it is just my views on feathers....they are cosmetic

I would be looking for another vet to get a second opinion, at least! In addition to the Haldol, a psychotropic drug, Hydroxyzine syrup is an antihistamine prescribed for sedation and to treat anxiety. Revia (naltrexone) is an opioid antagonist used to treat alcoholism and narcotic abuse. With this cocktail of drugs, I don't know how the poor bird is even living much less having any quality of life. I have never even heard of such a potent treatment. I can only speak for myself but this vet wouldn't last a day for me and mine.

I agree with Jan, you need to seriously consider the whole situation. In the right hands, this bird might be just fine but has probably never had a chance.

Is Rocky a M2?

I would also highly recommend a discussion with your AV, especially if the Haldol is only in use due to plucking (which is my interpretation of your post -- sorry if I misread!)

Best of luck to you. From experience, I know what it's like to live with a parrot who attacks you. There are ways you can work through this. Be careful and don't get bit, even if it means attempting a more hands-off approach to your relationship in the interim.

You are both absolutely right. First, as I stated, Haldol is not a cure. It is a tool to use as a means in some cases to help to cause feather regrowth and "buy time" to implement and see progress in the behavior modification process. This of course takes a huge commitment on the owner's part, and while you are probably among those who can and will make the commitment to making those changes, many people are not. You are also correct when you point out that some birds display changes in their behavior that are not acceptable. These birds, in my practice are taken off the drug - in my experience, a weaning off process returns the bird to its original state. Isn't it interesting how different people have different experiences with the various treatments that are tried in different birds in different sets of circumstances, and in different human/bird flocks. This is testimony to the reality that these behavior problems are not uniform and there are many, many, sometimes unperceivable variables involved in their development and progress. In the cases I have mentioned, the owners have reported to me that the situation is overall better with the drug than without it. A number of cases have resulted in wing feather regrowth, removal from the drug, fledging, and finally, with a full-time commitment to behavior modification programs, a bird that has greatly reduced or ceased excessive preening activity and reduction or elimination of phobic tendencies. I am not trying to sell this or any other drug as a fix-all. It is not. In some cases, though, the alternative would have definitely involved placement of the bird out of the home and into a "rescue operation", or euthanasia. This has been avoided in many cases in my and other's experience. I will emphasize that no drug is to be expected to "cure" a bird (or a person, for that matter)of a behavior problems. The only absolute "cure" is the avoidance of causing them in the first place. Since that means not placing an imprinted baby bird into a human flock, that makes it a preventable problem, not a cureable one. Sometimes, there are compromises and tradeoffs to be made when it comes to deciding 'what is best". You are also very correct that some vets do overuse this drug. In my opinion, this stems from pressure from both owners that want a "pill to fix the problem" and are unwilling or unable to make the hard choices regarding the alternatives like sanctuaary placement or euthanasia or long-term commitment and compliance with a difficult behavior modification program, and also pressure from practice owners to produce income in the time they have in the exam room. If the vet was able to actually work effectively on behavior modification (read trained to do so) and the owner was willing and able to pay the price for the time, then behavioral modification programs would be more commonly instituted with actual success. Both these limitations, however are often the real roadblocks to success without drugs. The sad reality of the situation is that we have no business bringing these birds into our flocks, imprinting them and asking them to ignore their instincts and the hormones God gave them to drive those instincts, then force them to comply with our idea of a convenient pet by clipping their wings so severely they fall like a rock and even doing this before they have a chance to fledge and forcing them to accept a life in a cage and then stimulating them sexually without offering them the opportunity to produce young with us... their anatomically incorrect mates. That is why Jerry lovingly created this site, to help prevent more suffering by convincing people not to go down this road in the first place. Those of us, however, who now find ourselves on this road are going to have to accept the fact that there are no quick-fixes, nor easy cures, only compromises. I, and many of my colleagues are faced with desperate people every day, looking to us for help. We provide the best we can and some may fall into the trap of, in their own state of desperation, offering to all what seems to help a few. They, then become the target of anthropomorphically-thinking, desperate owners who do not see the idealistic results their heart, along with many people on the internet, bring them to expect. Its a vicious circle, often with only one escape - acceptance (behavior modification techniques, sometimes coupled with pharmaceutical intervention which may only produce partial results), or avoidance (placement into someone else's hands - newspaper ads, shelters (read disease central), rescues (read disease central), sanctuaries(read disease central), and even heaven (read humane euthanasia)
Please look at the big picture.

Hi Bubbles

Just curious...

Is your "zombie" one who has shredded wings from being overclipped?
Is he one who has a fear of falling phobia due to those wings?
Is he one who is severely overdependent and has severe separation anxiety due to this over dependence?
Is he one who won't allow those wing feathers to grow in and constantly is damaging and/or chewing new blood feathers and having bleeding problems?

If not, then I agree he is not a candidate for Haldol treatment.

If so, isn't it better to have a zombie for a year or two while all those wing feathers grow in (slowly but surely if he leaves them alone) than to being doomed a lifetime of living with the severe stress and anxiety that these problems cause?

In many of these cases that are like I described (I have seen dozens of them), even a collar isn't enough to ensure those wing feathers will be undamaged long enough to completely regrow.
And make no mistake, birds in this condition will not likely get relief from these problems until they have full flight back and have intensive behavior modification.

Maybe it seems like a lot of vets reach for haldol too quickly because there are so many of these cases like I describe being presented to them. Maybe they (like me) are seeing good results in a high percentage of these cases. Maybe they begin to use what works when they see the need. Maybe they are frustrated by owners who want their cake and eat it too, insisting that the vet just wave a majic wand and make the severe, life-threatening problems they are presented with "just go away". This is especially frustrating because those vets that do have an accurate understanding of why these problems happen (admittedly - few do) know that behavior modification alone is not going to resolve most of this kind of case until those wings are restored and the collars are usually not making it happen.

Think about it. We caused this. If we can't justify a year or two of abnormally inactive behavior in exchange for the hope that the wings will be allowed to grow back and allow a resolution to the problem, what should we do?
The way I see it, Haldol and similar drugs that slow the bird down enough so they will not continually break those new ones coming in are ultimately saving their lives. Isn't it worth it?

If you don't think so, then you should think about sending them to heaven - this would be much less cruel than to allow them to have to live with this extreme stress and anxiety for the rest of their lives. Not to mention the constant physical pain the reinjuries cause.

Dr. Mike

Since the bird is under the care of an avian vet, I am not going to even venture to second guess his/her opinion or treatment plan and hopefully you have verified that he is a board certified avian practitioner. I would recommend that you, better yet you and your vet seek a second opinion/consultation with another board certified avian vet. Two minds and two sets of eyes are always better than one. A good vet will never become upset, or discourage a client from seeking a consultation with one of the colleagues.