Heart broken

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

Hello everyone, I have had my chili (green cheek conure) for about 7 years. I had never had any issues with any of my birds and feather plucking so didn’t know much about it. I came home a few days ago to find that she had plucked most of her chest feathers off and some on her back. This really scared me so the next day I called the vet to try and take her in. They said the soonest they could take me was a few days from then. I explained the severity and that it was not normal behavior for her. She put me on hold to talk to the dr. She came back and said the dr said she will be ok and that I could wait. I asked her if there was anything I should do and she replied just keep her warm. That day when I returned from work she was completely bald on chest and back was worse. I attempted to make her a sock pancho to prevent her from plucking but she kept on attacking it and it was stressing her out a lot. I took her outside to get some sun with me sprayed her with some aloe juice and tried comforting her. This was on a Saturday so the vet office was closed. I put her on my window ledge and left the house for an hour or so. Got some stuff to maybe help her while I was out. When I returned home she had took her skin off and both sides of her chest. I was in shock and mortified. I quickly wrapped her in a towel and had a really bad time finding a er that took birds. After awhile ended up finding one and rushed her there. They said they didn’t know why she did that and to follow up with the vet. Put a collar on her which was huge for her size and gave my some cream and medicine for pain and antibiotics. No real instructions given about the severity of the situation. When we got home she was frustrated with the cone cuz she was having a hard time moving around eating etc. I held her a lot that night and wrapped her in a towel for comfort and layer her on her back propped up next to me in bed. I didn’t get much sleep as you can imagine being so worried. I was putting her head in the morning and she was responding. When I got her up I put her in the cage and she drank water and attempted to eat a little. I noticed her movements were off so I took her back out to hold her. She started flopping around and was struggling. I took her collar off and held her close as I sobbed uncontrollably. She passed soon after. I don’t really understand anything of what happened. It was so fast. I am completely heartbroken. She was my best friend and part of our family. I was the closest bonded with her so I feel alone in my pain. I am also angry at the vet and er dr. I feel guilt like I failed. I keep seeing those horrible images in my head. Everywhere I look in the house reminds me of her and I miss her terribly. I don’t really know what to do at this point. The only thing that comforts me is that she died in my hands looking into my eyes. We are having her cremated with a mineral water technique and I bought a necklace to keep some of her ashes with me. I really hope it comforts me, I feel empty. Any words of encouragement is welcomed RIP Chili aka chicken

April · 3/29/23

Oh my goodness i am so terribly sorry for your loss

. I wonder if the initial plucking was because of an internal issue and then the stress from the wounds tipped her over the edge with the pain.
I'm just so terribly sorry that this happened to the two of you,it's clear from your post that she was dearly loved and you tried everything you could to help her :hug8:

If she isn't cremated yet I'd highly recommend if possible to get an necropsy done(animal autopsy) to see if that can shed some light on what happened.

Let me tag a few members who may have some ideas as well about why this could possibly have happened. @webchirp @Pixiebeak @Macawnutz @Mizzely

Wardy · 3/29/23

Sorry about your loss

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

April said:
Oh my goodness i am so terribly sorry for your loss . I wonder if the initial plucking was because of an internal issue and then the stress from the wounds tipped her over the edge with the pain.
I'm just so terribly sorry that this happened to the two of you,it's clear from your post that she was dearly loved and you tried everything you could to help her
If she isn't cremated yet I'd highly recommend if possible to get an necropsy done(animal autopsy) to see if that can shed some light on what happened.

Let me tag a few members who may have some ideas as well about why this could possibly have happened. @webchirp @Pixiebeak @Macawnutz @Mizzely

Thank you. I wish I would have thought about that. We took her the same day to the crematorium it happened. Everything just happened so fast I didn’t even have time to think about all that.

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

Wardy said:
Sorry about your loss

Thank you.

Xoetix · 3/29/23

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for your loss. That escalated so quickly! That's so heartbreaking :sadhug2:

Mizzely · 3/29/23

Wow that's so devastating! I'm so sorry, I have no idea what may have happened.

April · 3/29/23

Chilibaby said:
Thank you. I wish I would have thought about that. We took her the same day to the crematorium it happened. Everything just happened so fast I didn’t even have time to think about all that.

Completely understandable,I've been in that position myself where I lost my Greenie completely unexpectedly. I did get a Necropsy but I also work in the vet field so it was already in the back of my mind.

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

April said:
Completely understandable,I've been in that position myself where I lost my Greenie completely unexpectedly. I did get a Necropsy but I also work in the vet field so it was already in the back of my mind.

Thank you for that. What did it end up being?

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

Mizzely said:
Wow that's so devastating! I'm so sorry, I have no idea what may have happened.

Thank you. Ya, it’s so frustrating. I think the thing that bothers me the most is the casual attitude of the dr I called. The lack of information I was given.. the whole it will be ok attitude. I just wish I could go back knowing what I do now. It’s just so hard.

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

Xoetix said:
Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for your loss. That escalated so quickly! That's so heartbreaking

Thank you, I am trying to be strong esp in front of my kids. I feel so broken

Teckechick · 3/29/23

I am so sorry for your loss. They leave a big hole in the heart for sure! :sadhug:

April · 3/29/23

Chilibaby said:
Thank you for that. What did it end up being?

She ended up having heart disease and her heart just gave out as the doctor was examining her. She'd fainted about an hour before hand and seemed to rally on the way to the vet and was climbing the cage and shaking her food bowl. She did have known fatty liver disease and was being treated for that but when she'd had xrays well within a year of this happening her heart looked absolutely fine not enlarged at all but within about a 6 month time period I believe it was She suddenly developed this but unfortunately that often how it goes with parrots and heart disease.

Chilibaby · 3/29/23

April said:
She ended up having heart disease and her heart just gave out as the doctor was examining her. She'd fainted about an hour before hand and seemed to rally on the way to the vet and was climbing the cage and shaking her food bowl. She did have known fatty liver disease and was being treated for that but when she'd had xrays well within a year of this happening her heart looked absolutely fine not enlarged at all but within about a 6 month time period I believe it was She suddenly developed this but unfortunately that often how it goes with parrots and heart disease.

Oh wow. Sorry to hear that. It’s so sad to see these beautiful creatures suffer in any way.

iamwhoiam · 3/29/23

So sorry for your loss.

April · 3/29/23

Chilibaby said:
Oh wow. Sorry to hear that. It’s so sad to see these beautiful creatures suffer in any way.

Thank you,I appreciate that. She was my birdie soul mate

Dartman · 3/29/23

April · 3/29/23

Let me tag @Milo I'll bet she'll have some ideas.

Pixiebeak · 3/29/23

I'm so very sorry! What a horrible shock.
You did everything. I'm so glad she had you and had your love and comfort. :sadhug2:

It's so very hard to know what happened. Sudden onset pluck and mutilation, is likely internal pain and some sort of issues.... sometimes behavior and stress can lead to pluck..so
Not to defend vets attitude at all, but it's not typical to pluck then pass away. If anyone knew how serious this would be I'd sure hope they would have acted differently!

You are an amazing, and care , and did your utmost by her. Please know that's.

I'm a very limited ability painter, very limited. But if you would like , I offer to try and paint her for you. If you want me to try , you can message me a few close up pictures if her . And I will do my best :heart:

April · 3/29/23

Pixiebeak said:
I'm so very sorry! What a horrible shock.
You did everything. I'm so glad she had you and had your love and comfort.

It's so very hard to know what happened. Sudden onset pluck and mutilation, is likely internal pain and some sort of issues.... sometimes behavior and stress can lead to pluck..so
Not to defend vets attitude at all, but it's not typical to pluck then pass away. If anyone knew how serious this would be I'd sure hope they would have acted differently!

You are an amazing, and care , and did your utmost by her. Please know that's.

I'm a very limited ability painter, very limited. But if you would like , I offer to try and paint her for you. If you want me to try , you can message me a few close up pictures if her . And I will do my best

That's such a wonderful and generous offer :heart:

Heart broken

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