Kira drinks a lot and watery poops

Boysmom

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Nov 17, 2011
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Ruby- Solomans Island Grand Eclectus ***
Flora- Panama Amazon
Kira ( CAG ) drinks well over 2 cups of water a day. Her poops are watery but does have well formed solid to it. Her previous owner gave me her vet records, where she has had complete blood panels and stains done, X rays, cultures, Etc. None found any problems. She is in good feather and her weight is good. She eats fresh veggies and birdie bread and the prev owner said she ate Kaytee exact pellets, but for me she doesnt touch them at all.

Merlee and I talked about this in depth on Saturday. I wonder if she drinks out of boredom, as she doesnt know how to play with toys it seems. Vet visit is planned for this Friday, in the meantime anyone got an suggestions to throw my way ? Anyone else have this problem ?
 

crimson

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I have a female cockatiel here, with high uric acid in her urine. the vets did a complete panel of tests, grams stains, and blood work, everything was fine except for her urine.

so after a $300.00 bill, she is still the same, seems healthy, and doing well...

guess you'll have to wait till you see the vets, hopefully they will get some answers.
 

weco

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It's too bad, but birds don't come pre-trained in the fine art of toy playing, so, my suggestion would be to clear the table or if you need a larger space, clear a space on the floor, get some toys out & start playing...my guys all like hanging bells, tongue depressors & popsicle sticks.....they also like to play with a small wiffle ball...my patty will play catch with me.....we clear the table & roll the ball back-n-forth to each other.....you could also get several sheets of newspaper, play tug-of-war & when pieces tear off, make a big deal out of it.....actually making a big deal of playing with any toy is key to getting your bird interested.....

Good luck.....
 
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Boysmom

Boysmom

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Yes weco I had to teach Ruby to play also. It took finding the one right toy that sparked her interest. At least Kira can watch Ruby play with her toys when she comes off QT, so maybe that will be helpful. I hope it turns out to be boredom. I'm giving her some aloe detox with her water to see if it helps any, as it cant hurt.
 

BillsBirds

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Drinking a lot of water, plus eating fresh vegetables and fruits, will give a bird watery poops. Asking a vet is never a bad idea for anything.
 
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Boysmom

Boysmom

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UPDATE **
This is a long and painful post to write. Kira's watery poops continued, I made a AV vet appointment for the Friday ( 1 week ) after she arrived. She was eating fresh brocoli and carrots, sweet potato, brown rice all well but she never touched a pellet. She would drink up to 3 cups of water a day. My AV vet ( she's mobile ) came out and Kira was shy at first and was scared. She ran over to me and cuddled up when the vet tried to touch her. We decided to allow her to cuddle and watch Ruby get her exam and wing clip then try Kira again. Kira watched Ruby intently, then she was fine to allow her exam. Everything checked out well, and she took some cultures and wanted to review her previous vet records before we moved on. Her weight was 323 g. Kira got her wings clipped then took a treat and went back to her cage. 4 hours later I was sitting on my couch talking to Kira and she was whistling right back from inside her cage. All of a sudden she fell ( never flapped a wing or made a sound ) and hit the cage bottom HARD. I ran over to her and she was dead already. Chest down, legs out behind her, eyes open, wings smooth against her body. I collapsed to the floor screaming and my son ran into the room. He was shocked and crying also. I immediately called my vet sobbing so badly my son had to explain what had happened. The vet came out and examined her and suspected a heart attack. I took her for necropsy and the results so far are heart attack and kidney failure. We are still waiting on some tissue sample results. I pick her up tomorrow for a proper burial. This has been very hard on me and my family. Kira stole our hearts quickly. I knew she had medical issues when I took her in but I was confident it could be soloved with my AV vet. Her previous medical tests are listed here she was hatched on 11/8/11 and purchased from the breeder at 9 months old and she had this watery poop problem at that time:
11/8/12: Exam AE- Choanal slit gram stain- Comp avian profile- radiograph 2 views AE-
Kira left this visit on probiotics
1/7/13: Complete profile with gram stain

This has been very heartbreaking for me as we have only lost one other pet in 30 years. I was in shock for quite a while and still am really. It was such a dream come true, and she was stepping up and cuddling and getting scratches and fitting in so nicely, I was totally in love. She is greatly missed ! This was really hard to write, so please excuse me if it isnt perfectly worded.
 

Merlee

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There is more to the story. My memory is not the best but this is what I remember. Boysmom answered a craigslist advertisement from Atlanta while she lived over an hour away. The lady who was surrendering the bird quickly made arrangements to bring the bird to Boysmom three or four days after she answered the ad. A weekday and was eager to get the transaction completed. How weird is that? Usually the person wanting the bird goes and picks up the bird.

Also, the lady did not mention on the phone to Boysmom beforehand that the bird had watery poop issues or how long this was happening. She was informed after the owner arrived with the bird and cage. If I remember the story correctly, the health file with all the receipts was given to Boysmom just before the owner left. A few days later Boysmom had Dr. Gardner, our veterinarian, give Kiera an exam and asked her to look over the receipts showing all tests and medications the bird had. Dr. Gardner was going to follow up with the previous vet about the bird's health history so the next course of action could be decided. I think the previous vet visits and tests were quite frequent and then abruptly stopped at some point. I don't remember exactly when that happened.

The bird also arrived with a cage that had rust on it. Boysmom felt uncomfortable with that cage and was in the process of looking for another when Kiera passed.

This whole thing has truly hurt Boysmom because she has been wanting an African Grey for a long time. The bird and cage was given to her for free. For this to happen to such a good, loving person is very sad and I feel she was taken advantage of. Heather was so excited to have Kiera and to have this happen is terrible, but in order to find out exactly the cause of death, she paid to have the necropsy done by an animal hospital in Macon. This is an expensive procedure.

To top it off, the previous owner has not contacted Boysmom to see how things are going with the transition. My opinion is that the owner took advantage of Boysmom and knew exactly what was forthcoming.

In case you were wondering how I knew all this, it is because Boysmom told me step by step what and when everything transpired. I did not feel comfortable saying anything on any forum because this is not my story and felt I had to have her permission first before saying anything which I now have.

Again, Heather, you have my condolences. You didn't deserve this because you are always helping somebody with their fids when in need. In closing, there is an African Grey out there waiting for you, just like there was an yellow nape amazon waiting for me.
 
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Boysmom

Boysmom

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Thanks Meelee, you paint an accurate picture of how this all transpired. Merlee went through this horrible situation with me. She has cried with me and checked in on me to make sure I was fine. It is just such a shocking situation.
 

crimson

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I just read your post, and my heart breaks for you.

I am so sorry for you loss of your beloved Kira.
 

shyness

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My heart and prayers are with you.. your baby traded in her earth wings for her holy ones.. she is in heaven making angels smile
 
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Boysmom

Boysmom

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Thanks for the kind words during this hard time, everyone.
 

JerseyWendy

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Oh my gosh! I am so very, very sorry for your loss!! :( Now I'm sitting here crying..... I can't even imagine how upset you must have been when this happened from one second to the next.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you. HUGS!!! :(
 

Mayden

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I'm so so sorry for your loss. It's heartbreaking to lose a fid, especially so dramatically. The only thing I can suggest is to feel reassured that it happened quickly for her.

You said Kira was in quarentine, but mentioned her being there during the vet exam for Ruby? Was she still 'quarentined' but visible or pulled out? Something to maybe bring up to your vet regarding Kira's results.

Drinking lots of water suggests things like kidney problems which can be caused by diabetes, infection, high blood pressure and more. If anyone elses fids seem to be increasing their intake of water for 'no reason' please contact your Avian Vet immediately.

Again, I'm so so so sorry for your loss. *bighugs*
 

Merlee

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Drinking lots of water suggests things like kidney problems which can be caused by diabetes, infection, high blood pressure and more. If anyone elses fids seem to be increasing their intake of water for 'no reason' please contact your Avian Vet immediately.

Wow, so many things can cause an increase of drinking water. I immediately thought kidney failure and nothing else. Thanks for the info.
 
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Boysmom

Boysmom

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It was very fast and at least I know Kira didn't suffer. She knew she was loved, I have no doubt about that. She was in Quarantine, but as my Av vet does home visits and to make Kira more comfortable with the vet, we did allow her and Ruby in the same room during the vet visit. Kira quickly went back to my QT room upstairs, which is on a different ventilation system than the downstairs. Ruby knew something happened, as she knew she didnt hear Kira anymore. It's amazing how they know when something changes in their home quickly. I blamed myself for a week until we got preliminary results from the necropsy. I am the type, if a pet comes into your life, it is your duty to insure their health and well being, so that is where the self blaming came into count. Merlee helped me to see that Kira's previous owner knew something was amiss, as she never checked in on her and the rehome took place in a very fast pace. I have always been open to any pet that needed a home, and I have put thousands of dollars in vet bills to pets that I was simply fostering. Fosters were easy to understand going back home, as I always knew they were just passing through. Kira was different, she stole my heart, and it was all worth it. I hope this helps someone else avoid the same situation.
 

MikeyTN

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I just read this post from missing it few weeks back. I'm truly sorry to hear what happened to Kira!
 
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lotosha

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Very sorry for your lost. I know that people and dogs who have diabetic militus tend to drink a lot. I don't know whether birds can have this illness or not, but still another diagnosis to consider.
 

Blancaej

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CAG Quincy - BD 3/27/00. Gotcha 6/00 ~ GW Macaw Savannah - BD 6/21/93. Gotcha 4/13 ~ B&G Macaw Coqui - BD 9/3/03. Gotcha 10/13 ~ Blue Crown Conure Sidney - BD Unknown Approx 5 Years Old. Gotcha 6/15/
I just read this as well. So sorry for your loss. It sounds like your time together was special and unfortunatly too short.

You did all you could and loved her like she truly deserved. Keep her in your heart and she will fly with you forever.
 

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