Last week my dog got me up at 3am so I went downstairs to let her out and heard Nike squeaking. I rushed into her room, flipped on the light and lifted the cover to find her flailing around on the floor at the bottom of her cage. I grabbed her and cupped her wings close to her body and she stopped squeaking and trying to move. Over the next hour she recovered in my hands and was sitting on her own and chirping like nothing happened.
Thinking that it may have been a night fright or maybe a mouse that spooked her I moved her to her day cage which was uncovered and turned on a light so she wasn't in complete darkness as she has been for the last 9 years.
By 8am in the full light of day you wouldn't know that anything had happened. We watched her for the next 5 days until her Avian vet appt (Mine had retired just 3 weeks earlier).
It was a good, thorough exam with some beak and nail maintenance. We did xrays and blood. Heart and lungs sounded great and organs looked good, noting enlarged or fatty.
Of concern was an artery that may have the beginning of plaque build up but because there is an air sac on either since of it the Doc thought it could also just be exaggerated by the black of the air sack. If the artery was getting constricted it could cause syncopy which might explain what happened.
Her Uric acid was at the high end of normal as was her white blood count but the white blood cells themselves looked healthy.
Of course "normal" ranges was for an Amazon and she is not an Amazon so who knows what's normal for a Hawk Head.
So for now, I'm reducing her nut intake (HH's require a higher nut content in their diet.) and trying to hydrate her more with watery fruits and veggies as well as increasing her Harrison intake which I must admit I'd reduced quite a bit.
Back for another round of blood and maybe xrays in about a month and I'll ensure that she's not dehydrated for that blood test so we can rule that out.
Thinking that it may have been a night fright or maybe a mouse that spooked her I moved her to her day cage which was uncovered and turned on a light so she wasn't in complete darkness as she has been for the last 9 years.
By 8am in the full light of day you wouldn't know that anything had happened. We watched her for the next 5 days until her Avian vet appt (Mine had retired just 3 weeks earlier).
It was a good, thorough exam with some beak and nail maintenance. We did xrays and blood. Heart and lungs sounded great and organs looked good, noting enlarged or fatty.
Of concern was an artery that may have the beginning of plaque build up but because there is an air sac on either since of it the Doc thought it could also just be exaggerated by the black of the air sack. If the artery was getting constricted it could cause syncopy which might explain what happened.
Her Uric acid was at the high end of normal as was her white blood count but the white blood cells themselves looked healthy.
Of course "normal" ranges was for an Amazon and she is not an Amazon so who knows what's normal for a Hawk Head.
So for now, I'm reducing her nut intake (HH's require a higher nut content in their diet.) and trying to hydrate her more with watery fruits and veggies as well as increasing her Harrison intake which I must admit I'd reduced quite a bit.
Back for another round of blood and maybe xrays in about a month and I'll ensure that she's not dehydrated for that blood test so we can rule that out.
