auntphibian

My African Grey, Red (TAG) has been sick for a couple of months. First, they thought PDD, but since we did a barium study, it is believed there is a mass in his proventriculus. We live in Nashville, but will have to travel back to Univ of TN Vet Clinic in Knoxville for more diagnostic testing and possibly treatment. If the mass is cancerous, there may not be much we can do. If it is benign, it could be very risky to try to remove it, due to the location of the mass. In order to give Red the best chance of surviving the testing and treatment is to have blood donors available, while he is there, in case he starts to bleed out. I am hoping there are some healthy Greys in or around the Knoxville, TN area that would be willing to let their bird donate some blood to possible save Red's life. I'm waiting to discuss the details with the vet, but they said unless we have a donor parrot, it can't be done. If I can find a bird or two in the area, I can get more information on the procedure and risk to your bird, although I believe its not that risky. I so hope, as you know what it would be like to lose your friend, that someone will be willing to at least discuss this with me..or even the vet's at UT. My email address is rksphoto@comcast.net Thank you for any help!!!!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/788/690/465/stop-the-sale-of-dead-parrots-on-ebay/

Red Update: The vet decided to start Red on Metacam, since he has some symptoms of PDD, even though all three tests for abv came back negative. Tonight was his third night on the medication. Last night, his weight was up to 296, so he has gained back 60 grams. He seemed to be a different bird last night. He was chewing cardboard and even made some noises for me. I got to give him scritches and he kept bowing his head down for me to do it. He is not a friendly bird, so this is a huge step! He then started regurgitating food, in the mating kind of way. He wasn't vomiting, just bringing up formula from his crop. I'm not sure whether to be concerned about this. Today I gave him his bell and he regurgitated for it, as well. Since he's doing better on the medication and he's now bringing up food, I'm concerned we may have PDD after all, which he would have gotten from the careless vet I used to work for. I have 8 parrots in my house, if Red has PDD, I'll have to worry about everyone else. I ended up in the ER last night, I felt like I was having a heart attack. It was stress, thankfully. Vet should tell us if we have to make a run to Knoxville. Please pray for my whole flock!

Thank you! From your lips to God's ears!

Thank you! Me TOO!

We went back to the vet and got xrays. The vet is going to email them to UT in Knoxville for a consult. There are 2 things of concern. We got negative results for 3 PDD tests, but the proventriculus looks enlarged, which would mean PDD. And, there is some kind of mass in his abdomen, which he could easily feel on exam. Hoping to get an answer on Monday, but we may have to take a quick 3 hour drive to Knoxville so he can be scoped, which means we'll need some donations if anyone can help!

I will! I've got a lot of questions for the vet tomorrow, just in case he doesn't find anything in the x-ray. It's been a very rough couple of years. My 21 year old cat died, my health has not been good. In July, my service dog, Zeus, was diagnosed with Lymphoma. He died in August and now Red is sick. My pocketbook has moths in it! I used to work for an "avian vet" until I found out she did not know what she was doing and I turned her over to the vet board, who has let down every animal that walks through her door. She is the own that carelessly exposed my whole flock to PDD, so when Red got sick and had the symptoms, I was so worried about the whole flock! I hope at least whatever is wrong wtih Red is not contagious! Red eats only from the syringe and he really likes it. I thought for sure he'd take off my finger, but he's been easier to handle sick. At the vet he clung to me so hard, I had to pry his feet open. I thought for sure he would take a finger, but he never tried. He loves me...even though he has a hard time showing it. I do miss him talking, though!

My birds were all possible exposed by the careless vet I worked for to PDD and Chlamydia. Since my African Gray got sick and had some symptoms of Avian Bornavirus and PDD, we had him tested and they tested 3 different ways....all negative. I did start a PDD group on Facebook, should anyone need a place to go!

Harrison's Pet Product has product made from Red Palm Oil that are really good for not only birds, but any animal. I use it often and I think it has helped a few of my animals out of sicknesses. Try their Booster or SunShine Factor. Some Red Palm Oil is actually bad for birds, Harrison's explains how theirs differs from that. So be careful when using it.

My 9 year old African Grey, Red, has recently gotten ill. It started when I noticed he stopped talking. Then, the other day, I got to pick him up off the floor (he usually won't let me touch him). I noticed his keel bone was very prominent. His weight was 236g, which is much less than his normal weight. He was eating all the time, and acted perfectly normal, which I know they mask, but he is perfectly normal in every other way. Today, he stopped eating, but I started syringe feeding him a couple days ago to get his weight up and getting the proper nutrients. He loves to be syringe fed! I'm amazed by that! I took him immediately to the avian vet and he was tested for PDD (due to a possible exposure and his symptoms). That came back today, as negative and they did the test 3 different ways. They also did a full blood panel. The only things in his blood were a slightly elevated white count of 19.000 (which could be stress related of giving blood) and a low Albumen and low Cholesterol. The vet believes this is gastrointestinal due to the symptoms, but so far we cannot find a cause. Tomorrow, Red will get an x-ray to see if he has a tumor or something causing him to be sick. His weight is now holding steady at 276g and there have been no other changes, other than he doesn't eat anymore. We're baffled and I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this? He doesn't have symptoms for aspergillus, so I think that is out.

Thought I'd update you all on Red. The birds all went to Florida with me for Christmas. We set a baby monitor up in the room he was in, so everyone could hear his large vocabulary. We would sit for hours and listen to him. He won't speak in front of anyone. He's like the singing frog in the cartoon. Anyway, I was napping one afternoon and thought the starling had gotten out of his cage and landed on my shoulder. I looked over and it was Red, just standing there looking at me. He stayed there for a long time. Then, he saw my ear sticking out of my hair and gave it a good pinch. He started talking more when I was in the room with him. On Christmas Day, there were 18 people at my mom's. $ of the boys under the age of 4. I think, even though Red was in the bedroom, he was nervous and anxious of all the noise in the house. I started hearing him from the front room yelling, SHHHHit!!! over and over and over. He did that for 2 days!. He did it in the car on the way home. Since we've gotten home, he's back to not talking in front of me, but he spends most of his day in Mr T's cage, playing with his toys and taking naps. He's such a funny bird and my whole family enjoyed him.

Had I known the cage was infested, I would've let them keep it. I didn't find out until the cage was here and I took it apart to clean it. It's a $600 cage, so I hated to get rid of it. You wouldn't believe what all I did to rid the cage of the roaches. I've seen about 5 in the house, but went out of town over christmas and put bait out and haven't seen any since we got back. I'm crossing my fingers that we won't become infested! She is the nicest bird I've ever met and instantly bonded with me. She's even gotten Red to come out of his shell, somewhat. Thanks for all the input!

If Buddy indeed swallowed, if, he could just regurg it up. that's usually what happens to stuff that can't be digested. If you are sure he swallowed it, you don't need to take any risks....get him to a vet for an x-ray.

If you live in Nashville, TN or surrounding areas, Volunteer Vet does a great job with birds. Dr Heather Robertson is a bird person and she specializes in them. She diagnosed and treated my cockatiel the other day when he almost died. She is also one of the vets for the Nashville Zoo and takes care of the Lorikeets.

I but Kaytee honey seed treats for my birds. My cockatiel got so sick after eating one that he almost died. Diagnosis was bad bacteria in his belly, causing weight loss and sickness. While I don't know for sure if it was a bad seed stick, I'd like to find out, so noone else's bird gets sick. Petsmart said they want to send it to corporate for testing, but questions whether they really will do that. Anyone know how to get this tested? Does the CDC do this? I just don't want anyone else's bird getting sick or dieing because of a seed stick! Help! Skylar, my cockatiel is doing much better!