Katara's Companions

24/03/2023

Things are a little bleak around here at the moment as my knee keeps dislocating (and painfully!) but with Spring on the way and Wally feeling cuddly again, it’s hard not to crack a smile

23/01/2023

It is with sadness that I must announce some changes in the services Katara's Companions can offer. Since late 2022, running costs have risen dramatically while everyone's personal finances have run low. The understandable result is fewer donations and a heavier reliance on our personal funds to keep the rescue afloat. There is currently 70 pence in our rescue bank account.

Going forward, we can now only take in cockatiels, budgerigars and button quail, and only during the months of March to October (inclusive) when they can be moved into our outdoor aviary. We now have several medium-sized parrots in our care alongside our smaller birds, three with specialised needs, and we do not have the room or the funds to take in any more.

If you do have some change to spare, please consider donating using one of the options at https://katarascompanions.org.uk/donate. Literally every single penny goes towards the birds' food, medicine and toys - we take no wages, we have no CEO or shareholders. We will continue to provide the best care we can to all our resident parrots. Thank you for reading.

Your donations make a differenceLearn more about our donation options below Donate via PayPal Donate via SquareSpace Donate via Monzo.me While Katara’s Companions awaits charitable status to open a dedicated bank account, donations can be made directly to Laurie Coffin (via SquareSpace or Monzo) o...

07/01/2023

In Loving Memory of Chickpea.

Yesterday we said a heartbreaking goodbye to Chickpea the Budgerigar. Chickpea was the second bird to come through the doors of Katara’s Companions and she was a much loved member of our flock. She would climb into your pockets, take naps on spatulas in the kitchen, and was absolutely obsessed with our quakers, Peanut and Cashew. She even managed to break into their aviary while she was meant to be on bedrest in her hospital cage. Her tenacity knew no bounds, and she was an ambitious little budgie.

Late in 2022, Chickpea was diagnosed with heart disease. Heart disease is common in budgies and unfortunately the heatwave of 2022 triggered her genetic predisposition for the disorder. While we treated her symptoms with medication and a nebuliser, she sadly succumbed to heart failure on January 6th, 2023. We will love and miss her terribly.

07/01/2023

HOME FOUND.

ADOPTION OPPORTUNITY

Rainbow and Melanie the Green Cheek Conures are currently available in Lincolnshire for adoption as a pair.

Rainbow and Melanie are loud and adventurous, and love to shred their toys and take baths every day.

Rainbow is the more confident of the two, and he likes to shout his name. While he is averse to hands while in his cage, he can be very cuddly once he’s out and about. Every morning Rainbow likes to make sure everyone is up and awake with his singing, and it’s important to go and say hello to him to start the day! Rainbow needs someone who doesn’t mind a lot of mess and who will let him out to explore and have fun.

Melanie is shyer than Rainbow, and she has some visible plucking issues. She has plucked a considerable amount of her feathers due to stress, and the back of her head has also been plucked. She is not hand tame and is very nervous of humans in general, so it will take some work and patience to build up trust with her. She lets Rainbow take the lead in everything, so sometimes he will eat her share of food. Melanie needs someone who will take the time to ensure she is eating properly and who will commit to trying to help her grow back some of her feathers.

IMPORTANT: We are currently only looking for prospective adopters in the Lincolnshire area. A successful adoption will be conditional on you demonstrating that you have purchased and furnished a cage suitable for two conures before they come to live with you. We can advise you on this process, as well as on suitable foods and enrichment activities.

If you are interested in applying to adopt Rainbow and Melanie, please fill out the application form linked below. If your application is successful, adoption fees will apply. Adoption fees go directly into the dedicated rescue bank account and help us continue to feed and house the birds at Katara’s Companions.

Apply Here >> https://forms.gle/FdhXfm11HVMjtbnF6

14/12/2022

Have you ever seen a parrot smile? Our sweet Troi absolutely adores Tara, and is sweet as pie for her. Unfortunately, he sees Laurie as his rival, and is very aggressive toward them. However, we make it work. Laurie gives Troi the time he needs alone with Tara, and positive reinforcement is going a long way to help Troi relax a little more.

14/12/2022

Laurie here. I have the flu. I’m having to delegate many of the responsibilities of the rescue to my frankly amazing wife Tara who is working full time on top of that. Administrative tasks like adoption profiles and applications will be picked up again when I’m feeling better.

08/12/2022

Two new residents arrived today. Rainbow (on the left) and Melanie (on the right) are both staying with us until we can find them a new forever home! We’ll be posting their application forms online in the next few days. We will be looking for an experienced conure home, preferably with an owner who also has experience with birds who pluck. We will be working with our vet to try and get Melanie’s feathers growing back in, too.

29/11/2022

Chickpea has been diagnosed with heart disease. She’s been with us since almost the beginning of Katara’s Companions in 2020, so this is a blow for us. She will be on daily medication and has to move indoors to have that medication safely administered. We’re going to do everything we can to ensure her quality of life.

We’ve incurred some veterinary fees in getting this diagnosis and will now be paying for her medication on top of that, so any and all donations are welcome! Please see https://katarascompanions.org.uk/donate for the different ways you can donate to support our birds.

07/11/2022

We are currently operating close to maximum capacity under an avian influenza prevention zone. We will be closing our doors to new admissions until further notice.

02/11/2022

We have two beautiful new residents! Meet Ragnar and Geralt, who will be wintering inside with us before moving into the outdoor aviary with the rest of our budgies come spring. They’ve been very well cared for and have come to us because their mum wanted them to be able to fly free, as birds should. Thank you so much for entrusting your little ones to us.

25/10/2022

Hi everyone! Sorry we’ve been quiet on here - keeping up with the social media falls by the wayside sometimes. Everybirdy is doing just great here, both indoors and out. The tarp has gone on for the winter as bird flu is rife in Lincolnshire - if you have birds outdoors, make sure they’re covered!

I’m going to be working to make our social media more active and get some fundraisers running if I can. I know times are tough for everyone but if we could raise even a few pounds for our birds it buys them medication, food and toys. Thanks for being here with us on our journey.

18/09/2022

Then and now… Bouldy at six months old and two years old as of yesterday. How the time flies! Love you, handsome little man.

17/09/2022

Gonzo and Bouldy are my shoulder boys. I sit in the aviary and they come join me, and we cuddle and I give them scritches. Bouldy has learned to share!

14/09/2022

We have some new residents in the outdoor aviary! These beautiful budgies are boarding with us indefinitely, and they’re having a whale of a time outside.

13/09/2022

Troi adores Tara but he doesn’t like me (Laurie) that much. He sees me as a love rival and, when the mood takes him, he attempts to murder me. When this happens we put him away calmly, using his favourite towel, and he gets a time out. Nonetheless, I do fear for my life sometimes. Here he is ready to end my existence.

31/08/2022

Troi absolutely adores Tara.

28/08/2022

Huge thank you to Nick and Treek Coffin who are doing a car boot sale to raise funds for Katara’s Companions today!

13/08/2022

Gonzo is such a lovely cuddler, and very polite as well. He’s just not too sure about my glasses!

05/08/2022

Rio has some damaged feathers on her right wing which makes it hard for her to fly, but today she made it all the way over to the sofa to say hi, and back again, by being a very clever climber!

31/07/2022

Bouldy’s such a charmer, butter wouldn’t melt.

29/07/2022

It’s a good day to be a puddle of quail!

28/07/2022

Bouldy is pretty independent but he likes me to watch over him when he’s playing with his toys, and gets mad if I try to leave.

26/07/2022

Not all parrots can talk. Not all parrots want to cuddle. Not all parrots can do tricks. Please do not get a parrot if any of these are your reasons for wanting a parrot.

Before you get a parrot, please know that ALL parrots require you to make lifestyle changes such as no longer using nonstick teflon cookware, or using your self-cleaning feature on your oven, or turning on celing fans, or even using your favorite scents/cleaners/plugins/candles/perfumes. Do you want to know what else all parrots do? All parrots bite. All parrots scream. All parrots make a mess. All parrots molt. All parrots p**p constantly. All parrots go through a hormonal period. All parrots require daily interaction. All parrots require space & toys. All parrots require the ability & opportunity to fly. All parrots require an experienced avian veterinarian and annual wellness exams. All parrots require a varied nutritional diet. All parrots require for you to never stop reading and learning.

No matter how much we think we know, we will never know enough! Education is the key in helping you make your relationship work with an inherently wild animal. 🐦💗🐦

26/07/2022

Gonzo is so very round

25/07/2022

Poor Gonzo was enjoying a nice Monday afternoon nap until Bananas decided she wanted to explore his perch! He then landed on my glasses and got scared when they fell off my face, silly boy 🤪

23/07/2022

Sorry for the lack of photos lately. The last week has been deeply stressful, with the heatwave and Bailey being sick. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to just sit with the birds and relax. So here is Gonzo, enjoying some much needed cuddles. He’s such an affectionate little banana, I love him!

19/07/2022

Despite having access to shaded and sheltered areas and plenty of fresh water, several of our birds began showing signs of heatstroke at around 1pm today. Thankfully I was monitoring them carefully for such an event and they have now all been moved indoors where it is “only” thirty degrees celcius compared to forty degrees outside.

We have never needed to move our birds due to extreme temperatures before and this sets a worrying precedent for the years to come. If we start having weeks or months of heat like this we will not be able to take in as many birds due to our limited space indoors.

15/07/2022

Bailey has been very, very unwell this week, hence the lack of real updates. She’s currently on two types of antibiotics and we had a couple of days of having to syringe feed her fluids. We owe our amazing vet so much. Bailey is now on the mend and I can breathe easier again (until the next crisis!). I’d never give them up but man, rescue is challenging.

12/07/2022

Troi hates bottles of chewing gum. We don’t know why. We only know that when he spots one, all bets are off.

04/07/2022

It’s love! Chickpea has been a solo budgie for a long time, and Bananas is our newest resident and suffers splay legs. Our vet gave the all clear for Bananas to join our outdoor aviary with some new adaptations, and well - just look at them now!

01/07/2022

Unfortunately on top of dislocating my knee I now also have covid, which makes it hard to spend long periods doing anything that isn’t lying down! Here’s a photo of Gonzo being a cute cuddlebum on my shoulder before the ‘rona got me 🤧

30/06/2022

A sign of a calm and happy flock is when everyone sits and preens together

25/06/2022

There’s a new quail in town! Sir Not Appearing in this Foot (Foot for short) is slightly disabled but gets around just fine. He joins Monty Python and the Holy Quail, Sir Robin Who Bravely Ran Away, Rabbit of Caerbannog and Enchanter Tim.

24/06/2022

The wonderful cockatiel.art on Instagram painted Wally! Follow them at https://instagram.com/cockatiel.art

24/06/2022

Gonzo seems to think I need a nose piercing!

22/06/2022

Wally says hi 👋🏻

21/06/2022

I dislocated my knee. It was horrendous. I’m on light duties only while it heals up. We’ll still be posting photos of our residents in the meantime!

20/06/2022

Poor Chickpea is having an absolutely brutal moult! Here’s hoping it finishes soon 🙏