Discolored feathers around vent

[parapig23]

I took Dove to the vet and she is fine. The weird noise was just beak grinding which is normal, and since she has white feathers he said she might get a little staining. The stain is gone now anyway. Her droppings are a little green because she just picks the seeds out of the seed/pellet mix I'm giving her to introduce to pellets. Thank you!!!

 

[noodles123]

I took Dove to the vet and she is fine. The weird noise was just beak grinding which is normal, and since she has white feathers he said she might get a little staining. The stain is gone now anyway. Her droppings are a little green because she just picks the seeds out of the seed/pellet mix I'm giving her to introduce to pellets. Thank you!!!

what tests did they run. I am not trying to be debby downer, but that clicking is not the same as grinding and if they are just basing that off observation without a gram stain or anything..
Noodles is entirely white and my vet has always told me to look for staining on the vent....she has an extremely subtle, pastel yellow right there at the line of her vent and feathers, but that is not the same as green staining. I'm sorry-- not trying to rain on your parade but that tail bobbing you described, plus all of this is still very concerning to me.
When you say this was an avian vet, do you mean they see birds, or they have avian certification? I know that sounds nit-picky, but an exotics vets with a lot of clients is still not avian. Sometimes, exotics are the best people can find in their area, but I seriously would question their validity if it was just a weight, exam and visual..


If they ran tests, that is great and I am wrong (I'm not a vet) but avian vets and exotics vets can't just look at a bird and know anything (although they can sometimes hear fluid in airsacs or feel an emaciated bird...maybe an egg...but even the best cannot tell most things just by looking).



What you described (tail bobbing, clicking when breathing, stained vent= classic signs of a sick bird).


Yes, beak grinding is a thing, but how long have you had Dove? It is very likely that you would have heard it already if you have had her for more than a few weeks.


If you didn't ask for testing, they likely wouldn't have done it, as they squeezed you in. I would just be cautious still....Hope I am wrong and they are right.

 

[Laurasea]

Great job getting her to the vet!! Better safe than sorry. As you can't mess around with any symptoms like you described ! We aren't there abd onky going by what you share. Im very happy to hear good news.

 

[parapig23]

Yes I was very surprised when he said she was fine. I just got Dove the Saturday before last. I'm still monitoring her very closely. She is acting fine. I thought maybe the reason there was a slight stain was because as mentioned before her droppings are a little green and are kind of wet. (has been so since I got her) My other budgie Kirby used to bob her tail a little bit right before she had to go to the bathroom. Maybe that is what Dove is doing? I haven't heard the noise since yesterday morning. I'm not sure if they did tests because I wasn't even allowed in the building.

 

[Laurasea]

Budgies shouldn't have wet dropping. They should be that circle shape with a white center.

Anything other than that is abnormal. Mine had that kind of poop with psittacosis infection. Extreme stress from the move sbd coming to your house, I might let one day of abnormal stress poop. Anything more sbd something is up.

This is my very sick with psittacosis budgies abnormal poop. Their poop should never look like this !

She should have normal pictures in link below
https://www.alenaxp.com/budgie-poop-guide-for-better-health-of-your-bird/

Are poops normal now?

Chlamydia/psittacosis can be chronic and intermittent
" chronic non-symptomatic form of the disease. There has been transmission through the egg in some species of birds including the budgie. Cockatiels can be frequent carriers of the disease and can shed C. psittaci in their feces for more than a year."
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/psittacosis-bird-owners-need-know/

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-...tacosis",referred to incorrectly as parakeets.)

 

[noodles123]

Yes I was very surprised when he said she was fine. I just got Dove the Saturday before last. I'm still monitoring her very closely. She is acting fine. I thought maybe the reason there was a slight stain was because as mentioned before her droppings are a little green and are kind of wet. (has been so since I got her) My other budgie Kirby used to bob her tail a little bit right before she had to go to the bathroom. Maybe that is what Dove is doing? I haven't heard the noise since yesterday morning. I'm not sure if they did tests because I wasn't even allowed in the building.

In the future, try to always make a record of what they test for-- they can get you copies of the results too (which aren't bad to have on-hand). You want to make sure you know (in case you ever have an emergency and have to go elsewhere etc).

The tail bobbing + sound is what really concerns me. I know it stopped, but its weird that it happened.You can call and they will tell you and they can either email a copy (usually) or you can get it in person.


Also, if they didn't test for anything, I'd probably have that discussion and then look for a new vet (if all they did was look at the bird without testing)...Unless they are REALLY the only avian vet within 1-2 hours of your location.

 

[parapig23]

Her droppings don't look like that. I will put a picture up when I get one. And yes this is the only avian vet in my area. What should I do?

 

[Laurasea]

Things can be fine. We aren't there sbdvyiu had a vet check.

One thing that can help figuring out issues. Is to weigh your bird and track weight. For my budgies I zero out on the scale a Tupperware container and then I put one in snd weigh. Or yiu can zero out a dish with seeds abd if tame set in dish. Most sick birds are going to loose weight , even if eating, as it takes lots of calories when sick. Because burds vary in size they go by % of body mass lost. Abd by trends. So for % lost you take grams lost ÷ by normal weight × 100 = % lost.

Don't stress!!! We try and share so much information. You had her checked out by an avain vet, you have to go by what they said.

I look forward to a picture of Dove

 

[noodles123]

She could be fine, but I have even had avian vets tell me my bird looked/acted fine when she was actually very very sick. If they opt not to test, but symptoms have been present, that is important to investigate.

There is never a time when a parrot's tail would bob obviously, as yours was (if sitting/perched) that would not indicate a severe difficulty breathing. That needs to be addressed-- what was the cause etc? This is not the only symptom either....It may not be bacterial or viral (could have been environmental) but either way, you need to know what caused it...Even if it is gone now, what was the root?

This is why I am asking about what tests were run. Sorry to bring all of my baggage, but Noodles nearly died from liver failure when a number of vets (2 exotics and 1 CAV said that testing was not needed because she seemed healthy). They were SHOCKED at how bad her levels were when they actually tested.

When I first got her, she also had a really bad bacterial infection but she ACTED normal at the vet (because scared bird hide weakness). Hence the vet's assumption that all was well.

It's only when they get so severely ill that they cannot hide it that a vet could tell by looking and touching. That is why I strongly suggest asking about what tests they ran.
I am not a vet, but I know birds well enough to say that no vet could tell just by looking and touching unless it was something obvious.


I know vets are the "experts" but our birds will often not show them their illness because there is basically nothing closer to a predator in their eyes--- they are going to rally at the vet unless it is too late in many cases.



Heck, when Noodles was egg-bound, they couldn't feel the egg and said she was acting fine (they said she could have an egg but the behavior had gone on for a few days, so I know the egg should have been out). I had to insist on an xray and again (different CAV) was shocked because there was a very large egg, but it was too high to feel and it would have been a bigger emergency had I waited (granted, the interventions needed were classified as "emergency"...I had to take 3 days off work). These were both avian certified vets with very very solid reputations and lots of continuing ed certifications. The fact is that you cannot tell enough from a physical exam alone. At the VERY least, they should have done a gram stain.

 

[parapig23]

I really don't know what to do here. I really don't have enough money to take her to the vet when I just took her. My husband would not like it if I had to take her again. She is acting regular.

 

[noodles123]

If she is STILL acting totally normal, then that is great and she is probably okay for the time being, but did you ever call the vet to find out how they determined this? I am not saying you have to take her back there, but you need to know if they checked anything at all for your records. You also should probably consider another vet in the future if all they did was listen to her and touch/weigh her (as the symptoms you describe merited further investigation at the time--- even if nothing was wrong, a solid vet would take that report seriously and at least test her poop). Those same symptoms (clicking when breathing, bobbing tail, lethargy etc have resulted in dead birds within hours).......NOW, your bird obviously was not one of them, as she is doing much better, but they SHOULD NOT have dismissed these behaviors...period. Testing was merited (whether or not there was anything permanent wrong) and I am not saying you need to take her back for testing, but I'd want to know why the heck they didn't test , as there is no excuse. Those are serious symptoms and if they ignored them and chose not to test, that was a massive gamble-- not even an avian vet can see a bacterial infection from a cursory exam.

Again,your bird's issue could have been an environmental thing that passed, but if they just looked at her and assumed she was fine, I wouldn't put a lot of faith in them for future issues. They may have guessed right, but the point is that a good vet would have at least taken your concerns seriously enough to do a gram stain or something. I know CAVs are the gold standard, but if this was a CAV and you brought a bird in with serious concerns (and what you described should have raised flags) and they didn't test at all, that is sketchy and not very considerate.

It could have been that some undetectable scent or irritant that was in your home (and that caused the temporary bobbing of the tail)...Our TV almost killed Noodles once because we had it on for like 4 hours and we had the doors shut on the den with her in there with us on the play perch. All of the sudden she was being super nice to my sister (who she used to hate and now loves). My sister was like, wow, she's being so gentle and squishy. Then I put her on the perch and saw that bobbing, so I freaked out when it continued. I left the room to try to get dressed to go to the vet-- when I came back in, I noticed a slightly strange smell (which was not noticeable when I had been in the room). I opened all the windows etc etc and crossed my fingers. Within 15 min out of the room with fans blowing air in and out of the house at full-blast, her tail stopped bobbing. The TV still works, but we don't use it when she visits because it was VERY clearly the cause of this incident.

That having been said, if I hadn't realized, I would have taken her to the vet and they definitely would have tested her (based on what I described as my reason for bringing her in).
I just hope you figure out what caused it initially, because the fact that she hasn't acted weird since, really makes me think it was probably environmental..but inevitably, she will need to go to the vet (on appointment) for blood work (as every 3 years is the minimum, after the initial draw once they are old enough to get it done the first time as a baseline). You need to establish care with a vet who takes you seriously and doesn't just cut corners for the sake of convenience to him/her. Whether or not you stay with this vet, you still need to ask them what they did during that visit. That is just the only responsible thing to do. You might also ask why they chose not to do any tests if they did not. A gram stain is not invasive at all, so stress would not have been involved in obtaining a sample (as you already left her there).

 

[parapig23]

Yes I will call them. And I'm also looking into different vets. Her symptoms have disappeared but I'm still keeping a very close eye on her. Thank you so much for this helpful information.