Morana Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Guys, I think Zak might have a big problem. I was puking most of the afternoon so Zak wasn't in my primary focus and in that time e managed to eat at least 20 little pieces of my zipper. The worst part is that the zipper is the old, yellow kind so I think it might have some zinc in it! He is not experiencing anything right now but I am very worried of what might happen! And yes, I'm sure he ate it because there isn't a single piece anywhere on the floor or anywhere else. What should I do!? The only avian vet (in Croatia) that I even know of, or that I would trust to touch him is probably home on a weekend. Have sent her an email but nothing yet. Anyone has any ideas how dangerous this might be? Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) Vet, ASAP. put white paper on the bottom of the cage and see if they pass,[next few days] see if you can count how many are missing....Please read.....http://www.avianweb.com/heavymetalpoisoningbirds.html http://www.holisticbird.org/pages/hmetal.htm'>http://www.holisticbird.org/pages/hmetal.htm http://www.holisticbird.org/pages/hmetal.htm Edited October 20, 2012 by Jayd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Perhaps calling the vet office will help. There may be an answering service or recording on how to get help when the office is closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 To help him pass the pieces feed him some plain cooked oatmeal flavored with a spoonful of Peanut butter it will help him get the pieces out of the gut and crop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Tnx guys! I'll try the oat meal and check his poop. Vet has not a answering machine, or anything else because it is a vet at a university. There are a lot of vets here but just two that I know are avian vets. Those two are my vet and her boos and they work at the same place at the same time so no vet till Monday:-(( I know that there are no other avian vets because I already asked my vet to recommend me someone if things go south during, let say, weekend. She recommended me two good people but they are not avian vets and I don't think I would let anyone touch Zak. Tnx for the pages, I'll be on it right now. Zak is his old self but I'm concerned what will happen if that stays in the crop too long.. I'll keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Well I read the pages but of all the substances that some people advise I am afraid to use any of it although I don't know a lot what they even mean. I'll try with the peanut-butter and see how that goes. I don't won't to buy any kind of drugs without my vet saying something about it first. Zak had two droppings this morning. Both without anything in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Do me a favor, check where Zak chewed on it and see if you can find any pieces.....Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 I already checked that yesterday evening when I noticed what is missing and didn't find any pieces!!!! But I ll go and check again now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Thanks, I was just hoping... Heavy metal poisoning is so serious, please keep us posted..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Try plain yogurt, from the market or dairy.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Nothing. I estimate there could have been 20-24 pieces of the zipper. I'll be cooking oatmeal momentarily but since Zak basically hates both peanut butter and oat meal what do you think about green salad? It has a lot of water in it and maybe it would give his stool a "push". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Nothing. I estimate there could have been 20-24 pieces of the zipper. I'll be cooking oatmeal momentarily but since Zak basically hates both peanut butter and oat meal what do you think about green salad? It has a lot of water in it and maybe it would give his stool a "push". We need fiber and bulk, not water, we need to push it out of the system with mass not liquid, no extra water or fruit....Try yogurt with the PB and oats....What kind of oat cereals with out sugar can you get.........? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I've got to get some sleep, it's after 2am over here, I'll check back later....My thoughts be with you.....Jayd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Uh, I don't have oats home except in a grain. I have crushed barley. Can I use this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Uh, I don't have oats home except in a grain. I have crushed barley. Can I use this? You need oats and yogurt sorry.....Jayd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Well, Zak didn't poop out anything valuable for now. I managed to find a store that works today so he got his yogurt and oats. He drank a bit of yogurt, ate just a bit of oats and he scraped all the peanut butter of his beak. I think the problem with the latter is that he doesn't like when something sticks to his beak. Now he got some seeds. i kinda figured that it is good if we fill his crop. With the seeds he might poop out a bit of the zipper. He'll get more oats and yogurt later. There is no point in forcing it or he won't want to eat it again.. He is acting completely normal. I'm still waiting for the vet to reply:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Jake has the same issue with his beak. I make his oatmeal a bit on the thick side and feed it from my fingers holding it a bit low so it doesn't touch his beak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 So sorry to hear that Zak has ingested the zipper pieces and I can offer no help but you might be able to feed him the oatmeal from a spoon, thats the way Josey eats her oatmeal, it doesn't get on her beak as much though she doesn't really care if it does and I figure its a good way to get meds in her if the occasion ever arises, hope it all goes well and he doesn't suffer any ill effects from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 Thanks Judy Oatmeal on itself doesn't stick to his beak but the peanut butter in it does, so I'll try feeding it from my fingers. It actually tastes really good. I think I like it more than Zak does;-) PS: I feed yogurt via syringe (like all the liquid stuff he likes -juices so I don't have many problems with giving medicaments) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 well, Zak drank a lot of yogurt. I think he would drink even more if I gave but I'm not sure how much is OK. Guys? He doesn't want an oatmeal. I'm now cooking it again. maybe a warm one will be more appealing. Peanut butter is out because he won't have any even from my fingers (not even combined with an oatmeal). He haven't pooped anything interesting yet but otherwise is doing OK. My vet replied but I'm not we understood each other correctly. Have sent her another mail and then we'll see. She is out of Croatia at the moment-business trip:-/ She said to give him a bit of egg-white or active coal (this is a literal translation from my language so I hope I didn't write something very wrong). She recommended an RTG but if the pieces are that small as I say, she thinks they will probably come out through the poop. Maybe irritate the coon a bit. I'm not that crazy about getting him to the RTG because it will be a huge stress for him and we already know what he ate. Am I missing something here? She doesn't know will there be poisoning since i actually don't know which material is the zipper made off. I'll try to find where i can get that tested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) I called the vet today-it's her boss (mine is on the trip till the end of the week) and I ended up being somewhat puzzled. She said it all depends on how the zipper is made, even it has zink it may be made in such manner that it's not soluble in Zaks stomach acid. Well she said a lot of things but she said that we can't know for sure what it is. She doesn't know where I could get it tested. She recommended a lot of yogurt, fresh food, mushy food like fresh cow cheese, no salad because it is useless, better some other green leaves to get the pieces out. Also, we can make an RTG but it will just show us that he ingested it. There are treatments for the poisoning but unless we are certain we can make some damage with them because some of the drugs are hard on the stomach. Well, she explained it in more detail, I just don't know how to translate it. She also said that from zink some symptoms may include that he gets blue around his beak or his feet turn blue, he may start to drink a lot of water, pee a lot... basically, I was panicking and she tried to calm me down. She is not sure whether their (the faculty lab) lab could even do the blood test and if they do if it is under 250mg (if I remembered correctly) it wouldn't be considered toxic. Usually the tests are made for when a wire is in question because then they have a mixture of zink, lead and maybe copper. So the prevention measures for me (if I understood her correctly) would be administering those food, maybe a half a tablet of active coal for max of two days (but it is usually used for food problems not for this but it can't hurt), wait for him to poop it out and look out for some nervous related disorders, blue feet and around the beak, (I also read blood in droppings and really green diarrhea) and hope for the best. And yes, she said we could do the RTG but I'm not at all happy about it. Because if he goes he'll be a nervous wreck, probably his belly acid may become stronger and solve the zink inside.. I'm just speculating but I'm gonna think about it more. It seems to me they can just count the pieces and then ask me to bring him again after a time to count it again. I don't know. I'm in conflict. I desperately want to help him but I know how bad it got last time he had an RTG so its a hard decision. He seems so fine (I know it can be deceiving). She also mentioned to look out for a strange head posture.. I don't know. I'm still panicking and not thinking strait and Zak sees right through me so I think he is afraid a bit:-( But he is playing, eating normally, drinking OK, not tilting in any way, not blue and poops nicely-no diarrhea. Edited October 22, 2012 by Morana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I think you have had a very scary time with Zak but from what you say he is not yet showing any symptoms. Follow your vets dietary advice and keep a close eye on him but I know I don't need to tell you that. We are all hoping for the best for you and Zak. Steve n Misty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I sure hope your baby is doing ok keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayd Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Please continue with the plain yogurt........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morana Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Zak seems fine. He has been talking his ass off since I came from work. Ate a lot but not the stuff he really should. Fresh things he ate but yogurt he doesn't want at the moment. I'll try again soon. He'll get oat and yogurt for dinner. Fresh cheese tomorrow when he gets hungry again. Didn't pop out anything interesting but watches me very suspiciously when I get through his every poop. No diarrhea. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted. He is perching quite happily on my shoulder but I'm still in constant fear. Thanks guys so much for your support! Don't know what would I do without you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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