Nobody could tell for how long she has already been suffering from this large tumour which grew around her uropygial gland. Even her former owner couldn't tell - or she didn't want to talk about it because she didn't care, who knows? Because it was summer and the holiday was about to begin she spontaneously decided to bring her two budgies to the local animal shelter to get rid of them forever. She left her birds there with the comment: "One bird is fat and ill. The other is also very ill and will for sure die pretty soon. And furthermore we will go on holiday tomorrow." For those people who love their birds and would do everything for them this behaviour is hard to understand. That's how the white budgie lady whose name was Bushido these days came to the animal shelter together with her yellow feathered friend. After her arrival the vet who works at the animal shelter had a closer look at the tumour and decided that the bird must be operated as soon as possible.

A few days later the bird came out from anaesthesia, the surgery had taken place on a hot summer morning (07/03/2006). Because the tumour had been extremely large the doctor hadn't been able to remove it completely. There was a part of it that remained in the bird's body. Regrettably during the next few hours the state of health became worse and the budgie refused to eat. My friend who works at the animal shelter was very concerned when she phoned me and told me about the poor bird. I immediately agreed with her suggestion to take care of this sick bird for the next few days at my home.

Half an hour later the feathered patient arrived at my place and shortly after this I fed her with special soft food. After the second feeding she felt so much better. The budgie lady became more active and even started to chirp. Her plumage was still covered with her own blood and it was also stained with the yellow disinfectant which had been used to clean the wounds. To be honest she looked terrible, but it was great to see her eyes starting to shine again after she wasn't hungry any more. One could easily see the joy of living in her eyes what made me glad.

In the late evening I had to clean the wounds. When I was ready the budgie climbed my arm and sat on my shoulder. Then the bird huddled against my neck and even let me caress her head. She was obviously begging for attention - and love. I had a lump in my throat when I tried to understand how someone could give away such a wonderful, lovable and trusting little soul. And how someone could let this poor thing suffer from a large tumour for at least several months and then finally deport the bird because of the summer holiday. Just one day before, I had given a promise to another friend. I had told her that I would adopt two budgies. One of them was disabled and therefore they were welcome at my home. This promise was the only reason why I could not keep the lovely white budgie lady and also adopt her yellow friend who was still waiting at the animal shelter and whom I hadn't even seen so far.

The budgie lady soon recovered from the surgery and became more and more affectionate. To be honest I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her at the animal shelter after her health check on 07/07/2006. Her future would be uncertain. But I had given my promise to the friend and this bound me, I had to adopt the other two birds. Regrettably it wasn't possible to adopt all four budgies at that time; there wasn't enough space in my bird room then.

While I tried to accept my fate, I still have been very sad because I would have to give away this bird I already loved so much... Then I got some bad news from the two birds I had promised to adopt. The poor disabled male budgie had passed away. The healthy female bird could move into another flock, therefore suddenly things had changed and I had been able to adopt the white budgie lady and her feathered friend. I immediately phoned the animal shelter and told the staff about it. On 07/07/2006 I brought the budgie lady to the vet who checked the wounds. And then, the two budgies and me, we went back to my place. I can't describe how happy I was!

It was a new beginning for her and therefore the budgie lady got a new name when she officially became a member of my flock. I called her Bayda. That's the Arab word for "white woman". Regrettably Bayda wasn't able to fly due to an unknown reason. There also was a swelling on her forehead which made her feathers stand in an upright position. Therefore she reminded me of a cockatoo with this strange "hairstyle". By the way, as it seems to me, Bayda must have been a hairdresser in her former life because she loved to tousle my hair. She wasn't satisfied until she removed every strand of hair from my plait by pulling them out (ouch!). And after this she digged into my loose hair until it was completely scrubby, see photo on the right. ;-)

In October 2006 she became very weak and seemed to be seriously ill. I brought her to an avian vet who found out that the swelling on her forehead was an abscess and her body was full of sanies. Bayda was about to start suffering from a sepsis and therefore I decided that the vet should try a surgery to safe her life. Even though chances were low she survived the surgery and I hoped so much that she would remain healthy in the future. At first she felt better than ever and was so happy she got rid of the abscess. But then in November she started to feel very bad again. The vet found out that she was suffering from a rare disease which makes the bones become harder and harder what destroys the joints. She was suffering from pain and we treated her with an analgetic. Also the vet said we should try to make the bones become softer.

During the next weeks she recovered well and I thought we had saved her life. But then on 01/10/2007 she suddenly became seriously ill again. There was nothing more we could do for her and therefore I decided to put her down. My heart was bleeding when she died in my hands after the avian vet gave her the injection that made her heart stop beating. I lost a friend, a wonderful fellow. And also her friends in the bird room missed her much, especially the males she always had been flirting with.

I can't tell how old my little feathered friend has been when she died. Her colour mutation was somehow strange; her feathers were white with a light brown drawing which could only be seen from very close. Her eyes were coloured like a plum. Therefore I think she was a mixture of a doublefactored spangle and a plumeye. But it doesn't matter anyway because her character was more important than her colour. She was one of the most wunderful bird I ever met.