Swollen liver?

[seagoatdeb]

So sorry for your loss.

[Chantilly]

My deepest condolences...
I know how hard it is to loose a pet, they become family and always at your side... They never fail to be there to support you, and you support them. You did everything you could and spent days under stress for your little boy, he would be thanking you, you gave him a wonderful life and home, dont ever forget this.
It is only natural to mourn over your loss, this is not a bad thing, merely natural.

All the best is beeing wished your way mmeager.

[liz]

It has been quite some time since I lost my Sweetie cockatiel. I still miss her she was so special. I remember her most when I see an all yellow bird. It brings back so many memories. She is at peace and waiting for me in heaven. I believe that heaven has to hold our critter babies or it would not be heaven to me. She was the adventurous bird that led the others. I am told they do not have a pecking order but the other cockatiels watched things she came up with and learned from her.
The 14 cockatiels that I have now are different little personality and precious to me as individuals. I love each one and they are each one.

I am rolling on again. I want you to know that you can love another and still remember your baby with love.

[mmeager]

Thank you all so much for your kind words, and heart felt responses, you are all beautiful people.
It really helps to have the understanding of fellow bird owners, people who truly understand! We haven't spoken about, or told what has happened to many, but those we have, are not bird owners, and they just don't get it.
The hurt is not going away. I'm supposed to be a strong man! But I have cried like a little baby every day, I miss him so much.
We have always had pets, we are huge animal lovers, but Buddy really stole my heart! it was only a short time we had together, but the impact of his personality, and so many things about our whole experience together makes me feel like we have always been together.
I have put Buddy's cage away, I cant bare to even look at it, and right now, I really cant face the thought of another bird being in there.
In fact I feel like I want to get rid of everything, and when another bird enters our lives, we will buy everything brand new. Time heals I know, and maybe this feeling will go away, I don't know.

We still have not received any results from Buddy's autopsy, but as soon as we do, I will let you all know what took him away from us, irrespective of whether it was our fault or not. If it was our fault, then let it be a huge lesson to all new bird owners of what NOT to do, ever! Otherwise whatever the cause was, will increase our knowledge, and just might save some birds in the future, either way I think its a good thing for everyone to know.

[liz]

Only a human owned by a bird can understand the deep rooted love we have for our birds. I have quite a few but mourn if I loose one. Each one is an individual and I love them as my children. 40 years ago I had budgies but treated them like birds because I did not know better. In those days I would never have believed how a bird can widdle it's way into my love and emotions. Every once in a while I am in awe of the bonds between me and my babies.

Your baby can never be replaced. It is like loosing a child. But keep in mind that there is another bird out there who needs you.

[Pajarita]

Thank you all so much for your kind words, and heart felt responses, you are all beautiful people.
It really helps to have the understanding of fellow bird owners, people who truly understand! We haven't spoken about, or told what has happened to many, but those we have, are not bird owners, and they just don't get it.
The hurt is not going away. I'm supposed to be a strong man! But I have cried like a little baby every day, I miss him so much.
We have always had pets, we are huge animal lovers, but Buddy really stole my heart! it was only a short time we had together, but the impact of his personality, and so many things about our whole experience together makes me feel like we have always been together.
I have put Buddy's cage away, I cant bare to even look at it, and right now, I really cant face the thought of another bird being in there.
In fact I feel like I want to get rid of everything, and when another bird enters our lives, we will buy everything brand new. Time heals I know, and maybe this feeling will go away, I don't know.

We still have not received any results from Buddy's autopsy, but as soon as we do, I will let you all know what took him away from us, irrespective of whether it was our fault or not. If it was our fault, then let it be a huge lesson to all new bird owners of what NOT to do, ever! Otherwise whatever the cause was, will increase our knowledge, and just might save some birds in the future, either way I think its a good thing for everyone to know.

OK, let me make one thing clear: it was NOT your fault! The truth is that parrots are incredibly hard to keep healthy and happy and, to make matters worse, even when you take the time to do research and read everything out there about their care, the information is so contradictory that unless one has a freaking crystal ball, it's impossible for anybody to figure out what is right and what is wrong. Then you have the fact that birds not only hide their symptoms until they are so very sick that they simply cannot make the effort any longer but, to make matters harder on us, their physiology is SOOOO very different to what we know and are used to that it's real hard to determine if, say, this or that poop is right or not, if he is just taking a nap or he is actually lethargic, etc. We all know and feel very confident with mammals because that is what we are and there are lots of similarities between us and animals like dogs, cats, guinea pigs, etc but birds are so very different that they throw us for a loop every time. Aside from that, avian vets are not that good when it comes to diagnosing and treatments... and I am not putting down avian vets, mind you!, I am just stating a fact. Parrots might have been kept as pets for hundreds of years but we have not really started learning about them until very recently so, although avian vets might try their best and be as knowledgeable as they can be, the pool of available information is simply too small.

[mmeager]

Well everyone, we finally have an answer. The test results have come back.
Buddy left us due to cancer. Which brings about a lot of questions in my mind. But also explains the large white dots on his liver.
I have not verbally spoken with our vet yet, she tried calling, but we were unavailable, so we received a lengthy text message, unfortunately she will be away until Saturday. If there are any more details after I have spoken with our vet, I will most certainly let you all know.

[b]Pajarita-[b] What you said has played around in my mind strongly. Everything you said! And you were right. Thank you!
It is hard enough losing Buddy, let alone thinking we may have killed him.

One more thing, our vet has offered us the opportunity to adopt a bird who needs re-homing, I know nothing about this bird, such as type, age, history, health etc. I want too, but I just cant get my head off Buddy, I still cant even look at his cage. So I don't know what to do.

[Wolf]

We were pretty certain that there was nothing that you did to have caused Buddy's passing and I am glad that this has been confirmed by the vet. Pajarita is my go to person, especially on medical issues involving birds as she is very knowledgeable in this area.

As for taking in this bird... It is very hard to advise anyone that has gone through what you have with Buddy on what to do. But sometimes going ahead and accepting a new bird that is in need can help with your healing process and restore the joy of caring for the bird and you don't need to be concerned that it will make you think any less of Buddy and due to the vast differences in personalities, it could cause you to love what you had with Buddy even more although I know that it does not seem possible.

If you are interested in trying to help this bird have a great home, perhaps you and the vet can work out a meeting for you and the bird as a first step and if that goes well then maybe a trial period of a month would be in order to see how that goes. If all of that works well then you could keep the bird.

This gives you the option that if at any point it is too much for you to handle that you can back of for as long as it takes for you to heal more, but it is very possible that this other bird would be just what you need in your life.

[Pajarita]

Adopt him/her! I might not be PC enough on this (an unfortunate fault of mine that happens way too often) and, like Wolf, maybe I should word it more ambiguously, leaving you a way out if you don't really want to take him/her in but I firmly believe that there is nothing for heartache over the loss of a beloved companion like having another one which NEEDS us. And this bird needs YOU or the vet would not have mentioned it. He/she will heal your heart and you will heal his/hers.

[Wolf]

Not trying to be ambiguous about this, but I have seen it work both ways. More often than not it works out like a charm and everyone receives benefits that help them to heal, but I have also seen where it just makes things worse for the human and that would not help the bird as they read us far too accurately for us to hide any misgivings so they would probably not develop the trust required for bonding. This last is just my opinion, but I think that it is a valid one.