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Posted by Admin
Monday, October 17, 2005
Taking a Break by Expat
We lost a member of our flock on Saturday night so posting will be rather light over the next few days. If anyone wishes to contribute, just send me an email and I will hook you up with the ability to post.
Oh, I'm so sorry -- did you have any idea there was a problem, or was it very sudden? I'm guessing it was a bird who passed on, and I know when we've lost ours, they've faded very quickly. Our parrotlet had barely 24 hours between the time she showed illness to the time she died -- birds are so sneaky about those things. I hope you're doing okay, and all of our flock sends their love and support.
Mudpuppy, we had no idea that anything was wrong with him at all. Out of all four of our birds, he has always been the most healthy.
I think that he got startled and had a stroke. He flew to the side of his cage and then fell down. Initially it looked like he had broken a wing, then we realized that he had no control over that entire side of his body. It all happened in a mere matter of seconds (which felt like hours) and he was gone. It was so sad.
There is such an empty hole in my soul right now. It is probably tough for non-bird people to understand just how much a bird could mean to someone. Birds are full of so much character. This little guy was overflowing with personality. He always made us laugh with his antics. It is pretty lonely without him right now. That little bird had a big impact on our lives.
Since we will be moving in the near future, we decided to have him cremated. We couldn't stand the thought of leaving him behind.
It's been over a year since our parrotlet died, and about three years since our conure died. I still dust off their little urns every week when I clean bird cages, and I finally just discarded the newspaper that was lining the bottom of Bubbe's cage on the day she died. That's not as gross as it sounds, because I cleaned her cage while she was at the vet, so the cage paper wasn't used at all. Still, I'd left it there for a year and a half... nutty, I guess. I've had four birds die and it never gets any easier, because they're all so unique and the bond I had with each was so different. Birds are a tough sell -- you have to really work to earn their trust. It's such an amazing gift when they let you share their lives. Your little guy was lucky to have such great owners.
Thanks Leigh-Ann. I definitely feel better knowing that someone else is as crazy about birds as I am. :)
I still have his cage set up. We had cleaned it just a day or two before. Last night I nearly filled his dishes and then I remembered. It sure is tough getting used to him being gone. I am not sure when I will be ready to dismantle his cage. Not yet at any rate.
I picked out the urn yesterday. It has flowers and palm leaves on it. It goes with the jungle theme of our bird room with all of the plants and the parrot curtains. The only room in the house that we had painted was theirs. We painted it a nice happy yellow colour. It really was impossible to be sad in that room - until now.
So far the rest of the flock is doing alright. I was pretty worried about them because they were calling for him shortly after he passed. I think that they know that he is gone though because they are no longer calling. Usually if one of them is at the vet's office of if I take one of them out of the room, the others all call for him until he comes back.
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