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Lost a pet this weekend
Back from Baltimore. Had a good time.
Over all? Not a good day.
Gracie and George (my two lovebirds) headed off to stay with my parents for the weekend. Wednesday night, my parents pick them up. There was wrestling involved. (Hey! They love to wrestle!) and both seemed fine.
Thursday night, my mom calls and says she thinks Gracie threw up but she otherwise seemed fine. Since my dad was going in for some medical tests (nothing serious, but something that involved fasting and drugs) everyone was a little distracted. In either case, both birds were running around and driving people (and my parents' pet black-capped conure, Kermit) crazy in general.
Friday I call from Maryland to see how Gracie is doing and she seems fine if a little puffy.
Saturday...bird is definitely sick. She's crawling into my parents hands and falling asleep. Not a good sign. So my parents rush her to Tufts University Medical Center (the vet section) and bring George with since they've never been apart. My mother is upset and she doesn't understand how Gracie ended up in the birdie equivalent of ICU since she was *fine* (throw up incident aside) until Saturday morning.
They test for everything...all they can figure out is she's got a bacterial infection and that her liver isn't working right. George stays with her in the incubator (he's totally healthy) since they've been together since chickhood.
Anyway, she seems to recover a little. Meanwhile, I'm going nuts in Maryland.
My parents visited her Sunday night. George is going out of his feathers with boredom (yucky food, no perches, no toys, and Gracie's being totally no fun) and so he keeps trying to sneak into my parents' pockets so he can get the hell out of dodge. Gracie's balance is fine. She is responding to antibiotics, but she's still not doing so hot.
They keep her another night.
So, to make long story short, I haul in from B'more this morning, de-cat myself (my friend has three cats and everyone in my family's allergic, including me), and head to my parents so we can go to Tufts.
Gracie died while we were en route.
I let Tufts keep Gracie for a necropsy (it's a vet school and honestly, the doctor seemed relieved that I was willing to let them keep her) so they could hopefully tell us how the hell she died.
George, naturally, is going out of his tree because he can't get the hell away from Tufts fast enough.
We've disinfected everything. I've tossed all the food just in case. George is eating and drinking just fine. He even had some grooming action going on. The only sad thing is he'll chirp and then cock his head to listen for the the answering chirp. He's a little confused as to why the cage is his, all his.
Right now, he's a bit quiet.
So, yeah....
I get to go back to work tomorrow morning.
Over all? Not a good day.
Gracie and George (my two lovebirds) headed off to stay with my parents for the weekend. Wednesday night, my parents pick them up. There was wrestling involved. (Hey! They love to wrestle!) and both seemed fine.
Thursday night, my mom calls and says she thinks Gracie threw up but she otherwise seemed fine. Since my dad was going in for some medical tests (nothing serious, but something that involved fasting and drugs) everyone was a little distracted. In either case, both birds were running around and driving people (and my parents' pet black-capped conure, Kermit) crazy in general.
Friday I call from Maryland to see how Gracie is doing and she seems fine if a little puffy.
Saturday...bird is definitely sick. She's crawling into my parents hands and falling asleep. Not a good sign. So my parents rush her to Tufts University Medical Center (the vet section) and bring George with since they've never been apart. My mother is upset and she doesn't understand how Gracie ended up in the birdie equivalent of ICU since she was *fine* (throw up incident aside) until Saturday morning.
They test for everything...all they can figure out is she's got a bacterial infection and that her liver isn't working right. George stays with her in the incubator (he's totally healthy) since they've been together since chickhood.
Anyway, she seems to recover a little. Meanwhile, I'm going nuts in Maryland.
My parents visited her Sunday night. George is going out of his feathers with boredom (yucky food, no perches, no toys, and Gracie's being totally no fun) and so he keeps trying to sneak into my parents' pockets so he can get the hell out of dodge. Gracie's balance is fine. She is responding to antibiotics, but she's still not doing so hot.
They keep her another night.
So, to make long story short, I haul in from B'more this morning, de-cat myself (my friend has three cats and everyone in my family's allergic, including me), and head to my parents so we can go to Tufts.
Gracie died while we were en route.
I let Tufts keep Gracie for a necropsy (it's a vet school and honestly, the doctor seemed relieved that I was willing to let them keep her) so they could hopefully tell us how the hell she died.
George, naturally, is going out of his tree because he can't get the hell away from Tufts fast enough.
We've disinfected everything. I've tossed all the food just in case. George is eating and drinking just fine. He even had some grooming action going on. The only sad thing is he'll chirp and then cock his head to listen for the the answering chirp. He's a little confused as to why the cage is his, all his.
Right now, he's a bit quiet.
So, yeah....
I get to go back to work tomorrow morning.
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I remember when my fish died I practically wanted to take a sick day.
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::pets George::
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:(
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(i lost two beloved kitties not so long ago. first a childhood friend from a long and well-documented illness. his death was more of a mercy. just a month or so later, my young puppycat died pretty suddenly. i just woke up one morning and he was vomiting blood. emergency surgery wasn't enough to save him. i still don't know what it was that killed him. if i could kill whatever it was though, i would. he was my son. i still miss them both so much. the point of this little parenthetical is to say, i know how you feel.)
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I hope George adapts to his solo status soon.
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-Mark
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I'm really sorry for your loss.
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condolences for Gracie
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Will the Vet school let you know what happened to Gracie?
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(Anonymous) 2004-09-20 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)I grew up in the country, and to this day my folks have always kept at least two or more dogs at home. (Besides companionship, they're an effective alarm system, barking at anybody who pulls up in the driveway.) My experience with a whole bunch of dogs (and a couple of cats) is that animals have their own emotions, they know when something is wrong...and they know when one of their own is gone and mourn in their own way.
I hope you and George get through this.
Rob/Skippcomet
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I'm so sorry. Birds have such lovely little personalities. It's terrible to lose a pet.
So sorry...
(Anonymous) 2004-09-21 06:20 am (UTC)(link)Just wanted to let you know that I never appreciated birds as pets until I read your post. I hope that George stays healthy and adjusts well. I'm not sure why this post touched me so (I always considered myself a pets-with-fur person), but it did and I thank you for sharing your emotions.
Beth T.
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My sympathies to George as well. He must be lonesome.
poor bird!
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Poor Gracie, poor George, and poor you (and your folks).
::big hugs::