I lost my baby

[walt44]

Hello everyone,
I wish I was joining this forum under better circumstances but I'm not. I got Larry, my male eclectus parrot 4 months ago. Last night he died at the avian vet hospital at 7 months old. Everything was going great. He instantly bonded to me. He would cuddle with me and trusted me. He did great with all my family, even though he was always a little nippy towards them.
Larry was doing great, eating well, playing all over his cage, wanting attention, demanding to be out of his cage, until two days ago. I noticed that day he was sleeping a lot more than usual so I was going to make an appointment to see a vet, but that night he started having worse issues. He was basically acting "drunk". I took him to the vet the next morning as soon as they opened. His feathers looked awful and he had no feces in his waste. (He did the day before, i always checked) I also noticed when he was acting wobbly that night that he was sooo thin. I was in shock because he was not that way a few days earlier. They took x-rays and the avian vet told me Larry had an enlarged spleen and a narrowing in his digestive trap. They took him and hospitalized him but the next morning I got a phone call he had passed.

This was my first parrot and I'm completely heart broken. He was my child, and I feel like a complete failure. I'm trying to figure out what may of been wrong with my little guy. The only thing I am aware of that I did wrong was not getting the testing done as soon as I got him. Does these symptoms sound like anything any of you may know? I can't get any answers from the vet and I just really wanted a vague answer what happened to my baby. I really don't think he got any toxic fumes or was near Zinc. Thanks anyone who takes the times to read this and get back to me.

And if there is a good way to help mourn the loss of an amazing bird, please let me know. I'm a complete mess.

 

[Flboy]

I am so sorry for your loss! I understand just how bad the pain hurts!

 

[JerseyWendy]

I am so very sorry to hear of your loss of Larry.

Only a necropsy would give you definite answers as to why Larry died, unfortunately.

An enlarged spleen may be caused by Pacheco's Disease, Pscittacosis, etc...

Here, have a look at this, but again, only a necropsy would confirm anything. Viral Diseases of Pet Birds: Pet Birds: Merck Veterinary Manual

 

[Anansi]

I am so deeply sorry for your loss, Walt44. The only advice I could give you regarding your mourning process is to allow yourself to grieve. Don't try to suppress it. Just allow it to run its natural course.

As for what might have happened to Larry, as Wendy said only a necropsy could say for sure. Otherwise, there would always be a question mark.

Wishing you and your family all the best in this difficult time.

Fly free and soar high, Larry.

 

[GreatBlue320]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[Allee]

Deepest Condolences for your loss of Larry. I'm so sorry.

 

[Birdman666]

I agree, the only way to get the answers you're looking for is a necropsy...

As for guilt and remorse, your bird died of some sort of disease process.

If your child gets cancer, and passes away, it's not your fault. So quit blaming yourself. You gave him a good life while he was here...

It doesn't make it hurt any less, but there's no reason to beat yourself up over it.

 

[dhraiden]

Think on all the positive things you did for Larry. I am sorrowful for your loss.

 

[lizard]

I'm so sorry. Ditto everyone else. Get a necropsy done if you can afford it. It'll tell you what you want to know and you won't have any lingering thoughts guilt or especially if you want to get another parrot down the road.

So sorry to you again.

 

[walt44]

Thank you everyone so much. I am going to the vet office today to deal with the money situation because I paid for a lot of things they were unable to do. I will tell them to do a necropsy.

I will try to stop blaming myself. It's just hard not to questions everything I did over the last few weeks that could of made him sick or what could of been signs of illness. Seriously, thank you all so much. I'm going to stay a part of the forum just in case I adopt another "child" in the future (not any time soon)

I absolutely loved this bird. He will be missed and never forgotten even though I only had four months with the little goofy guy.

 

[Birdman666]

Birds are masters of masking illnesses. By the time the problems show, it's often too late. It's just their nature... And it doesn't sound like this was anything that could have been anticipated or prevented.

SANITIZE THE CAGE, THE TOYS, ANY PLAYSTANDS, EVERYTHING VERY, VERY, VERY THOROUGHLY if you are considering bringing in another one some day.

 

[Terry57]

I am so terribly sorry for your loss of the beautiful Larry. I hope the necropsy is able to determine what happened. My heart goes out to you.

 

[walt44]

I'm going to start the sanitizing everything very soon. It's going to be a long time before I even think about adopting another one. Thank you you all for all your advice. Being that this was my first parrot, it is extremely helpful.

 

[Birdman666]

I'm going to start the sanitizing everything very soon. It's going to be a long time before I even think about adopting another one. Thank you you all for all your advice. Being that this was my first parrot, it is extremely helpful.

Let us know what the necropsy results are.

 

[Turk]

I am so sorry for your loss of Larry

 

[RavensGryf]

I am so sorry for your loss. It's always extremely difficult to deal with unfortunately. Good advice in posts above. Take care.

 

[Gina83]

I am so sorry. I've been grieving for mine since the 6th. It's kind of the same thing you go through when you lose a human family member. You go through the shock, you have guilt(I should have done this, I should have done that, I should have been a better parent to my feathered child). When I saw my dad take his last breath, when my grandma took her last breath and when Apollo(my orange winged amazon)passed my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, I mean you literally feel your heart ache.

 

[Scott]

I am so sorry for your loss of Larry. He was a very handsome Eclectus.

The grieving process involves second-guessing oneself in the face of uncertainty, and in this case a necropsy may be hugely beneficial.

 

[walt44]

I am so sorry. I've been grieving for mine since the 6th. It's kind of the same thing you go through when you lose a human family member. You go through the shock, you have guilt(I should have done this, I should have done that, I should have been a better parent to my feathered child). When I saw my dad take his last breath, when my grandma took her last breath and when Apollo(my orange winged amazon)passed my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, I mean you literally feel your heart ache.

I am soooo sorry for your losses. From your forum is sounds like Apollo lived a pretty long, great life! I hope your heart ache heals soon. I've been sick to my stomach for 3 days and everytime I think about getting him off my hand and him squawking at me for the last time it literally makes me sick. I hope you start feeling better soon. Apollo is waiting on ya somewhere

 

[Jerseyjeff62]

Sorry for your unexpected loss.RIP Larry.
Do you contact the place where you got Larry to see if any of the same hatch( sorry I don't know what it's called) to see if Larry was the only bird that had this disease?