GCC Poop Troubles

Anyone have any similar experiences to this or know what might be going on?

Beau, my little peep who has been with me a long time, was very sick back in September. He was vomiting every couple hours and trouble passing his poops which were very small. He was treated by our avian certified vet and X-rayed, but nothing was to be found, so I just kept him on a laxative and metaclopromide (sp) until he seemed to pass what was bothering him though we never could figure out what.

He has been straining to go to the bathroom, probably since then, but his droppings were normal. I actually can't remember when this started. Leaning very far back and down, and taking a lot of time. Sometimes has to try more than once. It was never severe enough for me to worry, and it never clicked in my head that there was still a problem Then he was sick again over Christmas, no vomiting, but having a difficult time with his poops, sometimes even going twice in a row. They are abnormally dry sometimes, no urine and this is when he has most trouble. He would wake me up at night, some nights so many times I didn't sleep at all. And when he was feeling the worst, he would eat voraciously and cry for food.

I got him in to the vet again as soon as they were back from holiday. He had some gram negative bateria and he's on medication again, back to his normal self and habits, but still straining with almost all his poops which are always dry except if I give him juice to drink (he's getting red beet juice). On juice he seems okay, but off it he has trouble to varying degrees even on laxative.

He had multiple x-rays this time and CBC which all came back normal. There wasn't enough blood in the sample to run other tests. I am wanting to do a Zinc toxicity test, because he has zinc coated toy parts (removed just today) and I used to feed him breakfast cereal as a treat. We've revisited his diet since he's been sick - no sprouts or dry seed because I'm paranoid of mycotoxins, just Harrison's Lifetime, juice, and some fresh organic veg that the vet okayed.

I'm supposed to monitor him in detail this week and go from there with the doc.

He's doing okay right now, but I am so scared for him that something awful is going on that I can't find, or his kidneys are being destroyed. I'm sure many of you know the feeling Thanks to anyone who has any ideas.

What about soaking his pellets so they are moist when he eats them?

What about upping the amount of fresh foods that he gets?

Feeding sprouts might be a good idea... full of nutrition and higher water content than dry seeds alone. You can rinse them in diluted vinegar, or even straight vinegar then rinse with water before feeding.

I'd also suggest some higher fiber fruits (thumbnails worth of a dried apricot maybe?) as well as anything higher moisture like apples or oranges.

Bathe him more often, as he should ingest more water that way while preening as well.

I agree with Monica and Aquila's suggestions about adding foods with higher water content. And you can add grapes to that list. They're not huge on nutrition, but birds tend to love them and they are more or less little balloons of water.

Another thing to consider, aside from the zinc toxicity test that you mentioned, (great idea upon learning that some of his toys had Zinc, even absent all the current symptoms) is getting a second opinion.

From what you're saying, this is the second major occurrence. Further, his symptoms of constipation never fully went away after the first. Perhaps something is going on that your avian vet has missed... and another AV might catch. A fresh pair of eyes couldn't hurt, you know?

Thank you Monica, Aquila, and Anansi. I will try out some more of these fruits and start sprouting again. He loves apples, so that one will be easy. Lately he has been getting bell and banana pepper, carrots, cherry tomato, banana, and pureed butternut squash, peas and green beans. His juices are ones I picked that are supposed to be kidney-happy ones, with cherry, beet, carrot, sweet potato puree, and stuff like that.

He's still doing really well as long as he's super hydrated. He had blood taken on Saturday to test kidney function. If there is enough of the sample, they are doing liver. When he recovers enough from this last blood draw, we are doing zinc and lead test. I am not sure if I want to do any more blood testing for awhile after that because it has been hard on him. He wakes me up 4-5 times for a couple nights and eats all the time after the test (like when he got sick again).

He will bathe in his water bowl, so I have been letting it up to him. He has once so far this week. We're on well water that used to be filtered, but isn't right now, so I am giving both my birds bottled water until I can figure out a better way.

I do have 2 other avian vets highly recommended to me within a couple hours of here. I may check them out, but can't afford it right away. The vet we go to is fantastic, so just have to have faith and wait to see what these tests come back with. I'm actually pretty lucky, there are a lot of vets around here and quite a few good ones. Anansi & Aquila, I see you guys are in Philly and NJ - I used to live in western PA and I couldn't find any certified avian vets close by.

Thank you all SO so much. I just want to find out what is going on so I can take care of him. I love him.

You're welcome. And your love for him shows. Please keep these updates coming. I'm really hoping the best for your little guy.

I've been fortunate to find a REALLY good avian vet right here in Jersey. And I found him while in the process of getting a second opinion from my vet at the time, who was also pretty good. But the second opinion guy was just a better fit.

Where are you located now? I'm sure someone can direct you to an avian vet in your area.

As for Western PA, I know there's a few bird shelters out that way, and I'm sure there might be one or two in your area as well. They're a good source for a vet contact.

I'm also lucky that there's a few vets in my area that handle exotics. My regular vet isn't an "avian" vet formally, but he's delt with a lot of birds over his career and is reputable among some friends, as well as I had a very good experience with him. If I need to take my birds to an avian vet, which is a little further, I do have options as well.

I'm originally from NJ, so if I felt the need to go that route I could too!

I'm just outside the Asheville NC area. The vet we are seeing now is certified and sees lots of birds, she was the first one recommended to me from a local well known parrot sanctuary. Beau also has records at another avian vet here, my understanding as that he and our current vet often work together. I also have a few other names of recommended vets from the sanctuary, but they are more of a drive. I feel strange giving the names here publicly, but will via PM.

We also spend a lot of time in central PA, State College area. I don't have a current vet contact up there.

His next set of tests come back tomorrow or Wednesday. I'll let you guys know what we find.

Got the kidney test results today and also liver results, they had enough of a sample to do both thankfully. ANNNDD... He's okay!! Vet said he is in great shape and electrolytes, protein, calcium all look good too.

So, what is causing the dehydration? I am still monitoring him. Humidity levels in here are low overnight, around 25%. Vet said 30% is good, 50% is ideal. He isn't old but he is an older bird and may not utilize liquids as efficiently as a young bird. Bacterial infection he had also dehydrates. This all started around Christmas, I left him overnight one night in the care of a neighbor. His schedule was off and he may not have drank much. Also might have been stressed I was gone, we are bonded strongly and I think this is the first night I haven't been with him in several years.

So it's not a solid answer, but I am satisfied enough now to watch him and not be in a panic worry mode anymore because I know his organs are okay. I talked with vet about heavy metal tests again, thinking to do them but wait for him to recover more. Taking blood leaves him eating constantly for nearly a week and waking me up at night multi times. He needs that energy to heal. In the mean time, I am going to try to get this well water tested.

Great that the test results came back fine!!! Still doesn't answer the odd question, however. Hopefully, you are able to find something that works for him.