Red Poop and results of vet exam

Hey all-

Ozzy had his first vet exam on Thursday. They looked him over and took blood that was sent to the University of Miami. They said that his feathers look good, he is really strong (learned this while trying to trim his nails, and his eyes/ears/mouth etc look normal. However, he is only 345grams and the doctor said that for his size he should be around 475grams.

I got his blood labs back today and everything was perfect except for his liver function. He has a slightly elevated liver reading. The vet said it was not something to worry about yet but I needed to work on having him gain weight with a low protein diet and bring him back in two months for another blood test.

I have three questions now...

1. Any tips on putting weight on him?
2. Anyone else had elevated liver readings? I'm really worried.

3. Ozzy occasional has reddish/brown droppings. I change his cage liners twice a day and I will notice one reddish dropping probably once every 3-4 days. Could this be from the coloring in his food (Zupreem fruit blend and wild and spicy)? I mentioned it to the vet and he didnt seem to think it was a big deal... but I'm worried.

Thanks!

Glad to hear Ozzie did well on his exam, and hope you liked the new vet, I'm not sure exactly what you have Oz on for a diet now, but you can try expanding it, fruits and veggies, especially green leafy vegs, cooked brown rice, cooked beans such as soy, pinto, white, navy, kidney and garbanzo, you can make birdie bread and bird mash, many recipes online, hard boiled eggs, cooked chicken and tofu are also good sources of protien, moderate amounts of yogart, hard cheese and cottage cheese, along with his pelleted diet and some seeds and nuts will hopefully help put some weight back on him, as for the red droppings I would say with 99.9% certainty thats its from the zupreem, my Too's are on fruit blend and they also have red droppings, Ive never used it myself but many people recommend milk thistle for liver detox for birds, I'm sure other members can weigh in on that

My Echo's droppings will change depending on the color of the fruit blend he is eating the most of that day. He will go through periods of time not eating one of them. As of lately it's the orange ones. Before it was the green ones.

I'm out on a limb here...but I'd advise stopping the fruitblend pellets, and switching to natural. I did quite a bit of reading about this when Levi was struggling with "monster syndrome" (LOL) and noted that the dye used in these can be problematic to birds and children, alike. The liver has to filter out anything foreign in the diet...food dye. I hesitate with the advice, because I drew my own conclusions to what I have read. Do some reading on the subject...and see what you think.

SharonC said:

I'm out on a limb here...but I'd advise stopping the fruitblend pellets, and switching to natural. I did quite a bit of reading about this when Levi was struggling with "monster syndrome" (LOL) and noted that the dye used in these can be problematic to birds and children, alike. The liver has to filter out anything foreign in the diet...food dye. I hesitate with the advice, because I drew my own conclusions to what I have read. Do some reading on the subject...and see what you think.

Click to expand...

Sharon you are not alone in this thinking. :emoticonc I have been working on switching to natural for my TAG Echo. It is a slow process but well worth it! The problem I have here in Erie Pa is very few local retailers have it on hand. So I have to order it on line. :co: But now that I need to order special pellets for my Tobi I will be more likely to get both delivered together.. :25_coolgu

I fully agree with going organic with Harrisons pellets. Most vets recommend these. They are not usually sold in a pet store but at your vets or they order for you. My Rosie (TAG) just had her yearly exam and passed with flying colors. She loves H. pellets.
Guess you will have to leave off the protein foods for a while. I suggest you purchase organically grown foods as well so the liver does not have to process pesticides. There are some condiments that help the liver. Milk thistle helps and protects the liver (sprinkle on food). Garlic helps to protect the liver and eliminate toxins from the body tissues. Dandelion greens are also an excellent liver tonic. Once you get the diet pumped up and purchase organic foods the liver enzymes should imporve. Here is a link to a product I feed Rosie called Herb Salad. It is a good product for our birds and a very informative web site.

http://www.avianweb.com/herbsalad.html

Looks awesome Spiritbird! Going to give it a try for my FIDS!