PALM HARBOR — Inside the Amazon
rainforest, thousands of miles from his office in Palm Harbor, the holistic
veterinarian watched a colony of chattering macaws glide above the treetops.
"They looked like little
blue and gold jewels filling the sky," said Dr. Joel Murphy, recalling a
research trip in 2009. "They were so beautiful, healthy and happy."
Murphy, who taught graduate
avian medicine at the University of Georgia and has lectured at veterinary
schools from the Bahamas to Nepal, aims to recreate that vibrancy in the Tampa
Bay area. He studies eating patterns in the wild to bring healthier diets to
domestic pets.
Exotic bird owners from New
Port Richey to Pinellas Park to Carrollwood seek Murphy's unusual care, which
includes blood serum tests, a self-concocted line of flower essences, and
dietary counseling. But most of the sick parrots, cockatiels and parakeets
Murphy encounters in the bay area — about 2,000 annually — die early from
malnutrition, he said.
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