zinc levels toxic!!

[Pep1]

My baby boy Nicholas has been sick for about a month now, going back & forth to the vets for meds and feedings. He has lost his appetite for his pellets and will only eat baby oatmeal, which is good because this is what I have been hiding his meds in it. At first the dr. thought he had a yeast infection and a bacterial infection & started a series of antibiotic shots, once a week for 3 wks., the day after the 1st show he got very sick and started vomiting, just the one day, so the dr. took some more blood and did an xray, found nothing on the xray so decided to do the 2nd shot a week and a half after the 1st shot, the next day the same thing happened, he vomited so we decided the shots were not agreeing with him, then she sent out a sample of blood to check his zinc levels, well she called me at home today to tell me she got the results and they came back Toxic! I go in tomorrow to pick up meds for him to combat this, I just hope we haven't waited too long to treat this, can't figure out where it is coming from since he is not a chewer of metal parts, the only thing new I can think of that he has been recently exposed to would be a new tinted moisturizer I started using on my face, he likes to cuddle under my neck when he sits on my shoulder. Has anyone out there ever had a problem with zinc poisioning? I am just sick with worry, have spent over $1,300 in the past 3 wks. and he is still not any better. I am sorry this post is so long but I am looking for any input..Thank you

[Jayd]

You are doing the best you can for your baby, it's not your fault. They can get zinc from the exposed bolts and wing nuts/washers that's used to hold on there perches. Feed your baby yogurt, plain, low fat, keep warm, this takes time.....

[judygram]

So sorry to hear of this news about Nicholas but hopefully the medicine will take care of it, poor baby and please keep us informed.

[danmcq]

I am so sorry to hear this. If I may ask, has the vet taken any xrays to see if there is a metal piece internally trapped? After this amount of time and eating oatmeal, it should have passed. I pray for the best for your baby and you to get through this with a good outcome.

Edited November 23, 2012 by danmcq

[Pep1]

thank you all for your kind words! I have to run into the vets office to pick up some Calcium EDTA to administer to him orally, she said she could also give it to him as a shot but with the reactions he has had with the antibiotic shots I am afraid to go that route with him. I will keep all of you informed, hopefully within the next couple of days I will have very good news to report.

[Pep1]

and yes he did have an xray taken last Friday and nothing showed..that is when she decided to take more blood and send it out for the zinc testing.

[katana600]

I am so sorry for what you are going through trying to find the cause of his illness. You are really on the ball with his care. Going back and forth to the vet and ruling things out takes a toll on your emotions to be sure. I would not have thought of the face cream, but since you mentioned it, zinc does seem to be in sunscreen and also in baby ointments. I would have never considered that but for your posting. I am hoping that you are ahead of this and will soon have better lab results. I haven't had any experience with toxic levels of zinc but will be reading more about it. Again, so sorry you are living this nightmare even though it does make me look more closely at what our parrots might get into that I would not have considered otherwise, so thank you for that.

[Greywings]

Some of the Chinese made cages have a high zinc or Lead content in them. Some of the bell type toys have zinc clappers as well. Not all labeling is good. What ever happened glad you have found the problem and are working on helping him recover.

[Acappella]

You're a good parrot. I'll keep healing thoughts for your baby. <3

[Pep1]

I am so happy to tell everyone that my Nicholas is on the mend! After 5 days on the chelation medicine he started showing signs of improvement, he has started eating his pellets again, is starting to gain his weight back (his average daily weight before his illness was 500g, during his illness he went down as low as 389g, he is now around 450g) the vet took blood to re-test his zinc levels on Tues. of this week, she called yesterday afternoon with the good results! She told me normal levels should be between 1 and 3 (I think there should be a point before these numbers) when he was first tested it was a 7 and classified as toxic, he is now back down to a 1. Still not absolutely sure what caused all of this but I have thown out the new moisturizer I was using and have removed his almond nut rings. Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and comments, I will continue to keep all of you updated on his progress.

[Talon]

Fantastic news!!!!

[katana600]

Such good news, thanks for your update. That was a significant weight loss, kudos to you for your close observation and getting him the help he needed. That was certainly a scary time for you. What a relief to get a confirmation that he is on the mend.

[Timbersmom]

That's great news, thanks for sharing!

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

What fantastic news! Let us know what you think the source was. Nancy