Leah

I have posted 3 photos (unfortunately, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, so they aren't named). They are right at the top of the photo album right now. My favorite is the one with the orange dinosaur in his beak. I've attached them to this reply as well. We are considering Magoo as a "pet" name ... still working on the he/she thing, lol. I have not given any meds today and will wait to speak with the vet tomorrow to be sure. Thanks again for your input.

I have posted 3 photos (unfortunately, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, so they aren't named). They are right at the top of the photo album right now. My favorite is the one with the orange dinosaur in his beak. I've attached them to this reply as well. We are considering Magoo as a "pet" name ... still working on the he/she thing, lol. I have not given any meds today and will wait to speak with the vet tomorrow to be sure. Thanks again for your input.

Hi all, I just wanted to let you all know that we are finally making some progress with Meggie, who it turns out (DNA'd) is actually a boy! We are still waiting for some of the other test results to come back but for now we do know that there are two bacteria growing in his crop (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter cloacae). We have just completed 7 days on Baytril, which one of these nasty bugs responded to favorably following the culture results. My question to you knowlegable folks is with regard to the dosage on the second antibiotic the vet would like me to start today (I can't call her because it's a holiday here today and their office is closed). The Baytril was .15 mls. twice a day for 7 days. The new med is Novo-Trimel @ .7 mls twice a day for 14 days ... this is almost 5X more medicine in each dose! I'm a little concerned about this dose and I thought perhaps some of you may have encountered this before. If any of you can help, please let me know. Otherwise, I think I will wait until tomorrow and confirm this with the vet prior to giving the first dose. It just seems like so much and I don't want to take a chance! Thanks a bunch! Leah

Hi again, I just wanted to update you all and say thanks again for your suggestions. Meggie was a trooper today for the vet! The gram stain showed too much gram negative bacteria and the vet recommended Benebac in her food and apple cider vinegar in her water (1/4 tsp per 1/2 cup of water). This should take care of the overabundance of "bad" bacteria in the digestive tract and flush out her crop. Apparently her mouth looks really good, so the problems are starting further down. We are also rubbing aloe on her neck where it's itchy (which she LOVES ) and we'll watch to see if the changes in her diet fix her up. The vet feels that the addition of harrison's and red palm oil should really help with the dry skin. We will also continue to take her into the shower with us (even just into the bathroom to soak up the humidity). At this point, we've opted not to do bloodwork, as she seems so healthy and active in every other way and she's been through so much stress already. The vet agrees that she looks really good, her respiratory system sounds good and she appears to be adjusting really well to all the recent changes. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for us. Leah

Good morning everyone! I am new here (I've been lurking for awhile though) and thought now might be a good time to say hi. My DH and I are owned by a White-Fronted Amazon, a Senegal, a budgie and we've recently (2 weeks ago) adopted an almost 2 year old Congo, Meggie (female, we've been told). She's a very sweet bird, considering the horrific circumstances she's come from. She spent the first year of her life in a very busy pet store exposed to god only knows what horrors. Then she was purchased by a young family (2 children under the age of 3, both smokers, filthy conditions, food and water bowls caked with dried feces, no toys or foraging, etc. etc.) Anyway, she appears to be solid as a rock, emotionally ... I did notice when I first saw her that she had a small patch of down feathers sticking out on one side of her neck where the contour feathers had been scratched out; it's too high up to have been picked out by her. I was really hoping this was just dry skin and bad diet (seeds, you know). HOWEVER, this has now progressed to ANOTHER patch on the other side of her neck and the first side is almost bare of down feathers now as well! In addition, her breath smells sour and her droppings smell a little. She also defecates VERY frequently ... like every minute or two! I have never seen this frequency in any of our birds. I'm suspecting some kind of fungal or bacterial thing might be going on so I've made an appointment with the vet for this afternoon to have her checked out. Can any of you suggest which tests I should ask the vet to run? I'm not really sure what we should be looking for here, only that something is NOT RIGHT. On the bright side, she's a real smart cookie and will eat almost anything I put in front of her :cheer: . She took to the bean, grain, veggie, pasta mash right away and I only had to eat 2 harrisons high potency pellets before she decided they must be good, lol! I do still give her a few seeds and almonds in the evening as a bedtime snack because she really needs some fattening up. Unfortunately, I suspect she may have gone without food a time or two. I also know that she was never given a shower until she came to us so we're slowly working that into her routine once a week ... she comes into the shower with me on my shoulder and catches some overspray. This is all she will tolerate without showing fear. Honestly, this is the only thing she's shown any fear of, so I'd say we're pretty lucky with her, all things considered. Anyway, I do hope some of you can help me out with some suggestions here. I'll be sure and post an update once I know more on the test results. Thanks a bunch, and once again, hello to all! Leah