Kalima

You can see pictures of Kalima HERE

December 2000 we were blessed when we found Kalima [cream in Hawaiian] a 10-year-old Goffin Cockatoo. He was in a bird store that I was delivering a severe macaw to for breeding. I really wasn't in the market for another bird, but this guy seemed to want me badly. Once he was on my shoulder, no one could get him off (and he never bit, he just wouldn't let go of my shirt). I played and cuddled with him for over an hour and next thing I knew we had him with us on the hour long drive home. We immediately scheduled his new bird exam, and found him to have a small bacterial infection, which needed to be medicated. Even though I was new to him, he seemed to trust me immediately and never gave me any problems with the medications. The only thing we had a problem with at first was that he didn't seem to know what the "up" command meant. So we had to actually pick him up off the perch or cage bars to get him out of the cage. Once out though he was a wonderful bird. Over the course of the next two years, we were able to discern that his previous life was full of abuse and neglect. He was so quiet for a cockatoo, and would do anything for just a kiss or a scratch. The one thing that was most noticeable is that anytime I put my hands around his whole body, whether for a hug, nail trim, or wing trim, he would go BERZERK. And after being around birds for almost half my life I could tell this wasn't like the normal hatred of restraint that birds show. He was truly petrified. His heart rate would automatically escalate, his breathing would become labored, and he would get a glassed over fear like in his eyes.

We learned to love him and cuddle with him in a way that he was comfortable and would even beg for. His whole attitude never seemed to be like most cockatoo owners describe theirs as being "demanding". Rather Kalima seemed to "BEG" for our love and attention. I would laugh at him. His play gym was right next to the couch where I sit. He would look at me and then climb down one step on his gym. Then he would look again and then climb down one more step. This continued till he finally hit the couch. then he would take a step and a half and look at me again. He always had that look like (in a small childish pleading voice) "Mama, can I come see you". It took almost 5 minutes for him to finally reach me. And of course, having a huge heart for the "underdog", I was more than pleased to accommodate him in every way possible, so we would sit there the rest of the evening cuddling.

He truly was such a gentle spirit. We loved how we could put him at the bottom of the steps and say "bedtime Kalima" and he would hop all the way up the steps down the hall and to his cage, climb up it and go to his perch. When we got him out, he would sit on our arm till we were half way down the stairs then he would fly out toward the back of the living room, make a nice wide u-turn and come back and land on the top of his gym. And he had 8 feathers clipped on each wing. Needless to say - after the first demonstration of this he no longer went outdoors. And oh did he love his showers. It was such a special time for me and him - every Saturday morning, he would be waiting on the front of his cage for me to open the door and he would jump to my shoulder. I would then take him into the shower with me and we would talk and dance in the "rain". He was such a hog. When it was my turn for the water, he would peck the top of my head until I turned the spray back on him. I will never forget those adoring shiny black eyes. You really could see his soul if you were willing to use your heart.

Well July 17, 2002 - I took him in for his annual check up. Of course the vet had to hold him in order to do the physical exam and I could see that Kalima was getting very stressed and terrified. I thought I should ask the vet to release him to me so he could settle down before the blood test, but I ignored my natural motherly instinct, and now in hindsight I could really kick my self.

The vet took him back for the blood test. Everything seemed to go smoothly (my vet allows me to stay with the bird) and I kept constantly reassuring Kalima that Mommy loves him and we will have a big treat and lots of cuddling when we got home. After the test (from the jugular) the vet had his tech hold the vein while he did what he needed with the sample. After over five minutes the vet told the tech to release Kalima. He checked out the vein and it looked fine so Kalima immediately jumped to my chest. I then proceeded to try to calm him and talk lovingly to him. By the time we walked back to the exam room, Kalima jumped on my shoulder. The Dr. sat down in his chair and I turned to address him. At that moment it felt as if Kalima had jumped off my shoulder, he landed in the chair behind me. When I turned to pick him up I could immediately tell something was wrong. He was sitting in the chair as if nesting on eggs. Kalima Never SITS. I picked him up and his legs wouldn't move. I screamed for the vet, he jumped up grabbed Kalima and checked his neck. A huge bubble of blood was there. He immediately put his finger over the injections site again to try to stop the blood flow. He did several other things over the course of the next minute. After about three minutes he even gave Kalima an injection to try to restart his heart. Nothing worked. The Dr. finally looked at me and shook his head. I was devastated; even now a year and a half later, I am finding it very hard to write this and am in tears.

After reading an article about anesthesia in Bird Talk, I so wish I had known this was and option before that day. The article was in Chris Davis' column. A subscriber had asked if she should trust her vet for wanting to use anesthesia for simple procedures like the annual physical exam. Chris answered saying that some vets to this so that the bird is not overly stressed and they can do the exam easier. That there isn't any big risk, that it is safe. If I had known about using anesthesia for the routine exam, and had used it, I would still have my Kalima with me today, and I wouldn't have this huge hole in my heart that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I still wake up on weekends with the joy of sharing a shower with him, only to be brought down when I walk into the bird room and he is not there waiting for me. I really think that more people should be told that it is ok to consider anesthesia as an option for even the most routine procedures. There are so many birds out there that we worry about because they are so scared of being handled. 30 seconds was all it took and my Kalima could not be saved even though we were already in the vet office. I pray that this will help save someone else the heartache that I feel everyday of my life now. Thank you Chris for covering this topic and teaching me something new.