Firefly Dead

[Rufus T]

It is with a heavy heart that I write this.

It started last Tuesday when during some heavy creance training with my 18 month old parent reared FFG, I noticed she was taking forever to eat her portions of food, from the lures, and on the glove, she was picking and flicking at them. After the session I took her back to her aviary turned the heating on hoping she was just having an off day, and would be back to her normal self in the morning.

When I went into pick her in the morning she was lying on her belly next to her bow perch. I got her to the vet straight away. When I took her out her travel box she sat on my glove all fluffed up and let the vet examine her without a single bate, which she would never have done had she been healthy. The vet said she wanted to keep her to do tests on her blood and mutes, and also wanted to do some x-rays on her.

The next day the vet phoned to say her white blood cell count had been really high which suggested an infection, and the x-ray showed her kidneys looked abnormal. She still hadn't been eating, and the vets had to tube feed her, they also put her on 2 courses of anti biotics, anti fungal medication, plus she was on a drip.

We had many phone calls to the vets during the next few days, she wasn't getting any better and wasn't getting any worse, we were told.

Then on Sunday night we had the phone call we expected but were still dreading, Firefly had past away. To say that me and family gutted would be a massive understatement. I asked the vet to do a post mortem as we still did not know for sure what had made her ill.

When I got home from work last night I had a message on the answering machine from the head vet, saying that the result of the post mortem where, that Firefly was riddled with asper, it was in her lungs, chest, kidneys, and even round about her heart. The vet also said it was in such an advanced stage that the bird could never have been saved.

I will pick her up from the vets this morning and bury her.

[Kennelre]

I am so sorry for your loss!!:(


...Rene.

[Dave G]

**** sorry to hear of your bad news m8 gutted for you /dave

[DazMan]

sorry to hear mate

[SparsTheOne]

dude i,m so sorry this has happened to your bird,keep your chin up mate.


jase.

[Andrew Connor]

Sorry to hear this
p.s Guys whats an FFg i dont know all the nicknames

[PenelopeP]

Really sorry for your loss :cry:

[TimDog80]

gutted for you , i know how you feel:(


...tim

[MickeyDredd]

Terrible news!

[MusketMad]

sorry to hear of your loss mate:(

[Ben C]

Gutted. Where had the aspers come from do you think?

[SakerYZF]

Sorry to hear this man, best wishes.

Chris

[Kevin Massey]

so sorry to read this bud

[GoodFooter]

very sorry to hear of your loss.

[AlexB]

Completely gutted for you mate, I went through very similar a few weeks ago with my tiercel.

Alex

[Big JoeJoe]

Really sorry to hear this news about your Goshawk.

Joe

[Jackson]

so sorry to hear that mate!

[Enemi]

Unlucky it happens to us all:(

[Casey]

Very bad news. I'm really sorry to hear of your loss.:(

Asper is a horrible disease. I only wish there was some way of catching it before it is too late. Trouble is you don't know your bird has it until it is too late. All we can do is try to prevent it as best as we can.

Chris

[OutFlying]

Sorry to hear this
p.s Guys whats an FFg i dont know all the nicknames

Finnish Female Goshawk

[Yeoman]

Gutted for you mate ,having one sucumb to asper myself i no what its like
all the best Kev

[Pearl]

im very sorry for your loss mate

[Saker-Mad]

Really sorry for you mate:cry:

[W Jenkins]

I really feel for you m8 i really do i have witnessed this first hand at my vets....shame just a :cry:shame

ATB


Wullie

[Falconry Equipment International]

very sorry to hear about this

[Wapity]

so sorry to hear for your loss mate

ciao Giacomo

[Isla]

So sorry for your loss. We lost our FHH two weeks ago and still miss her like mad - but it does get easier over time.

[Rufus T]

Thanks for your kind words of support guys, really appreciated.

Cheers

[Berkut]

Drew,
That is a real shame.Sorry to hear that.It is late in the season and it will be hard to get a gos going now. You're best bet is to get back in the saddle.I am not flying my gos at the moment.She is a silent imprint and nice to handle.If you want to take her for the remainder of the season you are welcome.

ATB,
Neil

[B C]

Really sorry to hear your bad news mate

B C

[Rufus T]

Drew,
That is a real shame.Sorry to hear that.It is late in the season and it will be hard to get a gos going now. You're best bet is to get back in the saddle.I am not flying my gos at the moment.She is a silent imprint and nice to handle.If you want to take her for the remainder of the season you are welcome.

ATB,
Neil

Thanks for that very generous offer Neil. That's typical of you mate, some guy! I would like to get to the bottom of this Neil and find out how my bird picked up this horrible disease before I take on another. The last thing I would want is a similar thing happening to your bird.

Once again thanks.

[Berkut]

Thanks for that very generous offer Neil, thats typical of you mate, some guy. I would like to get to the bottom of this Neil and find out where my bird picked up this horrible disease, before I take on another bird. The last thing I would want is a similar occurance, happening to your bird.

Once again thanks.

I understand Drew.Keep in touch and let me know.You only need to say the word when you feel the time is right.

Keep your chin up,

ATB,
Neil

[HarrisHawkingNovice]

Really sorry to hear about your loss!!!!

Drew,

That is a real shame.Sorry to hear that.It is late in the season and it will be hard to get a gos going now. You're best bet is to get back in the saddle.I am not flying my gos at the moment.She is a silent imprint and nice to handle.If you want to take her for the remainder of the season you are welcome.

ATB,
Neil

I some times wonder if neil is human!!!
Another massive gesture of kindness for another falconer :supz::supz::supz:

[GosFlyer]

Really sorry to hear about your loss!!!!



I some times wonder if neil is human!!!
Another massive gesture of kindness for another falconer :supz::supz::supz:

he's a top bloke i know that much.

sorry to hear of the death of your gos m8, its bad enough if you lose one hunting but to a **** thing like asper, it must be devastating.

[goshawker 4]

so sorry for you ive never lost a bird that way seems horrible aspergilloses
hope it never happens to you again:yawinkle:

[owl-lady]

**Sorry about your lose ***:cry::cry::cry:

[Gosman_2]

Sorry to hear this .Asper is a killer , its usually a secondery infection and can be brought on by all maner of things, which makes it even harder to prevent .

[Gosher]

Sorry to hear about your loss,paul

[Hacker]

Such a shame to here the news, i wish you the best in future.
Another kind offer by Neil, well done m8!

[Bones]

So sorry to hear of your loss mate im gutted for you

PAUL

[Golden Hayabusa]

Sorry for your Loss.:cry:

I found this articles from "The Modern apprentice" http://www.themodernapprentice.com/gen_health.htm for regarding to Asper infections...this might help everyone preventing from this terrible sickness.

Respiratory
Any labored breathing, shallow breathing, wheezing, or a change of voice are indicators that Aspergillosis is brooding. Asper is a fungal infection of the respiratory tract and is usually treated with ancoban or amphotericin B. Prevention includes maintaining a well ventilated facility for the bird and clean facilities.
Pneumonia is a common secondary infection in an asper bird. Pneumonia is a bacterial infection of the lower respiratory tract and is commonly treated with antibiotics.
Any bird showing signs of asper should also be checked for pneumonia. Pneumonia will be treated with antibiotics.
Nasal discharge that is clear and watery is normal as a lubricant. This frequently starts running at meal time and may drip a few droplets from the beak. A milky white discharge that is globby is rare, but would indicate a microplasm infection and would usually be coupled with a swelling around the eyes and supraorbital ridges.

[Zarafia]

So sorry to hear of your loss. I lost a yellow crowned amazon to asper about 12 years ago. He was from quarantine and had been a trappers bird, spoke spanish many words. I had him for 2 months when he suddenly lost weight and I took him to the vet. He was treated at the vets for a couple days before he died. The vet said that he was dead the day I got him. I was very worried because for the last month he had lived with my bluefronted amazon.
But for whatever reason my bluefront never got sick and sitts here in my livingroom today. I guess some birds are just more succeptable to it.

[TerryB]

Im so sorry for you mate :cry:

[JayB]

sorry for your loss mate

[Bryan B]

so sorry for your loss, i hope the words from all on the forum will be of some comfort.

[Rob999]

absolutely gutted for you m8, know where you are at, at this horrible time!!..............take your time and remember the good times..........good luck buddy

take up the very kind offer and get back out there.............you'll know when you're ready to do this.

heart goes out to you and your family:(

[Sprout]

Gutted. Where had the aspers come from do you think?

Asper is ubiquitous - we breathe the spores in all the time. Asper loves mouldy conditions, so always ensure there is no hay or compost heaps ANYWHERE near your birds, and ventilation in the mews is good.
Stress, which suppresses the immune system will allow asper to become a clinical problem in some birds whereas others will be ok. Reading through the forum you'll realise just how many do succumb to this horrible disease - use of prophylactic anti-fungals +- nebulisation with F10 should help prevent some of these deaths.

Sorry for your loss

[Ben C]

nebulisation with F10 should help prevent some of these deaths.

Sorry for your loss

Good....what strengths? I just whack a load in water and spray it about once in a while (weekly) but thats hardly scientific.

[Golden Hayabusa]

:confused: it's doesn't say anything on a directions?? I don't know what's the F-10 so, i'm curious of dosages. does anyone knows the answers?

[Rufus T]

Thought I would show one of the last pics of Firefly. She chased this cock pheasant over a field and pond before killng it under a hedge, next to a fence.