Post by stevex on Jan 1, 2016 14:26:07 GMT
I had to say goodbye to my beautiful bird on Tuesday 29th December. His name was Twitch and he was 7 and a half years old.
He became ill about three weeks ago when I noticed his movement around the cage was becoming laboured although he could still fly. One time when he was out, I noticed he was holding his right foot up and then later when he tried to eat he couldn't step onto the seed holder. It seemed like he had gone lame in his right foot. I slightly rearranged some of the perches to help his movement and feeding which helped him a lot.
I decided to call the vet for a home visit as I didn't want to stress him with trying to separate him from Joey and then transporting to the vets. On the day of the vet's visit he had improved but his droppings were slightly runny. Because of his age it was decided not to physically examine him but to give him some Baytril to clear up any infection.
He was doing OK until Monday night when I noticed he was holding his foot up all the time now.
When I uncovered them on Tuesday morning I feared the worst but Twitch was still with us although he wasn't moving around, just standing at the end of the perch holding his foot up. I couldn't see him being able to go down for any food or water and despite holding it near him, he wasn't interested. After being out all morning, I came back to find Twitch on the bottom of the cage, he was alive but slightly distressed. I took him to the vet and after examining him she discovered that he had no feeling at all in his foot and suspected nerve damage, possibly caused by a growth, which was causing his paralysis. With no ability to move around or eat and drink, I decided to end his suffering. I was devastated (still am).
I brought him home and buried him in a quiet corner of the garden, forever in my thoughts. Thankfully I have many photos and videos of him with Joey going back over seven years, bringing back happy memories.
So now when I look over to the cage, there is only Joey. He seems happy but he looks so lonely now. They have always been together, even in the aviary where I bought them, over seven years ago.
I just hope that Joey doesn't go into decline, I'll have to keep him happy and make sure he continues to comes out for some exercise.
He became ill about three weeks ago when I noticed his movement around the cage was becoming laboured although he could still fly. One time when he was out, I noticed he was holding his right foot up and then later when he tried to eat he couldn't step onto the seed holder. It seemed like he had gone lame in his right foot. I slightly rearranged some of the perches to help his movement and feeding which helped him a lot.
I decided to call the vet for a home visit as I didn't want to stress him with trying to separate him from Joey and then transporting to the vets. On the day of the vet's visit he had improved but his droppings were slightly runny. Because of his age it was decided not to physically examine him but to give him some Baytril to clear up any infection.
He was doing OK until Monday night when I noticed he was holding his foot up all the time now.
When I uncovered them on Tuesday morning I feared the worst but Twitch was still with us although he wasn't moving around, just standing at the end of the perch holding his foot up. I couldn't see him being able to go down for any food or water and despite holding it near him, he wasn't interested. After being out all morning, I came back to find Twitch on the bottom of the cage, he was alive but slightly distressed. I took him to the vet and after examining him she discovered that he had no feeling at all in his foot and suspected nerve damage, possibly caused by a growth, which was causing his paralysis. With no ability to move around or eat and drink, I decided to end his suffering. I was devastated (still am).
I brought him home and buried him in a quiet corner of the garden, forever in my thoughts. Thankfully I have many photos and videos of him with Joey going back over seven years, bringing back happy memories.
So now when I look over to the cage, there is only Joey. He seems happy but he looks so lonely now. They have always been together, even in the aviary where I bought them, over seven years ago.
I just hope that Joey doesn't go into decline, I'll have to keep him happy and make sure he continues to comes out for some exercise.