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Baby parakeet aspiration pneumonia

rpassaro79

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9/22/22
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Rebecca
I rescued a parakeet with one baby the other eggs were destroyed and whatever babies did hatch were destroyed. The mother was in a cage of severe inbreeding not being fed overfilled with birds in a dark house by a person who was a hoarder and didn't take care of them. The cage was so small I wouldn't even put a finch in there and they were about 17 birds in one. My friend and I rescued these birds she is an experienced rehabilitator and has worked with many different animals I have experience hand raising birds. I took the mother in with the last remaining baby and made her as comfortable as possible the baby would scream incessantly for days I noticed the mother would not feed him or would pretend to but never actually fill the crop. I began hand feeding the baby (his name is pebbles) at less than a week old when he got to be almost 3 and a half weeks he began to show signs of sour crop. This could have been a mistake on my part though I always took the temperature of the formula and fed him at about 102 he was a very good eater I syringe fed him. To treat the sour crop I gave him diluted apple cider vinegar. The formula was more watery and he aspirated some. I'll always regret this he survived aspiration but struggled. He hung in there and was hungry even after that. It took him a few hours to recover. He did however lose his tiny voice. He still squeaked but it wasn't the same. About two days later he developed a severe cough with gasping. When I comforted him he settled but he had cracking and struggled to breathe. That next morning he passed. I held him the whole day. When I used to hold him he was the size of my palm and he would wrap his little feet around my pinky as I held him. Even when I was sick and anxious he looked to me for comfort and my hands calmed him. He had so much personality and knew his name. I'm devastated. I have never felt anything like this sadness. I've hand raised birds and I've had some pass and some live. This just feels different for some reason. I keep replaying how I aspirated him in my head. How he would've never developed pneumonia. I'm assuming it was pneumonia because he didn't die immediately after aspiration but I'm not sure. Any thoughts on how quickly pneumonia develops after aspiration? Should I have gotten him on antibiotics? After aspiration he bounced back but I feel I should've done more. Immediately after aspiration and for the next days following I continued to suction him. I feel like the most guilty person and he just began to get his feathers and colors. He still had some pin feathers but he was coming into a real bird. His screaming used to annoy me at times and now I can't stop crying thinking about it because all I want to do is heat him scream . Even when he lost his voice I was hysterical because I would much rather him be loud and healthy. I'm so sad. Has anyone had severe heartbreak after this experience. I'm not a mom I'm 28 years old but for the first time in my life I felt needed in a different way. He would look me in the eye he loved when I talked to him he'd get upset when I didn't pick him up he knew his name. His tiny little lungs were so strong and loud and I can't help but feel like I destroyed them it's hard for me to even put him in the ground because he looked to me for warmth and comfort. As I've said I've hand raised birds before but I've never felt this severe over a loss. Mind you when pebbles came into my life I was going through a severe depression and existential crisis. I felt I had no reason to even live. When my friend asked me to take him I finally felt like okay I at least need to stay alive long enough to make sure he's okay. Then it went from that to I wanted to see who'd he become and the bond we would have as he got older. I'm so sad. I'm sorry this is a page to ask for emergencies and I vented way too long but I need other people to relate to. I've stayed up at night crying more than I cried even when my nana died. This is a bird I've only known 2 and a half weeks and I'm hysterical and inconsolable. I feel stupid. I've never gotten like this. Please if you've ever experienced heartbreak this bad and have a similar story about losing a hand fed bird a similar way or have any thoughts on how I could've treated him differently please let me know. Thank you
 

rpassaro79

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Rebecca
Sorry about my grammar and spelling is poor I'm just so sad I'm not even typing right. I meant to say when he was anxious form being sick my hand was the only place to comfort him : (
 

Alien J

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Janet Rush Van Eyck
Please if you've ever experienced heartbreak this bad
I can't say my experience was the same as yours, but the heartbreak was extreme. I took in a fledgling Band Tailed Pigeon in the late spring of 2016 (can't believe it was that long ago). I had virtually no bird experience. I didn't even know what kind of bird it was... I thought it was a Mourning Dove as I had never heard of a Band Tailed Pigeon.

Through trial and error, somehow I kept him alive. He thrived, and, according to those close to me, so did I.

Three months later, I failed to close the front door all the way. It only took one second and he was gone.

I couldn't believe the depths of depression and sadness and guilt I felt and continued to feel.

He went from this 1663878366511.jpg
To this:
1663878395683.jpg
Six months later, I was still so depressed. I cried for Miyetti every day. Then, a friend called me about a 19 day old cockatiel who was close to death. She asked if I wanted to try to save it. I did. I picked up this little guy:
1663878465607.jpg 1663878612865.jpg

Now TD is 5 years old and the light of my life.
1663878543403.jpg
So, while my feelings about Miyetti haven't changed, and while I still cry whenever I think of him, I guess the point is, another one will come along that you'll feel as strongly about. If it hadn't have been for Miyetti, I wouldn't have known how to, or had the confidence try to care for TD, who started out in much worse shape. As of two months ago I'm also caring for a young, badly injured white winged dove, Noki.

1663878643752.jpg
So, hang in there. I'm so truly sorry for your loss. Don't feel crazy that this loss effected you more so than previous ones. It's obvious you and this bird had a special relationship. Cherish it.
 

Sparkles99

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I didn’t know TD’s back story. Talk about a transformation!! :heart:
 

rpassaro79

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Rebecca
Thank you so much :( wow that's amazing and really helped me a lot. I love the photos it's really helping. I think I posted on the wrong thing because I'm new here I didn't mean to put it on an emergency thread. Birds are so incredible and deeply emotional. I feel more connected to them than anything. I think what you did for both Miyetti and TD is incredible and it warmed me up .
 

Zara

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Welcome to the Avenue,
I´m very sorry to hear of your loss. You were trying your best, and you gave the chick a fair shot, while loving and caring for him for all of his days.

temperature of the formula and fed him at about 102
104-105 would be a better temp. It´s only a couple of degrees, but it can make a difference. another thing is to keep the food in a Bain Marie so that the temp does not start to go down. If you make the formula 102, and don´t keep it heated somehow, it can easily fall below 100 into the 90s and food that´s not hot enough can cause slow crop which leads to sour crop.
Another thing to consider is, ¨was the housing adequate?¨ - namely, was it the right temp and humidity? Removing chicks from the brooder can result in temp drops in their bodies so you need to be quick feeding them, and have a way to keep them warm while you do it.

Mind you when pebbles came into my life I was going through a severe depression and existential crisis. I felt I had no reason to even live.
I took the mother in with the last remaining baby
Do you still have the mother?
Perhaps caring for her can help you through the sadness?

We had a clutch hatch a few years back, I remember one chick hatched on Christmas eve (which is the day we celebrate Christmas here). Unfortunately we found him dead the day after Christmas. Me and my partner sat and cried on the floor for a while after removing his body from the nest.
It truly was sad, and we didn´t even know the little guy, so I can only imagine how sad you must be.
 

zoo mom

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I am so sorry for your loss.
 

SueBird

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Sue Forslund
I’m sitting here crying with and for you- I truly understand your pain. I have had a taste of that same heartbreak… I don’t even know if I can write about it, but I know what it feels like to hold something so tiny in your hand and look in its eyes knowing it depends on you and watching it struggle to breathe until it takes its last…I was in denial about my little guy being gone- I kept thinking I saw his chest rise just slightly. I wouldn’t bury him for a long time….and finally made my boyfriend do it when I wasn’t around. Mine was only a few days old and I had NO idea that I would be so utterly devastated about it. And of course I also self blamed- rehashing what I might have done wrong. I have another that survived and is thriving but just recently joined this group so that I can have the info I need at my fingertips because I am so constantly worried that something will happen to her.
i don’t know if it helps, but you’re not alone. I see this post was a little while back so I’m hoping you already know that time does heal a bit. The sadness is just as intense when I think about it, but it comes less frequently.
And as someone else said, we have to remember that they would definitely have died without our help. We were able to give them a little bit of time in this world, and it was a happy time. And both of our little guys at least passed knowing that they were loved and being made as comfortable as possible.We have to try to forgive ourselves.:heart:
 

Wally&Eva

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My biggest heartache was with my cat, Rajah. I had raised him since I took him in as a stray when he was a few months. The hardest thing is thinking that you had a hand in their demise, as irrational as it is, you feel it to the core. I have always regretted my last few decisions I’ve made with him. You just get so desperate, you start to look anywhere for answers. I knew I should have let him just be and live out his life. I took him to the vet, they pumped him full of antibiotics and his eyes were huge saucers. He never walked again. He died that night. I literally didn’t know how i was going to sleep and wake up without him. I didn’t want to live without my best friend of 14 years. We have had litters together, moved to 3 states together, been homeless together. I took off work and flew to Toronto and hid out for 5 days.

It has haunted me to the point where my brain protects me from the hurt by not letting me access the memories freely. I don’t know if this makes sense. But what I found this to be the most healing thing is to allow yourself to feel everything. Its like PTSD, if your brain thinks it is too much, it will sometimes shelf that memory. Now it takes work to access them and connect them with an emotion. And it’s sad because when I see pictures of him, I’m so disassociated with them. And that’s not healthy. The fact that you are feeling so deeply about this loss, even through your own struggles is a testament to how great the human will is. Even through all this, you are reaching out.

You will make it through this and snowball that love into the next journey with new friends that will need you just as much. Big hugs.
 
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