I just thought I would share my story...


8 days ago on Monday I lost my best friend, my pet cockatiel Louie and I have been devastated since than. He flew out the door that was cracked and I immediately went searching for him and I also had hundreds of fliers made up to put in the neighborhood, stores and everywhere that I could think that people would see it. He was gone in a flash! I walked miles looking for him and calling in the trees in every direction and I left his cage outside to see if he could find his way back and I knew that he would be getting hungry also.


The first 4 days that he went missing that was all I did was search for him constantly and was VERY depressed and crying a WHOLE lot. I did not eat for 4 days and I could not sleep good either. It took about 5 days before I would even touch my computer or leave the house to do anything and when I did leave the house it was to search for Louie! This is the first time that I have lost a pet or anything for that matter and I am so devastated about it. Especially because I raised Louie from 1 day old because he was abandoned and I spent a lot of time raising him and hand feeding him for 2 months. He was 7 months old when he flew out the door last week! I also took him to the Avian vet for check-ups because I was scared when I had to handfeed him and I wanted to make sure he was healthy and doing okay, the nearest avain vet was about an hour away.. I love Louie so much! He was very tame and would fly over to me every time he was out of the cage, if I would take him out and run for fun he would chase me down to land on my shoulder, he would ALWAYS find me. I wished that I would have had his wings clipped now because this is so painful being without him and I am VERY much blaming myself. I didn't want to clip his wings because he was so tame and it was fun watching him fly!



It has been 8 days since I lost him and I can eat and sleep good now but Louie is still always on my mind constantly. I pray for his safety in the wild everyday and I still pray that he will come home, I guess I am praying for a miracle but I know that I do not expect it. Louie's cage is also still in my living room and I used to clean it and remove the paper towels everyday but since he has left I have just kept the cage the way it is, it is not messy but there is a little food on the bottum and maybe a couple of droppings from 1day of use from Louie but I don't want to clean it because it will hurt too bad.


The pain is still here but a little easier and I miss him so so much and I don't want to be in pain but I am. I kind of think that I should be in pain and that I deserve it and if I am not sad then it is cruel to my Louie and not fair that I am happy when he is out there suffering and hunting for food and avoiding predators. I just hope so much that he has been rescued and is happy right now!

I'm so sorry.
My aunt lost her bird once, she found him 10 miles away a month later.

Just keep your eyes open and you may find him - I hope you do.

Thank you! I am not giving up hope and it does help knowing that your aunts bird was found a month later and okay. I just want him to be safe! I will send out some more fliers a little further away so that if someone finds him several miles away they will see my flier and contact me.

One landed on my front porch about a month ago (I live in AL), and the owner lived just behond me and found him right away after he escaped. I would not give up just yet on finding him. Brandy, ask all your neighbors to be on the look out for him. Seems like they tend to roost high in trees sometimes so keep looking up. Brandy, your story really moved me and I am sure it would be a great human interest story for the local TV stations and that might help find Louie. Also check with vets and pet stores in your area. Good luck and let us know if you find him. If you don't and find another pet, let us know that also.

Thank you for your response... Almost every morning I think I hear his chirping and I go outside to see if it is him and I look and in the trees for him and call his name. It seems as though I notice birds chirping a whole lot more now than before Louie escaped and they seem to sound like him also. I posted a lot of fliers in my neighborhood and in all of the stores, etc and I hoping that someone will find him. After I posted some in the stores, some people took them down after I put them up and I was so upset because someone could be likely to see the flier and call me about Louie but I don't think people care. I don't make a whole lot of money and I spent a lot of time and 25c a copy posting them (hundreds of copy's) and it hurts that some people would take them down, although I understand that they have a right to their property. I walked a whole lot to houses and posted fliers also and it was so so hot outside! I got a call from a young boy that he thought he saw my bird and I went over there and saw a bird but it was too far to see if it was Louie and he was on a fence when I got there but the bird flew past the fence in to another neighborhood and so I jumped the fence. It was probably the craziest thing I have done, it was a small fence but there was briers and I got hung on the fence and got cut on the fence also. Finally I got across there falling into briers and I ran to see if it was him because I knew I didn't have long or he would be gone and I didn't see the same bird but I don't think it was him though but I looked for a long time. Finally I got back across and I was so dirty, tired and hot and I was so so disappointed that It was not Louie. After this I still searched for him and I called for him in the trees but I couldn't find him.. I am still looking for him and hoping and praying every night that someone will find Louie and call me!

Brandy when I was a small girl I lived in a very rural area, we had a small bird, it escaped out the door and came back about 2 weeks later... so keep hope you never know, and it helps that it is summer time, at least he can stay warm.

Try posting and looking on petfinder.com

Sorry for your bird escaping,

Last year in march I lost a kakariki due to somebody trying to steal my birds, they left cage doors open, nestbox doors and broke the wire,

I put ads out everywhere, he was in the lcal area and we had sightings and I tried to catch him but he flew away, we had bad storms and we thught he would never survive,

However their have been sightings f him all ver the place, unfortunately by the time I get their he has flown the nest so to speak :(

Don't give up hope and good luck with the search, maybe a local radio station will read an ad about it also? They are good like that round here

Thanks everyone for your support! I still miss him so so much, this is his picture on my profile and I think about him all of the time and I pray for him every night.

I got a lead from petfinder but it was not my bird... I still have hope and I am praying for a miracle!

Try leaving the cage outside,up high where he can see it.He may fly into it.We have pigeons that come back to their cage,because the recognize it as home.cockateils are smart,so never give up.Call him daily,he may surprise you.