We have a Parakeet down!!

Oswald died last night. It was the most dramatic death I have ever witnessed--not that I have seen many deaths, but it was very movie-like. Susie and I were sitting in the living room, watching TV when all of the sudden, Oswald fell off his perch and started wheezing. It was awful sounding. We ran over to him and he was struggling to take these very painful sounding breaths. Then he raised his head up and took one long last breath and dropped his head to the floor. Susie picked him up and tried to open his beak and see what happening, but there was nothing obvious to see. It was so sad. We were very worried about the kids and what they would think when they woke up and saw that he was dead. We told both A and C separately and both had lots of questions about why it happened. They both wanted to know immediately if we could get another bird (obvious attachment disorder there!). I talk to a lady at work whose brother raises birds and she said parakeets are known for just dropping dead. Apparently they do not show signs of illness and just fall over and die. That is very disturbing. I feel awful for poor Ozzie!! We will miss him.