Okay, let's talk ABV, PDD and Toe-tapping...

[Anansi]

Aww, thank you, Terr! That means a lot.

I wish it were something simple, as well. But failing that, I'm just hoping we'll never have another flare-up to deal with once Maya gets past this. And that she'll get 100% of her gripping strength back, of course.

Yes, the experience here in terms of waiting for results is far less infuriating than what I'd been forced to deal with in the past. It makes a huge difference, my friend.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Anansi]

Maya has shown some further improvement as of last night. I didn't catch even one incidence of toe-tapping all day, and her feet aren't looking as raw as they were. They're beginning to heal, which means that she's cut down a whole lot on the gnawing.

In addition, she's shown an interest in training again. She hadn't been much in the mood for the past week and a half or so. Understandably, of course. She's gone back to doing the fetch rings game, wherein I place one of their colored training rings into her food cup and ask her to walk (or, in her case, saunter) over, retrieve the ring and bring it over to my waiting hand. Or the opposite, where I give her the ring and request that she put it into the cup for me. (Some of you have already seen the training videos of her and Jolly.) This, of course, indicates an increased willingness to move about and, more specifically, a very likely significant decrease in discomfort.

Unfortunately, she is growing increasingly swift to anger when it comes to her antibiotic. To say she hates the taste seems a bit of an understatement. Loathing seems more appropriate a word at this point. Could be worse, though. At least she seems to love the two medications that she's supposed to take for a month. I'm hoping I can make it to Wednesday evening (her last day of antibiotics) without having to towel her and force her to drink it. But of course, I will if I have to. (I've toweled birds before. Heck, I've toweled her before. But for some, it's more traumatic than others. Not to mention Maya has the fastest strike of any bird I've seen (and agility on par with a young Cassius Clay)! Hahaha!

So I'm feeling guardedly optimistic at this point, hoping hard that her grip strength will return to normal sometime soon.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Ah good news that is great, very pleased to hear it.

Would you be able to mix the antibiotic in something like a nut butter? Does she like this? (just thinking of your poor fingers Anansi LOL)

Keep up the good work Lady Maya.

 

[RavensGryf]

Yay Stephen, love to hear that good news about Maya.

 

[Scott]

So nice to see Maya improving, and hope her trajectory is upwards from here.

As Plumsmum2005 suggests, can the offensive med be mixed with a desired substance? I've done this in the past, though one must be careful to not accidentally inert the med with a bad substrate. IIRC some meds should not be mixed with dairy, such as yogurt.

 

[Anansi]

Thanks so much, everyone! I'm really happy about Maya's steady progress, myself.

Plumsmum and Scott, Maya's disenchantment with the antibiotics grew to the point where I did indeed go ahead with your suggestions and mixed the medication with peanut butter this morning.

Though I've mentioned this method in the past as an option for other members faced with birds who didn't want to take their medication, I'd never personally tried it. I'd opted instead to force feed the medication on the rare occasions where either Suzie or Bixby got a little stubborn with their doses. (Suzie had kidney disease and Bixby had PDD)

I must say, I far prefer this way. It was a little awkward at first, as I tried putting some peanut butter on the tip of a spoon. She was quite pleased with the peanut butter, despite the apparently foul tasting medication mixed into it, but the angle was a little weird. In the end, I opted with putting some of the peanut butter on my finger. (This wasn't my first option due to an unfortunate past smoothie mix-up. My wife had made a rather healthy and tasty fruit and veggie smoothie, and after hearing the ingredients I decided Maya and Jolly just HAD to taste some. So I dipped my finger in, sadly heedless of the similarity between the color of this concoction and that of my own brown skin. Sigh... you see where this is going, yes? Miss Maya tasted the smoothie on my finger and became just as enthused about the taste as I. In her excitement, however, she missed the fact that my finger was beneath the tasty goodness. Needless to say, the sensation that followed fell far short of pleasant.)

Putting the medicated pb on my finger worked beautifully. And this time she took careful note of where the peanut butter ended and my finger began. Lol!

She's getting more and more active with each passing day. Maya and I deeply appreciate every hug, prayer, and thought of support that you all continue to send our way. Thank you.

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[camo]

Stephen,

It's good to have logged in and seen you are seeing some steps in the right direction with Maya's health!! I hope things keep continuing to improve.

Thanks for the smoothie story, I had a good laugh, mainly as I could imagine my girl Pebbles doing the same thing

All the best,

Cameron

 

[plumsmum2005]

Thanks so much, everyone! I'm really happy about Maya's steady progress, myself.

Plumsmum and Scott, Maya's disenchantment with the antibiotics grew to the point where I did indeed go ahead with your suggestions and mixed the medication with peanut butter this morning.

Though I've mentioned this method in the past as an option for other members faced with birds who didn't want to take their medication, I'd never personally tried it. I'd opted instead to force feed the medication on the rare occasions where either Suzie or Bixby got a little stubborn with their doses. (Suzie had kidney disease and Bixby had PDD)

I must say, I far prefer this way. It was a little awkward at first, as I tried putting some peanut butter on the tip of a spoon. She was quite pleased with the peanut butter, despite the apparently foul tasting medication mixed into it, but the angle was a little weird. In the end, I opted with putting some of the peanut butter on my finger. (This wasn't my first option due to an unfortunate past smoothie mix-up. My wife had made a rather healthy and tasty fruit and veggie smoothie, and after hearing the ingredients I decided Maya and Jolly just HAD to taste some. So I dipped my finger in, sadly heedless of the similarity between the color of this concoction and that of my own brown skin. Sigh... you see where this is going, yes? Miss Maya tasted the smoothie on my finger and became just as enthused about the taste as I. In her excitement, however, she missed the fact that my finger was beneath the tasty goodness. Needless to say, the sensation that followed fell far short of pleasant.)

Putting the medicated pb on my finger worked beautifully. And this time she took careful note of where the peanut butter ended and my finger began. Lol!

She's getting more and more active with each passing day. Maya and I deeply appreciate every hug, prayer, and thought of support that you all continue to send our way. Thank you.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Great news Anansi, keep it up Maya. They do learn re flesh and food, hubby had an experience with Plum - bedtime daftness, playing together and Plum thought his prominent nose was a beak too! Ouch!

 

[lizard]

I'm so glad Maya's doing well!

 

[Anansi]

Another update on Maya. She's doing even better, now! She's gone back to roosting on her top branch, which means that the complication she had with that climb is no longer an issue. (Or at the very least, the complication has been drastically reduced.)

She's also completely stopped gnawing at her feet, and the toe-tapping had already ceased as of the last update. I'm a happy man right now.

On the downside, she thinks all medication is spawned from Beelzebub, now. Even the one she once actually liked. Lol! So now it's peanut butter for everything. (Then again, maybe she's simply craftier than I'd originally thought. "No! Medicine is evil... unless coated in that new stuff you introduced me to, of course. Yum!")

Only one more week of medication, so I'll be scheduling a follow-up appointment with the vet soon, I reckon.

Thanks again for all of the support, everyone!

 

[Allee]

This is wonderful news! So happy to hear Maya's health continues to improve. Until now, I had completely missed the peanut butter med method, outstanding idea, I'm happy to hear it worked for Maya. Only one more week of the foul meds, and a few more opportunities for Maya to try a bite of Dad's much tastier finger. I'll keep you and Maya in my thoughts, I'm hoping for a great vet check very soon.

 

[camo]

Stephen,

That's great news!! If Maya is anything like Pebbles, she has completely manipulated you into using peanut butter from now on for all medications...lol. Hopefully Maya continues to improve, please do keep us posted

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[Uglow]

Glad things are looking up for Maya Stephen. She's out of the woods and you've got yourself a wealth of new knowledge and as result so do we. Thank you.

 

[MySweetJess]

I think my grey Jess who died last week had PDD, but I won't be getting a necroropsy. I have him frozen for burial in the spring and I can't go through with him leaving his resting spot or anything else. The local vet i took him too had no answer. I said "but his keel bone shouldn't be protruding like that." So she trims his beak and gives him a blow dry. His appetite was good up until the night before he died. I'm guessing PDD because he seemed to be losing his sight, had stopped flying and would start to fall off my shoulder at times where I could just lean down enough to keep him up. I'm trying to remember the love and happy times, as your Bixby and my Jess would yell out to do from Rainbow Bridge.

 

[davefv92c]

so sad to hear this, hope all works out good.
thaNKS FOR ALL THE INFO. WHoops I do have a question
how long does it take for the black to completely leave the beak.
Maxx is 9 months old and still has a little, am I right to think it to be about a year ?
I have noticed the orange coming on brighter.

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm so sorry. I've had the same experience before, and I know how heartbroken you must be over Jess.

 

[Anansi]

I think my grey Jess who died last week had PDD, but I won't be getting a necroropsy. I have him frozen for burial in the spring and I can't go through with him leaving his resting spot or anything else. The local vet i took him too had no answer. I said "but his keel bone shouldn't be protruding like that." So she trims his beak and gives him a blow dry. His appetite was good up until the night before he died. I'm guessing PDD because he seemed to be losing his sight, had stopped flying and would start to fall off my shoulder at times where I could just lean down enough to keep him up. I'm trying to remember the love and happy times, as your Bixby and my Jess would yell out to do from Rainbow Bridge.

I am so very sorry for your loss. It's amazing how far out of proportion to their size is the amount of space they take up in our hearts. I certainly understand your decision about the necropsy, as it was a tough decision for me as well.

Yes, those symptoms you described could very well be the neurological manifestations of PDD. I know how tough watching that can be.

You are right, though. Jess would definitely want you to focus on the love and happy times, and Bixby would chime in most enthusiastically! They brought us so much joy in life, so I know they wouldn't want all of that to be lost in our grief. There's a part of him that will always be with you. Cherish it always.

 

[Anansi]

so sad to hear this, hope all works out good.
thaNKS FOR ALL THE INFO. WHoops I do have a question
how long does it take for the black to completely leave the beak.
Maxx is 9 months old and still has a little, am I right to think it to be about a year ?
I have noticed the orange coming on brighter.

You're welcome, Dave. I wanted to get this info out to as many ekkie parronts as I could.

And yes, you're right. On average it takes around a year. The fastest I've seen was a little under 3 months, but that is far from typical. My poor Bixby carried some of that black through to his dying day, but looking back I now understand that his development was stunted by PDD.

If Maxx is down to just a little, he's likely right on track.

 

[Kentuckienne]

I know this is an older thread, but a related post sent me looking, and these links might be interesting.

https://animalgenetics.us/wordpress/2010/08/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-avian-bornavirus/

https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/unraveling-the-puzzle-of-avian-bornavirus-pdd/

Parrot Bornavirus & Proventricular Dilatation Disease - Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/2/11-1525_article

 

[Anansi]

I'd come across 3 of these links out of the four during my frantic research sessions once I learned that Bixby had died of PDD. Thank you for sharing them, here. I've always wanted this thread to be an educational tool for people regarding ABV and PDD, and these links certainly qualify for that intent.

The last link was new to me, however. It was very informative, though the euthanizing of the control group of cockatiels who were, of a necessity, kept separate from the infected birds, especially saddened me. I just didn't get why they had to be put down as well.

The results did bear out much of what we've learned about ABV and PDD. It's just frightening how late a percentage of the captive population has ABV. Yet some never develop clinical symptoms. This potentially points to a yet undiscovered catalyst of some kind. But from the time these articles were written through to now, no one has discovered that mysterious catalyzing agent.