My poor kid is really on a roll with his budgies.

 

When he took Fizzer in to the vet, he mentioned that he had a budgie at home with "sore feet". Chester suddenly became unable to grip onto his perch anymore and he was walking with his feet out flat.

 

She said to bring Chester in as well as it sounded like it might be gout.

 

We don't know how old Chester is because he came as an adult with a group of 5 but he has always been exceptionally healthy and fit and very tame and friendly.

 

Sure enough she was right. It is gout. It is not curable and there is really no proven way of treating it so we're looking at palliative care for the poor little bloke. He can fly perfectly well but just cannot grip a perch to land so my son is going to "kit out" the aviary with platforms in addition to perches so he can land like a helicopter instead of a bird.

 

The sad news is that eventually it will become too painful (apparently the pain from gout in humans is excruciating) and he will have to be euthanased. It's a matter of "when" not "if", but while he still has a good life and is happy to fly around and doesn't appear to be in pain he can continue to be with his friends and see out his last weeks or months in a happy state, then I think it will be a good thing for everyone.

 

My son volunteers at the local animal shelter and he has already had a chat to the director about it and they are going to get together tomorrow and have some time to talk about making the decision when to know it's time to say goodbye.

 

Poor kid.

 

On Wednesday he took two budgies in to the vet and came out with only one who he is also going to have to say goodbye to.

 

Life can be very cruel at times. At least he has the right outlook and does the best for his animals

Smudgie try giving him Cherry juice!!

Thanks for posting. Hopefully you'll ge some more tips to go with what we've already discussed. Good luck with him

Smudgie try giving him Cherry juice!!

Can you tell me more about that?(Was have a juicer!)

Thanks for posting. Hopefully you'll ge some more tips to go with what we've already discussed. Good luck with him

You have PMd me some great ideas already so many thanks I did a forum search for gout and couldn't see a lot. The vet showed us the areas where there are deposits in his feet and once she showed us it was very obvious.I will try to get some good photos for future reference. She said it cannot be reversed but if caught early, the diet can be altered and the progress of the disease can be slowed.I am inclined to think it is hereditary and not dietary because he has the most varied diet - in fact that is how I found this forum in the first place - looking for all the different foods that budgies can and cannot eat.They eat better than we do!

I am sure that others will have a different opinion or advice, But gout is mainly caused my a high protien diet - Gout is a bulid up of the uric acid in his joints so giving him some cherry juice, either frozen cherries or canned cherries ( fresh is best lol it has the extra electralies (sp ) in it to help with it

I am sure that others will have a different opinion or advice, But gout is mainly caused my a high protien diet - Gout is a bulid up of the uric acid in his joints so giving him some cherry juice, either frozen cherries or canned cherries ( fresh is best lol it has the extra electralies (sp ) in it to help with it

 

The vet said the same thing about diet. That gout is mainly seen in birds who have a seed only diet.

 

But she also said it is hereditary so we're wondering about that too.

 

And I have to smile about the cherries - now that you have clarified because he LOVES cherries! He hasn't had them since last cherry season but my son used to get a handful of cherries for his budgies (he hand picked the ones that were on the double stem) to hang them on the tree in the aviary so the birds would get to "pick"the fruit.

 

I am so shocked at the diagnosis though. My son even got the recipe for "bird fruit salad" when we visited Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary 2 years ago and he feeds it to his birds every week.

 

I should post that recipe on the forum somewhere. It's great.

Yep Cherries, Cranberries are great -

Yep Cherries, Cranberries are great -

 

Are dried cranberries okay too?

I am not 100% on that on would have to check with the experts but i would say they are fine, Mine eat sultanas not often but they have

Most of the dried cranberries have added sugar.

I would also think that rearranging the cage where he doesn't have to curl his feet as much and giving him more of flat perches to sit on so he can keep his feet flat, diet is a big factor in gout as mentioned but it can be controlled to a degree.

Thanks to everyone for your help. We couldn't get any cranberries Neat. In fact now that I think abut it I don't think I have ever seen them for sale before but I did get some cranberry juice and we put about a teaspoon into his water. I don't know if it made any difference or not though.

 

Sadly poor little Chester started to deteriorate very quickly and it was only a matter of days before my son had to make the decision to have him put to sleep.

 

He was a part of a bonded pair and we got his girlfriend out of the aviary to keep him company. It seemed to cheer him up and I think it kept him happy. While he was happy enough to walk around and still chirp and fly he was okay but almost overnight he seemed to be in a great deal of pain and he just sat on the floor of the cage in the corner.

 

My husband took them back to Lort Smith on Friday and had little Chester put down. My poor son was devastated as Chester was very tame and friendly but there was no choice. The vet (and people here in PMs) said that budgies will try to disguise the fact that they are in pain but we could tell he was suffering so it was the only kind thing to do.

Very sorry to hear about Chester Tough decisions to make at the best of times.

OH NO!

Not another one ... Poor Duncan and you!!

 

BIG HUGS! I am sooo sorry to hear -

OH NO! Not another one ... Poor Duncan and you!!BIG HUGS! I am sooo sorry to hear -

I know!Chester was actually having a bit of trouble gripping his perch before Fizzer even developed the lump but we didn't worry about it too much because it was only occasional and it didn't seem to affect him at all. We just figured he was older than we thought.

 

I was very shocked by how fast he went downhill but I imagine that he was probably in some discomfort for a long time and was just putting up with it because it wasn't severe. He did need to be relieved of his pain though.

 

Poor Duncan was very upset however I took him out today to choose another budgie and the one he found is absolutely awesome! Quite tame and very friendly.He got it from PetsAtHome, which is a really responsible pet shop. In the past when he has had a couple of clutches, he has refused to sell them to petshops because he doesn't trust them and he has instead, given them to a good home (after inspecting the size of the cage and making sure they will look after the budgie properly) - gotta love this kid.

 

http://www.petsathome.com.au/lortsmithAnyway he now has "Cheeky" who is a very handsome blue male and he settled right in with the others (the shop quarantines the birds themselves)

 

And here's the lovely thing - EagleEye who was Fizzer's mate has paired up with Cheeky very nicely and they seem to be getting along like old friends. I'm so glad - she was really missing Fizzer.Now we have to find a nice friend for Chester's mate.

 

Oh and I almost forgot to thank you for your condolences. It's harder than I thought to put an animal to sleep. This was our first time and poor Duncan was really upset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited - too hard to read in one block

Edited August 24, 200816 yr by Smudgie

Oh... so sorry for this hard decission and loss. Biggest hugs to you and your son. ((((((hugs))))))) And remember I'm always a PM away.

Oh... so sorry for this hard decission and loss. Biggest hugs to you and your son. ((((((hugs))))))) And remember I'm always a PM away.

 

Thank you maesie!

 

You have been wonderful. My PM box is full right now but I have to copy some of the lovely messages I received before I delete them!

 

There are some truly awesome people on this forum!

I am glad to hear that You and Duncan decided to get another one, and not let what has happen put you off

 

I would and I am sure that I speak for the rest of the members would to see pics of Cheeky

I am glad to hear that You and Duncan decided to get another one, and not let what has happen put you off

 

I would and I am sure that I speak for the rest of the members would to see pics of Cheeky

 

 

I wish we'd got some today on the way back home.

 

The people in the pet shop were anxious that he had a blanket to cover the cage so he wouldn't be stressed but it was only a few minutes before Duncan took the blanket off to show me how Cheeky was jumping onto his hand!

 

He's a relatively tame little chap and Duncan said on the way back home with Cheeky sitting on his hand (he had his hand in the cage) "This is the first time I have been really happy since Chester died"

 

Photos to follow!

I am glad to hear that You and Duncan decided to get another one, and not let what has happen put you off

 

I would and I am sure that I speak for the rest of the members would to see pics of Cheeky

 

 

I wish we'd got some today on the way back home.

 

The people in the pet shop were anxious that he had a blanket to cover the cage so he wouldn't be stressed but it was only a few minutes before Duncan took the blanket off to show me how Cheeky was jumping onto his hand!

 

He's a relatively tame little chap and Duncan said on the way back home with Cheeky sitting on his hand (he had his hand in the cage) "This is the first time I have been really happy since Chester died"

 

Photos to follow!

 

Oh... that brings a tear to my eye... sweet I'm also over the moon you both decided to get another tame bird. I hope things go well with Cheeky and too look forward to seeing him!

Oh it was so bittersweet!

 

When he chose Cheeky he actually chose a different bird but the cage in that shop is HUGE and a staff member has to literally walk in there with a net and try to catch the budgie.

 

Duncan ended up saying "just get any male I don't mind" even though he had chosen Cheeky already but he didn't want to stress them.

 

Well she did catch Cheeky almost straight away and it turns out that just luckily, he is used to humans already and is tame enough to jump onto someone's hand!

 

 

What a bonus! He's a lovely boy.

 

I'm so glad for Duncan

I tell you what.

From the sounds of the Lord smith Vets to their Own pet shop - This is a great to read. (Under the circumstances )

I hate hearing about how all the PET SHOPS stuff up and have poor quality of birds and etc ....

But I am sooo happy, to hear of the care that this one has towards their birds