I am in the Wendy Magazine now...

Here a scan of the article in the Wendy Magazine this month. It is in Dutch ofcourse, but I did a quick translate for my friends!

For a year and a half, the life of Ellen Uittenbogaard (56) revolved around the disease of her parrot Mickey. When she finally died, the grief was enormous.
"As if a child had been taken from me. That's how it felt when Mickey died after a period of illness of eighteen months. That night she was lying in a blanket next to my bed. At three o'clock I had e-mailed and phoned my avian specialist from the university clinic in Utrecht (Dr. Yvonne van Zeeland) because she was getting worse. Unfortunately I fell asleep afterwards. When I woke up at six she was dead. I felt terrible; I would have liked to be with her at that moment.
Mickey was one of the sweetest birds I have ever had. Social, smart, never aggressive. When I went out for a walk, she went with me and when I was sad she licked my tears. It probably has to do with the fact that I never had children (I had a strong wish) that I love my parrots so much. Mickey was with me for almost 14 years. She got Cushing's disease. She was treated intensively for a year and a half. Lots of different medications mostly three times a day, visits to the avian specialist in Utrecht and to my own avian vet, admissions to the oxygen cage in Utrecht when she was breathing heavily (Aspergillosis) my life was all bout Mickey at that time. Fortunately my employer understood that my parrots were very important to me (and still are) and I could work flexibly or take leave if needed.
It cost me thousands of euros. There have been times when I was wondering if I should continue with it. When I started a Facebook group to inform people about Mickey's disease and to start a crowdfunding for her treatment, I also received negative reactions. "leave her alone", people wrote.
But I knew she wasn't in pain and there was a good chance she would have a good life for some while. I just couldn't give up. In the end I received 5000 euros in donations and I have friends all over the world; many parrot lovers followed my battle. When Mickey died, I received a lot of support. "

Smart animals
"My mother never allowed meto have pets, but because I loved animals so much, my friends bought a budgerigar for my twelfth birthday. I find birds extremely interesting. I now have two parrots and two quaker parrots and especially my African grey parrot is incredibly smart. When I leave home for work or so, he says, "Bye, see you soon," and when I pour a glass of wine in the evening, he says, "Cheers!" He says these things by himself; When my father died, he plucked his chest because he felt my sadness. The brain of parrot is the size of a walnut, but they do sense everything. Mickey is in her urn in my living room, she will always stay here at her memorial area."