Kirby Update

Hey all. Have a check up scheduled for him this coming Saturday - it’s hard to get in because of COVID, and the other avian vet here actually had an employee test positive so we lost our appointment last week. Just a couple of questions for you more experienced bird people out there!

Kirby had been plateauing at around 480g for a while, but we lessened the amount of pellet he gets and increased his leafy green intake. As a result we’ve noticed two things - he’s down to 470, but his poop has a ton of liquid. Is it just from the roughage? It’s been chard and a few mung bean sprouts this week, in addition to peppers and carrots. We need to restock on his fav chop from the parrot store but it’s got a lot of grain in it; maybe that’s why his poo has more liquid than normal? The rest of it seems normal.

He was also drinking a lot more water, but seems to have stopped doing that. This started a few weeks ago, and the soonest the vet could see us was last week, but they canceled due to the Covid exposure they had in office, so we’re on for this Sat at the other avian vet.

Otherwise - his flight feathers still haven’t all come back, but he’s pretty sprightly anyway; he and our cockatiel Cricket have figured out how to open their food containers and get into all sorts of trouble together! Cricket can fly and Kirby will just amble along the floor to get where he wants to be.

Food changes absolutely change the appearance and consistency of droppings. Increased veggies/fruits tends to make a more watery appearance. The good news is change is rapid once diet is adjusted.

Can you link the water intake reduction to an increase in "chop?" Depending on budget and time of last blood panel, might be a good idea to accomplish basic lab diagnostic work.

IMHO, 480g is kind of on the high side for a OWA.

Regarding weight, are you taking the weight at the same time each day. The 'best practice' is weight is taken early morning after the first poop and before food and water is provided.

Veggies increase water intake as they are wetter and as a result, poop is waterier. The increase of drinking is more common with more dry food intake.

Assure you get a full spectrum blood test!

It’s his yearly so he is getting a full panel! It worked out that it’s close enough to the last time he had a full panel that we went ahead and scheduled the works.

Yes, he’s still overweight for sure. That’s why we adjusted his feed again - he plateaued at 480 and I figured it was probably time to reduce his carbohydrate intake a bit and replace with something less calorically dense. He’s been more active though - and even if that’s largely because he likes to run across the room to climb into cricket’s cage and eat his leftover TOPs, it’s something!

Work at getting him to flap his wings! Like Human's large leg muscles, Parrots Wing muscles are directly connected to the cardiovascular system. Anytime that system is working, fresh oxygenated blood is pushed to all sectors of the body and only good things happen.

Woah. I think it’s time to replace the scale we’re using- it had gotten banged up in the move and I guess it’s way off, because Kirby is down to 420g!! Yay! The vet cleaned out his nose again (poor guy) but says his overall physical condition is good, and bloodwork/cultures will show if anything is amiss re: drinking more water and having loose stools. I’ll post here when we get a call about the results.

It is amazing what diet can/will do to an "inactive" birdie. Amy doesn't fly,doesn't wanna learn,no matter how much flap flap lessons he gets. He loves the lessons,waves his arms frantically,makes Amazon noises doing it,hangs upside down on the perch stick we use,he just thinks its a fun game daddy is doing I've held him over the bed and let go of the perch and he just holds on to it and ends up going poof on a pillow,gets up and says "huh?' like he didn't expect it.
At his physical a couple months back he was at 560g's,heaviest he has ever been in his 31 years but his doc said it's still a good weight for a blue front,if he should go over 600 then he'd be on the over weight range. I weighed him this morning and he was at 540g's.
It's hard to adjust his meals..he's super finicky I give him broc and cauliflower heads,snap pea's,diced peppers,grapes or orange,I tried a couple pieces of mango..phfffttt! a waste of time and money..carrot etc etc only to find them on his basement floor (or on the living room floor) He will eat his Roudybush maintenance pellets and he gets organic stuff from Bird Street Bistro I cook up every morning. He does love banana or a chicken leg bone but I don't give them everyday. Treats are nutraberries that he mostly just crumbles up for BB to pick at or a couple honeynut cheerio's. It's getting difficult to please him!


Jim

Just for fun, here's a litle something for Kirby. That's my name, too, and my wife's bird like to yell at me.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHZfdwxFb7U"]rickeybirdproductions: "KirbyKirbyKirbyKirbyKirby!" - YouTube[/ame]

I’ve gotta play that clip for Kirby and see what he thinks- he loves saying his name!

Ok, the blood and culture results are in. He’s got a little sinus infection from the dry air - same bacteria as last winter, and she suspects he’s just prone to these, so we’ve got a refill on his nasal flush and are to use it for three weeks twice a day and then twice a week thereafter. His liver levels are still a bit elevated, similar to when we first got him - she doesn’t feel it’s high enough to be indicative of a serious issue, so she’s sent him home with a liver “maintenance” medication for 90 days, at which point we will follow up with a full blood work up and culture again. She suggested it could be the liver processing the weight loss as he’s burning fat - I’m not sure.

The liver issue is a bit of a puzzle - in between his first vet visit in October 2019 and this one, we had a full blood work up done at the other Avian vet in king county. We liked them but they’re very far away from us compared to the one we went to the first time, so we ultimately came back to our original vet. Unfortunately, for some reason our current vet never got the paperwork from that blood panel, and never let me know it was missing. I have to track it down Monday, and find out if his liver levels were still elevated then, or if they went down and are now back up.

He also has a gut flora issue of some kind, the tech didn’t specify but he’s to take benebac daily for the next three weeks as well.

Of the many things I miss pre-COVID, I really miss actually getting to see the vet face to face and ask questions at appointment time!

Kirby actually has been doing a little gliding on his own - no matter where we hide the pill boxes with his pellet dosages, if they’re in his room he flaps awkwardly over to them and cracks them open, haha. I’ve just been putting enough to entice him into them now to keep him interested and moving around. We were doing flapping exercises, but the move and practically homeschooling our oldest kid has really thrown a wrench into my daily schedule. I will do my best to get back on the horse with that though, especially since we are at a good target weight for him!

Always get a Visit (Findings) Document every time you visit. Sometimes they are written-up later, and if so, have them email the document to you. Its your choice to sent that document onto your other Vet. We choose to keep both of our Vets informed as when an emergency hits, time is very important.

Liver levels in Amazons is very important and they can swing a bit dependent on activities and diet. We move the Blood Testing based on the Health of our Amazon. As a result, it changes from once every 15 months to as often as needed to follow an issue.

We use the 15 month healthy Amazon guide as a means of seeing the effects of 'time of year' on blood chems. Over a five year period, one sees blood chems in each quarter of the year. This allows an understanding as to what, if any variations are natural (seasonal) or something more.

Okay! I’ll keep that in mind. I believe the dates he has had a panel were Oct 2019, Dec 2019 & now. I’m going to have the other vet send me the paperwork for their work up and just bring it with me to turn over to his current vet when we do a follow up so that they can see what was going on also. I definitely remember them saying his levels were better though - or we’d surely have had a follow up from them sooner, I’d think...