STAR'S STORY

Star was hatched on November 6, 2005, one of five.  When I checked the babies I did not notice anything wrong, probably because they were always huddled together.  Although Star was the last of the clutch and much smaller than the others, she was always in the middle of the crowd and hard to see.  I did notice when I would take them out for pictures that Star seemed to be holding her head funny.

Star

STAR, White Faced Pearl Cockatiel


When it was time to pull her for hand feeding at two weeks I could see her head was resting all the way back onto her back.  When I tried to feed her it was like feeding a snake writhing around and I had to hold her head still to feed her.  I immediately went to the internet and with a lot of searching I found something that described her perfectly.  She had "Stargazer's Disease".  This is the information I was able to find:

  • SYMPTOMS:  "Stargazers" constantly throw their heads back, sleep with their heads between their legs, go around in a circle, look at the ceiling, turn their heads around in a circle and look up.  Stargazing can strike at random and without warning or past history of problems.
  • ADVANCED STAGE:
    • Inability to fly, perch or find food or water, resulting in starvation.
    • Loss of balance/equilibrium.
    • Difficulty moving around in cage.
    • The end result of stargazing is almost always death.

  • WHAT CAUSES STARGAZING?
    • Viral, bacterial or yeast infection.
    • Chemical imbalance.
    • Vitamin and/or mineral (nutritional) deficiency.
    • Genetic predisposition.
    • Inner ear problem.

  • TREATMENT FOR STARGAZING:
    • Nystatin.
    • Tremethoprim Sulfa.
    • Vitamin B-12 to strengthen the nervous system.
Star

STAR


I took Star to the veterinarian and we tried the recommended treatments.  Unfortunately they did not work for her.  I was advised to euthanize her.  By then Star was 8 weeks old, weaned and eating and drinking on her own.  However her feathers were not coming in well and she was still bald so I put her into a glass aquarium with her food and toys - and she did great!  

Star didn't fully feather until she was 3 months old.  Miss Star was then moved into her own cage.  She had a towel across half of her cage on the bottom to sleep on, her dishes were on the cage floor and she had toys hanging down to play with.  Her favorite though were the little cat balls with bells in the middle.  She loved to push them around the bottom of the cage.  She turned out to be my one and only white face pearl with beautiful markings.  She was very cuddly and loved to be held and talked to.  She never made many noises that I'm aware of and never was able to perch because her balance was not there.  As she got older she would get so excited when I came into the room that she'd sometimes have little seizures and start rolling sideways somersaults.  I would hurry to pick her up, talk to her and stroke her and the seizures would stop.  I noticed however that in the last couple of months they were occurring more frequently.

  • Star
  • Star

STAR, The Week Before She Passed


I knew from reading that most Stargazers usually only live 1-2 years.  Star passed to the Rainbow Bridge the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 27, 2006, just a little over 1 year old.  I am sad to lose her but so happy that she is now doing a lot of the "firsts" she never got to experience here on earth.  She can now perch, fly and hold her head high.

Fly straight, my sweet baby, and I know you will fly to greet me when I meet you at the bridge.


Story and photographs contributed by Star's breeder, Yvonne Ely
Copyright © 2007, Yvonne Ely