Nerve-Wracking

Last Friday, I was at the shelter trying to get a decent photo of our newest resident, a young budgie. Starburst here was found flying around Ave Road:

You'll note that I still didn't get a good photo of her. Anyway, she wouldn't come out, so I shut the cage door - or so I thought. I left the Room and when I opened the door to come back in, I had a split second to realize the cage door had fallen open and Starburst was flying toward me at top speed. I couldn't slam the door shut for fear of crushing her, so out she zipped, into the main lobby.
I may have possibly shouted some swear words.
Our upstairs lobby is quite....large. With a very high ceiling. It's not the greatest place to lose a small budgie.
Luckily for us, Starburst zipped into the smaller adoption office, giving me a heart attack in the process by slamming into the wall - more than once. One of the staff shut the door, and I hit the lights, scooping her up and returning her to her cage. Thankfully, she seems to be okay. I can certainly see how she ended up on the street - she's a little too good at flying.

About an hour later, I went to give some treats to the bonded girls, Holly and Ivy. Holly looked hopefully at me, but wouldn't budge from where she was sitting, at the opposite corner of the cage. Ivy was lying down under a wooden hideaway.
"What's the matter, you don't want a treat?" I asked teasingly. "That's not like you."
Usually the girls would come running out to greet me. I reached out to poke Ivy's feet, and recoiled in shock.
She was cold and stiff.

She must've died late the day before, or early that morning. We don't know what happened exactly, but the staff speculated some kind of internal hemorrhage, because she had a bloody nose. No one had noticed because she died under the hideaway - it looked like she was just sleeping.

It's such a shame. She was a real sweetheart, a very gentle girl with a shy streak. And poor Holly! Stuck in the cage with her dead sister for hours. No wonder she wouldn't come out from the corner. We've been giving her extra love since, but she is clearly affected. She's acting withdrawn and shedding a lot more. Being in a shelter is stressful enough, but it must be ten times worse now that she's on her own.
It's frustrating - these two were left in a box on the street. They came through that together, they were spayed with no problems - and then a freak incident managed to separate them.
Rest in peace, Ivy.

Just as icing on this cake of misery, this guinea pig arrived a few days later. His name was Sammy and he was given up by his owners due to 'allergies'.
Sammy had just about everything wrong with him. He had an eye infection, terrible ear mites, a skin condition, he was overweight and he had some kind of growth on his face. I'm pretty sure I forgot a few things. We talked about foster care, but once the vet had looked him over, it became clear he had just too many issues for us to treat. She recommended euthanasia, and Sammy had a peaceful end at least.

All in all, a fun week.
It's time for some good news now, right?