Dead Bird

[Anonymous]

Ok just to start off this is not a troll post, because really snowlike post about a dead bird...

I'm a nanny and now that the kids are grown I petsit for my former boss on a regular basis. They have 2 exotic birds and 2 dogs... I've known them for 10 years... Anyways I woke up this morning kind of happy that I got to sleep in until 9am because normally the birds are squacking minute the sun come up. Come to walk into the living room and one of the macaws is dead and laying at the bottom of the cage!!! The bird was 11 or 12 years old. I'm freaking out!!! I feel awful but it's not like it's my fault. I use this family a lot as a reference because I've worked for them for so long. What can I do to smooth things over?

I called the family in England and they sent their daughter (who doesn't live at home anymore) over to bury the bird. She said it's fine, but I feel terrible!

[Anonymous]

Oooops my blackberry typed "snowlike" when I meant "who would"

[Anonymous]

If you've already expressed your sympathies, what more can you do? Assuming it was taken care of properly, it wasn't your fault it came to end of its life while under your care.

[Anonymous]

I'm 37 and have owned birds since I was 10 (not macaws though.) Usually birds are sick for a LONG time before they show symptoms and die. If they didn't notice it before they left then there's no way you should feel guilty about anything happening on your watch. (Unless you poisoned them or fed them something they shouldn't eat like avocado or chocolate.) Birds can be somewhat fragile and sometimes they die and you never know why. It's not your fault. The most I'd do in your circumstance is find out who the vet is and take the other bird to the vet and explain what happened and make sure the remaining bird is healthy.

[Anonymous]

Op here... Well the thing is there are 2 birds and one liked one food and one liked the other. The daughter told me I was feeding them the wrong food! One bird got thos fruity pellets and the other was supposed to get nuts, i switched it. But I've been doing this for years, because like I said I petsit all the time. I'm sure this isn't it because they were still eating... I just feel so guilty because these birds are supposed like live like 80 years!

[Anonymous]

Birds are really sensitive to air quality. Don't use air fresheners around the last bird and if you cook using non-stick pans, be sure there is ventilation, especially if you burn something in the pan. (The teflon can be really bad for birds.)

[Anonymous]

Op here: thank you so much for your posts, I've just been feeling so terrible, you guys are making me feel a lot better!

[Anonymous]

Were the birds in the same cage? Birds are extremely smart and the bird would not have eaten food he did not like. OP, I was pet sitting for a friend who had a bird and a Huskie and sometime during the night the dog managed to pull off cover, open the cage, dog, apparently, tried to catch it and, unfortunately killed it when he swatted it with his paw and then put it in his mouth. Things happen and it wasn't your fault.