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Blood in Stool

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Blood in Stool

Postby Chai » Sat Mar 26, 2022 4:07 pm

Hello,

I have a 33 year old African Grey who i just noticed has blood in his stool. To be more specific, I think it's in the urates portion of the stool. He is eating and acting normally. Has anyone had any experience with this before or know what it could be?

To provide a bit more information on him, I adopted him and his mate 3 years ago (I don't breed them, they were just together at the sanctuary I got them from and I adopted both). At that time I came on here and got help from Pajarita on diet and light schedule, so the whole time I've had him he has been on a solar schedule and has been fed gloop and produce every morning with some seeds and nuts in the evening. I open their cage every morning and they have the option to be out until dinner time, but I'm there with them all day and I haven't noticed that he's gotten in to anything lately that he shouldn't have. Last night I thought his stool was looking a little off so this morning I avoided feeding any produce that might have an effect on the color of the stool so I could monitor it, but it's clear now that there is blood in it.

I am definitely planning on taking him to the vet but it's the weekend, and the emergency places are mostly for dogs and cats and I'm not sure I'd trust them. If he deteriorates before Monday I will have to try going there anyway I suppose, just mostly came on here to see if anyone can tell me how worried I should be!

Thank you for your time.
Chai
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 37
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: White-fronted Amazon, 2 African Greys
Flight: Yes

Re: Blood in Stool

Postby Pajarita » Sun Mar 27, 2022 9:18 am

When you say blood, do you mean a very dark, almost black red or bright red? Because dark means upper intestine while bright red is either lower intestine, cloaca or kidneys (parrots don't have a bladder). Have you examined its bottom -meaning the cloaca? Is he drinking enough water? Has he had any previous symptom -like not enough or too much urine or of a darker color? Do you any antibiotics at all in the house - even if they are for humans? If not, do you know anybody who would? Mothers of small children usually have a couple of pills left over. I always ask the doctors for a bit extra and 'save' it precisely for situations like this one. If you do have any, let me know what it is and I'll try to give you a dosage for the bird. In the meantime, keep him very warm (85 to 95 degrees but do not use a lamp, use a heating pad), make sure he has good water (not tap but bottled) and give him cauliflower, blueberries, apples and green cabbage. You do give them a multivitamin/mineral supplement regularly, right?
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: Blood in Stool

Postby Chai » Sun Mar 27, 2022 6:58 pm

Thank you for the reply Pajarita. The blood is bright red. I have checked the cloaca and it is clean and looks normal. He has been drinking water normally, and doing everything else normally as far as I can tell. I do not have any antibiotics (kicking myself for this because I just donated some cat ones I had for my cat that recently passed), and the neighbors don't either. But the heat I can do, as well as the water and foods you listed. Honestly he is still not very good at eating produce but the apples I know he will eat, and maybe the cabbage but I'll offer it all. Yes, he does get a vitamin supplement in his water a couple times a week as well, the Abba one you told me about before. Basically I've copied you on everything because you know so much more than me!

When you say bright red could mean lower intestine or kidneys, do you mean like an infection or something more sinister?
Chai
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 37
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: White-fronted Amazon, 2 African Greys
Flight: Yes

Re: Blood in Stool

Postby Pajarita » Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:30 am

Well, if there is no blood stain surrounding the cloaca, it means that the bleeding is not constant-which is the real bad situation Whether it's because of an infection or something else, I can't tell you but, in any case, I would take him to the vet and ask for a fecal (collect the freshest poop right before you take him to the vet) and a CBC with differential. He might want to do a complete chem panel but these two tests will eliminate a lot of possibilities and it's not expensive. The way I do it with my animals is to do this first if I suspect an infection anywhere and, if nothing can be found, then I do the chem panel.

Did you find any more blood? Are you sure it was not something he ate? Because I know that I have panicked over 'bloody poop' and then realized it was something the bird ate -like cherries, beets, red pepper, raspberries, etc.
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: Blood in Stool

Postby Chai » Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:59 am

Yes, I am still finding it today. When I first thought something might be wrong Friday night I stopped giving him foods that could change the color too much just to be sure, because I have freaked out over that in the past as well and it was from berries! But I do think this is different.

Thank you for the vet advice, I know what to ask for when I take him now. He has an appointment later this afternoon. I was able to get him in with a board certified avian vet that I found on the ABVP website, not sure how much that means but it makes me feel better. I will let you know how it goes!
Chai
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 37
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: White-fronted Amazon, 2 African Greys
Flight: Yes

Re: Blood in Stool

Postby Chai » Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:13 pm

The vet thinks it is probably cancer in the cloaca :cry: He is getting some imaging done on Wednesday to confirm that, and possibly an endoscopy to see if it's in an area where it could be safely removed, if it is indeed a tumor, but the endoscopy would be at a later date. The vet took me through a bunch of possible scenarios but until they are able to do the imaging (and blood test at that time) I don't really know much. Just sad for my poor guy.
Chai
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 37
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: White-fronted Amazon, 2 African Greys
Flight: Yes

Re: Blood in Stool

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

Ah, poor baby! I've read of cloacal cancer in Amazons and I read about Grays been prone to viral cutaneous papilloma which, when they are internal, can become cancer. Yes, the endoscopy seems a good diagnosis tool for this - and the good news is that it might operable.
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: Blood in Stool

Postby Chai » Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:11 am

The imaging showed there are 2 tumors in the cloaca. The larger one, about pea size, is causing more bleeding and it is in an operable area, so we are going to do the surgery, and biopsy after of course. It can be done endoscopically. He is also showing signs of early cardiovascular disease, so he needs to be on heart medicine for a couple weeks before the surgery. He is home now and is on the heart meds as well as pain meds and an antibiotic.

Palliative care is the same as treatment in this case; he just needs the bleeding to stop and removing that nodule is the way to do it. I thought a lot about it, wanting to make sure it was the kindest thing to do for him. Humans failed him for 30 years and I feel like I should do everything I can if there is a chance for him, and there is. I will re-evaluate if something else comes up, but for right now I feel pretty good about doing the procedure for him.
Chai
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 37
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: White-fronted Amazon, 2 African Greys
Flight: Yes

Re: Blood in Stool

Postby Pajarita » Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:19 am

I agree with you 100% both on getting the procedure done and the paliative care and, if I may add, the bird is lucky to have ended up in your hands AND that the tumor is operable. Good luck with the surgery and, please, do come back and let us know how he's doing. We love all birds, our own and everybody else's.
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: Blood in Stool

Postby Chai » Fri Apr 01, 2022 1:07 pm

Thank you for sharing your opinions about this! I don't have any bird people around me to ask opinions of so I appreciate it. I will let you know how it goes. We got through our first round of meds together this morning and he's doing alright in his little hospital cage set up.
Chai
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 37
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: White-fronted Amazon, 2 African Greys
Flight: Yes

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