TheTameParrot.com - Say “BYE” To Your Parrot Problems

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This issue has come up many times with us. The problem is that nobody ever really thinks about it. They don’t plan for it. They don’t ever expect this problem to happen, but it does!

If you are injured or killed, what will happen to your bird? Who will take care of your pets?

What happens if something happens to you? What if you are injured? What if you are hospitalized? Or… What if you die?

Over the past several years, we have been called upon to rescue birds in this situation. Here are just two cases:

1) An elderly lady had a heart attack. For the past few years she lived pretty much by herself and her family didn’t visit that often (but did call frequently). Nobody even knew she had a cockatiel. It was only discovered after the daughter entered her home ten days later and discovered it. The bird was in terrible shape, very dehydrated and malnourished. Neighbors knew about us, and called upon us to rescue the bird. After a few weeks of care and attention, he regained his health. The next year he found a mate and became a daddy.

2) An elderly lady asked us to take her African Grey named Freddie. Due to her health she was unable to care for the bird, so we accepted it. Shortly afterward, the lady died. We never intended on keeping the bird, but were in the process of finding a suitable foster home for it. Unfortunately, we got stuck in the middle of a custody battle over this bird with several relatives who were more interested in the fact that this was a very expensive bird, and didn’t seem to care about giving it a loving home!

After this, we began educating our clients on planning for the unthinkable!

BABYSITTING

You need to find a person who can take over the care of your pets for both short and long term periods of time. This can be for times when you go on vacation, business trips, or extended visits in the hospital that you never really plan on. This can simply be a friend or neighbor who has access to your home, and knows how to do basic feeding/watering and clean the cage. This can even be accomplished with a set of written instructions. You should have this person already picked out, and they need to have access to your home.

LONG TERM CARE

What if you are involved in a severe accident? If you are hospitalized, does anyone know you have a bird? Do they have access to your home to get the birds? Do they know how to care for it? Now is the time to get these plans worked out. This person should have knowledge of how to care for your pets. They will most likely have to take your bird to their home, as it’s not practical to keep the bird in your home unattended for a long time. It’s also not good to leave the bird alone.

WHAT IF YOU DIE?

This problem involves two things. The bird must be taken care of immediately for the short term…But what about the future? Remember, many parrots live for 30-50 years or more! If you are already up in age, it’s very likely your bird is going to outlast you! Have you thought about who will take ownership?

Do you want your kids to have it, knowing that your bird never really got over their constant cage hitting when they were young? Or the time junior nearly sat on him when he was lounging on the sofa? You really think they forget those things?

Seriously, you don’t want the bird to go to someone he doesn’t get along with. But you sure don’t want family members fighting over it either. Be sure your bird has a place in your will directing it to the person you want to care for it.

INFORMATION NOTICE

Here is another tip…Many people keep cards in their wallets or purses alerting them of who to contact in case of an emergency. This is a good spot to include a notice that you have pets at home that need to be looked after.

Include information about what type of bird, how to feed it and give short term care. Include a name and phone number for whoever you designated to care for the bird in case of emergencies.

Did you know that finches can die if deprived of water for 24 Hours? Just another reason to keep this information readily available for emergencies.