Some of you might remember me from me & my birds' year-long saga starting back in 2023, which culminated in the loss of my Beanie from an aggressive metastatic renal adenocarcinoma. We had some good luck after that-got the sneezing down (finally), and were able to solve Banjo's coughing dilemma.
Unfortunately, just as soon as we solved the coughing, Banjo began to decline again. He was showing signs of liver disease-with polyuria, a faster-than-normal, though not too rapid, growth of the beak, and beak bruising.
Despite this, we were never able to officially confirm a diagnosis. His CT looked great. X-ray showed a borderline enlarged heart (that multiple vets, including experts at Uni of Wis-Mad, didn't think was a huge deal), but otherwise, perfectly normal. One blood sample came back with slightly high bile acids, but only a few numbers over high normal-vet said they would rarely treat for an elevation that mild. A second round of blood work showed lipemia and slightly elevated uric acids, but now normal bile acids.
I was able to adjust his diet (after many years of unsuccessfully trying) to something better. Sprouts, pellets, veggies, even quinoa! I put him on milk thistle in the water & I also tried Aloe Detox. He was getting DMG and probiotics. He did have one or two instances of bacterial disease over the course of this year, likely due to a lowered immune system, which his vet & I treated & confirmed disappeared w/ gram stains and cultures. Despite this, he kept declining, and he passed away yesterday morning after a very rapid decline.
Two losses just a year apart has been very rough. I feel like a horrible bird mom. I worry that Banjo died due to fatty liver, which I could have prevented.
I try to do what I can. My birds have a large flight cage. They get 12-14 hours of supervised flight time in a large living room every day. I eliminated all obvious toxins from the home. I buy them tons of perches, swings, and toys. They were all picky eaters until recently, though, and I struggled to get them on pellets for many years. I wish I had tried harder in that regard. Everything I've read on budgies says that if they die before 10, they haven't gotten a fair lease on life, and that haunts me.
While Banjo's symptoms do point heavily toward liver involvement, some throw me off. I don't know if I'll get a necropsy this time because I feel like the results will just sting. But if anyone has any insights into what might have happened, I'll list his symptoms here-
- 6 month period of sporadic coughing, believed to be due to the stress of the previous year.
- Borderline large heart on X-ray.
- Lipemia on one blood draw.
- Barely elevated uric acid and bile acid on two separate draws.
- He wasn't overweight. Averaged 34-36 grams. I do believe he was a little heavier at one point, low 40s, but he was never obese.
- Slightly hastened beak growth.
- Repetitive beak bruising.
- Polyuria, potentially mild polydipsia. He would shoot straight water on some occasions.
- Apart from being on the wetter side, poops looked mostly normal. Urates white/off-white, no classic liver tinting.
- Fluffiness.
- Lethargy that came and went.
- Last few months, began to spend more time on the floor.
- About 2 days prior to death, I noticed he could no longer clench the toes on his right foot. This could have been going on longer; he had no balance issues, so it wasn't immediately obvious.
- He had a flat yellow-orange splotch under his wings. I originally thought it was a stain, but it never went away, even after multiple baths. Xanthoma? Or something more malicious?
- Though he was obviously sick, he wasn't terrible-still playing, singing, eating, drinking. Overall more good than bad days.
- Decline at the end was steep. I woke up to him perching on his food bowl with his wings out. He made a few movements that looked like vomiting. I rushed him on the vet & on the way there he presented very similarly to how Beanie did before death-wings out, couldn't draw them back in, weak, sporadic jerking, slowed breathing.
Again, most of his symptoms do point to a liver issue, but the unilateral leg paralysis throws me off because it most commonly happens with renal or reproductive tumors-Beanie had the same thing near the end of his life. Banjo's decline did share many similarities with Beanie's, actually. They both passed one year and one month after their symptoms began. A part of me does wonder if cancer struck again. I know lymphoma is common in parrots and often affects multiple organ systems, which could explain the few symptoms that seem to bleed into kidney involvement. Banjo was likely around 8 or 9 years old, which is a prime time for tumor formation. But it's hard to say.
I don't know. I just wish I could have given them both a better life. I hope they at least knew that I loved them & really did try and save them. A year after Beanie's death, I think I finally have the strength to post a memorial, so here it goes.
Beanie, this is long overdue. I miss you so much. You were mommy's best friend. You loved to spend time sitting on my hand, my knee, and even my head, side, back... whatever you could get a hold of, you just wanted to be with me! You would even sit on top of my laptop or on my phone as I worked. Because of you, your siblings felt brave enough to hang out with me as well. They haven't come by as much since you've been gone. You were always my boldest and bravest.
You were also an amazing flyer & did the coolest in-the-air tricks. You loved anything ball-shaped. You always made me laugh when you would pick up the Nutriberries from your food bowl and systematically toss them over the edge of your cage. You were sometimes a stinker & loved to run across the couch after snacks & meals to pick up crumbs like a little vacuum.
Though you liked humans more than other birds, I know you especially loved Booker & were the best brother to him, and he's missed you so much since you've been gone.
Your death was especially hard because it was so unexpected. I wish your last year hadn't been full of pain and discomfort and constant vet visits and medicine. I wish I had let you go sooner. But with the sneezing complicating things, and all your perfectly normal tests, I just didn't know. I didn't want to give up, because what if it was something treatable? What if I could make you better again? I hope you know I didn't keep you suffering to be mean or cruel. I just wanted to give you a chance. If I could go back, I would have let you go more peacefully. I love you and I hope you're pain-free and at peace now. When I one day meet you again at the Rainbow Bridge, let's hang out together like we used to. The memories of you sitting with me and being silly are some of my fondest.
Banjo, you were special! You were originally a relative's bird for three years. When you came to me, you were in a small cage with flat perches and minimal toys. You were the skinniest little thing I ever saw, and your eyes felt so tired and empty. I was surprised when you started fluffing and perking up almost immediately after meeting with your new siblings!
You opened up quickly & became fast friends with Blanc. You were like her little bodyguard. You two followed each other everywhere, preened, relaxed, and played. You had a bit of a rivalry with Beanie and Booker, because you wanted to protect Blanc from them both & would also drive them away from my hand so Blanc could get a turn to sit with me. This was always funny to see, but you eventually warmed up to your bros and became great friends with them. You were like the kind, wise older brother your siblings came to for advice and comfort.
While you weren't the biggest on toys, you really loved your bo-beeb swing. You liked the orange and yellow beads the most & would dance to them & kiss them. Really, you liked swings in general & would always sleep on them at night! But you would never sleep on the perch part; you'd hang from the top, which didn't look all that comfortable, but it must have been for you. You were also a big fan of sunflowers, kebabs, sola, anything you could crunch and destroy. You really really liked your celery, maybe because of the crunch!
You were pretty human-shy at first, but you eventually started following Blanc and coming to sit on my knee or on my laptop. In your last year you became ever braver and sometimes even came to me yourself. I'm glad I got to spend more time with you in your final year.
I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I feel like I could have done more. What if I took you to the vet sooner? What if I advocated harder? What if we had tried a heart med or a kidney med instead of just milk thistle? Because the previous year was so stressful for you, I didn't want to repeat it. I didn't want to put you through months of handling and medicine again. I was scared your coughing would flare again. Because of that, maybe I wasn't as aggressive as I could have been. I'm sorry. I hope you're with Beanie now. I hope you're at peace. Thank you for the many wonderful memories. We'll meet again one day, and get to have fun together again. For now, I'll take some of your bo-beebs and put them in your memorial shadowbox for you to play with on the Bridge.
I love you both. I miss you both. I will forever. I hope you're together at the Rainbow Bridge now, no longer in pain, playing & flying free. Your other siblings & I will join you again one day. Until then, rest easy, my sweetest babies.
Last edited:
They looked like they were such sweet little babies.
They were as lucky to have you as you were to have them!
