spacedoutzef
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 6/22/18
- Messages
- 2
- Real Name
- Zephyr
Two days ago my 12 year old cockatiel, Lulu, died in my arms. For a few days she was looking like she was getting ready to lay an egg. Unsurprising, we hadn't been perfect at bed times since we just moved, and the days are getting super warm. We went through with the motions of getting her prepped to lay an egg (extra greens, calcium, all the good stuff), and went about things as normal.
A night prior to her dying, her tummy was beginning to appear distended, but she was still eating, and going about her day. The next day I was calling around in the area for a vet that could see her immediately (our normal vet was extremely busy, and was scheduling three weeks out). I finally talked to a vet I was going to take her to, and discussed inducing her myself with both the vet, and our local avian specialist. I held her for a bit, and she seemed absolutely fine if just a bit stressed. When it came time to get her to the vet, I toweled her the best way you should towel cockatiels. She nipped at me for a second, started to choke/cough, then began to spit up fluid, tense up, and die in my hands. This happened in maybe 3 seconds, and it was the longest three seconds of my life.
Nothing cracked or broke, I'm always incredibly gentle and careful.
Upon further investigation, she was not in fact egg bound at all. Her distended tummy was from a tumor that had formed at an extremely aggressive rate, but she displayed that she was just getting ready to lay. My avian specialist and vet both believe she was super stressed due to the feeling of being egg bound, and the actual strain the aggressive tumor was placing on her. All the symptoms and signs pointed to her being ready to lay, and then egg bound. There was nothing I could have done.
I cannot help, but feel like this was my fault. My vet and aviary specialist are urging me to believe that isn't the case, but has anyone else experienced this happening? For a bird to act totally fine, and then just suddenly die? I'm heart broken, and I have no clue what I'm to do with myself.
A night prior to her dying, her tummy was beginning to appear distended, but she was still eating, and going about her day. The next day I was calling around in the area for a vet that could see her immediately (our normal vet was extremely busy, and was scheduling three weeks out). I finally talked to a vet I was going to take her to, and discussed inducing her myself with both the vet, and our local avian specialist. I held her for a bit, and she seemed absolutely fine if just a bit stressed. When it came time to get her to the vet, I toweled her the best way you should towel cockatiels. She nipped at me for a second, started to choke/cough, then began to spit up fluid, tense up, and die in my hands. This happened in maybe 3 seconds, and it was the longest three seconds of my life.
Nothing cracked or broke, I'm always incredibly gentle and careful.
Upon further investigation, she was not in fact egg bound at all. Her distended tummy was from a tumor that had formed at an extremely aggressive rate, but she displayed that she was just getting ready to lay. My avian specialist and vet both believe she was super stressed due to the feeling of being egg bound, and the actual strain the aggressive tumor was placing on her. All the symptoms and signs pointed to her being ready to lay, and then egg bound. There was nothing I could have done.
I cannot help, but feel like this was my fault. My vet and aviary specialist are urging me to believe that isn't the case, but has anyone else experienced this happening? For a bird to act totally fine, and then just suddenly die? I'm heart broken, and I have no clue what I'm to do with myself.
