New member!

[Angie]

Thanks, Harpmaker!

Got a call from the vet today, apparently they're very busy, but managed to make an appointment for next week. She will also determine the sex of Monty so.. hopefully all will be well!

(She did tell me that, even if it's common in the US to get a wellness check done right after you got the bird, it's not every common to do that here. Apparently people wait a few weeks/months before they get this done.)

[Pajarita]

Good for you and better still for Monty! It seems that, in your country, you are a pioneer in bird care and way ahead of the curve, kudos to you!

[Angie]

Does seem like that yes, which I find very odd.. I would think it's very normal to get all these things done right after you got a pet. :/

Just a little update.. Yesterday late afternoon Monty sat on my shoulder, everything was fine and she seemed very tired after playing around all day. Suddenly she started to vomit. I panicked of course since I had no idea what caused her to vomit. I went to the vet to get this checked out and they couldn't find anything that could've caused this.. Said she was a very healthy bird so they gave her a shot for the nausea and gave me some drops I should give her 3 times a day.

After we got home, she seemed to feel better again and just wanted to eat.

Hopefully all will be well now..

[Wolf]

Are you sure that Monty was vomiting and not just regurgitating? There is a difference, Regurgitating is a normal behavior and vomiting is a symptom of illness of some sort. Vomiting will be a violent expulsion of material from the digestive tract, while Regurgitating is not. In many cases but not all the act of regurgitating is preceded by head bobbing, and the material is deposited gently.

[Angie]

100% sure. She was shaking her head from left to right, as if she had no control over it. No head bobbing whatsoever.

Many people suggested this vet to be a trustworthy man, so I would think he knows what hes doing.

She's back to her old self now. I will have to keep giving her the drops I have been given for a few days. I constantly monitor her droppings and what she eats and will definitely stay in touch with the vet to make sure she will stay healthy.

The vet also suggested me a different type of pellet, Harrison's I think he said. So I'm gonna do some more research on the food department.

[Wolf]

Not saying anything about your vet, just checking because some people, especially first time owners get really worried the first time their bird regurgitates and think it is vomiting. It sounds like you know the difference and have a handle on things. Good for you!

[Angie]

Oh, I know.. Didn't mean to make it sound like you were bashing the vet or anything. But I was very worried though and that was because I know the difference between regurgitating and vomiting. Already had the worst case scenario in mind that could happen, especially since I've read so many horror stories about birds hiding their illness.

[Wolf]

I hear you! And since it was vomiting I would have been very concerned myself, which is also why I was checking to make sure. Yeah, they do hide their illnesses as it is a survival trait. It helps the flock to not reject them and it helps to fool the predators.
Thanks for sharing.

[Pajarita]

Was a choanal swab for cultures and blood work done? Because giving something for the nausea will stop the vomiting but it will not cure whatever caused it and, with birds, vomiting is always a symptom of something not quite right. If it was something she ate, then one would think that vomiting would take care of it but I've never had, heard or read of a bird that would vomit because of this reason unless it's extremely high protein in a very young bird for some time. Birds swallow even pieces of metal and get metal poisoning from them without bringing them up so it's not like humans who can eat something, say, too fatty, and throw up. Humans swallow and the food goes directly into the stomach while birds swallow and the food goes into the crop, then to the proventriculus and, finally, to the ventriculus. When they vomit, it's from the proventriculus while they regurgitate from the crop.

Now, as far as I know, there are no 'normal' reasons for a bird to vomit (except in the case of the super high protein). It can be something as easy to cure as a bacterial infection or sour crop but it can also be something as serious as PDD, passing through megabacteria (which is not really bacteria, this is the 'old' name), Pacheco, polyoma and even a blockage (is Monty pooping normally?).

[Angie]

Those were not done. I've asked for tests, but they told me to wait a few more weeks to get her tested on whatever diseases.. Maybe I should call a different avian vet.. (starting to worry again)

She poops like a normal bird and they look good to me.