Parakeet flying high after surgery

Trekki the parakeet, of Latham, sports a collar to keep her from pecking at her stitches. She survived surgery in September 2011 to remove a tumor and repair a hernia. Image by Linda Marino"Trekki" is on the mend.

After undergoing surgery last week to remove a tumor and fix a hernia, the tiny parakeet is healing at home with her owner, Julie Marino of Latham.

Before the procedure, the blue and white bird faced death because the tumor/hernia was crushing her intestines. Confused, Marino researched her options, which brought her to avian veterinarian Joy Lucas at Upstate Animal Medical Center in Saratoga Springs.

"Did you know that surgery on parakeets can be a success?" Marino said. "Everyone I know is speechless."

Marino purchased Trekki from a local pet store in 2008. No, she's not addicted to Star Trek. Actually, she named her bird after her Trek brand road bike. Trekki loves to fly. She hops on Marino's finger when her owner says "up." Months after Marino bought her, the parakeet produced a white egg. A complication during egg-laying and a fatty diet is believed to have caused Trekki's health problems, Marino said.

The tumor was not cancerous, but it kept growing. By Sept. 19, Marino said her three-year old bird was in agony.

Marino comes from a family of bird owners. She watched several of the family birds die from fatty tumors because vets had said that there was nothing that could be done. "Everyone but my vet kept telling me that a small bird like that would never survive the anesthesia let along the surgery."

But Marino learned last week that parakeets can indeed survive going under the knife. Trekkie was home Friday, recovering on antibiotics. She started chewing away at her stitches, so Lucas had to put a collar around her neck. The stitches were scheduled to come out Monday.

Marino's success with Trekki made her want to share her story