This is also Chester and Trubbies' resting spot. Every spring, our mom plants flowers matching their colors so that they will be remembered every time we are in the backyard.
One cold February day in 1997, I had decided on a whim to buy a parakeet. At the pet store, I found this tiny light blue handfed baby bird. The lady handed him to me and he curled up into my coat and would not get out. He had seen to it that there was no way I was leaving the pet store without him! She said to him, "Boy, you are nothing but trouble."
Troubles was placed in a tiny "travel box" and during the entire car ride home, he tried his best to figure a way out. He quickly became accustomed to his new home and enjoyed getting up at the crack of dawn, singing his little heart out!
Troubles quickly learned to be quiet when his cage was covered. He would obediently stay on his swing until he was uncovered. But as soon as the alarm went off, he began to chitter and he would sing all day long. There were several songs he absolutely loved. Sugar Ray's Fly was a definite favorite. Whenever one of his special songs came on the radio, he would begin to sing very loudly and dance around on his perch.
He truly enjoyed every minute of life. When he was not out of his cage exploring the house, he always found a way to entertain himself. Whether it be talking to the blue bird in the mirror, putting on his "bell hat" or pushing himself on his swing by pumping with his head, Troubles was always entertained and entertaining..
I believe that Trubs considered himself to be a person. He preferred walking to flying and always wanted to be in the middle of the action. When out of his cage, you could call his name and he would come running. He learned to speak and understood the meaning of several words. When I would say to him "Want a cookie?", he would run over to his empty treat cup, look inside, and run back over to me and wait for his treat. He always knew the appropriate time to wolf whistle and would answer all of our questions with "Yeah!" His favorite expression was "How we doin'?" and when asked that question, he could respond "Pretty good." When he wanted to come out of his cage, he would hang on the gate and wait. If we did not let him out at that time, he would bang his toy against the front of the cage as if in protest and then go back to perch and resume singing and dancing .
My little blue budgie had more love and talent than I could ever describe. He considered me to be his mate and would not go to sleep if I was not at home. Normally I would cover his cage and he would climb on his swing and go to sleep. If I was not the person who covered his cage, he would hang on the front of the cage in the dark, sometimes for hours. I would come home late at night, peek under the cover and find two pink feet clinging to the bars of the cage and tiny black eyes staring at me. Whenever I went away for a few days, Troubles made it quite clear how angry he was when I returned. Troubles spent many hours sitting on my shoulder. He would play with my necklaces and hide in my hair. He would have lived there if I had let him.
Feeling bad that Trubs spent many hour during the day alone, I decided to get him a parakeet buddy. I asked him on numerous occasions, "Do you want a friend?" He would excitely reply "Yeah!" When asked what to name his new friend, his reply sounded like "Peppy, Peppy." Unfortunately the introduction of Peppy into the household did not go as smoothly as planned. Peppy loved Troubles more than anything in the world and we'll just say Troubles learned to put up with Pepper.
Troubles' death came as a shock to everyone. One day he just stopped eating his pellets. He still craved people food and had a great appetite but wouldn't touch his regular food. I took him straight to the vet. He had lost 1/3 of his body weight. They hospitalized him and immediately started him on antibiotics and tube feedings. He responded well and began eating on his own again and gaining weight. He was set to come home on January 20 but he passed away early that morning; he apparently just went to sleep. The fact that he died in the hospital and not at home with me was the hardest part to deal with, but everyone thought he would make it. The exact cause of death was never determined but kidney failure was suspected. He had signs of diabetes but no one is sure. Everyone at the vet's office was touched by Troubles' death. Even at his sickest, people fell in love with him.
The vet told me "Troubles was one of my favorite parakeets, always so full of life and so hard to catch." He told me he was "devastated" when he learned that Troubles had passed away.
I still miss my "little man" and each time I hear the song Fly, I think of him. I love all of my birds dearly but no one could ever replace Trubbies. I never imagined a tiny creature weighing only 33 grams could bring some much joy and love to so many lives.
October 16, 1999:
I went to the store to check on Chester, who was still there being handfed. He had a bad upper respiratory infection and no one at the pet store noticed!! At least, they took no action if they had noticed. Everyone told me to just leave him there but as he sat on my shoulder and snuggled up against my neck, I just could not at least try to help him. I took him immediately to my vet's office; he was started on antibiotics and responded right away.
October 21, 1999:
There had been no improvement but Chester still seemed happy and fairly alert. Later in the evening, Chester took a turn for the worst. He began to regurgitate and had trouble breathing. The vets tried to help him breathe, but sadly he passed away.
The vet performed an autopsy to see what was wrong. His one lung was filled with pus, possibly caused by aspirating food while being hand fed incorrectly at the pet store. His liver was completely destroyed.
I am very saddened by the loss of Chester. He was never able to come home to meet the other birds. He never learned how to eat solid food. I know I did everything I could have done to save him. He got the opportunity to know love and he died with an identity.
Chester was a very sweet and beautiful bird. He had fun and got a lot of attention during his short life. He loved to sit on my shoulder and walk around the hospital with me. He would cling to me like velcro. He never fell off. I was surprised he had such a good grip for such a little baby. He loved head rubs and he got plenty of them! I visited him each night and one vet gave him lots of attention too. You could not get him back in the incubator after playing with him. He just wanted attention all the time!!
He is buried right next to Troubles and has a big brother in heaven to watch over him.
November 2, 1999:
The pet store called to tell me that several of their cockatiels had become sick and that they would probably need to euthanize all of them. I was quite surprised that they admitted this to me. Throughout Chester's illness the representatives from the pet store were absolutely rude and insulting, saying it was my fault the bird died. If I had left him at the store with his "friends" he would have been fine. They also said they could not understand why I would be upset over the death of a "fifty dollar bird." I have never met such heartless people. They later did refund my purchase price (significantly more than $50) so I decided that any other contact with them would be through my vet or lawyer.
One cockatiel that they had already sold died and they had another one euthanized. Their vet said the bird had megabacteria and lockjaw, which caused its jaw to lock and the bird was unable to eat. It is impossible to treat. We believed Chester was afflected with the same disease.
January 6, 2000:
Employees from the pet store repeatedly promised me that they would be fully responsible for the cost of Chester's medical care. I finally received a reponse from the store owner, who lives clear across the U.S. He offered me store credit totaling the amount of the hospital bill for Chester. I found this to be a small token but too little too late. The source of the illness was supposedly traced back to the breeder. The other cockatiels exposed to this deadly disease were not euthanized but given medication and sold. I can only hope their new owners were made aware of the situation.