Posted March 17, 200817 yr Hi All, My sweet little budgie died on the weekend, he was the best budgie in the world. He was 3 and a half, fit healthy, eating, drinking doing everything he normally does on Friday. He did not look sick, he was not puffed up...he was just the same as he always is... then on Saturday morning we found him on the bottom of the cage, alive, but one of his legs was paralyzed and he could not balance on the other leg, all he wanted to do was lie on the bottom of the cage and go to sleep... I heard him chirping under his cover Saturday morning so he was fine then, i thought i heard something crash to the bottom of the cage but didn't think alot of it as we have 9 budgies and they all play around together... So we took him to the vet, they had a look and said his leg wasn't broken, they took him in over night and he died that night... the avian vet wasn't in until Sunday....(feel bad that we didn't just take him to another vet where an avian vet was). So my point is... could he have fallen somehow and done some internal injury to his leg (i.e joint) or does this sound like a stroke.... he was still eating and drinking when he was at the vet Saturday evening maybe he had another stroke and that's what killed him.... if he did fall wouldn't he be able to balance on the other leg? The vet said may be kidney problems but you would have thought he would have showed symptoms before and had funny droppings.. Any ideas on what might have caused him to die would be much appreciated, it keeps going through my head!!! Also can budgie's have xrays? thanks abi
March 17, 200817 yr Hi Abi, it sounds like he had a stroke. My sympathy to you, but at least he is now free from pain. *hugz* Feathers.
March 17, 200817 yr Firstly welcome to the forums. I'm sorry we are meeting under these circumstances. I'm really sorry for your loss. I can't be much help with how your little one died. Budgies have a way of hiding their illness' very well, and often, as you've found out, when they're on the bottom of the cage, it's too late. I'll leave it to some of the more experienced members to give possible medical reasons. All I can say is don't blame yourself. You took him to a vet as soon as you could and although they weren't an avian vet, you had his best interest at heart. And yes... budgies can have xrays. Once again, sorry for your loss, and ((((hugs)))) from me! maesie xxx
March 17, 200817 yr Welcome Abi, I'm so sorry for your loss I agree with Feathers that it could have been a stroke (((hugs))) Liv Edited March 17, 200817 yr by **Liv**
March 17, 200817 yr My very first reaction to how you described the signs was a kidney or testicular tumour. These can grow very fast, to a point where it presses on one leg nerve or both (that's when they stop trying to stand and maybe that's when you heard the crash) and then it stops the normal functioning of the organs in there like the gut, blood and kidneys. These kinds of tumours occur most commonly in budgies. The vet should have felt the legs and taken an X-ray - yes, they can take X-rays of budgies. The X-ray should show a mass if it was a tumour or any breaks if that happened. A stroke is possible but you wouldn't see that on X-ray. A really hard knock to the head or spine could have also caused the same signs. I am so very sorry for your loss *hugs* to you. You did the very best you could for your little one. Fly free little budgie.
March 17, 200817 yr Author Thanks for all your welcomes, nice to know there's people out there that care. Maybe it was a kidney or testicular tumor... the avian vet who came in Sunday morning and felt and looked over BJ said he was fine body wise, i.e she couldn't feel any lumps etc... but who knows i wish we had gotten an xray, it's just a shock as he was fine one minute then gone within like 24 hours... Wish i could bring him back to life.
March 17, 200817 yr Thanks for all your welcomes, nice to know there's people out there that care.Maybe it was a kidney or testicular tumor... the avian vet who came in Sunday morning and felt and looked over BJ said he was fine body wise, i.e she couldn't feel any lumps etc... but who knows i wish we had gotten an xray, it's just a shock as he was fine one minute then gone within like 24 hours... Wish i could bring him back to life. ((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))))) It's so hard to loose a pet, esp when they are very special to us. We all feel your loss and are here for you. Just as an added point, even if you had have gotten an xray, and it had have shown up a tumor, I'm not sure if anything can be done about them in budgies??? I don't know if they'd survive surgery (correct me if I'm wrong). I lost my "mum" budgie last year. She had two clutches (5 babies I still own) from ovarian cancer/tumor. There was nothing that could be done for her. I know that it prob doesn't make you feel any better though... maesie xxx
March 17, 200817 yr sorry for your loss. You tried all that you could to save him. You sound like you care heaps for your birds and thats what matters. Look forward to hearing about your other budgies and seeing pics soon
March 17, 200817 yr Welcome to the forums, I am very sorry about your loss. You received good ideas on what happened it will probably be unknown and educated guess I am with Chyr on it probably was some type of tumor.
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