5 months old cockatiel passed away

[deepika]

Hello Guys,

I am writing this post in guilt and shame.
I killed a 5 month old cockatiel.

I have a 2-year-old female cockatiel who has a feather plucking issue. The doctor said it's behavioural and she needs to have a companion, I tried everything I could to make her stop plucking and I failed.
I bought a new 5 months old male cockatiel (named him Zuno). He was active and healthy when I got him from the store, the first mistake I did was clipping his wings. He became so friendly with me as soon as he came home and started whistling the very next day. The breeder did not tell me what he he was feeding him and I gave him the cockatiel seed mix and some corn on the cob.. Around the 3rd day, he stopped playing and started rejecting food. I waited for a day to see if he would eat the next day,, but he started looking very weak,, so I took him to the vet.
The vet said its a bacterial infection and prescribed antibiotics(Cavmox duos syrup). after 5 days of antibiotics, he was back to normal and started playing with me and eating fine but again in another 2 days, he fell sick. he started sleeping a lot and started eating less. So I consulted with a different vet who prescribed a stronger antibiotic ( Enrofauxicine ). I was syringe feeding the antibiotics and I'm not really sure if he took it inside, but he never got better.

After 5 days of antibiotics, he still looked very sick, so I consulted with another vet. This vet whom I met suggested to give him an injection, I wasn't sure at first but agreed to it later ( was desperate to make him fine ) but he collapsed soon after the injection, he jumped to me from the vet and vomited all over my hands, he just collapsed. I have never cried so hard...the vet said he needs to be in a incubator overnight and morning he will be fine.

By the time I reached the hospital , he already passed away. I haven't stopped crying since then. I feel so guilty for doing this to him. I will regret agreeing to the injection all my life. He deserve to live and he deserved a better owner.

 

[sunnysmom]

I am so sorry for your loss. Don't blame yourself. It was NOT your fault. You took your tiel to get medical treatment and was following the vet's advice. You did what you could to help him and I'm sure he knew he was loved.

 

[Wardy]

For what its worth i wouldnt feel guilty or ashamed you where trying to do the best you could for him and acting on the advice of the vet.
Grieve but dont beat yourself up

 

[SumitaSinh]

Deepika, dont be harsh on yourself, you had the best interest. Recently, i lost my budgie similarly. We do not have proper lab facility here, avian vets are so rare to find. I can understand your feelings. Really sorry for your loss.

 

[finchly]

Ohhh I am so sorry!

 

[Oscarbird]

I am so sorry for your loss.
But it really wasn't your fault, so don't be so critical and harsh about yourself. At least you tried to do everything possible for your feathered friend... there are some people out there who wouldn't be willing to go through the efforts you did.

 

[Keetie!]

Please...you did your very best...three vets...you never gave up! Honestly...my assessment of so called exotic vets and some avian vets is as follows: I don't think at times they know how to treat our feathered ones. I really don't! In fifteen years, I have yet to find an avian vet that I trust. They know how to take your money, don't they. Of course, there are fine avian vets out there, but not in my area! I want another budgie so bad after my Blueberry passed, however, I am still searching for an avian vet that I feel comfortable and can trust!

 

[Birdbabe]

You did your best, that's all he wanted, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[barbs0nly]

you shouldn’t feel any guilt for this!! you went out of your way to get medical care and give him what he needed. i’m so sorry for your loss

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I’m so very sorry for your loss. You did the best you could so don’t be too hard on yourself.

 

[Solly]

I’m so so sorry For your loss.

 

[QB1rd]

So sorry for your loss. Like everyone else has said, it's not your fault. He may have been young, but I'm sure he knew he was loved.

 

[ems08]

I'm so sorry you lost your baby. As others have said you absolutely did everything you could and have nothing to feel guilty about.

In fifteen years, I have yet to find an avian vet that I trust. They know how to take your money, don't they.

I took my sick lovebird, Maddie, to five different avian and exotic vet practices (seeing multiple vets with some practices) and I would say I trusted half of them. One was an absolute bird whisperer and the only vet Maddie actually liked. I swear they had conversations with each other lol. He also kept her alive once when she was *very* ill and had to be hospitalized. My favorite though was a woman who was so empathetic with me as well as handling Maddie well. We had to start doing gavage feedings semi regularly, Maddie had a few infections in a short period of time and was having seizures. This vet actually gave me her personal cell number because she said her nightmare was that one of her bird patients would have an emergency and wouldn't be able to get care during off hours. Not only that, she gifted me a gavage needle that another vet charged me $50 to borrow AND she let me bring Maddie to the office for "daycare" free of charge while Mads was recovering from an infection and I was afraid to leave her at home while I went to work.

The good ones are out there, it's just tough when the options are so limited in many places (especially outside North America!). And the other half I've met definitely over charged and had no clue what they were doing

 

[deepika]

I am so sorry for your loss. Don't blame yourself. It was NOT your fault. You took your tiel to get medical treatment and was following the vet's advice. You did what you could to help him and I'm sure he knew he was loved.

Thank you for your kind words..the last 15 days that he spent with me, I had to medicate him everyday and I just wish he didn’t had to go through all this.

 

[Shezbug]

I’m sorry to hear of your loss

 

[deepika]

For what its worth i wouldnt feel guilty or ashamed you where trying to do the best you could for him and acting on the advice of the vet.
Grieve but dont beat yourself up

He was very active and playful at the store. I blame myself for clipping his wings.. I shouldn’t have left him in the hospital that night and I feel terrible.

 

[deepika]

Deepika, dont be harsh on yourself, you had the best interest. Recently, i lost my budgie similarly. We do not have proper lab facility here, avian vets are so rare to find. I can understand your feelings. Really sorry for your loss.

Thank You Sumita.. I consulted many vets online .. in Bangalore , Mumbai and even Jaipur and no one helped. I am very sure he would have been alive if we had good medical facilities, I still don’t know what is the cause of his death. He was eating fine till the last day , I did a huge mistake agreeing to the injection, I wish I could go back and change things. Poor bird had a painful death.

 

[deepika]

I am so sorry for your loss.
But it really wasn't your fault, so don't be so critical and harsh about yourself. At least you tried to do everything possible for your feathered friend... there are some people out there who wouldn't be willing to go through the efforts you did.

Thank you.. I know he is in a better place now.. I just wish he didn’t had to go through all the pain

 

[deepika]

Please...you did your very best...three vets...you never gave up! Honestly...my assessment of so called exotic vets and some avian vets is as follows: I don't think at times they know how to treat our feathered ones. I really don't! In fifteen years, I have yet to find an avian vet that I trust. They know how to take your money, don't they. Of course, there are fine avian vets out there, but not in my area! I want another budgie so bad after my Blueberry passed, however, I am still searching for an avian vet that I feel comfortable and can trust!

I’m sorry for your loss.. it’s very difficult to accept it when we know that we could have saved them. He was very young to die and he was definitely not that sick. He ate his favourite food and also perched on the top.. I cannot explain how guilty I feel for agreeing to the injection knowing he is not a avian vet. I will never buy another bird again. I understand how u must be feeling

 

[deepika]

You did your best, that's all he wanted, I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank you..