Suzie Chicken has passed away this morning.

To all of my wonderful readers.

You have seen Suzie Chicken's picture in so many of my post over the years.

This morning she was in distress, not moving, and was having a very hard time breathing.

On a Sunday morning finding a vet that is open for emergency chicken care is not easy.

On the long drive from Costa Mesa to Fullerton Suzie was struggling with each breath.

Then suddenly she squawked loudly and struggled to get out of my arms and then her head went limp and she was gone.

The vet found that her lungs were filled with mucus.

Apparently when she could no longer get air she suffocated. What a painful way to pass away.

In the bird kingdom, birds never show when they are sick or in distress because healthy birds will attack them and kill them. So it is hard to see when they need us until it is too late.

Last night she was lethargic and my wife noticed. So we figured to take her to a vet in the morning.

I awoke this morning to my wife talking on the phone to a vet at 6 AM.

Diana was distraught because her baby was not opening her eyes and had labored breathing.

In my groggy not awake yet mind I knew that this might be "it."

All of us pet lovers know that we out live our pets and that the "day" will eventually come when we will suffer their loss from our lives.

Well actually if all goes well Tommy T Jones, the parrot. will out live us and have to live with my son's family one day.

Here is my Facebook tribute as it were to Suzie for the moment:

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=David%20Sloane