Kākāriki Went to the Vet

Okay, so I adopted these unhealthy kiddies March 16. I decided to give them Maori names since they're native to New Zealand. Anyways, for those of you who don't know, they were severely emaciated, their muscles were atrophied, they were on terrible food, they were kept in a tiny cage, they were wearing leg bands that weren't actual leg bands, they could barely stand, etc. When I brought them home, I noticed Ria's left eye was swollen (she'd been on antibiotics for over a month while at the shelter). The shelter refused to give me their medical records, so based on the information that I did have, I freaked out, thinking she had psittacosis since she'd been on doxycycline for 45 days. Anyways, it turns out it's just sinusitis. Well, just look at this old post I wrote: http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets/67711-new-sickly-k-k-riki.html

Anyways, I took the two of them to the Bowmanville vet today. I had to get up at 6:30am so we could be there in time for the appointment. I wanted Ria's nostril to be unclogged since it had this debris in it, and it didn't appear to have fully drained despite continuing antibiotics for 50 more days. Anyways, Dr. Yee did a basic physical and soften up the stuff in her nostril. Her nostril was so clogged, that when she tried to flush it, none of the liquid came out of her left nostril. Like, it was completely clogged, and she probably hadn't breathed through that nostril in months. After carefully scraping at the gunk, stuff came out (they looked like little tonsil stones. There was a ton of stuff in her sinus for someone so small.), and when she flushed her sinuses again, water actually came out of her left nostril. I can't imagine the relief. Imagine the pressure in her poor sinuses.

Right, so Ria's left nostril is really dilated and it has what is likely a permanent pocket in it that stuff accumulates in. So, odds are she'll have problems with her sinuses for the rest of her life, and will need to have her nose routinely flushed out. Oh, and Dr. Yee looked at the rhinoliths (the rancid little "pebbles" in her nostril) under a microscope, and she's sending them away to be cultured.

Ria was extremely calm and didn't seem at all nervous, and she stayed still during the exam, just nibbling on the towel she was wrapped in. She didn't try to nip or anything.

Now onto Tiki. I'm not a fan of this "gagging" thing he does, nor the way he shakes his head and almost falls over (again, I think it's some sort of sinus problem). So, I'm thinking it could be aspergillosis, since I read it's pretty common with kākāriki, not to mention the terrible, animal-grade food they were on. So, she examined him (he didn't handle it as well as Ria, and tried to nip Dr. Yee more than once), and she had some concerns about his breathing. She noticed that with even a small amount of stress, he starts breathing through his mouth somewhat heavily. She said the breathing was within what was considered "normal", but she found it abnormal. There wasn't any crackling or wheezing, but he shouldn't have been breathing that hard from so little handling. She thinks aspergillosis is a likely culprit, so we decided to have some blood taken from him.

So, while she was busy flushing Ria's sinuses, Tiki had blood taken. Dr. Yee was there when the technician put the needle in, and she said that it went in cleanly. However, when it was taken out, he had significant bruising on his little neck. In addition to possible aspergillosis, there's a good chance his liver's sick, given the bruising. She put him under a heat lamp and gave him oxygen and kept an eye on him. He became really weak after having blood taken, and his legs were splayed. His legs couldn't hold him up. She came in to talk to me about his reaction and ask questions, and I told her that that's how weak they were when I brought them home (they could barely stand on perches when I got them, and they often fell down because they were so weak).

Oh, and Dr. Yee showed me their choanal papillae. They're...pointy things on the roof of their mouth. They're like little teeth on the roof of the mouth. Anyways, Tiki's were nice and pointy, which means he's healthy(ish) and is receiving proper nutrition. However, Ria's are blunt, so she is likely suffering from vitamin A deficiency from her previous life. She says I'm taking excellent care of them, as they're doing quite well-ish, considering how unhealthy they were when I adopted them.

So, we should get the blood results back early next week. She's also sending Dr. Morris (my local, inexpensive, exotics vet) a prescription for anti-fungal meds. We'll probably have to go to Bowmanville again for further testing. Oh, she also wants to do a test for the "dreaded" diseases (PBFD, psittacosis, PDD, etc.). In all, I spent over $750 today at the vet.

They were silent on the ride home, and they could barely keep their eyes open. When I opened up the carrier, they just sat in it for a minute, before heading to the cage to sleep. Tiki was really weak, and he couldn't lift himself onto the cage door, and almost fell a few times. He managed to climb the mesh on the wall and is now resting on a platform perch (he's quite alert and seems to be regaining strength). Ria is sleeping in the cage and looks exhausted. She actually looks worse than Tiki. I think her sinuses might be feeling a bit painful (she might even be feeling lightheaded, since the pressure in her head is suddenly gone after all these months). Oh, gosh. If her sinuses are draining, the pus-filled mucus draining into her mouth might be making her feel ill. Even if she doesn't understand what pus or mucus is, she probably still finds it really nasty.

Wow. What you're doing for these little babes is amazing. After reading your other thread, I think you got them at the INHUMANE society!


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Thank you for rescuing these poor creatures! I believe if you hadn't, they might not be around today :02:
It sounds to me,you are doing everything right,and these fids are very fortunate that you found them...thank you once again.

Yes,vet bills can,and are,very expensive! I remember paying $850 for emergency/critical care,for Smokey,only for her to pass away in the doctors hand 30 minutes later :02: :02:.

Amy,BB,and I,will say some special prayers for your flock...



Jim

Poor babies...thank you for taking such good care of the helpless little things.

Thanks everyone. To me, it doesn't really feel like I'm making an effort. I just try to provide my guys with basic care. But, I guess most people would consider our idea of "basic care" to be "spoiling" them or "babying" them. I'll admit, I probably don't clean their things as often as I should, but then again, I wouldn't consider it unhygienic (it's not spotless, but nobody's going to get sick from mould, rancid food, burns on their feet from feces, etc. Although, the one time I found mould in the quarantine cage, and I freaked out. I'd cleaned the thing three days before, yet I found mould under the newspapers a few days later when I was cleaning.).

I agree with you, Inger. A lot of places don't know the first thing about caring for birds. Their idea of quarantine, if they even bother to quarantine new birds, is a joke. I was quite upset when I saw the poor kākāriki at the shelter (my uncle shared the adoption link for them with my dad). The staff weren't deliberately doing a terrible job, and actually wanted them to go to a good home, but they still sucked at caring for them.

And AMBF, sorry to hear about your kiddie. Alice died at the vet on the 29th while being examined by Dr. Yee, and it was a complete shock. I think she still felt guilty about it when I brought the kākāriki in today. I told her that I figured out Ju was vomiting because of allergies and that he was doing well (I first met Dr. Yee when I took Ju to her last summer), and I told her that Dr. Morris did an autopsy, and found that Alice had a kidney tumour the size of a loonie. She seemed happy to hear all that, and I think it helped take some of the weight off her shoulders, knowing just how sick Alice was when she died.

I went downstairs to check on the kids (the aviary's in the basement), and the kākāriki don't look too hot. While they weren't overly stressed by the vet visit (New Zealand tend to be quite calm), they're still really tired from everything. It definitely seems like Ria might be experiencing some sort of pain or discomfort.

I really hope it's just aspergillosis, or something equally non-contagious.

Well, we got some of the blood results back. Tiki's liver enzyme and kidney values are normal (1 point for Robyn). However, his white blood cell count is abnormally low. The random vet who phoned me said that most likely, his immune system is overwhelmed with a hardcore infection. Kind of like how malaria or AIDS fries your immune system. His blood protein's a bit low, and Dr. Vet says it could be a secondary symptom or whatever of infection. It's sounds...not good. Dr. Vet says the cytology results will be in in a few days, but before then, she wants us to start the two kākāriki on antibiotics right away. She's sending the prescription to Dr. Morris.

I swear, this better not be contagious. Otherwise, I'm taking Samantha, Pollo, and Noah in for blood work. Then I'll have to proceed to forcibly medicate 9 birds, and at least 6 of them will mutilate me. Please, please don't be contagious! And if it is, please be nice and treatable, and not at all like PDD, PBFD, AGY, or psittacosis.

That's the last time I let my parents talk me out of doing a full work up on new birds. Get tested, man! Yeah, it'll cost you $400 right now, but it could just as easily cost you +$1,500 later. Nip things in the bud!

Crossing my fingers for you and your flock.


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My gosh, yes. Please don't be anything terrible >_<. If it is contagious, I think Pollo and Samantha might have it :x. And if it is contagious, I'll have to medicate everyone! There's so many of them, and they are all different weights (meaning they'll all need completely different doses!)! I'll have to spend almost an hour each night, giving them medicine . No, but what if they need the medicine twice a day O_O. Fudge, as long as it's 100% curable, and not at all super fatal.

Guh, my goal for today is to disinfect at least 75% of their aviary. It's not going to prevent disease, but it'll help their terrible immune systems out. Also, until we get the cytology results, we're having all you can eat seed. Lots of fattening seed. Weight, Samantha, Tiki, and Ria are the only ones who are a bit light, so maybe it's not necessary. But I am going start giving them Nekton-S vitamins.

The kākāriki don't look too good today, either, but they perked up when I gave them some greens and sunflower seeds. Better freaking not be freaking contagious. Fudge, I'll set up the diffuser and get some eucalyptus oil going in there to stimulate their immune systems.

No eucalyptus oil, no essential oils period around birds. Eucalyptus is an irritant and birds have very sensitive respiratory systems.

I know you are a bit over-whelmed right now,but try to chill a bit and maintain! Sounds to me you are doing a great job caring for them already
I wish I could be there and give you a hand..but you're a bit too far to travel




Jim

Good point, Kentuckienne. I should've mentioned the hazards of using anything that gives off fumes or vapours around birds. Most essential oils contain harmful additives and impurities that can make birds (and humans) really sick. Even good quality, pure essential oils can be deadly because of how sensitive birdie lungs are. However, I use a quality brand (and I don't just take the company's word for it, either), and use bird-safe oils at lung-friendly concentrations.

For a lot of birds out there, I wouldn't recommend using essential oils. However, I'm an active member of the budgie lover community, where (unadulterated) eucalyptus oil is often used to help treat respiratory issues. In general, when a budgie has respiratory problems, if they can't immediately see an avian vet, it's recommended that they breathe in steam from a hot pot of water with a few drops of eucalyptus oil in it (obviously the budgie is in a cage or a carrier so they don't burn themselves). Budgies, having evolved alongside eucalyptus for millions of years, benefit from this trees oils, which stimulates their immune system and helps open up their sinuses, allowing them to breathe more easily and fight off infection.

I'm actually handling this a lot better than I did when I got...the other bad news (our young chihuahua has a birth defect which is going to cause her to go into congestive heart failure, Lara has cancer, Ju has cancer, Alice died during her exam, etc.). But yeah, I'll try to relax ;p.

I only cleaned maybe a quarter of the aviary tonight. I spent at least 10 minutes trying to scrub the pile of kākāriki poop off. The two of them like to sit on this ledge, and they get poop all down the wall and on the floor. And for some reason, I turned up the temperature in there before I started cleaning >_<. Thanks for the offer of help . I really hope this thing isn't contagious. The kids are going to absolutely destroy my hands. Ria, Noah, Rumi, and Lara will go easy on me, but the others are going to punish me. They may be small, but their bites are absolutely brutal.

Grr, so Samantha's definitely sick. I weighed her on Friday, and she's only 28g/29g. She's supposed to be 34g. She was vomiting on Friday, and again last night (the vomit is just undigested food. It isn't smelly or discoloured, or anything like that). It's either allergies (I've been giving them a new mash, so she might be having issues with it), or she's actually sick.

She's been nauseous and really tired. I've been giving her Lily of the Desert Stomach Formula to try to soothe her tummy. It worked for me when I had gut rot (I bought it for the birds, but they're not going to finish the bottle on their own), so maybe it'll help her.

I noticed she seemed off a few weeks back, but I didn't know if she was actually unwell. I know what you're thinking, but unless you've lived with budgies for as long as I have, you can't begin to grasp what it's like to deal with their health. The majority of captive budgies have absolutely horrendous genetics, most are from bird mills, and few receive proper nutrition as youngsters, so their idea of "normal" and "healthy" would send the average parrot lover running to the vet. Ju, for example, has a lot of food sensitivities, so it's not too uncommon to see him projectile vomiting every now and then, forcing me to remember everything I've fed them in the past week to figure out what's bothering his tummy. And Rumi is probably the worst. She suffers from neurological problems, so her "normal" would cause most people to rush her to the vet... So, basically, I didn't know if she was about to moult (every time she moults I start panicking, thinking she's dying. Honestly, she acts like she's dying when she's moulting), or if she was actually sick. Or if her age was finally catching up to her.

If she doesn't get better soon, I'll be taking her to the vet. Speaking of which, Noah's lower beak is bothering him, so I'll have to take him in to have it filed.

We have good news for the kākāriki, though. They'll be done their antibiotics tomorrow, and I'll be taking them to see Dr. Yee for a follow up this week. Oh, fudge. On Tuesday, some idiot bit Ria badly on the toe. Her toe was covered in blood, and there was actually a chunk of skin sticking up. Her foot's still bruised from the incident. Whoever hurt her intended to maim her, as that amount of damage isn't caused by someone accidentally nipping a little too hard. I moved the kākāriki into the small cage a couple of days before that happened, so someone must've been attracted to her foot clinging to the side of the cage. Birds can't resist biting fight clinging to the bars of a cage, but whoever bit her wanted to cause her extensive pain. I know you're probably thinking it was Noah, but I think it might have been Lara who did it.