My Quaker has liver problems

[FieryPhoenix]

So both my birds had physicals on February 13th. Sunny, the Sun's had normal lab results but Nikki, the quaker, had some raised values. At my vet's suggestion I had them do a blood test to check her liver function on Friday, February 24th.

I got a call back from the vet. Nikki's bile acid levels are high. 40 is normal for a bird. Nikki's was 380. Vet wants to put her on Milk Thistle, which he said was a medicine (I thought it was a supplement oops).

He said that if i wanted to investigate the cause, we could have her get an ultrasound.

Keep in mind that my quaker is almost 19 years old.
She had her wing amputated last year due to a spindle cell sarcoma (tumor).
She went into cardiac arrest from the anesthesia of that surgery
She had to have a minor follow-up procedure done because the bone became exposed.

I am reluctant to have her get an ultrasound at this point since the vet told me they have to bring in a specialist and she would have to stay their the day.
It would wind up costing me $1,000.

I spoke with my dear friend who is like my adoptive mother and she and I agreed not to put her through an ultra sound and more testing and to just do the milk thistle and hope that she responds.

I am just so saddened by this because I love her so much. The vet even said that he has never seen a bird look so healthy and alert who had liver problems.

I guess my question is, how long does she have left to live? The vet couldn't answer that for me. Next month is her 19th birthday. Will she make it?

 

[Cottonoid]

Oh wow, that must have been such shocking news! Nikki has been such a champ through all her recent health issues so I'm hoping the milk thistle helps and she rallies here, too.

 

[FieryPhoenix]

Oh wow, that must have been such shocking news! Nikki has been such a champ through all her recent health issues so I'm hoping the milk thistle helps and she rallies here, too.

Thank you. Yeah, she is still a champ. Surprisingly, she is behaving normally. No change whatsoever.

I am just concerned how I will administer the milk thistle to her TWICE A DAY.

It's in liquid form. The vet said that I could coat a nutriberry with it and give it to her that way.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

So both my birds had physicals on February 13th. Sunny, the Sun's had normal lab results but Nikki, the quaker, had some raised values. At my vet's suggestion I had them do a blood test to check her liver function on Friday, February 24th.

I got a call back from the vet. Nikki's bile acid levels are high. 40 is normal for a bird. Nikki's was 380. Vet wants to put her on Milk Thistle, which he said was a medicine (I thought it was a supplement oops).

He said that if i wanted to investigate the cause, we could have her get an ultrasound.

Keep in mind that my quaker is almost 19 years old.
She had her wing amputated last year due to a spindle cell sarcoma (tumor).
She went into cardiac arrest from the anesthesia of that surgery
She had to have a minor follow-up procedure done because the bone became exposed.

I am reluctant to have her get an ultrasound at this point since the vet told me they have to bring in a specialist and she would have to stay their the day.
It would wind up costing me $1,000.

I spoke with my dear friend who is like my adoptive mother and she and I agreed not to put her through an ultra sound and more testing and to just do the milk thistle and hope that she responds.

I am just so saddened by this because I love her so much. The vet even said that he has never seen a bird look so healthy and alert who had liver problems.

I guess my question is, how long does she have left to live? The vet couldn't answer that for me. Next month is her 19th birthday. Will she make it?

Nikki may still live for a good long time. A "failing" liver doesn't mean a "failed" liver. People can live a long time with abnormal liver function tests and I presume birds can too. It may just be a part of the normal aging process. I would not waste money and stress Nikki by performing an ultrasound, unless you're doing it for "academic" reasons, because regardless of the results, there probably isn't much you can do other than feed Nikki the best possible diet and give her the milk thistle the vet recommends. It sounds like you have been an AWESOME parront and Nikki still has a lot of good life to live. Just give her lots of love and let her enjoy being a geriatric parrot.

 

[FieryPhoenix]

Nikki may still live for a good long time. A "failing" liver doesn't mean a "failed" liver. People can live a long time with abnormal liver function tests and I presume birds can too. It may just be a part of the normal aging process. I would not waste money and stress Nikki by performing an ultrasound, unless you're doing it for "academic" reasons, because regardless of the results, there probably isn't much you can do other than feed Nikki the best possible diet and give her the milk thistle the vet recommends. It sounds like you have been an AWESOME parront and Nikki still has a lot of good life to live. Just give her lots of love and let her enjoy being a geriatric parrot.

I understand, but I have a few fears. We have an ultrasound Friday and I am afraid they will find a tumor in there. Nikki had a spindle cell sarcoma on her right wing last year. That's why she had the amputation surgery. What if cancer had spread?

Or what if the ultrasound doesn't provide any answers at all.

As sad as it sounds, I am hoping this is just the early stages of fatty liver disease. At least that can be managed then say if she had a cancerous tumor.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I understand, but I have a few fears. We have an ultrasound Friday and I am afraid they will find a tumor in there. Nikki had a spindle cell sarcoma on her right wing last year. That's why she had the amputation surgery. What if cancer had spread?

Or what if the ultrasound doesn't provide any answers at all.

As sad as it sounds, I am hoping this is just the early stages of fatty liver disease. At least that can be managed then say if she had a cancerous tumor.

That's exactly what I'm thinking-fatty liver disease which isnt immediately life threatening.
I looked up spindle cell sarcoma and learned that (in humans) it's a rare type of bone cancer and amputation is the primary treatment but it CAN spread to organs like the lungs and liver. You must have an amazing avian vet to to have diagnosed this cancer and successfully amputated Nikki's wing. If spending $1,000 on the ultrasound won't be a hardship it will be very interesting to find out if it has spread to Nikki's liver, but regardless of the result, there probably isn't anything they can do for her other than feeding an excellent diet and perhaps the milk thistle. Since it sounds like she's behaving normally I'd just enjoy her for however long she has- it could be years. Good luck!

 

[FieryPhoenix]

That's exactly what I'm thinking-fatty liver disease which isnt immediately life threatening.
I looked up spindle cell sarcoma and learned that (in humans) it's a rare type of bone cancer and amputation is the primary treatment but it CAN spread to organs like the lungs and liver. You must have an amazing avian vet to to have diagnosed this cancer and successfully amputated Nikki's wing. If spending $1,000 on the ultrasound won't be a hardship it will be very interesting to find out if it has spread to Nikki's liver, but regardless of the result, there probably isn't anything they can do for her other than feeding an excellent diet and perhaps the milk thistle. Since it sounds like she's behaving normally I'd just enjoy her for however long she has- it could be years. Good luck!

The place I go to is the only avian vet clinic in my county.

The tumor was sent out to pathology and that’s how I learned it was a spindle cell sarcoma.

You probably read the same article I didn’t kn spindle cell sarcomas.

I hope it didn’t spread.

Ny vet doesn’t think she has fatty liver because she does not have any symptoms. She looks great.

Guess I will know something Friday.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

The place I go to is the only avian vet clinic in my county.

The tumor was sent out to pathology and that’s how I learned it was a spindle cell sarcoma.

You probably read the same article I didn’t kn spindle cell sarcomas.

I hope it didn’t spread.

Ny vet doesn’t think she has fatty liver because she does not have any symptoms. She looks great.

Guess I will know something Friday.

Please keep us posted. We're all praying for you and Nikki.