Sick budgie Mariah

[DonnaBudgie]

One of my English budgies, Mariah, has been in questionable health since I got her a year ago. She's about 3 years old and had two clutches of babies before i got her. She's retired from breeding. She's always been a very sleepy bird. Sleeps and eats and occasionally comes out of her cage to fly a bit and sit on top of her cage, mostly sleeping. A few days ago we got home from work and found her on the floor quite a distance from her cage. She was very weak but we put her to sleep. At about 3am I woke up to flapping and found d her struggling at the bottom of her cage. She kept trying to climb up to a perch but kept falling so we took her out and put her in a large clear bin with a towel and food and water. She had tons of poops stuck to her vent so I cleaned it up and she's been pooping normally. She's eating bit I don't think she's strong enough to go back into her regular cage that she shared with four other budgies. I very much doubt a vet can do anything other than do tests and imaging to tell me her days ate numbered due to tumorsbetc. For about $300. I don't see the point. If I thought she had an infection or an injury I'd bring her in but this is a long term decline in vitality.
What should I do? I want to keep her comfortable in her bin. She's not very sociable with other birds. I don't want her to wear herself out trying to act normal in her cage. Am I doing the right thing.

 

[kme3388]

I’m sorry to hear about your feathered friend. Vets are so expensive. It is discouraging to pay for something that won’t change the outcome. I myself in emergency/life threatening situations will pay the money. At least if nothing can be done maybe some type of medication can help with suffering is the way I personally look at it. I just paid money for a behaviorist with more experience than what I have to learn how to handle one of my parrots. I just spent $100 on 2 extra large perches for placement training for one of my parrots. This stuff really does add up. I completely understand your dilemma.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Thanks. If I thought the vet could help I would do it in a heartbeat like I have before many times. She's been fed the same good diet as my other birds. She gets plenty of exercise opportunity. All my other budgies are in great health. I think the vet would tell me to put her down and I don't want to do that unless she's in distress and right now she's apparently not.

 

[Jcas]

So sorry to hear Mariah isn’t doing well . I think you’re doing the right thing by keeping her separate and quiet. Going to the vet is stressful and there seems little likelihood they can do anything for her. As long as she isn’t suffering, just keeping her happy and comfortable is probably the best thing you can do for her. Since she’s been going downhill slowly, I wonder if she has some kind of slow organ failure? It seems like budgies are fairly prone to the liver and kidneys failing and this can be fast or slow. Those things can be somewhat genetic so it’s not likely something you could have prevented. Prayers for Mariah

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Mariah is holding her own right now. She looks like she's always looks. She's a very fluffy big budgie but under the fluff she feels rather thin. Here a picture of her in her bin. She has fresh water, seed mix and chop closeby. I don't normally feed millet spray but I want her to eat. I think she may have injured herself when she was out trying to get back to her cage from the adjacent porch where I found her. Like sprains and strains not broken bones. With lots of rest I'm hoping she regains her strength. I agree that she may have some slow organ failure so common in budgies, especially Engiish show birds like her. Shes such a sweet docile girl. I hope she recovers but i give her 50-50 based on her seeming poor health prior.

 

[GivemeSeedsorgivemeFlesh]

Poor sweetie! I wish I could give her cuddles I love her colors. It's so hard to see them unwell...

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'm thinking that Mariah may have a seizure disorder due to her past events of trashing and recovering pretty quickly. Maybe she had a seizure before I found her on the floor and she injured herself while thrashing around.