9 Months Later (Update)

katie_fleming

Active member
Oct 30, 2012
881
31
Montreal, Canada
Parrots
Jasper (6yr old Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot)
Hey all :)


Its been awhile since I posted an update about Jasper. It's hard to believe its been 9 months since all of his toe tapping/wing flipping and mutilation started. Miserable time like you all already know.


Anyway he's been doing great. If he exerts too much energy (flapping too much, playing too hard, or being scared and trembling for too long) he has a calcium dump and the WF/TT returns. No mutilation in a LONG time (it's only when the WF/TT became severe)


His last blood work was done in November, so I thought it was time to see where things are. I brought him to the vet here in Montreal and they have a new vet now so I requested him. I won't see the other one again given what happened. He agreed with everything I told him/asked: blood work to check calcium and protein, and to come up with a long-term calcium supplement plan to try and get his levels boosted for good.


$450 later (ahhh) I'm awaiting his results. I expect they'll still be low given how "on the edge" his levels seem to be. I requested that they give him a calcium shot immediately after taking his blood to try and prevent severe WF/TT afterwards. He did have quite a bit of WF when we got home but it subsided and he was fine.


I showed the vet the CalciBoost I purchased from the UK (that I give to him when the symptoms start up) and he has given me the OK to put a small amount in his water daily for the foreseeable future.


He wants me to increase his pellet intake since he's still being quite picky about his food and this way we know he'll get the calcium. He doesn't particularly love the pellets so he suggested Harrison's power treats to add as well.


Will be interesting to see what his levels are like, and I hope with some extra daily supplements we can get his levels back to normal.


Otherwise he is doing wonderfully! :green2:
 

Violet_Diva

Member
Aug 30, 2016
843
Media
6
Albums
1
19
Norfolk (England)
Parrots
Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
Thanks for the update Katie!
It's been a long road for you and Jasper. It really sounds like you know where you're at and where you're going now which is great. It's all the not knowing that can drive you round the twist! Hopefully your new vet will be with you every step of the way with regards to getting Jaspers WF/TT under control for good. I'm so glad Jasper hasn't had another episode of mutilation.I can only imagine how heart wrenching that must have been. My Gerry had previously aggressively gnawed on his wings in a contorted and upsetting way, and I know just how it made me feel seeing him doing that to himself. I simply adore Jasper, and I look forward to reading (and maybe seeing) more of him soon!

Go team Jasper!!
 

Anansi

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Dec 18, 2013
22,301
4,211
Somerset,NJ
Parrots
Maya (Female Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Jolly (Male Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Bixby (Male, red-sided eclectus. RIP), Suzie (Male cockatiel. RIP)
So glad to hear that Jasper has been doing so much better! And great to hear from you, Katie!

I wish a vet would manage to solve the mystery of why his calcium levels remain so chronically low, but it's good that things seem to be largely under control.

Hoping to hear some good news regarding the test results.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
So wonderful to hear that Jasper is doing well and you have a Vet that will hear what you are telling him. We have seen low calcium levels in several of our Amazons over the years, commonly tied to an all sunflower seed /peanut diet. Providing powdered calcium placed with the dry and wet foods quickly effected their results. But Amazons are very different and easier in maintain calcium levels as with it appearing to be heavily related to diet.

Looking forward to a continued improvement! Please keep us updated.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2015
6,315
Media
4
3,034
Connecticut
Parrots
Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
I agree with everyone here Katie! I was wondering about Jasper,since we haven't heard from you in some time. Sounds like both of you are on track now and things are looking up for him. WTG you two! :D



Jim
 
OP
katie_fleming

katie_fleming

Active member
Oct 30, 2012
881
31
Montreal, Canada
Parrots
Jasper (6yr old Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot)
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #6
Thank you for all the replies, greatly appreciated! All of your support has been immensely appreciated during this whole ordeal.


I just got Jasper's results back and things are looking GOOD! Unfortunately it looks like they're using a new lab now for results. Beside his levels there's columns for low/normal/high but they don't have any of them filled out. So I have no way of knowing what his levels mean. Super frustrating. I sent an email to the vet pointing this out.....but based on results from previous vet appointments in Ontario I have their ranges at least. So here we go:

Blood work results from November:
[FONT=&quot]Calcium [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1.70 (Low, shows hypocalcaemia)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Normal range on their scale is 1.8-2.8 mmol/L[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Protein[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]21 (low)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Normal range on their scale 23-42 g/L[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]His new results:[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]Calcium[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2.4 (quite an increase since November! Considered in the normal range according to scale from Ontario vet)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Protein[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]35 (quite a nice increase, considered normal now)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Ionized Calcium[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1.17 (no scale on the results and this wasn’t tested before so we have nothing to compare to, but the new vet told me anything under 1.3 is considered low although he doesn't have any Ekkie numbers to compare to)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So things are looking up! He hasn't had any major wf/tt in a few weeks and he's now getting the CalciBoost in his water daily, so hoping to keep these numbers up.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He only runs into trouble after flying too much/exerting too much energy and that's when the wf/tt starts (vet in Ontario said this depletes calcium) so hopefully now that he's getting calcium daily his numbers will stay up and he'll build up those stores.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Feeling pretty happy tonight :)
[/FONT]




[FONT=&quot]I went through all of Jasper's old results and I've started an excel file now so I can keep track. It's interesting to see hes been on a decline for awhile when it suddenly went all bad :/[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Calcium:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]May 2015 - 2.01[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]April 2017 - 1.83[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Oct 2017 - 1.80[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nov 2017 - 1.70[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]June 2018 - 2.4
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Protein:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]May 2015 - 32[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]April 2017 - 30[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Oct 2017 - 29[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nov 2017 - 21[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]June 2018 - 35[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Between 2015 and 2017 that was a massive drop in his calcium levels. I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't see it, and a bit annoyed with them that they didn't alert me to it. Hindsight is 20/20 I know, but now I will be diligent keeping track.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sorry for the long post!!
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
 
Last edited:
OP
katie_fleming

katie_fleming

Active member
Oct 30, 2012
881
31
Montreal, Canada
Parrots
Jasper (6yr old Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot)
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Hmm...on results from October (from his normal vet) they have different scales from the one in Ontario


Protein normal range considered 32-42
Calcium normal range considered 2.02-2.98


Big difference in the calcium scale. Not sure which one to go by?!
 

AmyMyBlueFront

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2015
6,315
Media
4
3,034
Connecticut
Parrots
Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Wow Katie..a BIG improvement in Jaspers numbers :D So glad to read your boy is doing (and probably FEELING) much better.

You're a great parront Katie..you kept at it and finally got results from being so diligent.

Amy and The Beebs give Jasper huge feathery birdie hugs :p




Jim
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top