Son of a $%#*&! AVIAN GASTRIC YEAST!

[Teddscau]

It was...no, it wasn't my fault. What happened, I went downstairs around 1am and heard a kākāriki hopping around on the bottom of the cage, but I honestly thought I'd just woken them up and one of them decided to get some sunflower seeds to eat. I know, birds shouldn't be awake at such an hour, and any other time I would've turned on the light to check on them, but I honestly thought they were just being goofy and I didn't want to disturb them. I mean, I was already disturbing them by going down there...

Ria must've slipped or something early this morning and her leg went through the bottom grate at an awkward angle. If she hadn't been compromised due to malnutrition and illness and all that, she could've pulled her leg out. But she couldn't. She was there for hours, desperately trying to free herself, but she was too weak. She'd shredded her leg muscles, developed a pneumonia, and exhausted herself from spending hours trying to free herself. I should've checked last night when I heard them, but I honestly thought they were fine. It was odd that I could hear one of them on the bottom of the cage, but she wasn't crying for help, thrashing, or anything. I should've checked on them. But it's not my fault, because if I thought something was wrong I would've checked. But it was so late, so why didn't I check? I should've checked.

When we rushed her to the vet, she was put on oxygen right away. She was on it for well over half an hour, but her heartbeat grew fainter and her beak turned white and she cried every time she exhaled. I had them keep her alive longer, but she grew weaker and it was bad. She wouldn't bite anyone, and she likes biting. When they put the ether on to knock her out before euthanizing her, she died. She died before injecting her. She died just from the sleeping gas.

Yesterday, I gave them bugs in the evening because Dad bought more. I was too lazy to feed them the bugs earlier because I was playing my stupid Mario game. She was completely fine last night. She was gaining weight and getting stronger. It's all because I didn't check on them when I heard them. She was fine at 9pm when we medicated them. I should've checked on them. I heard a bird on the bottom of the cage but I didn't turn on the light. I should've just turned on the light but I didn't. Sure they would've been startled by the light but I should've checked. I didn't check. I thought they were fine, so I didn't check. She was scared and trapped and I let her die. But I didn't hear any crying. If she had just called out for help I would've known and I would've checked. But she was scared, so of course she wouldn't call for help. It was dark, she was trapped, and she was too scared to call me. I even apologized for being down there and disturbing them but I didn't check. Had I checked I would've seen her caught and I could've freed her and she would still be alive. I was given a chance to save her, but I didn't take it. All I had to do was walk five feet and check. I didn't check. I even went down there one or two more times, but I didn't check. Why wasn't I worried? Why would they be on the bottom of the cage eating at 1am? I didn't check on them because I didn't want to disturb them. But who cares? If it was a false alarm, they would've just been a bit tired in the morning, but if it had been the real thing, which it was, it meant she spent the whole night terrified. She had to be put down because of me. All I had to do was check.

Fudge, I knew they were weak but I left the bottom grate in. But why wouldn't I? Tiki has AGY, so I didn't want them poking at the poopy newspapers. But I should've taken the grate out. But who gets their leg caught in the grate? Why would I even think such a thing would happen? I didn't, because this sort of thing never happens. I'm always imagining every possible way my birds could harm themselves, but I didn't even think about the grate. She shouldn't have died, but she also shouldn't have been sick. I've been doing everything possible to make them healthy again. She shouldn't have died from having her leg through the grate. Of all the things that could've killed her (malnutrition, emaciation, infection, etc.), she died because one of her weak little legs went through the grate.

I put her body on the bottom of the cage on her back so that Tiki can see she's gone. He always sort of bossed her around, but he'd always go into a panic if she left him for even a moment. She was far stronger than him. Yet she's dead. She was only around 5 years old when she died. She shouldn't have died. She was taking the Amphotericin B well, because she liked the taste. She was happy last night, and then she fell, and then I had her put down. She's dead.

 

[Flboy]

I am so sorry! Remember, you are running an ICU by yourself! And doing a great job with what all! These horrible events will happen with the number of patients you are caring for!

 

[Teddscau]

NO! IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I just remembered! I'm a horrible mother. Last night, after giving them their medicine and getting them ready for bed, their pre-sleep light turned off. It's on a timer, so it was supposed to go out. BUT! Ria hadn't yet gotten into sleeping position, and was on the side of the cage. I left the light on outside their room for a while, thinking she'd climb over to a perch, because the kākāriki have better night vision than my other birds. After a few minutes, I turned off the light outside the room, thinking, hey, she can find her way. But I bet she didn't. It was dark, and while she was trying to get to a perch she probably fell, and her leg would've gone through the grate. She fell because I didn't wait for her to get to a perch. I always wait for them, but I didn't last night. I was in such a rush to play my stupid game! I just assumed she'd find her way because that's what the budgies do. But she's NOT a budgie. She was a sick little kākāriki who was weak and didn't make it to a perch. She fell because of me and got her leg stuck and she died. I did this to her. Why couldn't I just wait for her to get to a freaking perch!? Apparently I care more about video games than I do my own babies. She died because all I cared about was that game. What kind of monster doesn't wait for their sick baby to get settled in for bed

 

[Kentuckienne]

Sweetie...it’s brave of you to take ownership of things, but in this case maybe you don’t have all the responsibility. Accidents happen. None of us can see the future. Sometimes things look obvious in hindsight, and we think we should have known. The truth is, we don’t know and we can’t know the future. We can only take our best guess.

Imagine this scenario: you hear a karkari hopping on the cage floor at night. You go to check and turn on the light. The bird is startled and flies into the wall and breaks her neck. Stupid, obvious! Of course you should have just let her alone! We just can’t be certain. Things happen, unexpected things. Those are the things that get us...the unusual, unexpected things.

Is there any way you could have known she could fall? That she could get her leg caught? There isn’t. That’s a one in a million freak accident. Even then, if she hadn’t been so weak as a result of someone else’s poor treatment of her, she would have been fine. She would have been gone from the world long ago if not for your love and care. You didn’t kill her. What you did was give her more days, and better days, than she would have had without you. We all thank you for that.

I’m terribly sorry for your loss, after all you did. It sucks.

 

[Teddscau]

Thanks everyone. You're right. I mean, what are the odds of a bird dying just because you don't wait 30 seconds (if that is what happened). Hahhh...I mean, I know tons of idiots who shouldn't have animals. It isn't like I put a bunch of sticky traps down in the cage (please guys, don't use sticky traps. Get live traps for rodent problems. Make sure the live trap is made of metal and not plastic, since those ones suck). Plus, it isn't like I left them out unsupervised with fans on, windows open, toilet seats up, dogs running around... Oh, fudge, no offense to anyone who's accidentally done something like that. I'm referring to the sort of people who intentionally leave their blind mother in the car for over an hour during the winter while they go to the mall. True story. My aunt and uncle did that because they're idiots. Speaking of which, I still need to abduct their two female budgies. But how the heck do you get them out of that situation? Fudge, they keep leaving the poor girls with just husks in their dish... Now, if I did any of those things, then I should be upset with myself (Lara dumping all of the food on the floor a couple of hours before feeding them again doesn't count, since I have no control over what she does).

To be fair, I found Ria with a clothespin attached to her toe one day (she was fine, just a little worked up). And Samantha walking around with a vine ring around her neck (apparently she reacted calmly and thought things through instead of thrashing violently). Or that one time I was a bird short during the bedtime headcount, so I kept counting for several minutes until I found Lara wedged between the cage and the wall. I swear, I have no clue how that happened since I keep the cage close-ish to the wall, but far enough away that they shouldn't be getting jammed in there. She's really fat, though, so that's probably how it happened. It's like when that fat kid at Willy Wonka's place got caught in that tube in the chocolate river. Then again, I don't think his factory was to code. Although that time I couldn't find Noah during the evening headcount... Fudge, he'd vanished into thin air and was nowhere to be found. My parents spent several more minutes searching while I was busy having a meltdown, when suddenly Noah flew over to me. Honestly, dark magic is the most likely explanation.

Ooh! I should give myself some credit for saving Pollo that one day. We'd just brought them (Rumi, Lara, Pollo) home from the shelter that week when I decided to let them out to fly since I had them staying in a small quarantine cage. Dad had just gone out the front door to give the people doing our walkway a coffee, when I decided to lock him out of the house. A moment later, he starts banging on the door freaking out at me, when suddenly Pollo comes flying headfirst towards the door like a bat out of Hell. Man, you should've seen the look on my dad's face as he looked at me sheepishly and gave me a thumbs up. Fudge, or that time I saved our puny 3lb chihuahua, Abby, from being killed by the cat when we were taking her home from the backyard breeder (I honestly don't know why we didn't report that breeder). Honestly, that cat was stalking her, crouched down, and was about to pounce, but I stepped between the two before she was killed (seriously, Abby's really small and could easily be killed by a cat).

Or when we brought Gizmo, our other chihuahua home for the first time. Seriously, I looked away for less than 30 seconds, yet somehow he managed to dart over to the gate, squeeze under it, and make it all the way to the end of our driveway (our driveway is more than 200ft long). Fudge, and those stupid drivers weren't slowing down at all. I kept running out in front of cars while Dad, some kindly stranger, and I spend THIRTY MINUTES on a hot summer day trying to catch him. Seriously, those jerks saw us trying to catch a small panicked dog who was trying to run back to his old home (his old home was several kilometres away, so I don't know how he thought he was going to get back), yet as soon as they drove around me (apparently I don't make a very good stop sign), they'd floor it. Holy fudge, how poor Gizmo wasn't plowed down that day -_-.

Or that time all three of our dogs were almost taken down by that flock (no clue what you call I gigantic group of birds of prey) of hawks. I darted over there so quickly though and got them all inside somehow. Honestly, Teddy's a dork who doesn't ever go inside when asked (he has a touch of dementia), Gizmo's a skittish little weirdo, and Abby is just twitchy. Seriously, those hawks were less than 15' up, were circling, and were quickly swooping in lower as I ran over to save the dogs. Fudge, had I arrived moment later the dogs would've been shredded. I'm sure of it.

Hahh, fudge, sorry for getting off topic. The fact that she somehow had this mishap... I mean, it's like that time that plane went down because wasps had built nests in its pitot tubes. Birgenair Flight 301. They should've aborted takeoff or used the copilot's air speed indicator since the pilot's wasn't working, but they didn't. Hmm, kind of off topic again.

Tiki seems to be doing okay. He hasn't been calling her or looking for her, and he actually seems more confident and enthusiastic. Like, I was sitting less than 3' from the cage while he ate in front of me. When I took his water to get fresh stuff, he just sat on the platform perch, less than a foot from my hand, watching me. After eating, he flew up to their rainbow bridge wooden hammock thing and started rubbing his face dramatically on it. And he was actually eating waxworms like a normal, civilized bird earlier! Normally he flings them around because they kind of gross him out while he's eating them, but he actually ate them like Ria does. Although, I did find a live, intact waxworm halfway across the room, which is suspicious. Maybe he'll start acting differently in a few days. He really should not be taking things as well as he is. He knows she's "sleeping forever", so I don't know why he's so perky.

Oh, know what's nice? I think Noah could tell I was upset, since he was quieter than usual and actually behaved himself today when we were hanging out. Lately he's been getting agitated and starts yelling, flying around, and grabbing at me, but he was actually well behaved earlier. When he was helping me get fresh water for everyone, he sang his water song quietly and hardly did any sound effects. Normally he just belts it out, flicking his wings dramatically as I clean the dishes and get them their water, but he was far quieter. He also didn't try to run down to my hands to drink the soapy water (I do NOT let him actually touch the soapy water). Almost every day he tries to eat the bubbles and drink the contaminated water, but he actually just sat on my chest.

Freaking dogs, on the other hand, had no clue I was upset. Honestly, I was bawling my eyes out, laying on the floor completely distraught, and they didn't have a clue anything was wrong. They didn't look concerned, they didn't look scared or confused, and they sure as heck didn't try to comfort me. Seriously, they've lived with humans for more than 10,000 years, having evolved to read our body language, alert us to tumours, impending seizures, fires, intruders, serve as our assistants, and provide emotional support, but these three goofballs were outdone by a 31 gram wild animal who throws temper tantrums. Like, what the heck guys? Then Mom tells me that her cats always could tell when she was upset and would go over to comfort her. Freaking CATS. Cats are more in tune and concerned over our emotional wellbeing than our freaking dogs. Apparently loud, uncontrollable sobbing is too subtle a hint for our dogs -_-. It gets even better when you remember that chihuahuas and shih-tzus (Teddy's a shih-poo) were actually bred specifically to be companion animals. Chihuahuas were bred to sleep under the covers with their guardians and to shiver to give off extra warmth (they were also bred for eating, but then again the people of ancient Mexico ate pretty much everything). Shih-tzus were kept by Chinese royalty and basically lived inside their sleeves.

 

[Teddscau]

Hahh...everyone's still traumatized over the whole thing. That was just messed up. Like, who would've ever thought that would happen? When you worry about bar spacing, you're worried about birds getting their heads stuck between the bars, not getting their leg wedged in it at an awkward angle. Man, I miss her so much. I think Tiki's finally feeling it too. He was pretty quiet yesterday (in terms of activity and body language, since he's never been particularly talkative since he's too sick), and he didn't eat the pomegranate I gave him in the evening. He ate all his bugs at least, but he didn't touch the pomegranate which is concerning since he loves it so much. Aww, and this morning when we went to give him his AGY medication, he started open mouth breathing before I even went to touch him. Poor baby's anxious.

Oh, and poor guy, the strength in his legs has really been deteriorating. Hes quit using perches and is instead sitting on platform perches. Like, he walks around on his knees/ankles instead of his feet now. He's getting pressure sores on his little knees (technically ankles) and feet. I'm going to start taking his platform perches out for 30 minutes at a time then slowly increase in order to get him to use his legs. I really don't want him to end up in the same situation as Ria. I mean, he's way weaker than she was, and look at what happened to her.

Blech, and his poops look horrid. His poop is such a dark green that it's almost black, and it looks all gritty. Hopefully that means he's pooping out dead fungal rods? Man, and his poop is all slimy. It makes goose poop look good. Freaking glad he's separated from the others. Well, he's on a hardcore regiment of Amphotericin B, apple cider vinegar in his water, citric acid in his chop, and probiotics. Hopefully the AGY's running scared. I also have the rest on probiotics and an acidic diet, plus I've been cleaning everything with ACV to help prevent any AGY from sticking to the surfaces.

Oh, hey, Rumi didn't have any AGY in her fecal samples, which is good. Just need to send in samples for Samantha, Pollo, and Ziggy. Oh, Robyn, why don't you just send all of them in at once? Know what? It's a pain in the butt trying to collect poop, okay? They freaking hold it in while I'm trying to collect it. Seriously, it takes me HOURS to collect samples. It should not take that long, but holy fudge, it's like they know what I'm doing so they decide to squeeze their cloacas shut so I can't steal their poop!

Oh, I think Noah's scared of red long-sleeved shirts/sweaters. When my uncle's girlfriend came over that one time, he had a freaking meltdown when he saw her. He completely lost it and just started beating me up because she wasn't close enough for him to attack (she was wearing a red sweater). Then this morning when I went in the aviary, Noah was excited to see me. However, when I offered him my forearm, he got upset and opened his mouth threateningly, which isn't normal since he loves riding around on me. I was wearing a red sweater. I'm about to go downstairs to visit them, and I'll see if he is indeed upset by what I'm wearing. If so, I wonder what happened at his old home to make him so upset at the sight of people wearing red sweaters.

Oh, Rumi flew today! Sort of! She launched herself off of a branch and flew forward a foot threwthrough wing propulsion alone! She didn't exactly creat lift (she smacked into the floor), but I think her wings might be getting stronger! If only she'd preen her wings (I think she just preens her chest and tummy). Poor little brain damaged girl. Still one of the smartest birds I've ever had. You wouldn't believe her problem solving skills. Sure she can't figure out how to get out of an open cage, but she's amazing at figuring out how to get around without flying. It's just unfortunate that she thinks she can fly.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I'm so so sorry about Ria
There is nothing I can say to make this any less painful. You have been working so hard to care for your babies. Please try not to beat yourself up. I agree with Kentuckienne.

Imagine this scenario: you hear a karkari hopping on the cage floor at night. You go to check and turn on the light. The bird is startled and flies into the wall and breaks her neck. Stupid, obvious! Of course you should have just let her alone! We just can’t be certain. Things happen, unexpected things. Those are the things that get us...the unusual, unexpected things.

 

[Teddscau]

Again, thanks guys . The things that I did and did not do contributed to her death. However, I personally didn't cause her death. I was doing almost everything I could to keep them alive since adopting them last March. I could've chose not to take them to the vet numerous times, in which case she would've been dead a lot sooner and it would've been my fault since I knew they were sick. However, I have to accept that none of my actions should have lead to her becoming trapped. They did lead to her getting her leg caught, but they shouldn't have. It'd be like if a drip from my hair after coming out of the shower landed at the top of the stairs, and then my mom slipping on it, falling down the stairs, and breaking her arm. None of this happened, but if it did, it wouldn't really be my fault. If I left a whole puddle at the top of the stairs, then maybe it would've been my fault. It isn't like I saw Ria on the bottom of the cage and just decided to turn out the lights. No, she was on the side of the cage, making her way to a perch, and I left the light on outside the room for a while. Heck, Rumi sleeps on the side of the cage all the time. I even let that little girl sleep with Noah on top of that rope ring perch I made. Rumi can't fly and if she were to fall...well, actually, that might be bad since she's handicapped...

Anyways, Tiki's legs are just terrible. So horrible. Awful. They suck. Like, they're worse than Rumi's legs after she's had a neurological episode. His legs SUCK. Man they are sucky. Man he is freaking WEAK. Fudge. I guess I should talk to Dr. Yee about physio exercises or something. Like, geez they are weak. It sounds like I'm picking on him, but I'm picking on his wimpy legs, not him personally. I think physio could really help, though. I was having a lot of problems with limping and my left foot turning out, and after a few months of physio exercises to strengthen my hip and knee, I was all better! I feel as though physio is easier with dogs and horses than it is with Tikis. Like, how the fudge do you work with a bird who sits on their bum all day and continuously face plants while walking? It's so awkward to watch. No stability at all in those joints. Actually, Ria and Tiki used to forage all the time in the aviary... Guess I'll be cutting open a bag of shavings, dumping them in a tray with bugs and nuts, then have Tiki go at it. Wow, I actually came up with an idea. Thanks guys!

 

[Teddscau]

I...I found something in Tiki's bath. I think it's his flesh. It's almost 2cm long. It definitely looks like flesh. Like, mouth flesh or esophagus flesh or something. It's definitely flesh. It's definitely his flesh. I know flesh, and that is freaking TISSUE. It FEELS like flesh. Fudge, contacted Dr. Yee and sent a photo, showed it to my farm friend, and I'm probably going to bring it to Dr. Morris tomorrow.

 

[Teddscau]

Tiki is now negative for AGY, but Pollo tested positive -_-.

 

[Teddscau]

Well...we got the AGY results back. Ju, Lara, and Noah (and Tiki) are clean. Ziggy, Rumi, and Pollo tested positive for AGY. Like, I thought something was definitely wrong with Ziggy and Pollo for the past couple of years, and maybe Rumi. With Rumi, though, she's had a number of neurological episodes that have left her with a touch of brain damage, so it can be hard to tell if she's sick.

It's going to be a pain. It's freaking impossible to medicate small birds -_-. Luckily, Pollo is the only one of the three who really bites. But he's a TERRIBLE biter. Has the beak of a female budgie. Fudge, how am I supposed to get them to swallow? Budgies don't tend to like sweet things (juice, maple syrup, ice cream), so it's going to be annoying. They LOVE tomato, though, so maybe we could try squeezing some fresh tomato juice for them? Making some thin oatmeal might work...

 

[Teddscau]

Okay, so we brought Tiki to see Dr. Yee yesterday, and he FINALLY had an x-ray! You know how his heart's been muffled and all that, eh? Well, it turns out his heart and liver look fine, however his lungs and air sacs aren't showing up on the x-ray (they're all white instead of dark). Basically, instead of being filled with air, they're filled with tissue. She thinks it's because he was sick for so long prior to me adopting him. That's why he gags a lot, flicks his head, and often gasps to breathe. And she doesn't think we'll ever get the infection completely cleaned up because she suspects there's a granuloma somewhere in him. I had her give him an oral dose of Ivermectin on the off chance air sac mites are causing this.

She sent him home with even a broader spectrum antibiotic just to see if we can't clear up his infection better, and he has to take it THREE times a day. Luckily he doesn't seem to mind the taste, and she filed down his beak for us. Man, awesome file job. His upper beak is as sharp as a spoon now, so now I don't have to bleed everywhere when medicating him. Oh, right, so basically he's going to be sick for the rest of his life because he received such horrendous care prior to adoption. However, we're going to work on getting him to exercise and eat properly again so he can get stronger and healthier.

Oh! And he's gained weight! He was 54g last time, and now he's 57g! I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, especially since I want him to be 70g, but he's actually gaining weight!

I stuck the three sick budgies in one half of Tiki's cage (I put a divider in), and now dad and I are going to spend the day disinfecting the aviary with citric acid and my bird-safe disinfectant. Then we'll stick Tiki in the aviary with Lara, Ju, and Noah, then we'll disinfect Tiki's side of the double flight cage, stick Rosie in that half, disinfect Rosie's cage, stick the sick budgies in Rosie's old cage, clean the sick budgies' half of the cage, then stick Noah in that. Yes, it's a complicated day of swapping and cleaning. Ooh, and I hope to finally put shavings in the aviary again! The shavings make my life so much easier, and the birds LOVE them!

 

[Teddscau]

Ziggy died this evening.

 

[Flboy]

I am so sorry!

 

[Teddscau]

Well, time for another update. Don't worry, I haven't had anymore deaths since I last posted. Man, I miss my sweet angels.

Right, so my berbs. I took Tiki off of his general antibiotics a few days ago because he's been having troubles with his poopies. Also, he seems way better and hasn't been gasping for air. So, he looks great, except for being underweight, having gimpy legs, missing feathers on his head, broken tail feathers, and dirty bum (his poop is a nightmare to wash off). Okay, so it probably sounds like he's dying, but he's actually doing so much better. He's gotten so much stronger, and he actually flies a little bit now and enjoys running around in the shavings, looking for food. He's really enjoying Ju and Lara, although they have been upsetting him a bit when they try to steal the larvae he's eating. Yes, the budgies are eating his worms now, too.

Right, so my two AGY babies. They're doing freaking great on the Amphotericin B. Like, you wouldn't BELIEVE the difference in Rumi! She's extremely alert now, full of energy, her mind isn't foggy anymore, and she's just full of life! Before she looked and acted brain damaged, but she's doing amazing now! Like, fudge, it's amazing! I feel bad that she went so long without being diagnosed. To be fair, when I took fecals in before, I didn't know that I had to specifically tell them to do a bacteria culture, fecal float, gram stain, and yeast check. Like, when I want them to do a fecal, I want them to do the works. Poor girl probably had AGY for at least a couple years now.

Oh, and Rosie and Noah are doing well living in the same cage. Honestly, I thought I was going to lose my mind when I had them housed separately, but now that they're living together, everyone's happy. They're excellent with each other and she's very gentle with him. Well, she can be a bit nippy with him, but she is gentle. Heck, all parrots are nippy with each other. I mean, as long as everyone's being gentle and doesn't beat the snot out of each other or torment one another, it's fine. We did have a bit of an incident several days ago when she struck Noah in the beak. The two of them were in a mood (her moreso), and she hit him and left a bruise. To be honest, she's far less aggressive than Noah.