by patti » Sun Sep 18, 2016 1:36 pm
I'm so glad I posted that video!! Yes, driven is a great word for it. Usually her preening is something along the lines of "doop-de-doo, i'm making myself beautiful, doop-de-doo" as opposed to here, where it appears like she is trying to kill her feathers and the world for being so irritating. I think that in person (as opposed to the video) it is more obvious that she is actually pulling them out.
I don't know much about the limbic/endocrine system in birds, but I know that in humans a generalized state of anxiety is the result of an endocrine feedback loop that gotten so far out of control that it starts to short circuit. This is what causes panic attacks and eventually PTSD. People under constant stress become hyper sensitive to even the slightest stressors so it is often something little that actually sets off the attack (like a car driving by too fast or something).... so I am guessing this is what is happening with my Lily right now, because she freaks out in situations that previously weren't a problem at all - like this newfound fear of squirrels. If that is correct, then the solution is to continue distracting her and calming her down BEFORE she short circuits to break that cycle, and then continue to do that while waiting for her generalized state of anxiety to calm down, which will take a long time.
I know I am probably anthropomorphizing here, but if it turns into effective intervention, I guess that's good. im not a vet or behaviorist so i have to go with what i know to make sense of things.
Unfortunately, that translates into distracting her almost every time she starts preening, which is almost all the time.... Sometimes it doesn't turn into what she was doing in the video, but stopping her before she gets to that point means she is still "with it" enough to be distracted. I tried distracting her once she started behaving like she was in the video, and all she wanted to do was bite me. Distracting her before she reaches that point, I have gotten her to play with some of her favorite toys, get her to follow me around the house, or my favorite, we play "go home, come here" for treats and it works wonders to keep her occupied, make her happy with her favorite treats, and al that back and forth really tires her out. the most effective so far seems to be a little shake or shift of position (to stop her from what she is doing) followed by head scratches and "good birdies" - then giving her something plastic to destroy.
Today I will step up on the distraction efforts... I can be home all day today and tomorrow, so that should help too.
I wish she was like old man Paulie, who I have recently discovered is an AVICALM JUNKIE!!
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