Little bird rescues

[Bird woman]

Well off to the vet again, I feel I'm being financially double teamed by my vet. Honestly I don't know what to think anymore about this specialist. I've met 3 bird owners that are having problems with him and one of them told me her African grey died due to over dose of antibiotics from him. I just saw her 2 weeks ago and the bird was fine ,she works at pet smart so I see her a lot . She started to cry when she was telling me about it and said it was the vets fault. Another woman has a big mollucan male that I suspect has a heart condition and all my vet wants to do is the same dam test over and over. 400.00 a pop for every visit. He has extremely high CPK levels that come and go and I mean off the charts. I've been studying all his test results and trying to help her. What a messed up week. Gotta get Huey's but problem fixed this week . Does anyone know if it's better to do ultra sound or x-rays to detect heart muscle condition? BW

[Pajarita]

For size (as in an enlarged heart), you can use XRays (which are cheaper) but, ultrasound is better for soft tissue.

High CPK along with a normal bile acids is usually heart problems BUT it can also go up from giving the bird injections, trauma or self mutilation because high CPK is, basically, caused by muscular degeneration/damage and injections are hell for birds soft tissue (and that's why I never allow vets to give my birds shots!) Ah, it also goes up with PDD for the same reason (the damage to the proventriculus which is made of muscle).

Oh, and I haven't forgotten about the pictures, Birdwoman, but my husband is back in Ct until Thursday and I have been super busy with these two feral kittens that I took in (there were three, one of them died but I managed to get the other two to pull through by feeding them in the mouth and giving them subQ fluids several times a day -they are so tiny, you can only do a little bit at a time) and my grand-daughter's guinea pigs (taken away because she was 'bad' so I am taking care of them temporarily although she has been told it's permanent -her parents will 'forgive' her and return them to her when she 'straightens out' her behavior) - this on top of my ten cats, my five dogs, my 30 + birds and the feral cat colony I care for! - I just came back from dropping a cat for surgery at the vet and, now that the kittens are stronger (they went to the vet where they were checked, dewormed and tested for FeL, FIV and panleuko -all negative ) I am going to bathe them to get rid of the fleas and bomb my husband's den where they have been kept isolated from the other cats.

[Bird woman]

How are you going to bug bomb in the house with the birds ? Even if you take them all out of the house aren't you afraid of residue ??? When I took Huey in for his appointment I was really shocked with my vet who was really quite different ( tuned up ) so's to speak. I know several people have had wellness checks recently that I have sent for birds that have never even seen a vet. All this is through the networking I do on the Internet to guide people into proper husbandry . I think he realizes I'm in contact with a lot of the bird owners in this valley , more and more everyday. A lot of us share info. On the care , cost and outcome our birds receive through him. Maybe this will be a good thing . He took Huey right into surgery to remove the polyp that day , no extra visit charge I went ahead and had all his blood work done , including sexing ,nail trim , cancer tissue lab screen with his antibiotic all came to 650.00 and for him that's cheap!! Honestly I was expecting twice that much. This is a good thing having another vet on board maybe has him rethinking he has the market cornered.honestly although she is not a specialist I feel her many years in an exotic practice in Florida is as good if not better than that piece of paper. There's so much that is going on and I have to talk about but everyone is getting restless , through with breakfast and wanting to run. Alyha is trying to type with me and messin things up. B.W.

[Pajarita]

There was only one room that needed the bombs, my husband's den, which is the finished attic of the house, on the third floor and where the birds are never allowed but I still washed every single surface in them afterward - I also washed all the dog and cats bedding, my own and the sofa covers as well as all the floors in the house, just in case.

[Bird woman]

OMG !!! It sounds like spring cleaning to me. good luck! BW

[Pajarita]

With fleas, you have no choice but to wash EVERYTHING because, although the adults live on the animal itself, a lot of the egg sacs end up on the floor (which one can easily carry from one room to another on the soles of the shoes) and, when the larvae comes out, it's microscopic and almost transparent so there can be lots of them on the floor and you can't see them... so the solution is to wash all the floors (I use flea shampoo and flea dip in the water) and all the things made out of materials (I use hot 'deep water' cycle and extra rinse). I've had two flea infestations (one in the house in West Milford -because I did not know any better- and the other in Pennsylvania -because of the feral cats I was doing TNR on) and I would NEVER want to go through that again so I am VERY careful and whenever I am in doubt, I do the whole treatment!

BTW, the kittens are doing wonderfully, they have been bathed and all the fleas removed, vetted, dewormed and tested for FeL, Fiv and panleuko and everything was negative so they are ready to be adopted out (I will post pictures of them, too -my husband is coming home tonight and I'll ask him tomorrow to take pix of some birds and them to show you - they are SOOOOO cute!).

[Bird woman]

I'm really excited to see your fids !!! Things have been so out of control with the cold weather setting in, can't get the new bird room done fast enough. Alyha is turning into a little stinker, omg she thinks she's 10 times her size. The Huey and Mathew horror show is still going strong. Just ordered a 80 by 40 by 72 tall cage and it should be here Friday . The thought of the 2 macaws out and about together in the same room makes me shudder!!! Mathew had another seizure after my last post , but it was pretty mild. I've tended to the nutritional , physical , emotional and medical needs and am kind of at `a loss at what else I can do. Well Aylhas typing now gotta go BW p.s.

[Pajarita]

Well, husband left again yesterday at dawn without taking the pix and he won't be back until this coming Friday and, on Saturday, we are going to visit the mother and sister in law because tomorrow is MIL's birthday (90 years old!!!) so I don't know when I will be posting the pix I am happy that he has so much work but I am beginning to get tired of living by myself...

[Bird woman]

My birds are mad as hell because I just got home , major catastrophe at Resturant and rentals in town and there dinner is late , bed time late and no time for movies. I'm sure the attitudes will continue into tomorrow. , I can hardly wait. I don't know how it works with everyone else's fids but when things aren't kept to there schuedule there's hell to pay. BW

[Wolf]

I have found this to be true with most animals once they get accustomed to a certain schedule, especially when it comes to feeding time. For this reason I have always tried to vary their feeding schedule every now and then as it reduces their stress when something comes up and feeding must be done later than usual. But this is something that is very hard to do with birds. They are wired to eat at certain times such as shortly after dawn and around dusk and if I am not going to disrupt their entire schedule or most of it, there is simply not much lee way to alter their feeding schedule without creating too much stress. The most that I have been able to alter their feeding schedule without any issues is about 30 minutes, so it is really not worth it to try to do with them. I hope they decide to forgive you quickly as they can be quite the pain and hold a grudge over their food.