Christie came to us as a beautiful and sweet baby blue throated macaw. We enjoyed her company for a short 1-1/2 years. She enjoyed being with people and would visit with everyone. However, when her Daddy was near by, she would reach over from her ring stand and grab the collar of his shirt to indicate she wanted to ride on his shoulder. Dad would pick her up and Christie would perch on his shoulder and nuzzle in. Then, when it was time to go back to her play stand, she would glue herself to the center back of Dad's shirt and play backpack and thus, make it impossible for Dad to get her off until Mom came around. She had just started to say "Hello" to dad in a soft little voice.

Suddenly her weight took a nosedive and nothing could be done. All tests came back that she was a healthy bird. Within a week of her showing symptoms our sweet baby girl was dead. In memory of our loved one, we built a big flower garden for her and planted rhododendrons and azaleas. We also planted a red maple and a mighty oak to show how much we cared. In years to come, the trees will offer peace and rest for all her feathered friends.

We waited and hoped Christie would be the only love to get the dreaded PDD, but five months later we lost our lovely Autumn. Autumn was a Catalina that no one seemed to want. So, she came home to live with us and was daddy's girl though she loved us all. She enjoyed sitting on Daddy's shoulder and loved to talk. Whenever she was on dads shoulder she would rock back and forth and tell everyone "rock". We watched her weight and suddenly it took a nosedive. Again, there was nothing her doctor could do for her. She lived only for a few days and died after her barium study. We are grateful she was taken quickly and did not have to suffer, but the shock of losing her has been a terrible blow. We're building her a garden and will put a seat near by. That way we can visit her and rest in the shade of her trees.

Though neither bird shared a cage or ring stand, both were stricken down. Our only hope is that this "plague" will not attack the rest of our flock. We take such good care of them and don't know what more we can do. They always have clean cages -- fresh water and food twice a day. Toys are never passed around. Our only hope for safety is time and research -- both of which are moving on.

Six months later Galileo, our adopted scarlet macaw, was diagnosed as suffering from probable PDD. We're treating him with Meloxicam. He's been on the drug for 2 months and has gained back all he lost. He is always willing and ready to say "Hello" to anyone who walks by. We know we'll lose him too one day, but as long as he is happy, he'll be with us.

Shortly after Galileo became sick, Sherlock, our other blue throated macaw, showed symptoms of sudden weight loss. He was hit hard and within 2 days of his showing symptoms, and being told all the tests were negative we had to say good-bye. He'd been on the Meloxicam just 2 days, but was just too weak to go on. Sherlock, the little biter, who no one seemed to want, came home with us and provided us with love, joy and entertainment for a short 2 years. We buried him next to Christie.

In each of the three birds that have died, the confirmation of PDD was done after death through a histopathology report. In each case, a crop biopsy would have given a false negative result as the disease was not present in their crop, but had ravaged the rest of their bodies. Sudden weight loss made us aware that each bird was sick. We immediately took each bird to our avian veterinarian when the weight loss occurred. Blood tests, fecal checks, etc. were performed on each bird and all came back showing nothing wrong. X-rays only showed a possible increase in the size of the proventriculus.

Please do whatever you can to support Avian Health Network's StopPDD Campaign in its fight to find a test and an eventual cure for PDD. Your support of time and donations will help every living bird stay health and will make each PDD death to have not been in vain. Thank you for reading my story. May your bird(s) stay healthy and PDD free.