BIRD SEVERELY ILL - Last Hope

[ruo42]

Hi there, I have nowhere else to turn to with my problem. After seeing two vets and two thousand dollars later, we still don't definitively know whats wrong with my bird. This is my last hope to see if anybody has been in a similar situation so I can know what to do or expect.

I own a little corella (bear-eyed cockatoo), who is 4 years old.
She has never been able to 'talk'
Up until a few months ago we started noticing her behavior change
- awkward balance (always needs to grab on to her cage, cannot balance or perch alone any more)
- loss of appetite (somewhat, maybe not though)
- noticeably less strong, and less vocal
- She's in my arms right now and routinely shaky, and seems to be huddling close for warmth, although it's above average room temperature in my house (to try to keep her warmer)

After taking her to the vet(s), blood work came back mostly normal although CK (creatine kinase) is up 73 points above standard, and uric acid up ~100 points above standard. Heterophils are up (1.5 units, I'm guessing, i can't really accurately read the blood work) They did a test for PDD which came negative. She also has a cataract in her left eye which the vet said was unrelated to the big issue, but none the less presents a smaller one. Vet's best guess at the moment is a viral infection causing neurological problems.

Has anybody had a similar problem? I'm really upset with the whole deal. The vet asked if we wanted to put her down, but the only way I could do that is if she was in some serious pain, if she was just mentally handicapped I wouldn't find it just. So I suppose now my secondary question is how can you tell if the bird is in severe pain?

[Crazypetlady]

Were the vets at least able to rule out things like lead poisoning or some kind of reaction to a toxin?

Unfortunately, I think (I'm no expert) that if it was really some kind of brain disease or neurological disorder, there isn't much a vet can do about it and putting your bird down would be the most humane thing to do at this point. I have no idea how to tell if a bird is experiencing pain, but it certainly sounds like yours is not feeling well and experiencing general malaise at least. It's not an acute pain (which she'd probably react to by chewing at it) but an overall life-sux kind of pain.

My grandmother, on her deathbed, was not in pain, but she was feeling lousy and was tired of it and wanted to be at peace. Animals can't talk, but I think your bird is telling you in its own way that it is in pain.

Having said all of that, as a last ditch effort, if I were you, I would throw out all food, switch cages, get new dishes, toys, etc. to rule out something s/he is ingesting. Get a carbon monoxide detector, whatever else you can think of doing or checking, do it, and then just hope for the best.

Btw, how does one rack up a $2000 vet bill without ever getting treatment for something?! Just curious.

[ruo42]

Ya sorry, I forgot to mention all poisoning tests came back negative.
First vet thought that it was viral, gave her antibiotics, we changed the food, give her a special kind of meal given to us by the vet, she was injected with some vitamins and whatever else the vet gave her. (That's how I racked up a bill, but usually I would keep a question such as "How did you end up spending so much money" to myself, because it's sort of touchy, especially now, isn't it?)

And if she just had a neurological problem, which isn't ruled out yet, why should I put her down? Do we put down autistic people because they're retarded?

Btw, why, (if you're no expert) are you making such an elaborate response to a problem that you're not so sure of?

[marie83]

Oh no, thats awful what a nightmare for you both. I'm wondering if it's worth getting your vets to write down every single thing your birds been tested for and having a phone consultation with a couple of other avian vets to see if there are any tests that they could reccommend. Though if your bills already $2000, I'm sure your vets must have done most things.

How long has your bird been sick for? I'm imagining its quite a while if you've managed to get your vets bill that high. I don't want to give you false hope but one of mine was really sick for a period of over 3 months. The vets couldn't find anything wrong there either but it seemed to sort itself out in the end. I'm still wondering what caused it now.

From the symptoms you have given I should think that although she is obviously suffering in some ways such as the bad balence she is probably quite happy in other ways? There is nothing there I feel that definitely suggests she is in pain although its possible. If she's still eating and drinking by herself then that is a good sign. The shaking may not mean she is cold and she's just huddling cuz she's feeling sorry for herself and its comforting, if it is a nuerological problem it could be everything to do with that.

Regarding putting her down what does the vet think? Does he think she is really really suffering? What does your other vet think too? How do they rate the birds chances of ever recovering enough to live a decent life if she is? There's nothing worse than deciding its time, I think the animal in question will help you decide when the times right, it's something I never believed until the time came with a dog I had.

I really hope you find something that helps your bird or she comes round herself. Will you keep us updated?

[ruo42]

^ Thanks for your concern,
What's really stumping the vets is that there's no definitive answer - That being said its good to hear that it's possible for them to recover over being sick for such a long time. Did you do anything in particular to her environment over that time that you thought could have helped?

And ya, as far as I can tell she doesn't seem to be in any kind of obvious pain, but again, I don't really know how birds would express their pain (this is my first bird). As for her shaking, I have found turning the heat up and putting a hot water bottle near her seems to calm her down, so it's probably that.

But again, with the vets, I sort of feel like I've wasted my money because no definitive answer. They've given me some medicine to help prolong her life if she has PDD, but again, she shows some symptoms of it, but x-rays and whatnot were negative - therefore also ruling out any physiological problems.

I just mainly want to know that she's not physically hurting consistently, and that hopefully it's some kind of genetic neurological problem not causing her any known suffering.

What's really weird is her cataract...

[Crazypetlady]

I understand that you're going thru a rough time and you fear you might lose a pet you obviously care for very much, so I won't take your reaction to my post too much to heart. But in all fairness, you mentioned the vet bill willingly, you asked for opinions on her pain, and I doubt you truly expected to find experts on a forum. At least not someone more qualified than the vets you've already been to.

Nobody can dictate to you what to do now. The best you can do is get suggestions from fellow parrot lovers (which is what i assume you're seeking by coming to a forum like this), give things some serious thought, look at your bird and then decide what's best for both you and your bird.

And no, I would not put down a child just because of a disability like autism, but I would put down a pet if I thought it was in a lot of pain or so chronically ill that it couldn't stand up or eat with no hope of a cure. You asked for help, I tried to help.

I do hope your bird recovers from all this soon. Please keep us posted.

[Grey_Moon]

I'm not a doctor either avian or human, but sick enough to know basic blood tests results lol.
CK is usually related to damage or inflammation in people, particularly heart issues. Also, there's a high correlation between it and hypothyroid issues and being hypokalemic (low blood potassium)...
But if values came back normal...how is her blood sugar? I have a feeling that cataract holds the key maybe.

The other possibility is something is up with her kidneys, maybe.
I'm really sorry you and your little one are suffering

[liz]

Did the vet give you an antibiotic?

What does her poop look like? Could she have a bowel obstruction? I would force fluids and keep her close. Try giving her orange or apple juice.

I have had birds get injured. The signs of pain are trembles and fluffed up.

I took Rambo to the vet for his feet. The vet could not find a problem but told me to put soothing salve on them and give him a vitamin booster. The salved helped with the dryness but did not solve the problem. When I ran out of soothing salve I started putting the vitamin booster on his feet. He would never take it and did not like the taste. Now he doesn't pick at his feet because he doesn't like the booster. They are healing.

Good luck with your baby. It is really bad when they get sick. We suffer with them.

[ruo42]

Yes the vet did prescribe an antibiotic which I've been giving her along with the PDD medicine.
Her poop has been actually very runny and almost 'spewy' even... kind of gross lol.

You mentioned signs of pain being 'trembles', which I'm hoping is not like I described her shaking. Did you mean that like how she shakes sometimes in her cage while trying to balance? Now I don't know if this is pain, coldness, or from her need to balance awkwardly as she doesn't shake when she's holding on to the cage with her beak but will shake when she's trying to support herself freely. What did you mean by 'fluffed up' though?

[liz]

Feathers fluffed up as if she is cold. Mine trembled. I could see that they hurt. Two of my tiels have had broken wings. Even though they healed it is like they still have a nerve hurting them.

Does she tremble when you hold her? Is she flighted? I don't know what to tell you.

I had a ferret that was lethargic which is far from normal for a ferret. The vet said she had an infection and gave me antibiotics. I was afraid that she would dehydrate so I forced liquids. I gave her so much liquid that she got diarea and passed a green piece of a rubber toy. That is why I suggested forcing liquid.

Also if she does have an infection she is running a fever and liquid could not hurt.