn't too much of any bad bacteria in his droppings, and that his immune system was very strong. The doctor suspected either a staph or pseudomonas infection (affecting his respiratory system), and gave him 2 injections immediately. He also mentioned that there was no doubt that Cocky had a fatty liver (plucked "shoulders" of the wings are apparently a sign of this). I called the vet up a number of hours later as per the vets request, and he said though Cocky had improved and was breathing fine, he seemed really agitated and nervous at the vets, and would be better off home with me. I was obviously still worried about Cocky but the vet and his nurses said that his was on the road to recovery, and that a change in diet (they provided me with a specific seed mix, 3 lots of vitamins to put in his seeds and water, 2 lots of antibiotics) would see him stop plucking his feathers in a few weeks time.

I was ecstatic. So was my family. After Cocky saw me when I came to pick him up, he was the sweetest birdie ever, just like he was when he was younger. On the car trip home, he kept sticking his head out of the hole in the shoebox he was in, demanding head scratches. I had to take a photo of him because he hadn't been like this since he was a baby. I was so happy that everything would be okay, that he'd stop plucking and being aggressive, and that he'd be my little baby again.

Cocky was fantastic when I took him home. When I went to eat, he went down to his seeds out of habit (he likes to accompany those who are eating) but didn't touch any food or water. He slept alot, and preened for the first time in years, without plucking a single feather. About an hour later, things went bad. He started yawning all the time and trying to scratch his nose and head on the cage or with his feet. His breathing became heavy again, and his wings became clumsy. I called the vet immediately, and he suggested I give him a mixture of water + an energy gel in a dropper. Cocky didn't accept any of this, and was constantly sneezing and being incredibly clumsy. I called the vet again, and he told me that I could either wait 20 minutes and see if things improved, or go see him immediately, which is what I did. 

I got a heated tea towel, put cocky on it in the shoebox, and my boyfriend drove us to the vets. 

Cocky didn't make it. 

Halfway through the trip, Cocky began thrashing around in his box, with the most energy I'd seen him have in years. 4 pitiful soft chirps later, I felt the most dreadful feeling I'd ever felt in my life. 

Today, I called my vet to find out the results of Cocky's cultures. Turns out that he did have Staphylococcus aureus (golden staph). However, Cocky's body was too weak to fight off the infection, because his liver disease had caused alot of plaque build up in the arteries of the heart, and the infection had already gotten into the heart and no amount of medication could have gotten rid of it. He also said that Cocky most likely knew he was going to die, and therefore because he wasn't worried by any discomfort caused by the illness, he had returned to his normal self, almost as if he'd made a miraculous recovery.

I really appreciate everyone who has taken a moment to read everything I've written. Please, don't make the same mistakes I made.

* Make sure you take your Cockatiel to the vet once a year
* If your avian vet says everything is okay but your gut instinct doesn't agree, get a second opinion from another vet. They're only people after all.
* Don't delay - if your Cockatiel is behaving even the slightest bit oddly, take them to the vet immediately.
* Read up on signs and symptoms to look out for if your Cockatiel does get sick
* Discuss a suitable diet for your Cockatiel with your vet. They might not have the right diet for them, even if you do feed them fruits and vegies
* Don't assume that because you love birds and think you know everything about them means that your bird is healthy. There will always be something that you don't know.

I am more than happy to answer any questions to the best of my abilities. I want to help as much as I can because I don't want anyone else to lose their beloved darling like I lost mine.


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## implicity (Nov 20, 2011)

Also, a few interesting things the vet told me that I'd like to share:
* Plucking is most commonly the sign of a physical health problem. It can become behavioural, but this is often due to the initial physical problem.
* Birds that start plucking from their legs first do it for hormonal issues.
* Birds that start plucking from their abdomen first often do it due to a physical problem, most commonly liver disease. This is because it gives them discomfort, and plucking the feathers from that area apparently relieves the discomfort.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

** Birds that start plucking from their abdomen first often do it due to a physical problem, most commonly liver disease. *
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Hi and welcome to the forum  And thanks for your story and advice. 

But I would like to point out from personal experience birds do not pluck from liver disease. The most common cause for the plucking you have described is from giardia which is an intestinal protozoa.


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## implicity (Nov 20, 2011)

Hi srtiels, 

The vet checked Cocky's droppings and cultures, but nothing showed giardia otherwise he would've told me. Likewise with the vet I took Cocky to a year after the plucking started. I have suspected giardia in the past but given that all tests for it have been negative, I had no reason to suspect it anymore.

It may just have been an unusual case. But also, the vet said that they're only really discovered more about fatty liver disease in the last number of years, and that 5-10 years ago no one knew much about it at all and how it linked to feather plucking.

I'm not saying that it's a definite cause of feather plucking. It's something I had no idea about, but something that my vet has seen in the past - so even if there is little evidence of fatty liver degeneration causing feather plucking, it should be definitely be ruled out.

I don't want anyone to lose their Cockatiel like I did. I am absolutely devastated.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

implicity said:


> Hi srtiels,
> 
> The vet checked Cocky's droppings and cultures, but nothing showed giardia otherwise he would've told me. Likewise with the vet I took Cocky to a year after the plucking started. I have suspected giardia in the past but given that all tests for it have been negative, I had no reason to suspect it anymore.


Giardia is very hard to test for, and may produce many false negatives. My vet typically treats preemptively in birds that pluck their shoulders or under their wings, in part because the tests are so unreliable.

I'm very sorry for your loss, and I applaud you for sharing your story and trying to help others.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

*Staphylococcus aureus*
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Were the vets you were using avian vets? 

Staphylococcus aureus is part of the normal bacterial make-up in the birds body and digestive tract. Stress, illness, or disease would cause it to become pathogenic and systemic....resulting in death. If cultures were done this would have been caught, and culture reports list the most effective meds. to treat with. 

Bloodwork would have shown if there was a problem with the liver. The liver is a regenerative organ and if given the proper meds it is reversible. Even without bloodwork there would have been some obvious signs by the urates (white part) of the droppings being stained a pale lime green from the bile pigments.


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## implicity (Nov 20, 2011)

Yes, both vets I saw (8 years ago and now) were avian vets. There are only about a handful of avian vets in Sydney which are less than 1 hour away from mine. 

The vet on Saturday said he'd be able to treat the liver and reverse the damage as soon as the infection was sorted out. But Cocky was too ill to have a blood test done. I only got the culture results today, 2 days too late. The vet said it would have been too late whether I'd gone to see him last week or even a month ago - the condition was that advanced. 

I wish I'd known earlier about how liver disease manifests itself in Cockatiels. His droppings have always looked the same to me, but given that he had liver disease for most of his life, it would've been hard for me to notice any difference.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Here are a couple of links that might be worth looking at.

The first is an avian medicine manual that many avian vets also have as reference material and uses as guidelines: http://justcockatiels.weebly.com/online-avian-medicene.html

This link contains alot of info on the liver and diseases: http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa/20.pdf


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I'm so sorry for your loss. Our birds have taught us the hard way how to care for the rest of our feathered friends. When Ava died, I was devastated but decided that I was glad she got to spend her last month with us...spoiled rotten and with a devoted cagemate. I also was glad that she hadn't gotten to a family with children in it because, chances are, they probably wouldn't have had a wellness check done either. I would much rather deal with the loss of such a loving little bird than have children experience the loss that I did.

But to the point--I now have my birds regularly checked and i weigh them atleast weekly to monitor any losses that could be caused from illness.

Feathered friends are so hard to say goodbye to and I'm so sorry you had to watch yours suffer the way it did.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

So sorry for you loss. Thanks for sharing your story.


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