Our GW is not doing well :(

[OOwl]

Happy to hear she is responding to treatment and she's still eating. Hopefully you'll be able to bring her home. Thank you for the update.

 

[Birdman666]

Glad to hear your bird is doing better.

Good thing you got treatment right away.

 

[2greenconurestostart]

Praying all goes well and she is home soon and in your care!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hi that's good news. Are you gonna be okay with giving her the oral antibiotics - have you done this before?

Never done this before but if anyone has any tips, I’m all ears.

From what I know, I need to soak up a piece of bread with the antibio or mix it with something she loves like peanut butter, some oatmeal or a small amount of yogurt.

Yes from experience it needs to be something that will be taken consistently to get the benefit. I crushed to a fine powder and then in my case used in scrambled egg, got a good result ie nothing left I tried loads of foods but this is the only one that worked consistently.

It can be hard work especially if you have 14 days worth. So just wanted to raise it so some thought can be given on what is possible / how you will get this to work.

You are so worried about the bird and focussing on getting them home and then "oh crikey what do I do with these"? You know your bird and have a good idea what food will work well.

 

[1500]

That's great that she is recovering.

 

[RavensGryf]

They usually mix some sort of fruity flavoring in with the meds. Depending on the med, they might still find it bitter. My vet showed me the technique of putting the dropper up at the very upper part of the beak, near where the beak meets the body. Steady your hand against the bird's head. Doing it this way they have less of an opportunity to bite the syringe, and you are positioned closer to the throat already. I figure if a GW bites the syringe hard enough you're going to need a new one, so keep it away from the lower part of her beak . From that position, drip it in slowly. Too much meds at one time and they can just shake their head and get it out, even when you're restraining the body and keeping the head still, many birds will still try to shake it out. Also, during this, the bird is restrained in a towel.

With Raven, he developed a technique where he'd "pretend" to drink the drops, but really be storing it all in his lower mandible until I released him from the towel, then he shook it all out! I had to touch his throat area below his beak to stimulate a swallowing action after every couple drops to make sure he swallowed it. Some birds are good and easy, others will try anything to not ingest it. Squeeze in a small amount at a time so you can control it and have her swallow it all. If you have a bird who doesn't like to take meds, it can be a challenge and take some practice. They do need to be taking it all and not wasting it by shaking it all over your face and clothing lol. With a large mac, you might try having someone else hold the bird if possible. Give a 'good girl' treat after. It's all kind of hard to explain without pictures. I hope that made at least a little sense.

The problem with medicating the food, is that there (in a lot of cases) can be pieces dropped and they can get a partial dose, or... you waste a portion of meds on a piece of food that they refuse to eat.

Good luck with her continued improvement. I hope she is back to her old self asap!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Great advice, Julie!!

If you feel your GW is not getting the necessary dosage of antibiotics in her via dropper/syringe, you can ask your vet to draw you up enough syringes that will be administered via needle into the chest. This may sound harsh and/or cruel, but I've found this to be a VERY reliable and easy way to administer meds when I had to. (Just have the vet show you EXACTLY how it's done)

 

[wrench13]

Possibly having to give meds orally is one reason I give Salty a syringe of baby food once in awhile. He will still take food from that.

I am glad to hear that your baby is improving, hope she is home soon.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Looks like things done differently - I was given x no of days antibiotic tablets to take home and administer. I only wanted to raise this as it can be a bit of a OMG moment when you arrive home and realise what needs doing. Yes it is hit and miss in food and definitely agree with RavensGryf on ....

"The problem with medicating the food, is that there (in a lot of cases) can be pieces dropped and they can get a partial dose, or... you waste a portion of meds on a piece of food that they refuse to eat".

I tried many different foods all supposed favourites but you are left with no idea what actual dosage has been taken.

I will thank RavensGryf's for her excellent instructions also and study for the future.

Wishing your bird a very speedy recovery indeed.

 

[RavensGryf]

Wendy also has a good point with the injections, that way it goes all in, but I suppose some meds need to be oral. I've given injections, and I think it is much more painful for us humans! Robin was so good and just acted like no big deal. To go that route of course the vet needs to show you. Mine made it look so easy, but it took me a couple or few injections for me to feel like an old pro lol. It is a zig zag pattern left to right or vice versa. Smaller bird you can run out of room easily if you're not careful, but it might be easier on a large mac.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I did the injections on Hunter (YN Amazon). No zig zag pattern, just straight into the chest (by the bony plate). It was easy breezy.

 

[junglenutcracker]

So far so good. Our sweet girl is back home after 48 hrs at the vet. She apparently has a severe bacterial infection. Wish I knew from what.

She is starting to look like her old self again: quite alert, interactive and is eating well. You should have seen her reaction and the big HELLO she gave me when I came to pick her up!
She had a series of 5 injections plus oral antibios at the vet and I will continue with oral antibios for another week or so, two times a day.

We’ll take it one step at a time but for now, I think she is on the right track to recovery.
I’ll bring her for a follow up check up in about two weeks. Fingers crossed.

It’s so good to have her back home.

 

[Anansi]

Sweet! That's great news! The return of her appetite is a really good sign. I bet she's going to be just fine.

Btw, are the antibiotics in liquid or pill form?

 

[junglenutcracker]

Sweet! That's great news! The return of her appetite is a really good sign. I bet she's going to be just fine.
Btw, are the antibiotics in liquid or pill form?

Thanks Anansi,

It’s in liquid form. Enrofloxacin.

 

[GreatBlue320]

Wonderful news!

 

[psychocircus91]

that's great. glad they found out what is going on and things are improving. Keep in mind, people and other animals get bacterial infections all the time, so try not to dwell on it too much. Give the cage, playstand, toys, ect. a good cleaning and keep doing what you're doing!

 

[RavensGryf]

Great news ! Good to hear that she is perking up and acting much better. This goes to show how taking your bird to the vet at the first sign you knew something was off, really helped save her.

Wendy, he said to do the zig zag pattern cause it was 2x a day for a week, and he didn't want me to inject in the same place twice.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Welcome home!!! Oh what a huuuuuuge relief! I am so happy you have your girl back where she belongs! :heart:

No doubt that your quick action by taking her to the vet was a life saver here.

Please give your gorgeous, big red girl some lovin' from me, would you?

 

[Scott]

Chiming in here late, but so glad your GW is doing better!! Your diligence, a skilled vet, and the power of antibiotics will hopefully result in a complete recovery. Despite the best housekeeping and quality food, there is microscopic world of nasty organisms.

 

[junglenutcracker]

She’s not out of the woods yet. She has spent most of the day with her eyes closed sitting on a perch inside her cage. She came out about an hour ago and had a few things to eat and her 2nd antibio treatment of the day. I soak up a piece of toast and put a bit of peanut butter on top. She has spurts of energy and had a short screaming session (it was really good to hear her scream), played very shortly with a few toys on her playtop, vocalized and talked to me for a bit, then went back to resting. Whenever I come close, the brings her head down for a good scratch. She’s got her eyes closed most of the time. Maybe she just needs to regain her energy? Maybe it’s the antibios having this effect on her or making her tired?

The thing is, I wish I new what to expect in terms of recovery from day to day. I guess if she was relapsing, she would not interact at all...