From commentor Parrotlover77:
I know you guys post pet memorials sometimes, so I’m really hoping you can do one for the most awesome bird to ever take flight on this world of ours.
His name was Wylie. He was a peach faced lovebird. I adopted him 19 years ago when I was 18. So if you do the math, you can see that I’ve had him for more than half my life, which is a heck of a thing. When I adopted him, he was about two months old, so I was lucky to have him for basically his whole life. He passed away last week – one day after my birthday, in fact. It’s like he held on to make sure it wasn’t actually on my birthday.
I was at work when I got the call. My wife said I needed to come home immediately, something happened to Wylie. When I got home, she was cradling him, in tears. He was gone. He passed away quickly and quietly. I would find out from the necropsy at his vet that he died from a heart attack due to severe atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries due to plaques).
There wasn’t anything we could have done. It was just old age catching up to him. Nineteen is pretty old for a lovebird. In the wild they live typically 5-8 years. Modern veterinary medicine along with amazing formulated pelleted diets has increased that lifespan tremendously – and I am truly thankful!
It wasn’t entirely unexpected. He had been in decline since last fall. It started with his flight skills declining. He couldn’t coordinate nor fly as long as he used to. Then he apparently had a stroke which left him with a permanent head tilt. But he persevered! His attitude was amazing. He was always so happy. He would still preen us and still do his darnedest to follow us around the house, even though he couldn’t zip around like he used to when he could fly. It was just his time. And he accepted it. That morning I had him out and he was sitting on my face, preening me, chirping and making the sweetest sounds. I’m glad I had him out that morning. He was so loving. It’s like he knew.