Kind of a long story, but I'll try to be brief.
My parents have had a blue and gold macaw for 12 years named Jack. I worked at the pet store they got him from when he was a hatchling. He is essentially my "mom's" bird. My parents do not have any money restrictions--he has had the BEST care you can imagine. A gigantic cage, a shower rod in their shower for baths, three gigantic perch's around the house and all the toys you can imagine, 24/7 attention, a heater and humidifier in his room to monitor the temp, etc. His vet care is top notch (he had a respiratory thing 5 years ago and my parents took him to the vet school for scoping, etc).
About 2 years ago, my parents had to sell their house (too much maintenance since they are older) and they moved into a townhouse (they still have all of his perches/toys, etc). They are both retired. He actually did really well with the move. Shortly after this time, my mom lost her sister and best friend, and has been suffering from mild dementia. It's mostly short term memory stuff, she remembers anything long term. Now that they are both retired, they have unlimited time. Now that they have all this time they have been traveling a lot. My sister and I care for the birds (they also have a lovebird) when they are gone. About 6 months ago they went on the longest vacation ever (2 weeks), and as soon as they got home Jack acted like my mom was the most horrible person on the planet. He even would let my dad pick him up (this is strange). Figuring it was a temper tantrum, they ignored it and would ignore him when he was being a brat, but it never stopped. My mom has since had to go to the ER twice from where he seemed to lunge and bite her (once on the lip) out of nowhere. I've witnessed it myself. He still loves and treats me the same as he has for 12 years (has never tried to lunge at me) even though I visit only about once a month. He's always been especially fond of me since I helped raise him at the pet store.
As you can imagine, my mom has been extremely depressed about this. Neither she or myself has any idea what to do. Basically her other child now treats her like she's the devil. They took him to the vet in hopes of finding some help, but they only gave her a calming medication (i'm not sure what it was) to put in his water. This just made him extremely weird. Like... lights are on but nobody's home, so they stopped giving it to him. I have suggested they frequently change around his toys (more so than normal), let him hang out on his various perches longer, etc, but nothing has helped. Everytime I talk to my mom about it, she's in tears. They don't know what to do, but he's basically become dangerous around her
I have considered that maybe her change in short term memory behavior has made him uneasy, but nothing you can really do about it. I can't take him because I am practically never home with my job and horses, so I this is my last effort to try and seek help.
ANYTHING is appreciated!
My parents have had a blue and gold macaw for 12 years named Jack. I worked at the pet store they got him from when he was a hatchling. He is essentially my "mom's" bird. My parents do not have any money restrictions--he has had the BEST care you can imagine. A gigantic cage, a shower rod in their shower for baths, three gigantic perch's around the house and all the toys you can imagine, 24/7 attention, a heater and humidifier in his room to monitor the temp, etc. His vet care is top notch (he had a respiratory thing 5 years ago and my parents took him to the vet school for scoping, etc).
About 2 years ago, my parents had to sell their house (too much maintenance since they are older) and they moved into a townhouse (they still have all of his perches/toys, etc). They are both retired. He actually did really well with the move. Shortly after this time, my mom lost her sister and best friend, and has been suffering from mild dementia. It's mostly short term memory stuff, she remembers anything long term. Now that they are both retired, they have unlimited time. Now that they have all this time they have been traveling a lot. My sister and I care for the birds (they also have a lovebird) when they are gone. About 6 months ago they went on the longest vacation ever (2 weeks), and as soon as they got home Jack acted like my mom was the most horrible person on the planet. He even would let my dad pick him up (this is strange). Figuring it was a temper tantrum, they ignored it and would ignore him when he was being a brat, but it never stopped. My mom has since had to go to the ER twice from where he seemed to lunge and bite her (once on the lip) out of nowhere. I've witnessed it myself. He still loves and treats me the same as he has for 12 years (has never tried to lunge at me) even though I visit only about once a month. He's always been especially fond of me since I helped raise him at the pet store.
As you can imagine, my mom has been extremely depressed about this. Neither she or myself has any idea what to do. Basically her other child now treats her like she's the devil. They took him to the vet in hopes of finding some help, but they only gave her a calming medication (i'm not sure what it was) to put in his water. This just made him extremely weird. Like... lights are on but nobody's home, so they stopped giving it to him. I have suggested they frequently change around his toys (more so than normal), let him hang out on his various perches longer, etc, but nothing has helped. Everytime I talk to my mom about it, she's in tears. They don't know what to do, but he's basically become dangerous around her
I have considered that maybe her change in short term memory behavior has made him uneasy, but nothing you can really do about it. I can't take him because I am practically never home with my job and horses, so I this is my last effort to try and seek help. ANYTHING is appreciated!
