My GCC died at only 10 months old :(

My boyfriend and I purchased our cinnamon gcc in May and he was born in January. He was so healthy and had fresh juice every day. He was the happiest he could have possibly been with us. The last 3 days he wasnt himself. He was eating and drinking normally but wasn't playing or making any noises and if he did make a noise it sounded scratchy. He was sneezing a lot and sleeping literally all day long in a different position than he normally sleeps. Both of his eyes were swollen and looked bruised. One was swollen so bad he could barely open it. We could see he was having difficulty breathing so on the 2nd day we took him to the bird hospital, which was yesterday. When we got there he had just a tiny bit of blood coming out of one nostril (which never happened until then) and they also found blood on the roof of his mouth. They did x-rays and blood tests and sent me home to wait until today for the results. Our little baby Yoshi died at 3:45 this morning and letting out a small yell and flapped his feathers. It was a matter of about 2 seconds before he died. He was sleeping on a blanket next to me and leaning against my hand when it happened. We've never felt pain so deep. I talked to the doctor and he said the x-rays were fine and in the blood work they found his white blood cell count was down which indicated some sort of virus. He is sending all the results to an expert in Toronto who won't be in until Saturday so we just have to wait to see what happened. We buried him in our yard today under a willow tree wrapped in a blanket (he loved blankets) and we put his 2 favorite toys in the box. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this happening?

Im so sorry for your loss. My heart hurts for you.

Thank you. We both said this is the worst day of our lives. We loved him so much and one of us was always here with him. He was the sweetest, happiest bird. He didn't deserve this. I'm very curious to see what the results are.

I am so sorry. My heart goes out.

Thank you. I feel like I will never get over this. I had to miss class and work at 2 different jobs because of it. Everything in our house reminds us of him. We put down a deposit on a second gcc so that he would have a friend and now we don't know if we can handle getting a new one.

This is so very sad. I'm glad you got him to the vet although I'm sorry that they were not able to get the results more quickly. Please do keep up informed pertaining to the results. You have my condolences!

So sorry for your loss. It's amazing how big a hole these little feathered critters leave in our lives when they depart. I lost my feathered baby after almost 20 years a few months ago & I still talk to her, forgetting she's not with us anymore.

If you do go ahead with the second bird, just make sure the cage is safe & not going to give the new bird the same virus.

Sorry for what happened, pepsis wishes goes out to you. I am as curiose as you are for the results , at least he went while he was with you. I never imagined losing my fluffy Pepsi or sprite. Many people don't know how much we love our birds. Some people say " so what ? You could get another one at petco 20 bucks " but they don't realize that it isn't just a bird it's our best friend. I don't really know any diseases that could cause it, maybe you could google it ? Get another gcc, I don't mean to replace him it'll just help you get through with this, it'll make you sadder if your birdless.just make sure you completely sanatize the cage or get a new one

So sorry...

Those of us who have lost our little angels share your pain. Only a bird lover can know what an impact these creatures have on us.

im sorry for your pain keep your head up.

that made me kinda tear up.
please let us know immediately what they figure out was wrong.
it could have been neonatal, bacterial, cancer, leukemia, who knows..
i'm sorry for your loss.

Definitely made me tear up...So sorry that happened to you......

So sorry to hear you lost him!


I'm with Conurelady, it could have been anything! Even a fungal infection! Or it could have been something in your home such as cooking with a non-stick pan, cooking in a pan/container/cookie sheet or in an oven that contains PTFE, it could have been some sort of aerosol (perfume? hair spray? bug spray? air freshener?), bad candles, etc.

I hope you are able to find out what caused his death, and perhaps, in time, you can bring another feathered being into your home!

Horrible news, so sorry to hear of the loss of your feathered friend.

I am so sorry for your loss.

How horrible. I am sorry for your loss.

First I would like to thank everyone for the condolences. It's really appreciated. As far as household products, I changed everything in the house as soon as we brought him home. We use all natural laundry detergent, dish soap, we have no candles or air fresheners, we dont wear any perfume/cologne, we don't smoke, we don't use the teflon pans, I clean everything with a vinegar/water solution. We had something come to our minds though and the doctor is going to look into it, but right about when his symptoms started we had brought home a welcome sign from the store and we hung it above his cage because you see it when you walk in the door. It was hard to hang up so little pieces of it got scraped off (probably landing on his cage, in his food dish, etc.) Now we've learned that sign was made with formaldehyde. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not but the doctor will be looking into that as well. I will be sure to keep everyone updated

Last week we had actually put a deposit down on a gcc that hatched recently so that Yoshi could have a friend. That one still won't be ready for another month but we still aren't sure if we want another one or not. I really would love to have him but it will always make me think of Yoshi (but I guess I'll always be thinking of him anyways). I feel like we should get him because if he only brought us half the happiness that Yoshi did, it would make me happy. Another thing is that I'm worried about bringing another one in because what if it was something in our home that killed him...I just don't know, but I do know if I bring him home I will be sanitizing EVERYTHING first. Any suggestions on what to clean the cage and toys with? Is hot water and vinegar good? Also, how do I put a picture on here by my name?

I am so sorry. Your story brought tears to my eyes. I also lost my little girl in August, who was only 11 and healthy. I know 11 is much older than your baby, but still very young for a conure. It is so hard. I am glad you got to be with your baby until the end.