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[rnadler103]

Atkins has some great recipes for flax seed muffins in which you can incorporate the medicine.

Don’t make them muffin size, though. Buy a pan that has tiny pockets, made more for candies or small baked stuff like macaroons.

You should be able to easily work out the correct dosage like this as well in the total “batter.”

aw very cute idea! (Just make sure they do not contain teflon/ptfe/pfoa/pfcs)

Thank you!

 

[Ira7]

Atkins has some great recipes for flax seed muffins in which you can incorporate the medicine.

Don’t make them muffin size, though. Buy a pan that has tiny pockets, made more for candies or small baked stuff like macaroons.

You should be able to easily work out the correct dosage like this as well in the total “batter.”

aw very cute idea! (Just make sure they do not contain teflon/ptfe/pfoa/pfcs)

Thank you!

Oh...

I didn’t mean to imply I NEED Atkins! A friend told me!

(Okay, I lie. I tried Atkins a few years ago.)

 

[rnadler103]

aw very cute idea! (Just make sure they do not contain teflon/ptfe/pfoa/pfcs)

Thank you!

Oh...

I didn’t mean to imply I NEED Atkins! A friend told me!

(Okay, I lie. I tried Atkins a few years ago.)

Ah- love that. I love my carbs too much for that. Sigh...

Oh- and Tony screamed for the first time today since our emergency visit. Someone got his voice back! Nothing worse than a squeaky amazon. (Actually never thought I would say that). I am SO relieved he is on the mend. I think we will do bloodwork next at his appointment next monday.

 

[rnadler103]

Hi everyone! Quick question. Tomorrow I take Tony for a recheck and I am wondering if it is worth it to do a full round of blood work. I don't think I ever explained why we went to the ER, so her is the quick version.

He went to the vet for his 30 year check up. They flushed his nares, clipped his nails and smoothed his beak. Everything checked out great and he was fine after.

Exactly 1 week later, I woke up and he was making a strange honking noise and his eyes were open part way. He was clearly not okay and I rushed him to the Emergency vet. They put him in the oxygen tank and I was fully waiting for the call to say he passed. I know that birds hardly show signs of illness until it's too late and I was petrified. They ended up sedating him to take xrays because they thought maybe he had something stuck in his throat. (He is an amazon and plays VERY rough with his toys).
The x-rays were normal and so they gave him fluids, an injection of an antihistamine and sent him home on Baytril (that's what I was having trouble getting him to take)

Fast forward 1 week later- he is almost back to 100%. His eyes are open and he is beginning to scream at his usual decibel. He still has some volume trouble when he preens and pulls something too hard- usually growls at himself, but now it's more of a squeak.

So my questions is this. I still have no idea what happened, and the ER vet mentioned doing a full blood panel if we wanted. At the time, I didn't, but now I wonder if I should have them do it tomorrow?

Thoughts? I worry about the stress, but they don't need to sedate him for bloodwork. I don't want to miss anything, but he does seem to be back to himself.

Thank you for being so welcoming and amazing. Tony is family and I truly thought I was going to lose him. I am so thankful for him.

 

[saxguy64]

I think, if you haven't done blood work recently, or at all, I would definitely consider doing it. Might give you a look into what's going on, and if nothing else, gives you a baseline for comparison if something changes in the future. Many of us have blood work done annually to keep an eye on things over time.

Also, if you don't have one, a scale that measures in grams is an invaluable tool. Changes in weight are often the first thing we can see that might indicate a health issue, so when we see it, an early call to the avian professional can make all the difference.

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[noodles123]

Definitely do blood-work. That will give you a much better idea of what is going on (or as Saxguy says, a baseline) . I mean, yeah..some things wouldn't show up, but it's really the best starting point...You can tell a lot based on a simple test.
I'd do bloodwork (CBC at least)..I might also consider some sort of swabbing in the nares/throat. It won't tell you everything, but it will let you know a bit more about organ function, bacterial issues etc etc.

My bird has had blood drawn MANY times. I know it is scary, but it can often be the only way to find out the details we need to intervene if something is wrong. Mine had a liver problem years ago before I got her, bur no one knew because she hadn't had blood work until I adopted her.

Are you using any new products or respiratory irritants in your home? Any new furniture? It does sound like a breathing issue, but just throwing out thoughts. He is NOT old, but he is getting closer to middle-aged, so you want to make sure that you can head anything off at the pass before it gets too bad, you know?

 

[rnadler103]

Thanks everyone. I do have a gram scale for my bearded dragons, and I check Tony's weight on it, too. He has been within 5 grams of the same weight for the last 10 years. Pretty stable.
We haven't used anything new in the house and I really thought maybe he scratched his throat with a piece of his toy or something. He was never really labored breathing, but the antihistamine seemed to help, so maybe something irritated him.
I think I'll go ahead and have them do a full panel tomorrow. I don't want to miss anything. We had blood drawn when we had him sexed years ago (although I knew he was a boy, but I wanted to watch for any possible egg issues). Otherwise, we haven't had any blood work done.
I'll let you know what we find out (if anything)

 

[rnadler103]

Someone is feeling so much better. Here's to a good report at the vet tomorrow!

 

[saxguy64]

Thank you for the pictures, Tony is gorgeous! Best of luck with tomorrow's visit

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[Scott]

Glad to see Tony has greatly improved. I'd definitely request a lab panel as they are able to extract without sedation. Beautiful pics!

 

[rnadler103]

Tony did well at the vet. They took blood and will call me tomorrow with the results. The vet decided to continue with the antibiotics for another 4 days unless the bloodwork shows something different. Still no idea what really caused this, but they are looking at his organ function. That sounds scary to me, but he is back to himself, so I'm choosing to be positive . He is less than pleased with me, so I have decided to give him some space this afternoon.

 

[noodles123]

Tony did well at the vet. They took blood and will call me tomorrow with the results. The vet decided to continue with the antibiotics for another 4 days unless the bloodwork shows something different. Still no idea what really caused this, but they are looking at his organ function. That sounds scary to me, but he is back to himself, so I'm choosing to be positive . He is less than pleased with me, so I have decided to give him some space this afternoon.

It makes sense to check it all-- even if it is an organ issue, in some cases, you can correct it if you figure out what caused it and medicate- like I have said, Noodles came to be (without my knowledge) with an ongoing liver issue and very very bad numbers by the time we did blood (vet didn't want to do it initially but I was really worried based on behavior and poop)---it has been years and now, her numbers are normal and she's in "very good condition" *knock on wood!!!!!!!* (but yes-- it can be so scary-- been there, done that!) Also-- she has been off meds for many years now, so I feel like I should mention that!

 

[saxguy64]

Thanks for updating. Looking forward to the results Quite often, bloodwork is unremarkable, which is the best we can hope for. (except for answers) It's still great information to have for comparison should something happen in the future. Fingers crossed for nothing serious going on with that handsome boy!

 

[Scott]

Sounds like Tony is in excellent hands - yours and the vet's. Hopefully the lab results will be unremarkable.

 

[wrench13]

A belated welcome to you and Tony.

WHen I need to get meds into my Amazon, Salty, we mix the meds up with a small amount of baby parrot formula and a bit of warm water. I give him formula regularly, like once a month, for just this reason. He usually takes a beakfull or two, before he shakes it off, but the 'special mix' is made so its only a beakfull. I did the towel and squirting method once, and he hated it so much! We hit on this and it works pretty well. He is always bashing himself up or hurting his beak, so its important I have a way to get a metered amount of meds into him.

 

[rnadler103]

The vet didn't call yet, so I'm still waiting on boodwork. The good thing is the concentration of the antibiotic is much stronger than the one from the ER vet so I am giving him much less. Much easier to hide

 

[noodles123]

The vet didn't call yet, so I'm still waiting on boodwork. The good thing is the concentration of the antibiotic is much stronger than the one from the ER vet so I am giving him much less. Much easier to hide

Thanks for the update! Keep us posted, seriously!

 

[rnadler103]

I spoke with the vet this evening and we are still waiting for the complete blood count- she is especially looking for his white blood cell count. But the other labs came in and kidney, liver and blood glucose values were all normal (Yay). I was worried he may have liver issues being an amazon, but they looked great.

She is still worried there is an infection of some sort, so the blood count is important. For now, I'm continuing with the meds and hope to hear more tomorrow.

He is his normal irritable and amazing self, so I'm optimistic.

Thank you all so much for being so kind.

 

[saxguy64]

Thanks for updating. Hoping all is good!

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[Scott]

I spoke with the vet this evening and we are still waiting for the complete blood count- she is especially looking for his white blood cell count. But the other labs came in and kidney, liver and blood glucose values were all normal (Yay). I was worried he may have liver issues being an amazon, but they looked great.

She is still worried there is an infection of some sort, so the blood count is important. For now, I'm continuing with the meds and hope to hear more tomorrow.

He is his normal irritable and amazing self, so I'm optimistic.

Thank you all so much for being so kind.

You've crossed a hurdle thus far, infections potentially easier to treat than chronic organ maladies.