jeanbridgeford

Speaking for myself....I think that the majority of people are on forums for the information. Once your bird ages I guess you've pretty much learned all there is to know on raising one. It is still nice though to read the stories, etc. and possibly be able to help someone else out.

The avian vet where he is is a 24 hour round the clock care. I know he's not suffering any more. She even anestizes for the wound cleaning plus he's on pain meds. I called there today and even though they are not suppose to tell me anymore about him, she did tell me things were looking up. That's all I know. I feel in my heart that I did the best for Smokey. Not for me as my heart is still aching but he is where he has to be for now.

Well, I will try to make this short as possible as it is so difficult to even think about . My visit with the avian vet did not go at all like I expected. I no longer have my Smokey. She did all the blood work, stains, etc. Results thus far are that he has a her quote was "Massive massive staph infection, the worst I've seen in my 15 years of parctice". He also has a yeast infection. The staph is under his left wing and the yeast was on top of the left wing. His white blood cell count was almost nill/nothing. The cell count could be normal for him she can't tell that. But he has almost no immune system to help fight these infections. She said she couldn't believe he was still alive. BUT all his organs were working properly, he was eating/drinking. Course of action...........starting him on 2 of the most powerful antibiotics possible/twice a day, cleaning the infection sight daily, and of course heavy pain meds. He will be hospitalized for at least a week to see if he improves with this course of treatment. Then she said it would have to be continued at home for probably 4-6 weeks. After all this there's a 20-30% chance this could reoccur off and on in his lifetime. With all his organs properly working, he was eating/drinking, she did not suggest euthanizing. I did know that there was no way I could physically, emotionally and financially handle his care he would need if he makes it through the week. With the tears flowing and my heart breaking I signed him over to their care. They will care for him and if he pulls through they will find him a suitable home that can and will handle his care. I sang "Jesus Loves Me" to him as he always liked that and let them have him. He was already on the pain meds so looked liked he was going to sleep some and he was beak grinding so I know he already felt better. As to the cause it's hard to tell. She said a feather may have gotten infected under the wing or moisture in the fold of the wing. That we'll never know. The first vet I went to missed it! That's all I'll say about him. I do know you should see a avian vet and not just a vet that see's birds! When he was freaking out with us.......we were just leaving him alone. I guess I should have toweled him and checked him over good myself. He was in pain. The infection had already traveled down his leg and up to his neck. I was prepared to spend $1,000 or so but I knew I just couldn't handle 2 or more thousand. She thought he had a good shot of survival so I did what I thought was best for him. I can't second guess my decision now. I still cry just thinking of him. At least I know he'll have his pain controlled. better close this story for now. I do appreciate all the help and advice.

Yes, I have read about bumblefoot. It could possibly be that. It's not very red or raw, no open sores, at least not yet! I hope if it's that we have caught it early. I have rescheduled my appt for tomorrow morning at 8. We'll leave the house by 5am. I didn't want to wait for Monday and they had that cancellation so I took it. I noticed last night that on top of her left wing some feathers were ruffled and the skin pink. She didn't bother it that I noticed. I believe it could have happened during a fall yesterday. My poor baby. Tomorrow can not come fast enough. I dread the long lonely ride but can't wait to see Lauren Powers.

I have previously posted about how freaked out Smokey suddenly became. Vet visit (not avian specialist) proved nothing. Did a wing clip, will never do again! To make a long story short......I have an appointment with a avian specialist for this coming Monday morning. About a 3 hour ride but it will be worth it I'm sure. Smokey still freaks out but seems a little better on that detail. BUT what I have discovered is each time she puts her foot down a certain way she yelps and lets go, falling to the cage bottom. I haven't narrowed down if it's both feet or just 1. I think just the right one. That's the one that the reg vet found a scratch on her thigh. He said it was healing and nothing to worry about. He also founf that one foot is pink and the other is grey under it. I finally got in touch with the previous owner and they said she was born that way. One is pink under it and the other is grey. Now though I believe it's something else. She can use her toes just fine. Hangs upside down, crawling upside down. But if she puts it down to walk or climb a certain way, yelp yelp and plunges to the bottom. I'll be so glad to see this this specialist! I feel I just wasted my money on the vet who sees alot of birds but not avain certified!

Smokey is a TAG, will be 3 in November. 3 weeks ago at the vets office weighed in at 290g.

As far as the time.....the incident happened on August 20th. The vet trip was 4 days after that. So all in all we're going on 3 weeks now. I'm still opening the cage door each day when I'm home from work. But Smokey won't even get near the door. The cage is in front of a window. Same place it has always been. Each day we raise the blind so he can see outside. He always enjoyed watching the dogs. In fact he would call their names. Anyway....now it's flop flip and yelp whenever we raise/lower the blind. Same with covering the cage at night. He would freak out, yelling and flapping about when I would cover the cage so I just quit covering. Maybe I should quit raising the blind each morning. But that was the normal routine. I just don't know.

I have thought she was getting a little calmer but then a new sign(negative). I have always given my birds a small bite of my toast on Saturday mornings. Each Quaker took theirs then of course I had to put Smokeys on her bowl, walk away....just as I sat down, she stuck her head in her dish, yelped and threw out the toast. I mean yelped like it hurt. I saw her on the bottom of the cage a short time laterand she did the exact thing with it again. I ended up taking it out of the cage. That was something new she had not been doing before. I noticed she had tossed her almond (usually her favorite). But then I see her with her head in the seed dish for a long time, I assume eating. I've seen her drinking alot of water. She'll still eat sphegetti. I was beginning to think her mouth was sore! I just don't know. We have thought of something that happened at that instant....she was on my chair arm and one of the Quakers took flight in the kitchen. Their cage is at the end of the kitchen. Smokey also took flight and they were both flying at the same time but you could tell Smokey was looking for a place to land. Smokey had flown many times in the kitchen but not when the Q was out. He would usually land on the light and just look down at them. Like he was the king bird. Could this be the "issue" with him now. And why relate that to us in such a way that he's terrified of everything now. I sing to him and talk at the same time keeping things as normal as possible. One day I noticed he did not shiver, shake at the cage bottom with his wings slighly lifted at all. Only one day then it was back to that same thing. If he gets startled he will yelp and drops to the cage bottom. I'm afraid he's going to injure himself doing that. Is this shivering from fright or hormonal? It's constant except for that 1 day.

Thanks for all the help, ElvenKing. Last night was pretty much the same. She is starting to play with her toys just a little. When I put something in her bowl she'll go straight to the bottom but as soon as I walk away she gets right up there to check out what's on the menu! I'll have a long weekend coming so we'll see how things go because her cage door can remain open for much longer periods, as always on the weekends. Oh how I wish I didn't have her wings clipped! Hind sight is 20-20 as the saying goes. Learn through experience. I just hope and pray it doesn't take long for them to come back. Never thought I'd be happy to see a molting time coming on. Hurry, Hurry. How often do they molt?

I really appreciate any and all comments. I just wish he wasn't so freaked out by every little thing now, especially us!

Thanks. I'm just a wits end. I feel so so bad. I didn't do anything that I know of. We were just sitting there like every other night! Head scritching and then it was like a light switch. I hope someone can give me a glue or opinions. What do I do now when I have no idea what started this?

Smokey will be 3 years old in November. We have had her/him about 1 year. Been the sweetest there is!! We also have 4 Quakers. Smokey has his/her own cage of course. She had been flighted and perfect health. All of a sudden she took flight from the arm of my chair and goodness knows what happened from there. She wouldn't let us near her. Finally she had landed on my washer and stepped up on my finger, growling as we went. I put her back in her cage. This was on a friday evening. All that weekend she is terrified of us. All we had to do was walk past her cage and she freaked out! Flip flops all over the cage, screaming. I waited about 2 days of this behavior and took her into the vet to be checked out. Of course you can imagine me trying to get her in the carrier. I had to towel her inside her cage. Not a pleasant experience at all!! I was in tears she was soooooooo stressed out. The vet could only find a cut (scratch) on her right leg that had been healing up. He said the skin from the healing was probably pulling and that would hurt. Kinda like a cut that we would get and when the skins healing it pulls together. While there he did a nail clipping and a wing clipping!! What a mistake on my part. I'll never clip her again. I think she's stressing over that now also. This was 1 week ago. She is still terrified of us. We can walk past her cage now and change food and water without her flipping and flopping around. But thats as far as it goes. She never makes a word or whistle any more. I open her cage door each day as soon as I come home from work. Very slowly I open it. One time she sat at the opening, my boyfriend came in, startled her I guess and she flopped to the floor hopping and screaming. She hid under that sofa until it was bedtime. He moved the sofa up and I got her back in her cage with lots of protest. What has happened to her? She'll go to the bottom of her cage now alot, gently lift her wings and sort of quiver. She did this before though. She's always been so swet but something has scared her to the point of.........! I'm so worried. I wish I had never said OK to the wing clipping. I think that hurt more than helped. What can I do? I cry every day about this. I just want to take her in my arms and scritch her head and neck like we used to do to let her know everythings OK. We have literally traced back every moment of that evening but to no avail. She started out on my boyfriend chair arm with head scritches then after about 30 minutes she walked across the end table to my chair. I proceeded to give the scritches.....it was night night time, I said step up, she stepped up and promptly took flight and you know the rest. She's never had a problem going back in her cage. What in the world di we do, or what in the world happened? I wany my Smokey back!! The house has no talking or whistles, not a sound from her unless you get to close to the cage and she'll start screeching, a terrified screech. What do I do now? What has happened to her?

Can anyone tell me approximately how long it will take for the flight feathers to grow back in? I am so sorry now that I had Smokey's clipped. He/She has just been devastated since the clipping. I hope it won't take to long and I'll never have her clipped again. She will be 3 in November. First and last time clipped by the vet!

Can anyone tell me approximately how long it will take for the flight feathers to grow back in? I am so sorry now that I had Smokey's clipped. He/She has just been devastated since the clipping. I hope it won't take to long and I'll never have her clipped again. She will be 3 in November. First and last time clipped by the vet!

I was wondering if you are using PVC glue to put the T's and elbows on? Also how do you get the ends of sisal or hemp string to stay on? I could start the beginning and wrap around it but what about the end of the string. I wanted to use that on a PVC ladder I'm going to make. Thanks for any help/ideas. You guys are so creative on here.