The PDD Memorial Quilt

In loving memory of all victims of Proventicular Dilatation Disease.

Mocha's Story

by Valerie "Val" Wixen

She immediately took it to a vet whose signage proclaimed "BIRD HOSPITAL" for a well visit and to have it DNA sexed. The bird got a clean bill of health. It saw the vet various times (the bird was a male by the way) and each time the vet proclaimed that it was fine. My mom was worried about its eating habits and seeing it on the bottom of its cage all ruffled up and called about that but was told everything was ok. She even took the bird to the vet so the vet could see it and was told she was worrying over nothing.

Mom is a photographer and has to leave town every month so she boarded Mocha when she left. Always at the same place-where she acquired Mocha. Finally, one day, she went to pick up Mocha after her usual business trip and she was told "That bird is waaayyyyy too skinny. If I were his owner I'd be worried." She was told to take Mocha to a vet. When she said she'd been taking Mocha to a vet, she was asked which one. When she answered, she was told that the office had been owned previously by an avian vet but that it had been sold and the vet that bought it just left the signage up.

She was then referred to Dr. Jeffrey Jenkins, DVM, ABVP. He is one of the 60 or so Board Certified vets in the world. It took Dr. Jenkins no time at all to make an educated guess... the symptoms were classic. He told mom he thought it was PDD and they started on their way to ruling out other diseases thru blood work and then doing the crop biopsy to determine if that was what it could be. A week and a half after the crop biopsy was done, mom got the sad news. It was positive. Mocha had a feast that night and was taken to see Dr. Jenkins the next day to be euthanized.

Dr. Jenkins held the bird while he injected him. Mom asked to hold the bird after he got the injection. The injection is supposed to be instantanous, but mom could swear that Mocha looked at her dreamily before his life fluttered from him. I came into my mom's life not too long after that and helped her to memorialize Mocha with The Grey PoopOn Challenge.

This year a new little Timneh will be helping. Mom brought Minkah (pronounced MEEN-kah) home on Sept. 28th, 1998.

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