Genetic Issues?

[MechBull]

My baby caique just died and it's a complete mystery as to why. He was only a little over a year and a half old.

The other day I noticed he had puffed up feathers, looked weak, and the irises in his eyes had turned a light orange (when they're usually red). There was blood in his stool. A lot. I rushed him to the vet but by the time I got there he was down to 20% red blood cell count. He ended up passing away from internal bleeding in his cloaca within an hour.

The vet thought it was lead poisoning at first but did an x-ray and there was no sign of anything metal in him. We don't think it was anything he ingested because there was nothing when the vet did an autopsy and there's nothing he could've gotten to that would've done this (like rat poisoning/lead).

I looked it up on the internet and, since it's not poisoning, it sounds like it could possibly be from a mass or tumor erupting in his cloaca caused by some kind of genetic malformation. Now I'm wondering if there was some kind of inbreeding done by the breeder (I got him from Shady Pines Aviary). I know caiques are a little weird, but my baby was still falling from his perch in the middle of the night pretty regularly even though he was over a year and a half old. He also suffered from bad sinuses and I took him to the vet multiple times for sinus infections.

Does anyone have any idea as to what could have happened?

 

[Remy]

I'm so sorry for your loss! I bet you're devastated.

If he was falling regularly, maybe it was a vitamin or mineral issue? Iron deficiency, maybe? Infection? Did he take antibiotics regularly/ever? Even if his diet was good, maybe he wasn't absorbing nutrients right for some reason. It's so hard to know without more tests.

 

[mnkeastman]

I am new to birds so I don't have any real knowledge to offer but I am so sorry for your loss

 

[kc_y0]

I am very sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[roxynoodle]

First let me say how sorry I am for your loss.

Ok, metal poisoning doesn't always show up on X rays. They have to have a lot of metal for that to happen. A blood test is usually the best way to show that.

A vitamin E/Selenium deficiency can also cause falling from a perch and I think some of the B vitamins being deficient as well can cause that.

And obviously any kind of infection or disease that causes weakness could also make a bird fall. Perching takes a lot of energy. If a bird isn't feeling well, it may not have the energy to perch, like we don't have the energy to do much when we have the flu.

I think my BC conure may have had a genetic issue as well. She lived to only 10.5 years old and died suddenly one night with no symptoms before that. And both her parents died at a younger age than that. She was the last egg they laid as well and died a few months after that. I think they were only like 7 or 8 years old.

We will all be thinking of you during this difficult time.

 

[Pedro]

MechBull, So sorry for your loss. I know how heart breaking this can be.

For what it's worth it doesn't even have to be genetic & there doesn't have to be a medical reason for an internal haemorrahge. I had a female eclectus chick not long weaned & for no reason, neither did she have any symptoms prior to bleeding out & died. She was a chick from my most reliable breeding pair. Never had any illness or breeding problems so i was a bit surprised when this happened. Although it wasn't the first time i have heard of this type of thing happening.

It's the same as things happening to humans. Things happen & no one knows why. Parrots, have heart attacks, Strokes, Cancer just the same as we do. It's funny though a neglected parrot seems to breeze through life it seems without a problem. Well cared for parrots are the ones that come down with problems.

However with your bird i would say it had liver disease probably caused from a bacterial infection that turned toxic very quickly & once the bird is this sick it's almost impossible to save it.

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, I've also noticed that some neglected animals live a rather long time when some who are pampered and cared for do not. I think some of the abused ones just become more resiliant or something. I got new neighbors 4.5 years ago who had a German Shepard dog that they did not take care of. The dog moved to my front porch. She had fleas, arthritis and the worst ear mites/ear infections I've ever seen. She was outside in all weather. I doubt she got shots or heartworm meds. I fed her, provided her with a sleeping bag to keep her warm in the winter, and tried to treat the ear mites. I couldn't take her to the vet because she wasn't mine. And I was reluctant to put her in my truck being covered in pestilence. They are my only unfriendly neighbors as well and I worried if I did take her in they would report me to the sheriff as stealing their dog. Well, that dog lived to be 16 years old! I have never heard of a Germ Shep living to that age let alone a dog in her condition. My Germ Shep only lived to be 13 and he had the best of everything.

And yes, people and animals can suddenly die unexpectedly for what seems like no good reason sometimes. And it is so much harder when they go young. My BC seemed to have a stroke, but I didn't get a necropsy. I'm still dealing with that loss so I understand how you are feeling right now.

I guess because I lost her though, I got to have Pete in my life. And I joined this forum because of him. And through this forum I got Merlin in my life as well. So something good has come of it. And Merlin reminds me very much of Bri. She is very sweet like her, loves to kiss and cuddle and is very vocal like Bri was.

 

[Remy]

roxynoodle - Just an idea, but there is a school of thought that I've heard that believes that exposing oneself to extreme temperatures (within reason, of course) can increase health and the immune system... maybe this has something to do with why she lived so long! We had an indoor/outdoor miniature poodle who chose to sleep outside, and lived to be 21! She didn't even die from old age...

 

[Amber]

I'm so sorry to hear that ): Good thoughts your way, please feel better soon

It's funny though a neglected parrot seems to breeze through life it seems without a problem. Well cared for parrots are the ones that come down with problems.

I wonder if it is in part doe to well cared for animals actually having their illness noticed? Like if you have a sick animal but don't know what to look for you may miss it entirely and assume they are healthy. And when they do, eventually, pass on we chalk it up to 'old age' or similar because we do not see the cause.

That and neglected animals have to be hardy, The non hardy ones die off rapidly and only the most genetically fit survive. Though I think you did a wonderful thing Roxy to care for that dog, I wonder how long that 16 year old shepp may have lived with proper care. He had the genetics anyway!

 

[roxynoodle]

I couldn't help but try to care for the dog. They didn't seem to feed her, water her or provide her with any shelter. Last winter they went south for 6 months! Just left her behind, even though they have 2 Labs that get to live in their house, and who went with them.

In all this time they have only spoken to me once. Every few weeks the first year or so they would take her back and lock her in their garage for a few days. One of those times I saw the man walking up to my front door, so I opened the door. All he said was, "I'm here for my dog!" and dragged her off.

The last few months of her life she was in absolutely horrid condition and it was very hard from some of us to shut up and see her like this. The people across the street and I decided if they went south and left her behind again we were going to put her to sleep. Either her owners finally did it themselves though or she finally died on her own. She disappeared around Thanksgiving. At least I didn't have to bury her. I was certain I was going to find her dead on the porch one morning.

The worst part to me is that they have money. They probably have more money than anyone else living on this road. Their vehicles alone probably cost half a million dollars. And yet they couldn't even feed their old dog.

 

[Amber]

That's so sad ): You did the best you could Roxy. You made her comftorable and well fed, and sometimes, sadly, that's all we can really do. ):

I guess you couldn't take him in like you said because it would cause issues with them. I know of a person who was witness to a similar situation, but who called the RSPCA and other animal welfare organisations the neglect, and while the organisations did fix the situation (kudos to them, they do some great work!) the neglecter saw fit to throw bricks through these peoples windows, even though he did not know, nor could he know that they were the ones to report it. People can be cruel, it's so sad. ):

 

[roxynoodle]

Yeah, nobody wanted to report them or anything like that. And their son is another of our neighbors as well. I only have one other newish neighbor that I don't talk to because they think I called the Humane Society about their horses. I did not. The horses were fine. Some idiot called because they were outside in the rain or something. Sometimes horses will stand in the rain even with shelter available. But, I could tell they didn't believe me when I said no, I didn't. They haven't spoken to me since. I'm certain it wasn't anyone who actually lives on our road. 4 of us have horses and I'm sure we all have at least one that will stand in the rain! It had to be some non horse person who drove by and didn't know any better.

I did worry someone would call on me thinking it was my dog though. Other than the other neighbors, most people did think it was my dog. Like the mail lady and the propane guy.