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MEET BUTCHEY
Butchey, the hand tamed and social cockatiel, came to The Gabriel Foundation in January 2008 from an elderly lady who had him and his 3 “kids”, White Bird, Poppy and Gray Bird living with her in a very small apartment. This woman could no longer care for herself or her birds, and went into assisted living. They were dearly loved, but had all been housed together in a cage way too small for the four birds and the number of toys that had been packed in there. While the lady seemed to truly love the birds, she was very lacking in her knowledge about appropriate avian care. Butchey came to us with a very large tumor (xanthoma) on his right wing as a result of bumping the wing and getting it hung up on the toys which caused repeated injuries,.. The birds had free roam throughout the apartment when the woman was home. Their diet consisted mainly of grocery-store bird seed mix. As far as we can tell from his band, Butchey is at least 20 years old .
Due to the highly visible injury to Butchey’s wing, he was separated for observation from his brood. Released from quarantine, those three ‘tiels moved to expansive flights and are living in a flock situation. Butchey’s injury had been consistently monitored for changes or growth.
TGF is now a part of the CSU James L. Voss School of Veterinary Medicine students avian and exotics rotations, and provides many learning opportunities for students in this program on site at our Aviary and Adoption Center. Supervised by Matt Johnston, DVM, Dipl AVBP-Avian, Associate Professor of Zoological Medicine and the Avian and Exotics program at the veterinary school. When Dr. Johnston and resident Dr. Leslie Davidowski examined Butchey on February 19, 2009 his right wing had so many cysts and was terribly inflamed. Dr. Johnston estimated that the pain from this was so bad that Butchey should either be euthanized or have the wing amputated.
We, of course, opted for the latter and believed this little guy earned every chance for improvement we could provide him. Jerry LaBonde, MS, DVM performed the amputation on February 23, 2009. This is a difficult surgery for such a little bird, but Butchey is hanging in there. His weight gain is slow, but he is becoming much more active and alert. Even Dr. LaBonde, who sees birds day in and day out, commented on how much personality little Butchey has!
Butchey left Homestead Animal Hospital on Saturday, March 7, and is back at the Aviary and Adoption Center recovering from his amputation under the watchful eye of Karen VanderHyde. The bandages are off the amputation site and the only medication he is requiring is a topical treatment on the site. His attitude is feisty and robust,he is eating on his own and maintaining his weight. His balance is good, and the surgical site is healing beautifully. This is one tough and charming cockatiel. He is going to need a lot of TLC and personalized attention from our staff to help him adjust to his new one wing status.
No monies were received when Butchey and his brood were relinquished to live with us, and we could really use your help with his vet bills and on-going care. Won’t you donate to the Forever Norman Fund today to help this special bird on his long road to recovery?
TGF DOES NOT BREED BIRDS, regardless of the species (nor will we place adoptive birds in breeding situations). We make every effort to provide a living environment that does not encourage breeding behaviors. Should eggs be laid, every effort is made to alter the environment and remove the egg(s) as soon as possible but discourage repeated laying. Eggs are never allowed to mature to hatch. Very few birds are housed male with female and careful attention is paid to these birds. Should breeding behaviors be observed, careful assessment of the situation is undertaken and every action is implemented to change this behavior.
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