I have suffered from depression since I was a child in menopause. Unfortunately, I was born with this and I need to treat it medically with antidepressants on a daily basis. But there is more to treating depression than just pills. Pills can only do so much. They can put me in balance. But he needed more. He lived alone and needed some kind of company.
I didn’t want to get involved with someone else. I’ve had enough bad relationships already. I always loved animals and someone suggested that I buy a pet bird. I went to the pet store quite often to see the pet birds. There were parakeets, cockatoos, cockatoos, finches, and more. I didn’t have a lot of money, so I started with a green and yellow parakeet, Buddy, and then I got a friend for my parakeet who was a natural gray cockatoo, Baby. I didn’t know anything about pet birds either. I had a lot to learn. So I bought a parakeet hand book and a cockatiel hand book.
I fell in love with Buddy and Baby. It was like Christmas every morning (and it’s still like Christmas every morning), when I pulled the blanket out of my bird cages to say hi to Buddy and Baby. They radiated something so special and illuminated everything. Whenever I felt bad, all I had to do was look at my birds, pet them, and talk to them. They made me feel less depressed.
I didn’t realize how smart parakeets and cockatoos were. They are very emotional animals. I was terrible teaching birds to talk. Although my birds couldn’t speak, I could find out what they wanted by observing their body language and listening to the sounds of their birds. I cleaned their cages daily and studied more about the nutrition of my birds. It took me years to read Bird Talk magazine to find out what nutrition birds need. Each species may require different foods.
After 8 years had passed, my parakeet, Buddy, passed away, and Baby and I were devastated. Baby even cried. She didn’t cry tears, but it definitely showed in the tone of her crying that she missed Buddy. Buddy was like a father to Baby. Buddy used to feed him daily by regurgitating some food to the baby. Regurgitating food to a person or another bird is a sign of love and affection. Baby and I share the pain of losing Buddy.
A month later, I went to buy another cockatoo, Beenie, to keep us company. Beenie was only 4 months old. He was still a baby, but he was old enough to take home. It is a beautiful multi-colored cockatoo. It has white and gray spots of color all over it. Its color resembles a pinto horse. Beenie has more white and yellow on his head than Baby. Baby pushed Beenie a lot, but she got used to him slowly but surely. They started sharing the same cage after a while. But they both also like to have their own cage and space.
I enjoy petting my birds most of all. Each one has its own way of being caressed. Baby likes to be stroked on the head and cheeks when he is sitting in his cage or on my lap. And Beenie only likes to be stroked when he’s on my right shoulder. I raise my hand to his head and Beenie moves his head to the spots he wants to scratch and stroke the most. My birds are so soft and warm to the touch. I really love doing this very much.
Being able to share your days and feelings with another person is very special. This really helps to beat my depression. Especially with my 2 birds that give me so much unconditional love. Every morning is brilliant when I take off the blanket that covers his cage at night, and watch my cute birds sing to me. I look forward to cleaning their cage and spending time with them on a daily basis.
