This was not a good week!

[judy]

My new bird, Summer, had to be euthanized yesterday. I'm so sad for her.

I was putting water in their cage and she flew out. She wasn't flying very high at all, and landed on the floor. The dogs ran over and by the time I grabbed her, she was walking funny. This was on Saturday.

I decided to leave her alone and take her to the vet on Sunday if I had to. The stress of going to the vet might have been too much that day. I had to wait until Monday because my vet doesn't take birds. He sent me to a wonderful vet. She looked her over and she had a broken leg. She got a bandage, which acted like a cast. I separated her because the vet said she was very thin, and maybe Skye was dominating the food. I didn't think so because until I took her out, Skye did not leave her side.

I went out Tuesday and when I came home, hours later, she was on the floor with her beak caught in the bandage on her leg. I felt terrible for her. I was going to either mash up some food and water and syringe it into her mouth, she was so weak, or I was going to really overdose her on her pain medication and put her down.

She perked up though, and ate and drank, and I noticed that she was using the foot of the broken leg. What a little trooper!

I brought her in yesterday for a check up. The vet looked at her, her poop, and at how very thin she was and told me she had psittacosis. We discussed treatment, and I said, no - I don't want the poor bird to suffer any. The vet agreed. Most of the time, the meds don't work and the bird just wastes away.
I felt that she deserved a better ending than that. I held her for a while, and then they gave her a shot, and brought her body back to me in a little box.

I really am so sad. I spent about 7 days with her in the house, but gave her medicine and looked after her so much. I was so proud of her for not fussing over the bandage and eating and drinking, even though it was hard for her to get around. What a sweet, tiny little creature.

She wasn't meant to be here for very long, and I'm glad that I got to share some of that time with her.

Skye is very sad. She hasn't been singing since I took Summer out of her cage.