Cooper’s Travels

We had lots of trips to various countries planned this year, but Cooper decided that Heaven would be the next stamp in her passport.
Here she is at the pearly gates. She is going to meet up with her flock, Dewey, Sunny, Ozzie, Alfie, Lera, Gordie, Harvey, Felix and Riley. She will splash in fountains, eat all the delicious millet she wants and fly free in clear blue sunny skies.

Thank you

There have been so many lovely condolences given since Cooper crossed the rainbow bridge – they have truly been a comfort. We appreciate everyone who took the time to offer their sympathies and share how much they enjoyed Cooper’s posts.

We are keeping Cooper’s blog, Facebook page (Cooper’s Corner) and Instagram account (@cooperkeet) up as a tribute to her and her flock. We still have videos and photos of Cooper we haven’t yet shared, and we’ll continue to post photos of Cooper’s companions, Emmy and Sido.

Cooper was such a special budgie. She brought us new friendships, and years of happiness, love and light. We were so lucky to have her in our lives.
XOXO,
Michelle and Harry

The Littlest Angel

On Saturday, January 13, Cooper crossed over the rainbow bridge.

On Friday, the 5th we noticed Cooper had a little bulge on her abdomen. It wasn’t there the previous day, and she was fine otherwise. We made an appointment for the next day with our avian vet.
They withdrew some fluid, tested her blood and gave her a lupron injection in case it was a reproductive issue (in 2016 Cooper had egg removal surgery when she became egg bound). The vet suspected a tumor, as the bulge was firm.

Her labs returned showing elevated uric acid levels and an elevated white blood cell count. The vet suspected a kidney tumor and an infection. So I went back to the vet to pick up some antibiotics for Cooper.

Over the next few days Cooper was slowing down. We moved her into the “condo” so she would be more comfortable. Emmy would visit her and preen her and keep her company. The following Friday we took her back to the vet for a recheck. There wasn’t anything they could do for her, but they prescribed additional antibiotics and pain meds on the chance that she might rally.
Cooper declined quickly that evening. We brought her out to the living room and put her on my chest on a blanket that was on a heating pad.
We spent the early morning hours just snuggling her and telling her what a wonderful budgie she was and how much she was loved. Later she cuddled up against my neck (which she used to do as a young budgie). Around 11 am she passed away.

Cooper was our amazing little budgie. We were so lucky to have her in our lives. She brought us so many blessings. I don’t think I will ever be able to express how wonderful she was and how much I loved her.
Life won’t be the same without her.

Visitor

Today, something spooked the birds, who took off flying in circles around the room.
Harry came in to the room and discovered what scared them.

A red shouldered hawk was sitting on the fence looking into the bird room.
We comforted Sido (who was the most spooked) and then lowered the blinds so she couldn’t see the hawk.
Here’s a little clip of the hawk. I took the photo/video through the window, so the quality isn’t that great (it’s also raining).

Betty White Day

Betty White Day is commemoration of what would have been the actress and comedian’s 100th birthday.
Betty had a lifelong love for animals and worked tirelessly for animal welfare. The Betty White Challenge encourages people to donate to animal shelters in her honor.
I’ve read that Betty had parakeets.
Below are photos of Betty at home. You can see birdcages, but not clearly what birds are in them. But we’ll go with parakeets.

Remembering Alfie

I like to share memories of our “rainbow” budgies on what would have been their hatchdays.
This year I decided to share videos.
Alfie was the personification of adorable. He loved his bells, his baths and his Romaine lettuce, and he often had food on his face. He was a sweet little nut and his antics always made us smile.
We brought Alfie home from the shelter sight unseen (we adopted him before his photo was posted). When we arrived home, we opened the box and found this beautiful budgie. He was almost named Captain Underpants due to his white under fluffies, but Alfie suited his personality more (and was a little more dignified). He was easily tamed and became a great friend to the other birds. He loved hanging out with the boys – especially Ozzie.
We were so lucky to have this dear little budgie in our lives. If you are looking to add a bird to your family, please consider adopting. You may end up with a treasure like Alfie