# Cockatiel put to sleep- went into shock? need support



## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Hi All,

This is my first time posting. Today has been devastating as I had to put my 8 year old cockatiel to sleep. After doing further research on his condition, I am hoping I did the right thing, but having doubts now and would like some other opinions.

Last night, my cockatiel had a night fright. I woke up, took the cover off the cage as I normally would and saw that his wing had gotten caught in the cage bars (I have 1/2 in spaced bars). He was frantically trying to get free and very distressed, I went to assist but only caused him to get more freaked out but I had to dislodge it. Once dislodged, he went to the bottom of the cage and was flapping around screeching as if in a lot of pain. I took him out and put him in a small dark carrier to see if he would calm so I could take a look at him. He was hissing and making sounds like he was in pain, and favoring one of his wings. Of course my immediate thought was his wing was broken and I promptly packed him up, got in the car and drove to the emergency vet (which handles exotics). this was around 2 in the morning.

On the drive there, he was quiet most of the way but i could hear him walking around, then he started screeching terribly in pain and then all went quiet. I got to the vet and they said he was critical, he looked lethargic, kind of slumped over and had labored breathing. She said she wanted to give him oxygen, pain meds and see if he improves over the next 2 hours. At first she said she didnt feel a fracture but upon further look she did say it looked like a slight fracture and bruising on the wing. He was in an incubator type thing but she did take him out from time to time to examine him. Eventually I decided I wanted to leave him over night to see if he improved by morning. The vet called 2 hours later saying he looked like he was having seizures and not improving. This was around 5 hours after the initial incident. She recommended euthanasia and said there was probably a 1 percent chance of him recovering from this. I agreed to it as I didnt want him to suffer and she put him to sleep.

After the fact, I began doing research and it appears my cockatiel went into shock, based on the symptoms. Never once did the vet say he was in shock, in fact she was dumbfouded as to why he hadnt come out of his "state" yet after getting his wing caught and that most birds dont take that long. My online research showed it can take up to 2 days for birds to recover, and they only do if completely left alone. Being at the vet who was poking and prodding, and being in a car ride probably just made his condition worse. I now feel like I handled everything wrong and it's my fault his condition got so bad and was put to sleep. If I had just left him alone and at home he might have come out of it once calming down. My biggest concern though was his wing and I didnt think I should leave a bird with a broken wing at my apt with no treatment...plus he wasnt in shock yet when I left my apt, he was distressed but not in shock. 

I feel terrible and I am upset the vet didnt appear to know the proper procedure for this. This emergency vet is connected to an exotic vet who does have an avian vet, but i dont believe the vet on the shift i came in on was an avian vet.

I am so upset with myself. Did I make the wrong decision? Should I have left him alone even knowing he most likely had a fractured wing and was in extreme pain? Any comments or thoughts appreciated, I just am so angry with myself right now for not knowing what to do. I've done so much other research but was not prepared for this at all.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

I am so sorry for your loss. I can't answer your questions about if he would have recovered or not but it sounds as if you did what any responsible owner would do if their bird was in pain. I know I would have taken mine to a vet right away. Whatever the circumstances, please don't beat yourself up for doing what you believed was best for your bird.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm not sure where you have been reading about shock, but I think you absolutely handled it correctly. A bird in shock needs pain meds and oxygen therapy, and it sounds like that's what your vet did. The problem with birds is that by the time they are critical, there is very little that can be done at all. My vet, who has seen only birds for over forty years, tells me this routinely -- by the time a bird is on oxygen, it is almost never possible to turn the bird around. So I wouldn't doubt the vet's expertise either. It sounds like she did the best that she could in a situation where very little could be done.

Cockatiels can and do go into cardiac arrest from pain and fear associated with situations like this. I recently had a friend lose her bird in a very similar situation -- wing got caught and the bird died overnight. Nobody in her household even heard anything happen. I think, had you left your bird alone, it's equally likely that he would have died from the pain. At least you made him more comfortable in the end. Also consider that you don't actually know what happened. If he was having seizures, it's possible that a seizure started this whole thing, rather than a night fright. There are just too many variables in this situation for you to question what you did. 

I'm very sorry for what happened, and I know this must be an extremely difficult time for you, but please don't blame yourself. You took action out of love, and did your best for him. That's what's important. We can't know any more than that.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I also agree you did what was best for him and you shouldn't beat yourself up over this. It is a very hard loss and it is difficult to see them go, but no one was at fault for this and it wasn't preventable in anyway. 

I'm so sorry for your loss, may your boy rest in peace and fly freely. :flowers:


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## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Thank you everyone for your quick responses. I have been agonizing over the sequence of events that took place and decisions I made. My cockatiel was like my child.

Now that I'm looking more into it, a lot of what I read talked about shock when there isn't an injury...to leave them alone to calm down...now that I'm looking more into fractured wings they recommend immediate vet attention. The whole situation is just so devastating and it happened so fast- I know I need to just let it go and stop torturing myself. 

Thanks again for your replies, they truly do make me feel better in the choice I had to make today.


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## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

I am so sorry for your loss. First off, I completely agree - you should not beat yourself up! Did you do what you thought was best? YES! Therefore, what you did was correct to the best of your knowledge. It is very very hard to lose a beloved pet and there is always some remorse/guilt/second guessing but you must realize that even a trained vet may miss something or may not immediately know the full extent of damage. Birds are great hiders of pain and illness. Shock can also shut down body functions that may not recover. It is possible that your bird may have had a more extensive injury than realized and as the shock was wearing off, and as the adrenaline from the incident subsided he began to decline.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Megad00dle said:


> Thank you everyone for your quick responses. I have been agonizing over the sequence of events that took place and decisions I made. My cockatiel was like my child.


Believe me, I think we all understand what it's like to agonize over the medical decisions we make for our 'tiels. I'm sorry you had to come here under such sad circumstances, but I hope you'll stick around. Nobody gets it like other bird people do. My thoughts are with you.


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## AMom2011 (Apr 25, 2012)

no advise, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss! 

I think considering he screamed in pain, you did the most responsible thing, and took him to a vet, where he could receive medical attention. Please KNOW he isn't in any pain anymore, and I bet he is flying high right now... with 2 healthy wings. HUGS.


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## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Thank you. I know, I did do what I thought was best at the time. It's true it could be a multitude of factors that led to him going downhill so fast. I'm glad he is no longer in pain and is in a better place, but boy do I miss him. 

I will stick around-this form is great. I agree nobody understands better than other bird people. Most people don't get the bond you can have with birds and the loss you feel when they're gone.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

You were thinking of the best for your bird the entire time. You did what was right for your baby. I know you're grieving, but you should take comfort in the fact that you did right by your bird by not letting the poor guy suffer. 

And like enigma said- I hope you stick around too, because we really do get it. And we will gladly offer you support and someone to talk to.


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## SuzieQueue (Mar 12, 2012)

I am so sorry for your loss, my babies are like my children too so i sympathise and hope you can find some peace soon, you did what any responsible parent would do, dont doubt that xxx


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## RexiesMuM (Sep 7, 2011)

I just wanted to say i think you did what was best for your tiel and im sorry for your loss . It can be so rough having to make a decision like that because for the majority of bird owners they are family


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## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Thank you all! I can't even tell you all how much it means to hear you guys say you would do the same thing. I was completely alone when all this happened and had no support other than the vet on whether I was making the right decisions, so to hear from others that they would have done the same thing means a lot.


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

I read your story only just now. Everything I had wanted to say has been said by everyone at least 3 times so I won't repeat it here , just that I'm sorry for your loss and hope that by now you are feeling a bit better. I understand completely what you went through because recently I had to take my Sunny to the vet because I thought her life was at stake. It turned out she had yeast and bacteria overgrowth which is not life-threatening and everything is under control now. But like you, I rushed her to the vet and didn't care what I had to pay as long as my baby was okay. Of course, the vet saw this. I dropped a thousand dollars in 2 days for half a dozen tests and scans just to have them tell me this and not a thing more. Plus, I realized very soon that the vet didn't know what he was doing either but called himself an "avian specialist". Every time when I tried to get them to explain what Sunny had and what they found out from all the tests they did on her, they would take me "around the world"  and tell me everything about avian veterinary except what I really needed to know---what was wrong with my Sunny. Every time when I asked the vet a question, he would change the subject and start lavishing exaggerated praise upon me and go on and on about "how blown away and amazed he is to meet someone like me who loves her bird so much as to do so much research and how amazing I am" to butter me up because he wants to keep me as a regular so I can dish over a thousand dollars at every visit.  The members on this forum know 10 times more about birds than he does. I was talking to him about avian probiotics from Harrison's and Bene-Bac and he had no clue what I was talking about, and to cover that up, he went back to buttering me up with all that "you're so amazing to do so much research" and I said "yeah, I'm on this cockatiel forum and my buddies there have taught me all kinds of things about cockatiels". Anyhow, I have long signed up with another clinic that really knows how to treat birds and I will never take Sunny back to that stupid vet again. They are NOT touching my baby with a 10-foot pole. Sorry about the rant, I just wanted to get it off my chest because I'm still so mad, but I guess I'll have to see it as a lesson (worth a thousand dollars ) learned!


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## mishkaroni (Jan 6, 2012)

I dont think you should second guess yourself. Your bird needed vet attention to it's wing. It's just sometimes it's too much for these little guys to handle. I know it hurts, I just lost my cockatiel (in January) after almost 9 years...I beat myself up for it, and doubt my decisions all the,time...but we do this because of how much we love and miss them. Not because,we,didnt do right by them. Very sorry for your loss...(hugs)


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

I've seen this a hundred times when my family would find an owl or hawk hit buy a car or out of it's nest, it was always hard handing them over to raptor rescues only to find out they had perished hours later. It's sad that once they go into shock it's usually too late. Hugs to you.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I'm so sorry for your loss. Like others have said, please don't beat yourself up. You acted correctly by taking your tiel to the vet. To leave him at home and in pain, would have been worse. It just sounds like the problem was too severe to remedy. Again, so sorry.


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## Mommajo (Sep 10, 2011)

So sorry for your loss. I think that you did the right thing, you couldn't leave your baby in pain.


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## Megad00dle (May 10, 2012)

Thank you everyone. I keep going back and forth about everything. I can't stop wondering if panicking, putting him in a carrier for a 1/2 hour car ride caused him to go into shock. He went into shock 5 minutes or so before I got to the vet. I can't help but think the stress of the car ride just made everything worse, then having the vet poke and prod just stressed him out more. But like some of you said, if I kept him at home And he suffered in pain I would have regretted not taking him to the vet. Either way I would be second guessing myself and my decisions. I guess I just wish I would have given him some time to calm down before completely panicking and stressing him out more by putting him in a car. But yes I thought I was doing the best thing considering he had just injured his wing and was in pain.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I'm sorry for your loss. I don't think you taking him to the vet caused the shock, I think the shock was caused by the pain and that he was exactly where he needed to be when it happened. You did everything you could and that's what's important.


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## Mentha (Jul 11, 2010)

The problem with shock is it can have a delayed effect. It's possible for birds to look fine into a few hours after injury, then all of a sudden be on death's door. There is no telling how long it will take for shock to kick in. You did the right thing taking your bird to the vet. There was noting you could have done differently to prevent shock.


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