Greetings from Northern Colorado - Sad news

[kgilbert65]

I am happy to have found your forum and I regret to say my joining follows a horrific and sad day this past Sunday April 13th, 2014. I purchased a baby grey from a repuatable breeder from Arizona back in June of 2006 when I lived in Phoenix. He was such a constant in my life and not a friend or family member could have a phone call with me without hearing Rio in the background and laughing at his antics and wit.

He was only 8 years old and was a dna tested male Congo African Grey named Rio.

He died suddenly this past Sunday at 12:57PM

He was fine one moment and then fell off his perch the next. I held him in my arms as he passed.

I held him and petted his head and told him I loved him and was so sorry this was happening to him. I am so blessed to have been home when the attack came and was with him when he passed.

My vet did a necropsy on him and found clean pink lungs, but an irritated pancreas and fluid around his little heart. I am having tissues for a histopathology series of tests sent to an Avian lab in Oregon to hopefully uncover more info. I am absolutely grief stricken.

He began talking at 6 months of age and was such an amazing creature, friend and companion.

The house is so quiet and I find myself getting ready to talk to him out of habit.

I am not ready to take on a new little friend as of right now but I feel getting another little friend is a must when I am ready.

I have read that greys, including the famous "Alex" are prone to heart disease no matter how balanced their diet is and this scares me as I never want to go through this again.

Rio was only 8 and should have outlived me as I am now 49.

I know I can never replace him but I also know I want a grey in my life and Rio would not want me to live without one simply because he was gone. I hope the tests can uncover something that I can use in the future to help avoid another heart issue with my next grey.

I realize nothing is guaranteed but 8 years old is so young in my opinion for a bird to die when he was well cared for and lived in a safe, non toxic environment. I have been through all the stages of grief since Sunday and today I can smile a little when I see pics and videos of him. I know time will make things easier and seeing his cage in the garage is heart wrenching. His little body is wrapped up and in my garage freezer awaiting cremation next week. Has anyone experienced this or have any thoughts on greys passing suddenly when there are no signs up until then?

He is the only parrot I have ever owned and the only bird in the house.

Edited April 18, 2014 by kgilbert65

[SRSeedBurners]

That's terrible. Losing a bird is losing a member of the family. Hope to hear back what you find out and if you can deduce what may have led to the cause. From the sounds of it though, may be congenital. May I ask what your feeding program was?

[Ray P]

I am so sorry for your loss of a loved companion.

I have had birds for over 40 years and it never gets easy when one fly`s to the Rainbow Bridge.

Our thoughts are with you in this time of grief.

Just love him and his memory and when the time comes love your new one just as much.

[kgilbert65]

I fed him Roudy Bush Pellets as a staple plus a daily variance of fruits and veggies and very little seed.

The Vet said he was a little underweight when she examined his body, however she did not weigh him.

His beak was fine as were his feathers. He never exhibited any type of narotic behavior either.

I gave him broccoli, apples, bell peppers, grapes, strawberries, leafy green lettuces, baby carrots,...people food such as

salmon, chicken, cooked pasta.

Never gave him anything listed as a no no for birds. Fresh filtered clean water daily.

His cage was against a half wall in the main living room far from drafts and windows.

The vet said his crop and gizzard were fine. Nothing unusual in his digestive track.

When I picked him up he was so listless and he sort of moved his head and tried to open his wings but could barely do so.

I held him in a towel upright and stroked his head and talked to him.

I have one regret...it has been 7 years since his last vet checkup and blood draw. He was on a routine

grooming schedule and his groomer always said he looked great and was at perfect weight. I failed to take

him in for regular checkups not because of money but because I believed he was young and healthy and never

ever showed any signs of anything unusual or I would have in a second. I regret not taking him each year because

perhaps they would have uncovered high cholesterol or something that could have been treated?

I know Alex the parrot was in tip top health and still died of something heart related just as sudden as Rio.

My next baby will go every 6 months to see the vet.

I will never forgive myself for not taking him as I do my dogs.

[kgilbert65]

Thanks for the kind words....how can such a young bird die like this? The fluid around his heart has to be the smoking gun. I pray the histo results shed more light. I will certainly

report the results when I get them. I will have them in a couple weeks.

[SRSeedBurners]

Wow, sounds like a page right out of healthy feeding for Greys. Would really like to hear the results of the vet report. Sounds like you did nothing wrong. My only qualm is, I won't feed any pellet that starts with 'ground corn'. I think RoudyBush does. So many manufacturers use ground corn to fill out the product for sales esp. in dog foods and I notice parrot foods too. I highly doubt that had anything to do with it though being he was so young. I'm leaning toward a congenital condition of some sort.

Edited April 18, 2014 by SterlingSL

[kgilbert65]

Thanks Sterling that makes me feel better. I tried Harrisons and he didnt talk to me for a week lol so I stuck with Roudy Bush as I had heard it was better than ZooPreem

and considered one of the top pelleted foods

I feed my dogs natural balance salmon and potato so I know the importance of good pet food.

I havent been able to walk near the produce section at the grocery store since he passed on Sunday as that was my first stop each time to pick things out for him

What do you recommend? I didnt think I would be wanting a new baby so soon but the void and the silence (although I know a baby needs time to talk etc.)

is heart wrenching. I know I can never have my Rio back but I can teach a new parrot many of the same things in the same tone so to help me remember my fallen friend

and teach the new bird new and unique things as well. I hope the test results uncover what caused his heart attack, stroke or sudden death.

I have recently paid a butt load on car repairs so I will have to wait a week or two to pay the 175.00 needed up front for the histo test.

The vet says I have plenty of time as the tissues are safe in formulin or something that preserves them etc.

I will pay and have her send the tissues in 2 weeks on May 2nd. From there it takes 7-10 days for my vet to get the results.

has anyone heard of such a young bird dying from heart failure? The day he passed it was a cozy snowy day and he was just relaxing on his sleep perch.

I didnt see him fall but he could only have been in that state (stuck between perch and cage bars - his sleep perch was up in the left corner) for 5 min max.

Edited April 18, 2014 by kgilbert65

[SRSeedBurners]

I have heard of others losing a young bird out of the blue. My Amazon did nearly the same thing, fell over face first in his food bowl and out like a light, but he was around 15. It was also 20+ years ago when I got him and no one knew what the heck we were doing especially in the feeding department.

It's very tough losing a bird and then dealing with the guilty feelings of wanting another. You're not disrepecting the memory of your passed-on little friend. They make such a mark on you that really it would be highly unusual for you not to want to fill that void again, although you can never replace them.

 

There are several around here that have gone through some heart wrenching losses including myself. Recently Muse just lost one of her birds out of a beautiful pair. She has taken in another that would most likely end up who-knows-where but is better off for it now. We lost a sick little Jardines that I was highly attached to and I never thought I would get over it.

 

As for food - I wouldn't change much of what you were doing, especially until we hear back from the vet report. I see nothing wrong with what you were feeding. Supposedly Harrison's is the best of the best, it's what we feed outside of fresh veggies/fruits and sprouts. The ingredients list is very different than most.

[kgilbert65]

Thanks...I am so thankful I was holding him when he passed. he was very listless but I hope he was aware enough to know I was holding him and loving him and crying for him.

They are so smart as you know that I can;t imagine he wasnt listening and knowing I was there with him?

[kgilbert65]

i moved this to a new thread under memorials

[judygram]

Hello Kgilbert and welcome to our family.

So sorry about your grey, Rio but these things happen and its not your fault, he was a beautiful grey and I am sure he would want you to have another one and when one comes into your life the hole left by Rio will be healed.