Tia McDonald's Memorial

Tia McDonald
(2005 - 2010)

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General Details

Name: Tia McDonald
Nick Name: Tia Maria, Tius Marius, T-Bird, Mr.T
Gender: Female
Type of Pet: Bare Eyed Cockatoo
Age: 5 years old
Lived: Wednesday, 2 November 2005 - Tuesday, 2 November 2010

My Story

Today, November 2nd 2010, we set Tia free,

The past year has been a murky, uncertain struggle for us, as Tia's condition worsened and we ran out of options. I never imagined having to let her go this soon. I imagined having to arrange for her following my death. I imagined her going through life with me. It has only been 2 hours since her heart stopped beating.

I miss her voice. I miss her wavering calls and whistles from behind the bird room door, however they'd lessened over the past few months. I miss burying my face into the back of her neck and inhaling her scent. She always smelled so clean and downy and for whatever reason, kind of like tea. I miss the smell of her breath, the feeling of it, it smelled like baking, my sister always said brownies... I miss how she rubbed her beak and clicked on my hand whenever I greeted her. How she'd put her head in my cupped hand and close her eyes, her way of telling me to scratch her. I miss having her underneath my chin as she sleeps.

When she was healthy, she was vibrant. She had a great sense of humor. She was beautiful and powerful. She was forgiving. She was caring. She hated it when someone cried. She loved music...she loved dancing. She loved it when my dad played the guitar for her, or when we'd all yell and jump around like idiots in the evenings with her, a nightly party in her honor. Having fun was what she lived for. She was a goofball...when I taught her to roll over, I created a monster. Playtime was best done upside down from then on... on a blanket, under a blanket, rolling around with her feet in the air, toys grasped, screeching and yelling happilly, like a baby. She'd roll and roll, sometimes completely forgetting what she was doing and wedging herself between the cushions or rolling right off the couch!

She loved her boing! Screaming happily, flapping fanatically, going round and round and higher and higher, head bobbing so fast we thought she'd lose it. Her dance moves were the envy of the bird room. Her elaborate wing and head coordination was something to behold. Such a silly girl.
 
She was such a loving bird. She loved everyone. She was a great greeter, always enthusiastically repeating Hello in many different tones of voice to new comers. She greeted the morning and the evening with Hellos. She had a special noise for when she wanted water. She loved soy chicken nuggets, curried potatos, pasta of all kinds, muffins... she loved popsicle sticks and straws and would carefully lick them all over, trying to get any flavor that might still be on them.

November 1st, the night before her passing, I held her for hours late into the night and into the morning of the 2nd.  I laid her on my chest and watched videos of her from when she was healthy as she slept. The bird I saw was completely different. I told her that she could let go, that we were going to help her. She was so peaceful that night and the morning after. I believe she knew that she wouldn't have to suffer any longer.

The euthanasia was peaceful. She was very weak today. I believe she realized what we were there to do. I feel like she knew we were letting go and she was letting go too.  I held her in my hands on a fleece blanket while Dr.Steele put the mask over her face. I stroked her head and she rested her chest in my palms, her feet on the blanket. She held onto the mask with her beak gently, but she didn't struggle. She occaisonally opened her eyes and looked around, but then she closed them for good. She didn't flinch when the needle went in and she didn't move. Her heart stopped quickly. I held her to my face and cried.
 
I'm still crying.


A necropsy later the same day showed that she had a cyst on her brain. Most likely a congenital defect.
 
I feel so privileged to have been with her her entire life. I take comfort in the fact that she never had to face neglect and that we did everything we could to make sure she had the greatest life. I took her in because I felt as if she was destined for bad things, I had the worst feeling in my gut about her future, and I approached her care with such sympathy towards her situation. The fact that she was a captive wild animal who shouldn't be so very far from her real home. I felt as if I always had something to make up to her... I loved her and respected her and wanted her to never experience the abuse and neglect so many captive birds face.

She never had to face the pain of having her flock abandon her, like so many (most, perhaps) large birds end up having to do in their lives, sometimes many times. All she ever knew was love. She taught me so much. I have never connected to an animal like I connected to her. I made fun of her all the time for being such a dork, but she was a smart one. A goofball. She loved to love and be loved. She taught me a lot about life, and being a wild animal trapped in a humans' world. I will carry that knowledge with me for the rest of my life. And I know that, once I am settled in my own life, I will open my home to another feathered soul who I will try to pay back for all of the injustices life has dealt him.
 


I love you Tia, fly free.

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Biography

Country: Canada
City: Edmonton

Interests

Favourite Toy: Dancing perch, Boing, anything she can hold and roll with!
Favourite Place: Anywhere we were.
Favourite Meal: Curried potatoes, soy chicken nuggets, pasta, toast, mac n cheese
Favourite Game: Rolling around with a blanket toys, dance parties.
Favourite Music: Anything she could dance to!
Pet's Peeves: Parrots in Captivity

Passing

Place of Passing: Southside Animal Hospital
Date of Passing: 2 November 2010
Cause of Passing: Euthanasia due to cyst on brain.
Place of Burial: Cremated
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