My Feather Dusters.........dusty And Jumbo

[libby66 0]

Sorry to hear the sad news Kaz R.I.P Dusty

[Dellouisa 0]

That's so sad. Poor little thing, she was looking so good to. Thanks Kaz for taking the time and trouble to share her with us, she was a cutie.

[Catherine 0]

RIP, beautiful Dusty. Very special girl, I am sorry your stay was so short.

 

My sincere condolences, Kaz.

[rachelm 0]

Oh my, how very sad. RIP beautiful Dusty. So sorry for your loss Kaz.

[RJT 0]

Very sad to hear, she was gorgeous, and touched a lot of peoples lives on here. RIP Dusty, and condolences Kaz.

Robyn

[**KAZ** 0]

RIPBudgies off this forum is doing an autopsy on DUSTY partly to discover what went wrong and partly for RIPBudgies to begin a consistent study of feather duster budgies.

Initial findings indicate fluid in the sac around the heart causing heart failure.

I am sure RIP will come on and add to this so we learn from it.

It seems my observations about DUSTY's rapid heart rate seems to have had some foundation. At the time DUSTY died the bird was showing signs of being well apart from rapid heart rate and breathing if disturbed. I had just changed the paper in the bottom of the cage. The way I found DUSTY looked like she or he had taken a step forward, fell on its face and just died very quickly. No poopy bottom or illness.

Edited December 16, 2010 by **KAZ**

[Catherine 0]

Well a quick and fatal heart attack is a small mercy. It is better than some of the other things which could have befallen her.

It does not take away from the fact that this little sweetie has gone.

On an objective level, it will be interesting to read what RIP can tell us in due course.

[**KAZ** 0]

As RIP also said these feather dusters often have ambiguous ceres too and most cant be sexed easily. We will know if DUSTY was definitely male or female.

[RIPbudgies 0]

As Kaz already mentioned there was fluid around the heart. When I first opened Dusty up I was presented with a big yellow fluid looking mass (about the size of a quail egg) where the heart should be. I removed all the viscera except lungs, kidneys and genetalia. Liver was in great shape as was intestines and no worms or other parasites that I could see. Pretty much no fat deposits in the abdomen which I would not expect to see in FD's. The weight of Dusty was great a wopping 68 grams.

 

I seperated the yellow mass from the rest of the viscera and when sunlight was shone through the heart could be seen off to one side. Upon opening this up a yellow jelly like substance came out with a yellow fluid. Prior to opening this up I did noticed a hard mass and the bottom. Looking at the heart it was pale and there appeared to be a mass towards the bottom. I managed to remove it from the heart and it was a greenish colour but had not infiltrated the heart wall but rather was stuck on the outside.

 

I disected the heart and found no blood within, there was a fair bit of congealed blood at the entrance to the heart however. The heart was pale with the usual amount of fat around the top portion. The fluid filled sac was most likely the pericardium (a protective membrane around the heart) In response to the mass on the heart it may have begun to fill with fluid and the mass on the sac could well have been at one point attached to the wall of the heart and hence why it was found so far down on the sac wall.

 

With this much area filled by fluid there would have been more pressure on the heart and when Dusty became more agitated his blood would need to pump more blood. Dusty's lungs too would have been affected as they would not be able to fill to capacity and blood oxygen levels would have been decreased contributing to the heart muscle failure.

 

I did also look at the brain but quite honestly I have never seen a normal budgie brain so have nothing to compare with. I did think it looked quite large, pale and spongy. So next time one of my birds die I'll have to crack open it's scone and take a look inside.

 

As for Dusty's sex well I am still not a 100% sure. As an immature bird the organs will be small. I found what I thinks looks like a testis but I could not find a matching pair or I was looking at the adrenal gland. I was also not sure if another organ there could have been the ovaries but seem to be a little to central. Maybe Dusty was both. I am going to do a little more digging and see if I can come up with an answer.

 

I did take some photos but will not post here as they are a bit up close and personal. Also Kaz does not want to see Dusty this way but would rather remember him/her the way he/she was.

Edited December 16, 2010 by RIPbudgies

[robyn 0]

Really sorry to hear about dusty Kaz, at least you know you gave her every chance for a happy life even though it was short.

I'm keeping a picture of her in my photo files anyway.

[Catherine 0]

Thank you, RIP. That is most informative. She sounded so healthy apart from the issue with the heart. It sounds as though she did brilliantly to last as long as she did with such poor heart function. Her weight and lack of extra fatty tissue point to how very well she was cared for. I wonder if there are hermaphrodite budgies.

I am so sorry Dusty has gone. I am glad you did not post the pictures.

[**KAZ** 0]

Thankyou RIP for the autopsy and great write up about Dusty.

I felt Dusty was a good body weight so thanks for confirming that....she or he compared to any largish show budgie I had. Its my opinion that had the heart issue not been a part of Dusty she or he may have gone on to a longer life.

 

 

PS I dont mind the up close and personal photos of the organs...heart etc. I just wouldnt like to see Dusty looking like Dusty but pulled apart ....if you get my drift.

Edited December 17, 2010 by **KAZ**

[RIPbudgies 0]

Your quite welcome Kaz. Kaz I will email you the heart photos directly so you don't have to look in photobucket.

I will label photos and post them to photobucket and provide link in this thread. I am quite busy today but I should have them up by end of tonight.

[**KAZ** 0]

In light of BBC forum being an educational budgie forum I have approved RIP posting autopsy photos so we can all learn something from this.

[splat 0]

Sorry Kaz for your loss, Dusty lasted longer than I thought as mine don't. So you did a great job looking after him.

Thanks RIP on your autopsy and write up very interesting.

[**KAZ** 0]

I think they all have varying degrees of how much being a feather duster affects them. Some have a rough start due to parenting issues and others dont eat when they leave the nest. I was just lucky the dad kept feeding for awhile and then Dusty was good at eating once he got the hang of it after fledging.

Looks like if the heart hadnt stopped then Dusty might have gone on for a long time.

Edited December 17, 2010 by **KAZ**

[splat 0]

Yes I think you are right Kaz because I noticed that the couple feather dusters that I have had have been huge fat chicks, but once the parents stop feeding them they loose weight nearly over night. Mine have died from starvation I think.

[Sunnie 0]

Sad to hear of Dusty's passing. I think small mercies though, in that he passed quickly of heart complications rather than slowly of starvation, which so many FD's seem to suffer from. RIP Dusty and thank you Kaz for the pictorial journey of his life and thank you RIPBudgies for the fascinating explanation of the autopsy.

[RIPbudgies 0]

These are the best pics. I have labelled them so you know what your looking at.

Because Dusty died in this fashion does necessarily mean all FD's die the same way. Unless untopsied we never know. So anybody in Perth has one and it dies put in the fridge in a plastic bag. DO NOT PUT IN FREEZER. Get the bird to me ASAP and I will do the job if you are to squeemish. So now for the pix. Don't forget they are thumbnails. Click on them for larger versions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2010 by RIPbudgies

[Sunnie 0]

From what I can see, they are pretty amazing pictures. Unfortunately, I cant get the enlargement link to happen, so I cant see the labels.........

[**KAZ** 0]

Enlargements are good to go now

 

Thanks RIP Brilliant photos and the write ups are easy to work out whats what

Edited December 17, 2010 by **KAZ**

[Dean_NZ 0]

OOoh amazing. I was hoping to see the pictures. Exceptionally beneficial! Thank you Kaz and RIP!

[anne101 0]

Rest in peace Dusty......

 

 

[Sunnie 0]

Wow. Those pictures are really clear and very well done. Thank you RIP and Kaz for sharing with us. I am usually very squeamish, but the pictures were so clean and labelled so well, I got over that in the interest of learning something.

[JustBeaky 0]

Just got done reading this whole post. This was very very interesting. To me finding out what a feather duster actually was to learning about them as the post went on. The pictures of the heart were very interesting as well. I am though very sorry about her. I was upset when I read she passed. I found her so so interesting. Thanks for the thread Kaz. Awesome information. R.I.P. little dusty.