September 21, 2008
To: HybridMacaws@aol.com

Thank you for the opportunity to tell my story about how PDD has affected my life. I agree that we need to get the word out about this horrible disease which affects so many birds.

On June 27, 2003, my husband and I went to a nationally-known pet supply store to purchase the most beautiful parrot we had ever seen (a “Camelot Macaw”). We had never had a large parrot before, but knew immediately that this one was meant to be with us. DNA results proved that this parrot was a female, which we so appropriately named “Froot Loop”. She hatched on July 8, 2002 (Band No. RLA 204). Upon information provided to us at the time of purchase, she came from Pensacola, Florida, but we are not sure if that’s where she actually hatched. She arrived at another Denver metro-area store of the same nationally-known chain in October of 2002, then she was transferred to my local store within the week before she came home with us.

In the early hours of February 28, 2005, our beloved Froot Loop passed away at Homestead Animal Hospital in Englewood, Colorado after a two-week stay. Necropsy results confirmed PDD (Proventricular Dilatation Disease), of which we knew nothing about, but quickly learned. We were devastated! She was not just a bird to us, she was our “child.” When we brought her home, all she could say was “Hello” and bark like a dog. At her passing, she had a vocabulary of probably 50 words. She kept asking us “Do you love the Froot Loop? I love you.” Of course we did, and she knew that. It was a game. When she wanted something, she’d say it. She did not mimic, she had a mind of her own; and we still miss her terribly.

During the year and a half that we shared with Froot Loop, we acquired “bird fever”. We had
added a male Blue & Gold Macaw as well as a male Greenwing Macaw to our family. Neither of these birds has shown signs of PDD to this day. We also added several other birds to our family since Froot Loop’s passing.



In the fall of 2007, the owner of a local exotic bird store had mentioned to us on numerous
occasions that he was getting a clutch of Camelot Macaw babies, and wanted us to get “pick of the clutch”. My husband knew how much I had loved Froot Loop and how much I miss her, so he said “yes” to the offer and wanted it to be my Christmas present, however, he couldn’t contain himself and had to tell me well-before the holidays arrived.

The clutch arrived in Denver from Seattle, Washington in mid-January, 2008. The day after their
arrival, I went to the local exotic bird store to spend time with the babies and try to see which one wanted to come home with us. The decision was not hard to make – one of the babies tried chewing on my purse and then tried to climb the stool that was in the room while the other two huddled together in the corner. The assertive one was coming home with us, and looked nothing like Froot Loop. After spending a couple weeks at the store being hand-fed and weaned, this little one was ready to come home.

This little one was named “Mango”, a DNA’d male. He hatched on or about October 9, 2007.
His band number is hard to read, since it was cut-off for safety reasons, but looks like “CAS 4 – WA 07”. To the best of my knowledge, he came from a home-breeder in or near Seattle, WA. The local exotic bird store where we purchased Mango handled this business transaction through a “bird broker” also, I believe, out of Seattle, WA.

On the morning of March 16, 2008, I awoke to find that Mango had regurgitated all over himself,
his cage, the wall, and the cage next to his that housed our female Harlequin Macaw. He was sitting on his perch holding on with both feet, eyes partially closed, and crying out the most pitiful sound I’ve ever heard. As quickly as I could, I got dressed and drove him to CSU in Fort Collins, CO (an approximate 2-hour drive from my home).

After many tests, CSU was pretty sure that he, too, had PDD. How could this happen to us twice? Where he contracted it is still uncertain (the breeder, in transit, the store, or my house). Since I have other birds, CSU recommended that Mango stay with them and that we try to find a home for him with someone who knows about PDD and who will not have other birds. Again, we were faced with devastating news and a very hard decision to make.

With the help of Julie Murad from The Gabriel Foundation, arrangements were made to take
Mango to Texas to be part of the research program into PDD at Texas A&M. On April 13, 2008, we left Colorado and drove with Mango to Lubbock, Texas, where we met a volunteer from Texas A&M who took Mango the rest of the way to College Station, Texas the next day. We cried all the way back to Colorado, hoping we had made the right decision.

Shortly after Mango arrived at Texas A&M, my friend Kathie from Bird Paradise in New Jersey
(who I originally met after donating to a PDD fundraiser shortly after Froot Loop’s passing) hosted a fundraiser so we could send a bunch of toys to all the sick birds at Texas A&M. Thanks to Kathie, we were able to send approximately $2,000.00 worth of toys to those birds. Bird Paradise made a considerable donation, especially to Mango, and I thank them tremendously.

As it turns out, Mango has been placed in a foster home. I believe he is monitored weekly by Dr.
Hoppes and her associates at Texas A&M. (The third picture above was actually taken at his new home in Texas). With medication, I have been told he is stable. I was also told that his foster-mom rushed him in over the Labor Day holiday with an infection, but I believe he has fought that off.

My other birds remain symptom-free to this day. Thank God! I am aware that they can be
affected by PDD at anytime, and it is something I look for everyday when I get up and everyday when I come home from work. I was told the incubation period can last up to 10 years. Unfortunately, no more birds can be or will be introduced into my home because of what this horrible disease has already done to us. If I have a PDD carrier in my house, I couldn’t bear the thought of possibly infecting another one of these amazing creatures. I pray that my babies all stay healthy for a very, very long time.

If you have pet or breeder birds and have never experienced the horrors of PDD, be thankful. It
is a nightmare that will stay with me forever. I thank everyone involved in Mango’s story for his very life today. I truly know that his new family loves him very much, just as we do. I wish Froot Loop’s story had a different ending, but if it had, I wouldn’t be writing this today.

If you’ve read my story to this point, I urge you to donate to PDD research. Texas A&M has been
my Godsend. I was able to make a donations to them via http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/schubot/ (click on “Contact Information” on the left side). I also think donations can be made at another PDD website called www.stoppdd.com. This was the first PDD group that I donated to.

Thank you for our time and for helping our feathered friends.
	Sincerely, Michelle A. Hancock Parker, Colorado mhancock0120@yahoo.com

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Please Note: For anyone interested, there is an excellent online support group for those affected by, and who want to learn more about PDD at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/livingwithpdd/