IndySE
Active member
This bird has terrible timing. Christmas morning I wake up to my dad bringing a limp bird to my room, and I was convinced she'd die right in my hands. She recovered fast, and my parents spelled out what happened that morning.
The bird spooked and took off flying (not unusual). She did not crash, but instead landed in my mom's hair. As soon as she landed, her wings flopped to her side and her tail spread out. My dad removed her, trying to get her to perch on his finger, but she had little balance. They put her flat on the table, and she collapsed right onto her beak. Which is about when they rushed her upstairs to me.
The episode couldn't have been longer than a minute. Afterwords she seemed sleepy, very puffy and just wanted to snuggle against my neck. That's very unusual, because she's normally hyper in the morning. My dad is a medical professional (for humans) and told me these three stages (the unusual behavior, the seizure itself, and the sleepiness afterwards) are the exact steps of a seizure.
Because it's Christmas day, there's no way I can rush her to the avian vet until tomorrow at earliest. I made her comfortable, rearranged her cage so everything is low, and put lots of towels on the bottom of her cage in case she has one again. She now seems perfectly hyper and active, annoyed really that her cage has been rearranged the way it is. I'm praying she holds out until tomorrow.
It seems seizures can be a symptom for just about anything. My dad was even wondering if the christmas lights triggered it somehow. At minimum, I'll be in for a blood count, a gram stain, and another fecal test ( to rule out parasites I think) my vet always insists on. We've never done a blood test before because I don't like subjecting a tiny bird to one without undue cause but... this seems due. It also looks like they commonly do radiographs to rule out metal poisoning. There goes the Christmas money, but I'm just hopping it's nothing too serious
Prayers and kind thoughts would be appreciated ! 
edit; I will also mention she's a young bird (will be 2 years in May), and has a reasonable diet that includes Roudybush pellets, a bit of seed, and mixed veggies, fruits, and legumes multiple times a week. Her droppings were normal this morning and her weight is healthy. In her last vet exam, her gram stain revealed a slightly high bacterial count, but my vet said it was within reason and I gave her apple cider vinegar and monitored her weight afterwards. I'm trying to avoid postulating what it could be without further information, but it seems very strange because she has none of the typical risks one would expect.
The bird spooked and took off flying (not unusual). She did not crash, but instead landed in my mom's hair. As soon as she landed, her wings flopped to her side and her tail spread out. My dad removed her, trying to get her to perch on his finger, but she had little balance. They put her flat on the table, and she collapsed right onto her beak. Which is about when they rushed her upstairs to me.
The episode couldn't have been longer than a minute. Afterwords she seemed sleepy, very puffy and just wanted to snuggle against my neck. That's very unusual, because she's normally hyper in the morning. My dad is a medical professional (for humans) and told me these three stages (the unusual behavior, the seizure itself, and the sleepiness afterwards) are the exact steps of a seizure.
Because it's Christmas day, there's no way I can rush her to the avian vet until tomorrow at earliest. I made her comfortable, rearranged her cage so everything is low, and put lots of towels on the bottom of her cage in case she has one again. She now seems perfectly hyper and active, annoyed really that her cage has been rearranged the way it is. I'm praying she holds out until tomorrow.
It seems seizures can be a symptom for just about anything. My dad was even wondering if the christmas lights triggered it somehow. At minimum, I'll be in for a blood count, a gram stain, and another fecal test ( to rule out parasites I think) my vet always insists on. We've never done a blood test before because I don't like subjecting a tiny bird to one without undue cause but... this seems due. It also looks like they commonly do radiographs to rule out metal poisoning. There goes the Christmas money, but I'm just hopping it's nothing too serious
Prayers and kind thoughts would be appreciated ! edit; I will also mention she's a young bird (will be 2 years in May), and has a reasonable diet that includes Roudybush pellets, a bit of seed, and mixed veggies, fruits, and legumes multiple times a week. Her droppings were normal this morning and her weight is healthy. In her last vet exam, her gram stain revealed a slightly high bacterial count, but my vet said it was within reason and I gave her apple cider vinegar and monitored her weight afterwards. I'm trying to avoid postulating what it could be without further information, but it seems very strange because she has none of the typical risks one would expect.
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