Please Send Positive-Energy To My Bowie

[EllenD]

So for the last week or so Bowie, my 2 year old Green Cheek, has been kind of limping around, then it stops, then it starts again. It's only his right leg/foot, so I figured he must have twisted it or gotten it caught in something. No visible swelling, bruising, wounds, etc. on his entire foot, ankle, or up his entire leg. I made an appointment on Friday with my CAV for yesterday afternoon...

The x-ray showed nothing but some soft-tissue swelling in one of his toes and a little in his foot, but nothing big, no bruising, etc. My CAV was kind of confused about it, as I was, because the x-ray showed that the main swelling is in one of his toes, but his toe looks fine. He looked at me with that look that I recognize from working at the Animal Diagnostic Lab at PSU with a lot of Veterinarians, that look like "Something is really wrong here even though it looks fine"...He's been eating and drinking normally, and acting normally, though I noticed over the weekend he went from his normal talking/speaking all the time to just making noises, and I could tell it was because he just doesn't feel well, and that's what my CAV said too, that he looks like he just doesn't feel well...He's still playing and moving around, but the limping has gotten much worse in the last 48 hours...

So my options were #1) Send him home with Metacam for the inflammation and pain, and see if it improves in the next day or two...or #2) Do blood work...So of course I said "Do it, do it now, do it right now!"...Thank God my CAV is always thinking, because Bowie's white blood cells are through the roof...he's got some type of infection in his toe, and he thinks it's centered in/around his toenail...My CAV is really concerned and totally has me freaked out, because he showed me the levels, and it's unbelievably bad...His kidneys are still fine, so that made me feel better, but he's really quite ill...so now we are on two different Antibiotics (Cephz and Baytril), Metacam, and we're pushing Subq-fluids once a day at home (Lactated Ringers)...he's eating some apple right now, as much fluid as we can keep in him...he's not feeling well at all, I can tell...So we're on 24-hour emergency watch...It's driving me crazy because he's not sleeping, he's eating, drinking, and the littler jerk was climbing up and down his play gym a couple minutes ago...but then he'll come over to me and just cuddle and look miserable...

I'm scared to death...

 

[LeaKP]

Thinking of you and Bowie, praying all goes well and this is just a memory in a few weeks and Bowie is right as rain.


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[Scott]

Kudos for trusting your intuition, Ellen. Hope Bowie responds well to meds and makes a quick and complete recovery.

I've on occasion had birds present with scary-high WBC indicative of massive infection, and they all survived thanks to antibiotic therapies. The key of course is timeliness, and you've done well!

Sending a galaxy of positive energy to Bowie! And you too, for being so supportive of other members in similar situations!

 

[EllenD]

Right now we're trying to figure out how this all started, as you all know, when you have a flock and one get sick, the rest are also potentially in danger...My CAV took some swabs from the inside the tip of his toenail, which looks completely fine...I can see that this particular toe is larger than the rest and larger than the same toe on his other foot, but it's color is fine, no bruising/discoloration, no wounds or open skin at all, no "bite" marks (he was looking for maybe an insect bite somewhere, etc.), there's just nothing but a tiny bit of swelling and that's it, and he's obviously in a lot of pain. And it happened so gradually, I feel like an idiot for not taking this more seriously than I did, me of all people...But I did a full exam of every part of him on Friday, saw absolutely nothing, was talking back and forth all day with my CAV through email and on the phone, and we both were like "He just twisted it or got it stuck in something playing in his cage, he'll be fine"...And he has been eating, drinking, playing, etc. completely normally...just a little limp

Right now he's soooooooooo mad at me for giving him the 3 oral meds (I tricked him and put it in orange juice, his favorite that he rarely gets due to the iron-storage risk, so he goes nuts for it)...Then i had to give him the Subq-fluid injection into his back...that was the end for Bowie, he actually flew up on top of the play-gym as high as he could get and hasn't moved since, he's just glaring down at me with a look like Cujo...

It's so confusing, one minute he looks so sad and I can tell he feels crappy, and the next he's dancing with Lita, my Quaker parrot. They are quite close to each other, they bonded right away when I brought Bowie home as a baby, but because Lita is a bit larger with a much larger beak, and because she tends to play really roughly, they are only allowed on the same play-stand/gym when I'm there to watch them closely, as we've had a few little "nips" that made me nervous...but right now, since Bowie loves her so much, I figured it's best to let them be together to perk him up, which it definitely is doing...Lita dances constantly, all day long, every time any music comes on the TV she starts, and then Bowie starts, and he's dancing right now, so that makes me feel better, but I know he must feel awful based on his blood work, his WBC's are about 3 times higher than they should be...my poor baby boy...

 

[Jen5200]

I’m so glad you persisted with testing! Sending positive vibes to you and Bowie.

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

As a member of a household coping with some new ongoing health problems in my wife's bird, I extend my support and sympathy. It is nervewracking. Hang in there.

 

[TiredOldMan]

Sending prayers and best wishes to you and Bowie

 

[chris-md]

So sorry Ellen, sending warm healing vibes to you and little Bowie!

 

[SailBoat]

Warm Amazon Feather Hugs from my area of the World!

 

[Inger]

As a member of a household coping with some new ongoing health problems in my wife's bird, I extend my support and sympathy. It is nervewracking. Hang in there.

Rival, you can be the sweetest. I hope nobody else noticed that you’re worried about The RB and your lovely wife. You have a reputation to uphold here. [emoji172]


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[Inger]

Bumble and I will keep Bowie in our thoughts.


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[wrench13]

Elllen Bowie has the good thoughts from Salty and the rest of the pirate crew here. Your care for your flock is a model for anyone and new members should look behind the words to sense the complete connection you have with your fids.

 

[ChristaNL]

... still going with the positives ...

 

[BoomBoom]

Sending you and Bowie all positive vibes and warm thoughts. Hang in there!

 

[Just-Passn-Thru]

Keeping positive thoughts Bowie will have a speedy recovery.

 

[Aratingettar]

I wish Bowie prompt recovery from the bottom of my heart. Good for him he has you, don't blame yourself as it's not easy to spot the gradually happening problems.
Take care, I hope Bowie will be alright!

 

[EllenD]

Well, this morning Bowie seems better...He ate his breakfast, he took his meds (he didn't actually "take" them, but you know ). He is now sitting on the play-gym with Dylan (my Dove), which is odd, but actually kind of sweet. They kept getting closer to each other and now are, dare I say "cuddling"? I'm watching them closely since Dylan has no weapon on his face to protect himself with, but they seem to be very content...whatever makes Bowie feel better right now.

Last night I sat and just watched him sleep half the night, just to make sure he didn't stop breathing...I'm exhausted, but Bowie slept really well, so that's all that matters to me right now...I love that little guy so much. I love all my birds with all my heart (and my two dogs), but there's something about Green Cheeks that just melts your heart, even when they're biting the hell out of you, lol. I guess you don't realize how much you need these little guys until they become ill. I can try to help anyone and everyone with their sick or injured birds, but when it's your own child that's the patient, well, different story...

My Vet called this morning to say that they actually did a culture/cytology on Bowie's blood to check for any signs of sepsis (good for them, this impressed me quite a bit), and he said there are no signs of any bacteria in his blood/blood cells at all, so it's not a systemic infection, thank God. Still waiting for the culture from his foot to come back to see what is causing this and to make sure he's on the correct meds, but based on what he's taking I think he covered the major bases. I have to keep giving him the Subq-fluid injections, and now that Bowie is feeling a little better, I'm assuming that he's going to rip my hands/face off...we'll see, I actually hope he does, it's worth it to see him full of energy...

Just as a note to all you other parronts, my Vet consulted with one of his other Vet friends who is a doctor at U of Penn Vet School about this, and he asked him if Bowie had gotten his nails clipped recently, so he called me to ask me if I had clipped the recently (I do their nails myself), and that hit me like a ton of bricks. I had clipped ALL of their nails about a month ago, I know it was either on June 18th or 19th, because I had to go and pay my car payment and was trying to get their nails done before the bank closed, and Duff was being a little jerk about it and making a 10 minute process last an hour, so I remembered that...So there ya have it, that's most-likely how Bowie got this horrible infection in his toe/foot. I always have Qwik-Stop with me when I do their nails, and I've clipped literally, well, has to be thousands of bird's toenails because I've been doing them since I was a teenager for my grandmother's breeders, then my mom's, and occasionally you do clip them just a tiny bit too short and they bleed, that's not uncommon, happens at the Vet's when they do it too...for whatever reason, Bowie got an infection in his toenail vein...Of all the freak things to have happen...

Thank you to everyone for being so supportive and saying such kind words for Bowie, keep thinking about him, he's better, but I am so scared that this is going to go the other direction suddenly, it scares me to death. The fact that such a freak thing can take your baby away from you is just mortifying.

 

[LeaKP]

Oh I’m happy things seem to be turning around. I’ve been lurking around waiting to hear news! Yay Bowie!


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[Just-Passn-Thru]

Hang in there, we try to be conscientious and wonder how can these things happen. Somehow things slip through the cracks. We try to do everything right, but yet life throws curveballs.
Seems like your vet is covering all the bases.
Hopefully this is the last hurdle and Bowie's recovery will have favorable outcome.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Team Bowie!