Lucky Update

[ordenrahl]

I have been absent here on the forums as Lucky, my 10 year old eclectus that I had recived in December had been going through quite an ordeal and I didn’t want to post snippets until I had the whole story.

A few months ago I noticed that Lucky had been throwing up often. Lucky had been loosing weight and the vet recommended that he get a bavarium X-ray to examine his digestive tract. They found that Lucky’s stomach was swollen and that it was likely that he had Pachecos Parrot Disease (PPD). In short PPD is a contagious fatal disease affects the nerves surrounding the stomach and interferes with the parrots digestion of food causing them to vomit or pass undigested seeds resulting in infections in the intestines and starvation.

The next step in the testing was to remove a piece of his crop and have a biopsy done. Lucky did not do well after surgery but recovered from the procedure after a few days. At this time he was still losing weight so the vet decided to begin treatment anyway. The vet prescribed a drug called Metacam, which is usually not prescribed though he has had very successful results using this drug with birds who were diagnosed with PPD and are still living with the disease now for several years.

After waiting a couple weeks for my results I was called and asked to come to the vet’s office and bring Lucky. Lucky had still been throwing up and I was fearing the worst. When I arrived the vet notified me that the sample that they removed was undiagnosable and that they would need to take another sample. When the vet checked Lucky’s weight he was back up to the normal range. The vet was concerned with Lucky’s last reaction to the surgery and decided it would be best to keep him on the medication as long as that was working and forgo another crop biopsy.

My feelings on this are mixed. I am very happy that Lucky is no longer losing weight (but he does continue to vomit) though I am a bit frustrated that I do not have a concrete diagnoses. He seems to be doing fine now, but I wonder if his usual subdued demeanor which I took as a well a shy, well behaved bird is linked to his health.

 

[Peta]

OMG, I'm so sorry that you and Lucky are going through this, and I'm so sorry that you still haven't been able to get a concrete diagnosis.

but I wonder if his usual subdued demeanor which I took as a well a shy, well behaved bird is linked to his health.

When we first bring a bird home, it can take them a while to get used to the new surroundings, and I think that many of us would have taken that to mean the very same thing as you did. Its hard to say whether this is linked to his health or not.

The important thing now is concentrating on keeping his weight up and trying for a concrete diagnosis. Did the vet tell you if this was possible or not? PDD is a horrible nasty disease and thankfully you got him to the vet.

Please let us know how you are both doing, we are thinking of you and sending Lucky all our positive thoughts.

 

[karen]

This must all have been very stressful for u as well as Lucky. I hope things improve for u both. I think "not knowing" has u on edge all the time .Waiting for ..whatever ..and most people imagine the worst.I will be thinking good postive thoughts for Lucky.x

 

[birdcrazy]

soo sorry keep us updated

 

[ordenrahl]

When we first bring a bird home, it can take them a while to get used to the new surroundings, and I think that many of us would have taken that to mean the very same thing as you did. Its hard to say whether this is linked to his health or not.

How long has it taken your new parrots to adjust? He's been here since December and is pretty much the same bird as he was when he first got here.

The important thing now is concentrating on keeping his weight up and trying for a concrete diagnosis. Did the vet tell you if this was possible or not? PDD is a horrible nasty disease and thankfully you got him to the vet.

Unfortunately with PPD besides a necropsy the only way to diagnose PPD is from a crop biopsy. They look for lesions that form on the lining of the stomach from the disease. Due to the nature of the disease, even if you do a crop biopsy and it comes up negative that could just mean that the bird does have PPD but the lesions haven’t spread to the area of the crop that the biopsy was taken from. So you’re either left with a Positive PPD Diagnosis or a “maybe”.

I have considered another biopsy, but Lucky did not do very well with his last surgery and due his recent improvement of his symptoms I don’t know If the risk is worth it. Even if I did do a biopsy and the test came out negative, I would pretty much be in the same boat I am in now.

I have called the vet and am expecting a call back in the next few days about where to go from here. I’m hoping there may be another disease/affliction that may have caused his symptoms that we can check for, though at the time of the surgery the vet didn’t think it could be anything else and the prescribed medication has “worked” so far.

It seems petty for me to complain about his possible condition now that he is doing better, but now that he may have PPD things like bird sitters, parrot conventions, future companion birds, all change as there is a possible risk of spreading PPD.

 

[Peta]

How long has it taken your new parrots to adjust

Kito is the same bird as when he came here, but then he was only 8 weeks old. Lucky may not have needed any time to adjust, just took it all in his stride.

I have considered another biopsy, but Lucky did not do very well with his last surgery and due his recent improvement of his symptoms I don’t know If the risk is worth it.

Yeah, its something to think about very carefully, if I were in your situation, I'm not sure I would be willing to take the risk, but we never know how we are gonna feel do we.

I’m hoping there may be another disease/affliction that may have caused his symptoms that we can check for,

In a way it would be nice if there is you can then treat it.

It seems petty for me to complain about his possible condition now that he is doing better,

I certainly don't think its petty, I think we would all want a concrete diagnosis and for that to be something that can be treated without surgery. As you say he is doing better, but you only have maybe's and possiblies, I'm sending all positive thoughts Lucky's way, please keep us updated.

 

[darkchi]

:17::17::17::17:

I am at a total loss of words here.
My thoughts are with you and your fid.

Good luck to Lucky!