I wish that I were writing this under happier circumstances. I wrote previously about my little titmouse patient where I told you how he seemed to have bonded with me. He would come to the window and land in the pane so he could see if I were there. He had degraded from coming down for a treat and flying away to coming down and hanging around on my patio which was not a good sign.
Sympathetic Symptoms?
Unfortunately, when he first started acting a bit off, I was also trying to get rid of an intestinal bug I had caught. Plus, he did not show signs of getting worse and actually seemed to be improving. I had contacted the local rehabilitator and had decided to take him in.
The day we were to go, he did not return. I can only assume that he died. I feel sad. I am comforted by his spirit which seems to have spread to other titmice in my backyard who are now hand feeding as well.
A Video Tribute
I wanted to share with you a video my wife shot of one of the last times he came down to spend time with us. He was a sweet little bird and we already miss him.
Rest in peace, little one.
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My sincerest condolences on the loss of your trusting friend. I can see from the video that he’s in respiratory distress. The uptilted head and breathing with open bill are two signs that his lungs are compromised. My guess as to his affliction would be aspergillosis, which is a mold that infects the bronchial tubes and air sacs, and actually physically blocks the respiratory passages. It grows on wet, rotting vegetation and unfortunately in bird respiratory tracts. If ever there were a bad year for it, this is it. It’s very tough to cure, so even if you could have gotten him into care, there might not have been any help for him.
Hoping for happier, healthier times for you.
Julie Zickefoose
.-= Julie Zickefoose´s last blog ..Caspian Terns–Finished =-.
Julie,
Thanks for stopping by and putting me a little more at ease. I did think from the video that he was having problems swallowing which was a sign something was wrong.
I’ll be even more reluctant to put my feeders back up before this awful weather changes.
I only hope I was able to make his last days more comfortable.
Jeff