My birds are family to me and I love them dearly. One bird we have had for 21 years is a grey Cockatiel named Rudy. He was such a wonderful bird and always in excellent health. All of a sudden yesterday afternoon he got puffed up and lethargic. We rushed him to an emergency vet and they did x-rays and found some small pieces of metal in his gizzard. I have no clue what it could be as our home is very bird proofed. He was suffering from metal poisoning.

There is a very easy treatment for it, but no compounding pharmacies were open today. We spent hours calling everywhere and found a hospital 4 hours away that had the medication. My wife took off to bring him there and 1.5 hours into the drive he died. This is a tragic blow to us and our other bird is going to be searching for him and is now on his own. They were inseparable.

RIP Rudy. We love you so very much and your whistles and songs will be missed.

So sorry. What a gorgeous bird. I hope his pal gets through this okay.

I'm so sorry! Iris called for Coco for weeks.

Rudy, go find Coco, she's a wonderful playmate.


Go look at ALL the toys with bells on them.
ANY of the plating flaking off is poisonous.

I’m so sorry. I wish I had the words to provide comfort on your loss. These little feathered beings are the light of my life, and they can live so long, they really are family.

The only other consideration is perhaps to bring the other bird in for an x-ray “prophylactically” or see if the vet has some medication that can chelate with the metal- if they were inseparable it’s possible that they were both nibbling on the same item.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
I’m so sorry. I wish I had the words to provide comfort on your loss. These little feathered beings are the light of my life, and they can live so long, they really are family.

The only other consideration is perhaps to bring the other bird in for an x-ray “prophylactically” or see if the vet has some medication that can chelate with the metal- if they were inseparable it’s possible that they were both nibbling on the same item.

That is probably a good idea.

Sorry to hear. It's always hard losing a pet, especially one that you shared life with for that many years.

I’m so sorry that your Rudy is gone, Normin.

When I was a boy I had a parakeet. I was amazed by the amount of intelligence and personality that God put into his tiny brain.

Sad. BTDt.

RMD

Very Sorry SN. It is always so tough. He is a beautiful boy.

I'm sorry man, that's horrible. Losing a pet always is bad, but 21 years is a long time.

RIP Rudy

So sorry to hear. It's painful to lose a pet after so many years. Prayers for you.

So very sorry about this happening. Very sad. Sending good vibes and prayers!


ARman

Sad

Those little guys got personality 10 x their size

So sorry.

I am so very sorry

Rudy is a beautiful bird and so very sorry for your loss. You did all you could do...

Thanks everyone. I built him a nice coffin and my wife and I just did a nice ceremony and prayer as we laid him to rest in our backyard. This was much more difficult than I ever expected it to be. We have one bird left and he is really going to be difficult as he speaks with us and uses the words situationally appropriate.

Tomorrow we are taking our other bird to the vet for a checkup, X-rays, and bloodwork just to be on the safe side since these two did everything together.

Sorry for your loss. never easy to loose a pet as they are also family. remeber the good memories yall had together.

Very sorry to hear this SN.
Pets are family.

Sorry to hear that.

You tried your best