Little did I know what I was in for when that little egg hatched in the garage back in 1992. I already knew that cockatoos are loud, take a lot of work, and demand lots of attention. I was already aware of all of that, having dealt with cockatoos for years. I'm also aware of plucking issues, having had that beautiful little Shiro who plucked. But what I was NOT prepared for was the self mutilation that happens with some of these creatures.
C2 the crazy cockatoo, who had so much stimulation at InterCon always in someone's office, running up and down the hallways looking for people to climb on, etc. has not made a smooth transition to the more sedate life at home. We thought C2 was a boy, until last year when she started laying eggs. Also last year, around breeding season, C2 not only plucked her chest bare, but then began ripping a large disgusting hole in her chest that needed surgery to close.
This year it's become even worse. The bird has an E collar on to prevent her from picking, after the chest wound was again closed. However, now she's throwing temper tantrums where she throws herself onto the floor of the cage, and wraps her wings around the collar, twisting herself so that she rips up under her wings, leaving blood everywhere, and attacking everywhere as I'm trying to clean her up. This is truly quite scary.
So what does one do with a psychotic self mutilating cockatoo? Each "expert" you ask gives you at least one different opinion, sometimes more than one. The suggestions range from the logical to the surreal, and even the avian vets have completely different opinions. I am doing what my avian vet suggests, along with some other things that I consider logical, so now is the long "wait and see" in hopes that something works.
This type of illness is utterly frustrating as you watch a beloved pet continue to hurt herself for unknown reasons. Rushing a bleeding bird to the hospital on New Year's Eve when she'd just been there 2 weeks before is painful, especially with the bird screaming at the top of her lungs for the first 20 minutes (anyone who has heard a Moluccan scream would agree). You go from compassion to anger and back through sadness and frustration, being unable to understand why a creature that you do your best with, would be so upset as to self mutilate. This might be what some parents feel when their children have "gone wrong" despite best efforts.
So what are we doing to try to deal with C2 in hopes that she stops ripping gaping wounds in herself? Step 1 is a mechanical barrier, an E collar to try to keep her stapled chest closed for healing. The E collar has been modified with airline tubing around the rim covered with elastic stretch tape to make it more difficult for her to use to cut herself under the wings. Step 2 is to attempt to give the bird more mental stimulation. To that end I have ordered many puzzle toys that we can put treats in that she has to work to get out. As she is showing signs of being OCD, perhaps she will take her compulsion out on the toys rather than on herself. The vets also suggest rotating toys on a daily basis. That gets really strange, so I think I'll compromise and do as much as I can. I'll get new toys and change them out as often as possible. They also suggest putting small amounts of food in different bowls all over the cage so the bird has to "forage" to find them, covering the bowls with paper or something similar to give the bird something to punch through in order to get at the food. Her cage has also been moved out of the "bird room" with her amazon and macaw friends and put in the kitchen where it's a lot more "busy." We're also varying her food choices.
Step 3 is a bit more controversial. There's a lot of varying opinions regarding whether it is beneficial to begin drug therapy on birds. As with humans, there is a hit or miss aspect to choosing appropriate psycho active medication. The problem with birds, of course, is that they are SO tiny mass wise compared to us that it would be very easy to overdose and have toxic effects. Instead of medication, we're trying "Pluck No More" which is a homeopathic medication which means that it uses tiny amounts of substances that are meant to mimic the "bad" reactions of the body, only in miniscule amounts, similar to how vaccines work, and how allergy therapy works. The hope is that the body then reacts using its own natural defenses in order to reverse the bad reactions. There is quite a bit of controversy in the bird community regarding use of "Pluck no More" because some of the ingredients, over time, can be toxic. However, I feel that if this works, the effect of the compounds are far less than the detrimental effect of a psychotic cockatoo who needs constant surgeries to repair her. The dangers of anesthesia, parmacological interventions, severe injury from throwing herself on the floor, and loss of blood with possible infection are greater, to me, than the possibility of toxic effect from Pluck no More.
So we will see how this all works out. Kind happy thoughts for C2 are always appreciated, as are attempts to come visit the bird and entertain her. I'll keep you updated.
