Teddscau
Active member
- Sep 25, 2015
- 640
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- Parrots
- Budgies: Sunshine, Blanco, Azure; Peach-faced lovebirds: Rosie and Jaybird; YSA: Jasper (♀)
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.
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.
:02:
