My Quaker died yesterday....

[bubbie57]

My 14 year old Quaker died today- it was so hard to watch him die while I was holding him- I am wondering what happened. Maybe someone will be able to give me a probable answer based on my description

We came home and found Cosmo on the bottom of his cage fluffed up with his head down. My husband reached in to pick him up and Cosmo tried to stand and fell over.
We wrapped him in a towel and cuddled him- he just laid there and pretty soon he was making strange noises as he clearly was struggling to breathe. I held him after that and suddenly he kind of flopped over and had what I would describe as a seizure. It didn't last long and then he died. I will never forget this- it looked like such a painful death.
Earlier in the day he was fine, sitting on the door of his cage and eating his favorite food- popcorn.
Any ideas? We were thinking he had a stroke- he did seem to have problems with one of his legs as he tried to stand and his toes were curled.

[NotEnoughTime]

From the way you describe it, it sounds very similar to how I've heard birds die from teflon poisioning. It seems unlikely you were cooking at the time - so some other resperatory thing such as smoke from burning incense or essential oils?

You can have an avian vet try to discover *why* he died but that may not tell you *what* caused it...

What type of popcorn? Microwaved? Buttered? Some of those have very interesting ingredients that may not be the best for birds....

[Jwhear]

I don't have any answers but wanted to say that I am very sorry for your families loss. I am sure it was very hard for you but at least take some peace in the fact that he died in the hands of the one he loved.

[chapala]

I'm very sorry you lost your bird, and so suddenly too! The only way to know for sure what caused the death is to take the bird's body to an avian vet for a necropsy.

[kellywess]

I am very sorry for your loss.

[nestbox]

I am so sorry for your loss. About six years ago I lost my quaker about the same way, no indicationn of illness and just all of a sudden die. I had a neocropsy done and the vet said she didn't have a healthy cell in her kidneys or liver from cancer. They hide their illness so well. She was only ten years old, I've heard their life span is not as long as most think it is. My vet said he's seen a lot of them die around ten years old. I had her cremated and she'll be with me forever. So sorry to hear about this.

[becca623]

I'm very sorry for your loss. Although I'm sure it was difficult to watch, take comfort in knowing that he knew he was loved and spent his last moments in the arms of those he loved. For me, being there to say goodbye is very important and knowing that the little one wasn't alone makes the grief process hurt a little bit less.

[bubbie57]

I have read about Teflon poisoning, but I wasn't cooking at the time and hadn't at all that day. It's definitely something to consider in the future for my other birds. Thanks for the information

[bubbie57]

Thank you for your post- it does make me feel better. I would always chose to be with my pets- we lost 2 shelties, but their deaths were quick with no suffering.

Only a fellow bird owner can REALLY understand how it feels :-)

[Lisa B]

I'm sorry for your loss as well.