On Saturday, January 13, Cooper crossed over the rainbow bridge.

On Friday, the 5th we noticed Cooper had a little bulge on her abdomen. It wasn’t there the previous day, and she was fine otherwise. We made an appointment for the next day with our avian vet.
They withdrew some fluid, tested her blood and gave her a lupron injection in case it was a reproductive issue (in 2016 Cooper had egg removal surgery when she became egg bound). The vet suspected a tumor, as the bulge was firm.

Her labs returned showing elevated uric acid levels and an elevated white blood cell count. The vet suspected a kidney tumor and an infection. So I went back to the vet to pick up some antibiotics for Cooper.

Over the next few days Cooper was slowing down. We moved her into the “condo” so she would be more comfortable. Emmy would visit her and preen her and keep her company. The following Friday we took her back to the vet for a recheck. There wasn’t anything they could do for her, but they prescribed additional antibiotics and pain meds on the chance that she might rally.
Cooper declined quickly that evening. We brought her out to the living room and put her on my chest on a blanket that was on a heating pad.
We spent the early morning hours just snuggling her and telling her what a wonderful budgie she was and how much she was loved. Later she cuddled up against my neck (which she used to do as a young budgie). Around 11 am she passed away.

Cooper was our amazing little budgie. We were so lucky to have her in our lives. She brought us so many blessings. I don’t think I will ever be able to express how wonderful she was and how much I loved her.
Life won’t be the same without her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"