The following article is taken from correspondence shared with: Llittle Acres Aviary Malcolm Green, Director of The BirdCare Company Janet Worsley of Hampshire, England Which Jan has chosed to title: Georgie, Living With PDD I'd like to start on a positive note With Jan's 2005 update and note for 2006 that Georgie continues to thrive... "Education in parrot care is so important to us parrot owners and we need to hold hands and make a stand for the sake of all of these parrots that need so much from us." - Jan Worsley 2004 - Georgie , my beloved Moluccan Cockatoo aged 12 (to whom I have the privilege of sharing my life with since he was a baby) was diagnosed with PDD, by crop biopsy in February 2003 - in March 2003 he gave up eating. Resultingly I first crop fed Georgie on Special Needs Diet by The Birdcare Company in March 2003 in an attempt to keep him alive. Georgie gained weight over a period of time (about 25%) and his condition dramatically improved as a direct result of his new diet. Georgie is now an extremely cuddly, happy, noisy, healthy and incredibly mischevious Moluccan cockatoo with so much character, along with perfect feather condition. Georgie at this point now weighs around 950-1000 grams and is fed every 4 hours on 80% Special Needs Diet mixed with 20% grinded Gold Label Feast administered by crop tube. Georgie has around 20-22 spoons of SND each day and continues to refuse any seed, pellets, human food, etc. His only other indulgence is a little fruit and very occasionally a tiny piece of dunked digestive biscuit. His bloodwork was checked recently to which I was advised his bloods were satisfactory, therefore needing no extra medication apart from his usual Celebrex - I was instructed to continue with the excellent work! I have lost count of the number of 1.5 KG tubs of Special Needs Diet I have used on Georgie To date none of my other 3 Moluccans (who are all in very close contact with Georgie) have shown any signs of contracting PDD. Georgie continues to survive PDD against all odds some 29 months after its initial onset which I am led to believe is an incredible achievement, and by all accounts a miracle. His quality of life continues to fulfill him completely, he is my noisiest, naughtiest and most mischievious parrot of all my 4 Moluccans and continues to be the most cuddly, affectionate and loving parrot I and my friends have ever experienced. Georgie has on many occasions tried to mate with my female Baby whom he is extremely bonded with (they have been together since babyhood). Once again thank you Birdcare Company so sincerely for giving me the last 29 months of such special joy and precious times with my beloved Georgie I know it is only Birdcare's products that have kept him alive for all of this time despite his fatal condition. With so much gratitude forever, Yours Sincerely Janet M Worsley 1st July 2005 Many are amazed at his progress and feel this is all revolutionary in caring for a PDD parrot. Strathmore Vets in Andover now have a new avian vet, Mr Simon Girling who is very experienced in avian care, especially PDD cases. My vet has said that on visual inspection he would give Georgie a clean bill of health if he was unaware of his condition. Although I am resigned to the fact that I may lose Georgie at any time due to his fatal illness, I take life with Georgie one day at a time treating every extra day I spend with him as a bonus. I realise how privileged I am to have had Georgie in my life for 10 years and especially these last 17 months. As soon as Georgie?s quality of life becomes poor, I will of course take the appropriate action. However since his crop feeding he is living a very happy, healthy, high quality life and this will be my prime focus in his care. I do use other products in the Birdcare range as well as SND on my parrots. Interestingly, none of my other parrots have showed any signs whatsoever of this supposedly highly contagious disease as yet despite having been in contact with Georgie on a continuing basis since the onset of PDD. I cannot thank Birdcare enough for their Special Needs Diet product. I am certain that I owe these last 17 months with Georgie to Birdcare. Even if I lose Georgie now, I will always be eternally grateful to Birdcare for this special time I have had with him. I do believe that, had this SND product not been available, Georgie would certainly not be alive today, in such beautiful condition and incredible health whilst continuing to go from strength to strength. Thank you, Birdcare, for these last 17 months with Georgie. Words in these circumstances seem so futile but I know he is alive due to the existence of Birdcare?s Special Need Diet. I will of course keep you informed should there be any more news. Yours sincerely, Janet M Worsley For those who want to read on, here is: Background information on Georgie and his diagnosis of PDD Georgie's PDD was first noticed by me due to seeds in his droppings of which I was always aware and on the lookout for, through experience ofother friends who are parrot keepers/breeders in England. Georgie was diagnosed with PDD by x-rays and crop biopsies, which in England is the most effective way of diagnosis on a live bird. On diagnosis my vet suggested euthanasia, although he felt that Georgie's general condition was good considering the seriousness of his illness. My vet had not actually treated a PDD parrot before, all previous PDD patients had been euthanised due to their extremely poor condition. I live each day according to Georgie's crop content. If he does get sick then I time the next feed according to the emptying of his crop. Georgie has never shown the neurological signs of PDD, just signs associated with paralysis of the digestive system and very slow crop movement. I also have 3 other Moluccans who live in the same room as Georgie. To date they have shown no clinical signs of PDD. I made the decision when Gerogie was first diagnosed with PDD that I would keep him with my other birds. To end this inter-action would have been such a cruel way forward for Georgie as this is all important to him I felt I did not have the right to confiscate this joy. I also believed that if my other birds were going to develop PDD they had already been heavily exposed to Georgie for some time before his diagnosis, so I made what I felt was the correct heartfelt decision at the time to keep him with my other birds. I knew I was taking a big risk but I truly believed his life would not have been worth living had he been isolated after spending his entire life with my other Moluccans. We can only do what we feel is right and what is in our heart, what more can one ask of us? My decision to keep him with the other birds all that time ago so far has proved to be the right one. I have heard many times that PDD is nothing like as contagious as first believed and there are many cases of isolated birds contracting PDD without any other birds in the collection developing symptoms. Georgie has even tried several times to mate with my female unsuccessfully with the onset of PDD. I have of course never intended to breed, my birds are pets only and I have been involved in many rescues of parrots in the past. I hope this has given you an insight into Georgie's life with PDD and how I have coped with it so far. I live an extremely devoted life especially to Georgie and of course to my other birds and at present am able to continue doing this for all our sakes. -Jan Worsley