Bunnee

See pictures of Bunnee HERE

Bunee was special because she was the fourth egg of her clutch. This pair of parents for the previous 5 clutches would allow the fourth baby to die after it hatched. I couldn't deal with another death, so when I saw that she had not been fed after she hatched, and still hadn't been fed 5 hours later I pulled her and gave her one feeding. The formula had to be very thin and I had to feed her with a very tiny syringe. I put her back in the nest and went to bed. The next morning, I checked on her. She had a FULL crop, but there was blood on her. So I pulled her and it turned out the parents had bit two of her toes, and a smidgen on the tip of her wing. I was heartbroken, but determined to save this little girl. I took her to work with me that day and fed her every 45 minutes. When I got home from work I put her in the box again, and sat in the room listening till bed time (5 hours). No more mishaps so I left her. She was raised along with her three siblings after that with no more incidents.

Bunee was my best eater, my best player, and my best flyer from that clutch. She had a sparkle in her eye from day one that told me she was special and she had such a zest for life. I never regretted saving her life, though I wish the parents hadn't injured her.

I loved her so much and wanted a very special home for her. I prayed that God would bring her the right parents. Well time passed and all her siblings sold, but no one wanted poor Bunee. As she started weaning she became even more endearing and so comical. She really loved to make us laugh. She started jumping off me to the floor and hopping around on the floor. In her cage all she ever did was hop, so one weekend while we were away - our wonderful Bird Sitter Diane started calling her Bunee because she hopped just like a bunny. In December 2002 I met Becky at a bird mart though I wouldn't remember her later. Valentine's Day I received a call from Becky. Her cockatiel that had been sick for quite a while had finally been given peace and passed away the week before. Becky remembered talking to me at that mart and really liked my love and devotion to my babies. She asked if I would have any babies soon that she could buy. I told her that I had eggs right then, not even thinking she would want to deal with Bunee and her bum foot. Becky came to my home which was a 2 hour drive from where she lives in West Virginia to see my babies, before she made the final decision. Going from a tiel to a Red-Bellied is a big leap and she wanted to be sure she knew she could handle it. I let her play with Bunee that day because Bunee was the only one that was in the mood to be played with. She fell in love right then. She left that night with quite a quandary. Should she take in another "handicapped" bird, or should she wait for a baby. We talked and emailed quite a bit over the next few days. Her friend who had come with her kept telling her to get Bunee, but I kept telling her that if she wasn't willing to deal with her "special" needs then she should wait for a baby. Well Becky convinced me she wanted and loved Bunee so she came to pick up Bunee and take her home on March 10, 2003.

Becky fell completely in love with Bunee. I often got email messages about how much fun she was having with Bunee and how they have become the Best of Friends. I really couldn't have found a better home for my precious little girl. She was the only bird so she got ALL of Becky's attention. Becky's husband works for the Navy so he was very often gone for days or weeks at a time, so Becky and Bunee built a very strong and loving bond.

Saturday February 19, 2004 I got a call at 9:30 from a very distraught and tearful Becky. She said Bunee had died. I was shocked. How could this be. What happened. She was only 18 months old. This just isn't possible. Oh God, why? Why? Ok, Becky - tell me what happened.

Becky had just come home from work (she worked nights at the hospital). She went to Bunee's room and talked to her and said good morning. Bunee asked to come out. Becky said in just a minute, Mommy needs to go to the restroom. Bunee said "I Love You" and Becky said "I Love You Too Bun Bun". Five minutes later Bunee was head first in her food dish.

I told Becky to get her to the vet and get a necropsy done. There was no reason this should happen. No fumes were in the house, remember she had just gotten home, no chemicals, nothing outside (she lives on a farm so no close neighbors). Well in my knowledge, the only reason for such a sudden death is either airborne toxins or organ malfunction.

I waited on pins and needles, pacing my dining room for 3 hours because her closest vet is 1 hour away. There was a message on Becky's machine before she even got home. Bunee had died of a Thoracic Occlusion. Meaning something had got stuck in her throat and cut off her air. The vet said that Bunee had regurgitated and then suffocated. What's even stranger is that the vet said she has seen this before. So what happened, is Bunee was just hitting the stage where thy start to try to "practice" their love dance. She was still new at it, and she was overly excited over seeing her favorite person after a long absence. She regurgitated, but because she was jumping around the cage trying to get out, she accidentally breathed it down the wrong pipe, and it got stuck.

Becky and I cried for hour on the phone that Saturday, then again on Sunday and just about every day for a week. As I said Bunee was a very special soul and she will be so greatly missed.

Please - don't let her death be in vain. If your bird starts showing love for you in this way - try to discourage it. Try your best to keep your relationship as a peer bond rather than a mate bond. And if your bird is jumping around the cage like that after you get back from being away - go ahead and indulge him. Pick him up, give him a few scritches and kisses and then place him on a gym if you need to "settle" in from coming home. Our birds want a greeting just as our spouses do, so go ahead and give it to them. The combination of excitement, and love could possibly be fatal for your special friend also.