- Jan 15, 2012
- 240
- 6
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Bit of a sad story ahead.
I lost my girl Gertie this morning, I woke up at 5 am to find her laying in the corner crying, I tried to get her to drink some water but she was too far gone and all I could do was hold her till she suddenly died 5-10 minutes later. She just had all the odds stacked against her and couldn't pull through in time to get better I guess.
At around 5 pm my lone Emu now named Gerry started acting distressed, jumping at the sides of the cage trying to get out and after calming him down several times and going back to my computer work I got up again to calm him down at around 6:30 or so and after I got him to sit down he vomited all over the place then started dry heaving.
I rushed him to the emergency vet where the whole staff was surprised to see someone bring in an Emu. However they couldn't find anything wrong with him at all, he wasn't dry heaving anymore or acting distressed in any way. So they gave me some contact info for a vet that specializes in exotics and we went home... $80 lighter for the 8 pm emergency vet exam...
I put him back in his bed and he starts freaking out again after I go to my computer so I go back, only this time I don't go back to my computer, I stay there sitting next to him after I've calmed him down. He stays calm, stops dry heaving and goes to sleep.
What changed? The only thing that happened today is Gertie died. He misses having Gertie to keep him company all the time, it just took a few hours for it to sink in that she wasn't coming back to be with him. Come to think of it, he acted distressed on his first two nights after hatching because Gertie hadn't joined him in the cage yet, they hadn't even met, the difference is he hadn't started eating or walking yet and so all he was able to do was cry till I poked my head over the edge of the bed and whistled to him to let him know I was still there. Though this latest episode is even more extreme because now he won't even settle for being able to see me at the computer, I have to be right next to him or he starts pacing, crying and jumping at the bars.
So I have him sleeping in my lap right now, he's perfectly calm and content, and you'll never look at Emus the same way again. We'll still be paying that exotic animal vet a visit tomorrow just to be safe but I think the problem has been found.
I lost my girl Gertie this morning, I woke up at 5 am to find her laying in the corner crying, I tried to get her to drink some water but she was too far gone and all I could do was hold her till she suddenly died 5-10 minutes later. She just had all the odds stacked against her and couldn't pull through in time to get better I guess.
At around 5 pm my lone Emu now named Gerry started acting distressed, jumping at the sides of the cage trying to get out and after calming him down several times and going back to my computer work I got up again to calm him down at around 6:30 or so and after I got him to sit down he vomited all over the place then started dry heaving.
I rushed him to the emergency vet where the whole staff was surprised to see someone bring in an Emu. However they couldn't find anything wrong with him at all, he wasn't dry heaving anymore or acting distressed in any way. So they gave me some contact info for a vet that specializes in exotics and we went home... $80 lighter for the 8 pm emergency vet exam...
I put him back in his bed and he starts freaking out again after I go to my computer so I go back, only this time I don't go back to my computer, I stay there sitting next to him after I've calmed him down. He stays calm, stops dry heaving and goes to sleep.
What changed? The only thing that happened today is Gertie died. He misses having Gertie to keep him company all the time, it just took a few hours for it to sink in that she wasn't coming back to be with him. Come to think of it, he acted distressed on his first two nights after hatching because Gertie hadn't joined him in the cage yet, they hadn't even met, the difference is he hadn't started eating or walking yet and so all he was able to do was cry till I poked my head over the edge of the bed and whistled to him to let him know I was still there. Though this latest episode is even more extreme because now he won't even settle for being able to see me at the computer, I have to be right next to him or he starts pacing, crying and jumping at the bars.
So I have him sleeping in my lap right now, he's perfectly calm and content, and you'll never look at Emus the same way again. We'll still be paying that exotic animal vet a visit tomorrow just to be safe but I think the problem has been found.
