I had really hoped that being able to eat nutritious food would help her enough that it would give the antibiotics a chance to work. When she first came in, she was so weak and limp, I assumed she had a pituitary tumour and let her rest while I met with a foster family before I took her home. It wasn't until I gave her some yogurt before we left the shelter and I noticed how focused she was when she was eating that I started to have second thoughts.
I came home and fed her again while I cleaned a gerbil tank and set up a cage and then I had a close look at her and that's when I saw her teeth. I took her to the vet Saturday morning and her teeth were trimmed (we were not sure she would survive the anesthesia even) and when she woke up, the vet gave her some of his apple and she immediately went to work. She LOVED food - all she did the entire time she was here was eat and sleep. She seemed to be improving a bit (in that she got stronger and gained weight) even though her balance was worsening but midday Sunday something changed. Her breathing started to sound wet (no lung sounds on Saturday) and she seemed to have a harder time keeping her balance when eating, her eyes weren't nearly as bright.
If I thought there was any chance she could recover I would have kept fighting but there really wasn't and she wasn't going to stop fighting... She didn't deteriorate to the point she was at over a short period of time, her condition was caused by long term abuse. I don't understand why, if her family was going to dump her anyway, they didn't do so sooner so she had a chance. We received a bird today in similar condition... I just don't understand what goes through people's minds. What's worse is these two girls are clearly well socialized and used to being handled.