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Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

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Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby bingo2008 » Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:30 pm

Hi guys, I’m so sorry if I’m posting in the wrong forum. I just found this site when I was looking for answers and I’m in too much grief to actually understand the website.
My Alexandrine parrot died a few days ago, I’m not sure if he was genuinely ill or what went wrong.
He had a small bulge above his tail, his wings were a little droopy, his poop had recently gotten stuck to his butt and he would occasionally have nasal discharge (cold like).
We had taken him to the vet and she suspected problems with the liver and prescribed a medicine for 2 months. We kept giving him the medicine from time to time as prescribed but when we recently gave him medicine, (it has been 1 month since the medicine started) he almost started to choke or something. We tried to pat him on the back to see if anything was stuck but his windpipe was clear. After this, within minutes he passed away. Was he ill? Was it because of the wrong medication? Did he suffer from a heart attack?
He meant more to me than anything in the world and I just want to know whether he had too much pain during his last days?! PLEASE HELP!
bingo2008
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 4
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Alexandrine
Flight: Yes

Re: Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby Pajarita » Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:22 am

First of all, please accept my sincerest condolences for your loss. You don't say how old he was or what kind of diet he got so I have no way of telling if the liver malfunction diagnose was correct or not but I can tell you that diarrhea and nasal discharge are not symptoms of that, neither are the 'droopy' wings. You also don't say what kind of tests the vet did to diagnose this or what was the medicine the vet gave you for its liver... I treat a number of birds for liver malfunction but it never involves putting the medicine in their beak. Now, if he died right after putting meds in its beak and he kind of choked on it, it seems to me that he died from aspiration. It's not really that very easy to medicate or feed birds in their beak precisely because of the danger of the meds or food going down the 'wrong way'. Humans, dogs, cats, etc can 'cough' up whatever goes down the wrong way but birds can't because they have an 'open' respiratory system versus a 'closed' on like we do so, when something goes into their lungs, they either die from asphyxiation or develop a very serious lung infection.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby bingo2008 » Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:20 pm

Hi, my apologies for missing out on that. He was around 15 years old! His diet included a mix of white sunflower seeds, the whole almond fruit that comes from the trees (not the dry fruit), and usually most of what we ate in smaller quantities (dal, rice etc). He was also 273 grams in weight, which I believe is overweight for an Alexandrine.
The vet did not describe the tests she did but I believe she did not diagnose him carefully because of your comments below.

Can you tell me if it was indeed because of the medication or if he was suffering from an illness as well?
Keep in mind that he was shivering the entire day (we have warm temperatures here, so it cannot be because of the cold), his wings had feathers coming out, his poop got stuck to his butt twice in a month and he had a bulge right above his tail.

His medications were as follows :
melonex syrup 0.2ml once every day for 5 days
silybon syrup 0.2ml once every day for 60 days (we only completed around 25 days)
macalvit syrup 0.2ml once every day for 10 days (for his shivering)

owing to all the above, was he already sick and suffering from a lot of pain? or was he perfectly healthy but died due to the wrong medicine prescribed?

as a regular person who does not have any idea about medicines to birds, i chose to trust my vet and it has cost me my baby’s life and i’m shattered if this has happened merely because of the wrong medication.
if he was already in a lot of pain because of the nasal discharge, the shivering, the wings, the poop getting stuck then i’m glad he is relieved from all this place and is in a better place now!

but i need closure. so could you please help me out here?
God bless you!
bingo2008
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 4
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Alexandrine
Flight: Yes

Re: Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby Pajarita » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:06 am

Well, melonex is meloxicam which is the most used medicine for pain and inflammation in birds and the dosage seems OK. Sylibon is made out of milk thistle and it's for the liver (I use the liquid, alcohol free extract in their water as well as dandelion root and methionine in their soft food) and macalvit is calcium and Vit D3 (I use Calciboost in their water) but it's not for shivering. His diet was pretty bad so, after 15 years of this, his liver was in real bad shape (psittaculas cannot eat high protein and fat).

Now, if you never gave him any vitamin/mineral supplement and the bird was not put outside to get sunshine, he was also VERY deficient in calcium but, if he had been put out regularly or given vitamins, the extra calcium would actually make his liver worse - same with the melonex because it's processed in the liver and the one thing you need to do with liver damage is try your best not to make it worse.

But, going by the fact that he choked when you gave him the meds and he died right after, I would think that he aspirated.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby bingo2008 » Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:23 am

He would be out to get sunshine at least 4 hours a day in the mornings, when it would get too hot we’d bring him back inside. I think his diet is what caused damage to him, I think it wasn’t a balanced diet. But I realise this now, after I have lost him.
He lived a good 15 years with us and I hope he lived a good life with us :) he was the most loved member of our family!!

Anyway, thank you so much for your time and replies.
I feel better now knowing that he was in genuine pain because of his liver and is now hopefully in peace and in a better place ❤️

Thank you once again!
bingo2008
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 4
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Alexandrine
Flight: Yes

Re: Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby bingo2008 » Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:07 am

By the way, you sound like a very knowledgeable doctor/person who knows birds in and out and knows what they are doing.

Is there a way for me to contact you for veterinary advice in the future when I’m ready to be a pet owner again? Of course, I am not expecting free sessions but paid ones.

Any way to contact you? Email ID perhaps?
bingo2008
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 4
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Alexandrine
Flight: Yes

Re: Alexandrine Parrot Died Recently

Postby Pajarita » Wed Mar 30, 2022 8:47 am

Well, if he was getting sun every day, then the calcium/Vit D3 supplement only made things worse in his liver...

I am not a doctor or a vet, I've just had a lot of animals all my life and, because I am a bit of a pain in the neck 'know-it-all', I make it my business to learn as much as possible about them. I've been rescuing parrots since 1992 and have gotten sick birds with all kinds of problems so I've learned through experience, research and studies. Thankfully, even though I am old, I still have a very good memory so I remember symptoms, diagnosis and treatments.

You can contact me here but, if you want my personal email, just pm me and I'll give it to you. I do not charge a penny for anything, I do it because I love all animals but my passion are birds.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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