Made

If yesterday was a real shitty day, today is a real sad day.



Made, MrNordin's pet bird, died today. Made was a mynah bird who could talk and laugh, and was very clever at imitating people's conversation. It was a birthday gift to MrNordin from his late wife.



Made developed some kind of boil or "bisul" near his left cheek, a result of too much iron in his diet. It started before bulan puasa and the boil grew bigger and bigger until it reached the size of a limau kasturi. Round and hard like that.



I got worried and persuaded MrNordin to bring the bird to the vet. I was afraid the puss would infect other parts of the bird's body, which could be fatal. MrNordin didn't want to bring him to the hospital initially as he was afraid the doctor wouldn't know how to treat a bird and the bird would die. But I insisted coz in my opinion, a vet would know better what to do. But he still refused.



At the same time, I asked a few people who own mynah birds if they knew what to do. They told me to just leave the bird as it is as the boil would heal by itself overtime. It seemed, it is a common disease for mynah birds like Made due to possibly too much iron in his food. So, I relented and we decided not to take him to the vet, hoping it'll cure by itself.



But nearing hari raya, we saw there was no improvement in Made's condition. So MrNordin agreed to bring him to the Animal Hospital for an expert's opinion. The senior doctor there was not really sure what to do at first, but gave us a 2-weeks' supply of antibiotics for Made and told us to bring him back after that for further analysis.



With the antibiotics, the boil got somewhat better. From yellowish in color, it turned blackish and rather dry. But it was still quite large and remained dangling near his left cheek. Made however, seemed normal. He was eating as usual. Sometimes he made some sounds but not as frequent as before.



So on Monday, we took him to the Animal Hospital again. We asked if the doctor could remove the boil. The doctor cautioned that they needed to do some tests first coz they were afraid the boil could be connected to other parts of its body, and if that was the case, a surgery was not advisable. We allowed him to do the tests and the results proved positive. It was just external.



So yesterday, Made had the operation. It was a minor surgery. MrNordin called me from JB at 4pm yesterday and told me that the doctor said the operation was successful. Made had just recovered from the anaesthetic and was resting. MrNordin sounded happy. But doctor advised that Made should be left at the hospital for a couple more days for observation. That's fine.



Today, at 2.20 pm, I received a call from the Animal Hospital. The doctor informed me that Made has gotten weak. He was ok in the morning, but as he made the call, the bird could not stand on its two feet anymore. I was shocked. I asked him, "Is he gonna die?" He said, "Possibly."



Oh my God! What am I going to do? This can't happen, Made cannot die! My husband will be so heart broken! That's his favourite bird!!!! I was at GE Mall with my friends at that time. So I told my friends to get in the car quickly coz there was an emergency. My bird was dying!



I drove very fast and when I reached the hospital, I asked to see Made. The doctor on duty gave me a nod and went inside. I waited for a while at the reception but no one invited me in to the boarding area. Then I saw someone bringing a small brown box, the size of Made. I screamed at the nurse, "WHERE'S MY BIRD? IS HE DEAD??" The girl looked at me and when I saw her face, I knew the answer already. "I'm sorry...", she said.



I burst into tears! I went there hoping that I could still see him alive but I was too late. Made has died. Poor thing... I sat down and cried and cried and cried. At the back of my mind, I was thinking how am I going to break the news to my husband? He's gonna be shattered!


To cut the story short, I took Made's dead body home. At home, we were contemplating when was the best time to tell MrNordin. We decided to tell him when he got home tonight.


He just got back and I've told him about it. He was pretty calm tho' I know deep inside, he regretted sending Made to the hospital. I showed him Made's body which we kept in the fridge. He took one look and told us to take it away. I said I'm sorry and I feel so guilty for pushing him to send the bird to the hospital. He said, that's alright.


Tomorrow morning, we'll hold the 'upacara pengkebumian' for Made. We'll bury him in the garden where we buried many of our loved pets which had passed on.


Goodbye Made, you shall be dearly missed by all of us...