My GCC was accidentally euthanized by a Vet this weekend...

Abbiebaby · Sep 5, 2011

Hi everyone - I lost my GCC, Abbie, two days ago at the ER Vet. I took her in for what appeared to be a seizure. We arrived after her episode had ended and she was in perfect form (dancing, talking, showing off, etc) so we assumed that we just needed to do a few simple tests to make sure everything was ok before taking her back home.

The Vet gassed her to sedate her in order to collect X-rays. She never woke up. I noticed that the Vet did not listen to her lungs during her physical exam, before taking her back to get the pictures. When the Vet came back, obviously in tears, she said that Abbie had pneumonia and if she had known that she would never have tried to sedate her.

Is anyone well informed on any of this? I know that birds "mask" illness, but Abbie wasn't just hanging out seemingly ok. She was playing ferociously with her toys, giving attitude, and be just as loud and rambunctious as always. If she were indeed very sick, wouldn't her level of activity dropped somewhat? And, what was the Vet's responsibility to her before sedation?

If you can help I'd greatly appreciate it! I can't seem to get over any of this and I'm crying constantly because I feel like I could've done something differently.

Thanks.

Nakiska · Sep 5, 2011

Oh my goodness! ((((Abbiebaby)))) How devastating!

I don't have any advice for you, but wanted to send you my condolences. I know that any time, anyone, pet or human is put "under" it has it's risks.

I am so so SO sorry for your loss

Toni

upcgirl · Sep 5, 2011

I am so very sorry of your loss.

I don't know much about birds and pneumonia, I do know that they mask things for a long time. My Amazon, Ricco, I had for 18 years. I had him since he was weaned. I went to work one day and he was fine, I came home that night and he was sick. His red blood cell count was virtually depleted. Birds are supposed to have a rbc count in the 60s and Ricco had a rbc of 19.

I don't understand bird illness either. It is like they are fine and suddenly they get tired of hiding their illness or something. I still mourn for my Amazon

even though my little Sennie is quite entertaining and sweet.

sabrecat666 · Sep 5, 2011

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend

emilye2 · Sep 5, 2011

It is very hard for a vet to hear respiration sounds over the heartbeat of a bird. It's even more difficult to determine if there is something abnormal with that sound. It's difficult for a vet to hear changes from pneumonia on something like a dog. We had a 14yr old lab come into the clinic after being boarded-shaking, lethargic, and panting. He always pants though, it's an old dog thing. He sounded fine panting, no raspyness at all. We were able to xray without sedation and his lungs were a mess.
For others out there if your vet says your bird needs radiographs please ask that they try taping them first. Especially the smaller birds like conures. Generally once their wings are taped to the table they stop fighting. A light towel over the head helps as well. When it comes to birds sedation should be the LAST ditch effort.
Abbiebaby I am so sorry for your shocking loss.

Please know your vet feels awful about this and would probably trade places with you in a second if she could. Hugs to you and yours during this time.

Abbiebaby · Sep 5, 2011

Thank you. I am still reeling from it all. The Vet was sweet and a decent person. I guess my confusion lies in how everything went down. I was told that it would be mal-practice to not perform the x-rays, so obvious I said, "please do them". Then I asked how she planned to get her to stay still, to which she replied gas (nitrous oxide). She didn't tell us that there were any risks to this. My father-in-law is a dentist and I thought that they used a similar set-up to calming her down as they do for me when I go in to have my teeth fixed. I had no idea they were planning to put her to sleep, briefly. I know that may sound ignorant of me (and it was), but if I had known the actual procedure and risks I would've said no. I have had good luck with my birds and have never had to take them in for an ER visit before. I feel so responsible for making a decision that was wrong.

jourdy · Sep 5, 2011

Sorry to hear about that, unfortunate to lose your pet out of *possibly* vet neglect. I have lost my favorite pup to a careless vet, so I know how that feels.

If it helps, a lot of breeders in my area have told me before that birds hide their illnesses well. In fact, yesterday I made a surprise visit to the vet to have my Sun Conure's nails trimmed but the 'bird vet' was not there so they couldn't help me.

I was surprised because there were lots of other vets in the clinic, but upon further questioning, the secretary told me that some birds die from the weirdest of reasons. I forgot the terms she said exactly, but I remember she said that sometimes when birds' nails are cut, they have to be handled carefully because of a possible heart attack? Or something like that.

Remy · Sep 5, 2011

My condolences! *hugs*

brianlinkles · Sep 5, 2011

I am so very sorry for your loss. What a terrible situation, hugs to you.

Toasty84 · Sep 5, 2011

Sorry for your unfortunate loss.

As mentioned before, birds are very good at hiding illnesses during the beginning stages. Think of it as a defence mechanism. It's something all birds instinctually do. Most bird owners will only ever notice that their bird is sick once the illness has or is almost kicked in full gear.

As for Abbie's level of activity - that all depends on how long she was sick/how hard the illness was hitting her. Some might show signs from within a couple days to a couple weeks, some might show signs only after a couple of months.
In any case, when dealing with animals and anaesthetics, there's always a chance that something can go wrong.
Ultimately, Abbie would have eventually began to show signs of being ill, but by then, the pneumonia would have most probably been in full swing.
There's even the possibility that her accident had nothing to do with the pneumonia, but rather a bad reaction to the anaesthetic itself.

Out of curiosity, is said vet an avian vet?

suebee · Sep 6, 2011

i am so sorry to read this happened and please do not blame yourself in anyway!

mrob · Sep 6, 2011

You poor poor thing, and your poor baby. My heart really goes out to you

Abbiebaby · Sep 6, 2011

Toasty84 said:
Out of curiosity, is said vet an avian vet?

I called my regular Er Vet (we have many other household animals that often need quick care) and asked if they knew where I could find an Er Avian Vet. They put me on hold and then came back on line and said that there was in fact a Dr. in that night that could see my Abbie. Before Abbie passed she knew all there was to know (seemingly), afterwards however, she mentioned that the Sr. Vet she works with has said that he has run into problems with pneumonia before in birds. It seems to me now that she was an "Avain Vet in training".

Also, the girl at the front desk was so excited to see Abbie. Her comment was, "we never get to see the cute ones. It's always cats and dogs." I then asked if Dr. N was good with birds and they said "oh yes, she even has her own Birds at home. She is one of our favorite rotating Drs.)

I am never comfortable letting anyone else handle my birds, but that night I felt as though I had to trust that they knew what they were doing and I was wrong.

KBEquine · Sep 6, 2011

Abbiebaby said:
Toasty84 said:

Out of curiosity, is said vet an avian vet?

Click to expand...

I called my regular Er Vet (we have many other household animals that often need quick care) and asked if they knew where I could find an Er Avian Vet. They put me on hold and then came back on line and said that there was in fact a Dr. in that night that could see my Abbie. Before Abbie passed she knew all there was to know (seemingly), afterwards however, she mentioned that the Sr. Vet she works with has said that he has run into problems with pneumonia before in birds. It seems to me now that she was an "Avain Vet in training".

Also, the girl at the front desk was so excited to see Abbie. Her comment was, "we never get to see the cute ones. It's always cats and dogs." I then asked if Dr. N was good with birds and they said "oh yes, she even has her own Birds at home. She is one of our favorite rotating Drs.)

I am never comfortable letting anyone else handle my birds, but that night I felt as though I had to trust that they knew what they were doing and I was wrong.

Please don't beat yourself up. Hindsight is 20/20.

You did have to trust they knew what they were doing because your friend needed help NOW.

And there's no way to know whether you would have had a better or different outcome had you chosen not to allow the x-rays that required sedation.

You did everything you could. There are things you just can't control.

My deepest sympathy for your loss.

birdmama61 · Sep 6, 2011

Okay first off I lost an animal to vet neglect and Im sorry to say this and Im not trying to be cold but get yourself an attorney and you sue her for neglect and malpractice too if possible . Your bird was worth something and she obviously did not know what the hell she was doing . You sue to keep her and this practice from doing this again to someone . It is not about the money . I would see an attorney and see if this sort of thing happened there before . im sure if it did there is a record somewhere of it . Im very sorry for your loss but get your head together and get an attorney .

birdmama61 · Sep 6, 2011

Abbiebaby said:
Toasty84 said:

Out of curiosity, is said vet an avian vet?

Click to expand...

I called my regular Er Vet (we have many other household animals that often need quick care) and asked if they knew where I could find an Er Avian Vet. They put me on hold and then came back on line and said that there was in fact a Dr. in that night that could see my Abbie. Before Abbie passed she knew all there was to know (seemingly), afterwards however, she mentioned that the Sr. Vet she works with has said that he has run into problems with pneumonia before in birds. It seems to me now that she was an "Avain Vet in training".

Also, the girl at the front desk was so excited to see Abbie. Her comment was, "we never get to see the cute ones. It's always cats and dogs." I then asked if Dr. N was good with birds and they said "oh yes, she even has her own Birds at home. She is one of our favorite rotating Drs.)

I am never comfortable letting anyone else handle my birds, but that night I felt as though I had to trust that they knew what they were doing and I was wrong.

Im sorry to say this but yeah they always say that when in fact they really dont know about the person and that is to keep you from thinking about suing them in case something does go wrong . I did win my lawsuit and got vet bills paid for with another vet for like 10 years but I never ever took another animal I owned back there and I also was instrumental in bringing them to close their practice because it seemed as though I was not the only one who lost an animal there to neglect . Please dont let this go files charges , see an attorney .

MikeyTN · Sep 7, 2011

That's so horrible!!!! I'm so sorry to hear about your Abbie!!! I don't trust any vet 100% I always question them with multiple questions before they do anything. I always do my own research first before I say yes on anything. That's why it's wonderful having a smartphone to carry around. VIA Internet!!!!

JensFlock · Sep 7, 2011

I am SO sorry to hear of your loss. I got teary reading your post. Big hugs to you.

zjamesh92 · Sep 7, 2011

I am very sorry to hear about this. I would think that it is your vet's responsibility to inform you of any risks of putting your bird under. You would think that she would WANT to tell you the risks just in case you were a little weary of the procedure. You cannot blame yourself for what happened though. You did not know what was going to happen and as someone said in a previous post, those types of procedures are very unpredictable when used on small, delicate animals such as a bird. Policies for a veterinarian doing a routine exam is probably something that I would research a little bit just to see if she did everything that she should have done or if she skipped anything. Again, I am very sorry to here about Abbie and thank you for the advice on my post!

mrob · Sep 7, 2011

I just want to say thankyou ... because of this post when I have been at the vet this week I remembered you and Abbie and made sure to tell them not to do anything to Merv without clearing it with me first, and no gas. Which is great as it turns oiut she has a serious respiratory infection and gas would have almost certainly killed her.

Im so sorry for your loss, and thankyou for sharing it with us - I learnt from your post and I am grateful.

My GCC was accidentally euthanized by a Vet this weekend...

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Cinnamon green cheek

Update on the GCC's.

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