I haven't been here for a year or two as I have been very busy, bought a house & moved. I am so extremely sad and thought maybe you guys would understand. Juji wasn't "just a pet" or bird, to me she was a friend, companion, silly girl who made me laugh. She was my daily companion and was with me through many hard times. I am so angry. She was only 5 yrs and 2 mnths old. I thought I did everything by the book, I expected she would live at least 10 years. She was never sick, she was happy, active, she ate a diet of no preservative/colors/flavors/chemical veggie pellets, seed, organic vegetables, herbs, greens, bottled/filtered water. She was free flighted, out up to 8 hours a day, slept a solid 10-12 hours a night, had more toys & play gyms than she could ever play with, lived in a chemical/fragrance/smoke/non-stick/toxin-free home and had a 4 foot flight cage with a sun lamp. I kept their room around 70F with approx 30-62% humidity depending on weather and house temp and ran an air purifier. She had never laid an egg and never mated with our other Budgie Bela. She'd been in this house about a year, so I don't believe it was moving/new house related.
She was fine the day prior; flying, singing, playing. Then the next day she was playing and singing in the morning. I did not notice anything different or strange in her appearance or behavior. Later at night she was sitting on my finger like normal and tried to fly back to her cage and fell - she couldn't fly suddenly. She looked a little bit larger than normal. It looked like she had a bump on her chest. I felt it and it was soft. I moved her feathers a bit and it looked like it was filled with fluid, almost like a blister. Than I noticed it was also on her left shoulder. I had never seen it before and I am with them every day, they are in my office with me, I hold them, play with them, they fly free, sit on my shoulder, play on gyms. Within a short time it seemed to grow much larger. But she always acted normal - eating, drinking, singing, climbing, sleeping. Her poop was always normal, the same. Since it was late at night and she was puffed up like a pinecone, which I knew was not a good sign, we decided we did not want her to potentially stress or die on the way to or from a vet's office. So we held her, kept her warm, sang to her, told her we love her and if she needed to pass than we wish her a peaceful journey to another place. We said our goodbyes and let her sleep. I checked on her again an hour later and she was sleeping so I sat down at my desk (their cage is right next to it) and went online to see if there was anything we could do or to try to find out what it was. She woke up, sang, came down ate and drank, then went up to her high perch. She was chattering away and I told her I loved her and she was so pretty and my beautiful baby girl. She started to what I call "wash her hair", preen and wipe her head on her oil gland. She then started beak grinding, so I left to let her sleep. I went to bed and woke early and just knew she had passed; with a dream/vision of her lying on the cage floor. I went into my office and she was lying exactly as I saw her in my dream. She was still warm and it looked as though she fell from her perch. I am heartbroken. I loved her so much. Any ideas what happened? I am afraid for Bela, he keeps looking for her and screaming the way she did when she wasn't happy. He does sing when I am with him and he is eating and drinking, but he keeps looking for her. He did see her on the cage floor after she passed and saw me wrap her, so she didn't just disappear and he doesn't know why, although he is obviously confused. I sat with her body in front of him saying my final goodbyes, and then my husband did so also. I took her body and wrapped her in a pretty heart towel along with a lock of my hair and a feather of Bela's (I know she is gone and she wouldn't even know, but it made me feel better to do it at the time) and put her in 2 freezer bags in the freezer - we decided to make a flower bed in the back yard with a memorial for her when the ground is no longer frozen. I'll put her in a pretty metal box so nothing can get at her there.
I am just so sad. She was so much fun. She had such a big personality. I never knew I could love such a tiny feisty creature so dang much. It took me 4 long months to earn her trust, and training her was so hard, but so worth it. I feel privileged to have cared for her and known her. I really thought she'd live much longer - my husband says even if she lived 10 years it wouldn't have been enough, but still I want her alive, here. I go into my office and expect to hear her chirp angrily at me because I woke her up or made a loud noise. I accidentally called Bela Juji and started crying. My time with her was way to short and I am devastated.
I know she was happy right to the end and I am glad she passed at home and we were able to say goodbye beforehand.
*Any ideas of what happened, what was that blister-like lump? How do I ensure the same does not happen to Bela?
