Cleo Update 💔

Here's a message from Maddie to everyone who followed Cleo's journey via her facebook page:

I wish I had better news, but we have decided to say goodbye to Cleo tomorrow.

Though we've only had her for two months, she has become a cherished family member and saying goodbye so soon hurts horrifically.

She has fought so hard over the past month and a half. I was sure last Monday that we would come home from the vet without her, but she fought all week to stay with us and showed us today that she's ready to be at peace.

I wish she would've been able to enjoy all of her fun toys and the freedom of sunning outside on the porch in the summer, among all of the other good experiences and memories we had yet to make. We were so hopeful that she'd have a new start to life and flourish for what should've been 25+ more years. She is too young to die; I can't help but feel so much anger that she was let down by her previous owners.

After we treated her for fungal and bacterial infections, she declined suddenly and we discovered she had heart disease - almost certainly due to a lifetime of being fed junk food. Switching medications did not improve her condition, and further testing revealed hepatitis and what our vet believes is low grade Aspergillosis.

All of these things theoretically could be maintained with medication, but we have been unsuccessful at stabilizing her and it is very possible there is something else going on contributing to her decline. We will be having a necropsy performed for our peace of mind.

For a week, we were taking her to the vet every other day for gavage feeding, sub-q fluids, and anti-inflammatory & vitamin injections. For a bird that had not been to the vet in their lifetime, and a 3+ hour round trip drive to get to our vet, this was unbelievably stressful for her.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that we did absolutely everything we could. We tried every treatment plan, every medication, every supplement that was suggested.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ~1 week we had that she was alert and so willing to train for me before becoming sick. I know we would've had something really special if she was able to stick around, and I know she tried her best to stay with me. I will do my best to remember her by the great week we had together and not the turbulence of sickness that followed.

I'll miss you pretty girl. I hope you can spread those wings and fly free somewhere beautiful without pain.

And here's the video from their channel.