R.I.P Gracey

My African Grey, Gracey, passed away in the car on my way to my home in florida on 12/13/13. She was 15 year old. I've been through all the emotions. I took her to a local avian vet to have a necropsy performed. Apparently my little girl was extremely sick. She had a very enlarged heart, very enlarged liver, enlarged spleen (chlamydia test is being performed) And she passed from blood in her lungs. This is usually a sign of teflon/inhalant poisoning. So after thinking and thinking what I had changed, the only thing I could think of is that I started reusing my mister, in the bedroom where we all slept, with a few drops of eucalyptus oil. The vet is certain that this is what caused her bleeding into the lungs, which killed her.

I feed her harrisons high potensy coarse, almonds, walnuts, pecans, dried fruit and of course what ever I was eating. She loved steak, ham, pasta, potatoes, yams. She ate well, so I am confused at to her liver/heart desease.

It hurts, but i need to inform all in the bird community that natural oils are not safe.

Very Sad, I will miss her very much, she was a sweetheart.

I want to open my home to new flock members, but I need to know where I went wrong or did I. Was she just born with this?????

I am so sorry for your loss. Birds are very delicate creatures, and you never know, even if you're the best caretaker, sometimes these things cannot be avoided.

Eucalyptus oil??? Really? I know a man that feeds his Eclectus eucalyptus leaves, so that is odd. I have to look that up.

Here's a thread on Eucalyptus and parrots.

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/21642-why-eucalyptus-bad.html

I am so sorry for your loss of your beloved Gracey.

Sometimes our fids develop a life threatening ailment with no fault of our own. Several years ago I lost a fairly young Amazon to liver disease. Never had a clue anything was wrong with him, he acted perfectly normal. By the time he showed symptoms it was too late. I left over $1,000 at an avian vet, and my boy died in my arms the same night.

Rest easy, Gracey, you were very much loved and will be forever missed.

I am so sorry for your loss Sometimes no matter how well we treat and take care of our fids, things happen that are out of our control. It sounds like you gave Gracey a wonderful life.

I'm so sorry for your loss! It is heartbreaking to lose them and we so often don't get much warning so it comes as a terrible shock. RIP sweet birdy.

....and just a few other words to hopefully comfort you.....it's not 100% sure that the eucalyptus oil is what caused your Gracey's illness, so don't blame yourself. When my Georgie died suddenly, the vet said if i didn't have a canary in the house who was fine, he would have assumed an inhaled toxin (She died of shock that was of unknown cause, there was bleeding in her her lungs and liver. The final theory was "blunt trauma".) I know your bird's circumstances were different and there are other organs involved in a possible disease process but please don't automatically blame yourself. It is so easy to feel guilty and I'm sure you feel sad enough already.

Sorry to hear about Gracey's passing.....

Thank you all for kind and comforting words. Time will heal me and my family. :64:

It's really hard when it's so sudden. I took her to the vet about 4 months ago and explained the changes that I was seeing, her feathers were not coming in correctly and she was shredding them on one wing. The avian vet said that it was a condition that their was no cure for. Now i'm wondering if the vet new then that something was more and didn't want me to freak out. I know birds are very hard to diagnose, but I still feel bad I didn't spoil her more because I was watching that I didn't hurt her with too many treats.

Once again thank you all for your support.

Sounds to me like you were doing everything that a loving, caring parront does! Great diet, lots of attention, vet check up. You obviously loved Gracey very much and took great care of her. Sometimes these things just happen despite our best efforts. I pray that you will heal, the pain will fade and the good memories will remain.

mytish, I am so sorry for the loss of your Gracie - and I do know how difficult that can be, I have lost beloved pets as well as family, and the pain can be near indistinguishable - I don't think non-pet owners can understand that. But you are right that the passage of time will help and I help you get to the place where you celebrate Gracie's life rather than mourn her untimely death.

I am very sorry for your loss. Sending warm thoughts to you.

Sometimes those organ failures are congenital. Breeding can play a part too. It seems that might be the case.

Very sorry for your loss.