My poor little parrolet

Hey guys, long time no see, but I took some time out to write a little thing on what I've been going through with my little parrolet who I named Olive. I haven't ever decided on a name for her mate, even though I've had them around a year, I hadn't planned on keeping them and ended up getting attached.

A few weeks ago, Olive presented with a bit of a droopy wing, nothing severe, and I attributed it to her starting to lay a few eggs since she was acting normally and didn't have any other signs of illness at that time. It wasn't until the last two weeks when she really started showing signs of something potentially serious going on. Droopy wing never went away, and now the other was drooping as well. Again, she was still acting normal and popped out an egg every once in a while. This slowly progressed to some respiratory issues and swollen belly which I immediately thought of as egg binding. There was also some dried poop around her vent.

The end of last week I decided it was time for a vet appointment when I noticed she had lost quite a bit of weight. I didn't realize how much until I had her vet appointment, but I snapped these pictures at the end of last week.




You can see how swollen her belly is, and I still suspected egg binding even though she had laid an egg quite recently. Her keel is also extremely prominent, without much muscle or fat surrounding it. The area was soft but clearly swollen, not mobile at all so I was suspicious of what was going on. It wasn't a hernia for sure, and I didn't think it was an egg anymore.

Monday, we went to the vet and he took her away into the surgical area and did a quick ultrasound to check for an egg. He came back a few minutes later and declared there was no egg for sure. So, then what's the problem?

He also came in with a syringe filled with 6cc's of amber fluid that he pulled from her abdomen.


6 whole cc's, that's 6 grams, and that wasn't even all of it! It's what he felt safe removing at this time. Thankfully her breathing got better immediately after removing some of the fluid. He also gave her two injections of baytril, one into the muscle and one into her abdominal cavity where the fluid is. She was also weighed at 30 grams AFTER having fluid removed. So accounting for what's left, her weight is probably around 28 grams which is pretty underweight for being such a tiny bird.

I still haven't gotten any results yet, but he said he might need to send it out and try to get a more definitive answer, but as of right now, we suspect infection from a broken egg at some point, that's slowly gotten worse.

My vet and I are friends so he has no qualms about being honest with me, and he said he's surprised she's still alive, and still spunky enough to fight and be bitey. He gave me Emeraid powder to give her and just said to provide supportive care for the time being, and follow up tomorrow (Wednesday) and pick up some oral antibiotics if she's still going strong.

I've been handfeeding her Kaytee Exact since last week, but now am in between that and the Emeraid powder. I like the Kaytee because it's higher in fat and protein since she's quite underweight, but the Emeraid goes down easier for sure. I'm offering her mostly millet and a few little pieces of mixed seed bread, though now that she's back in her cage she has access to pellets and seed, as well as egg food and egg bread I'm making more of tomorrow, but I'll continue handfeeding until her weight is stable and she recovers.

Since she's not tame it's definitely been a struggle to feed her and take care of her. I watched her for a day in a hospital set up, but she was quite sad alone and perked up much more when I returned her to the cage with her mate. I figure it's better for her mental health and healing, since I also believe he feeds her. I haven't seen her eat too much on her own, though she is still eating and pooping and I'm overjoyed at that. Poops (the feces component) have been a bit soft now and again but I believe that's from the diet change and antibiotics so far, but that's only been the last day. She's thankfully not straining or having crusty butt anymore. She's also enjoying sitting under the heat bulb, even though it's been a fairly decent temperature and humidity, around 85 inside today, with some rain.

She's definitely a fighter for sure and I'll try to keep everyone updated, but I wanted to share my experience because there wasn't a ton I could find on the symptoms I saw other than egg binding and I felt it was important that this be out there for anyone having the same type of problem. It's very difficult working with a bird so small and having such a small margin for error because of it.

This has to be so hard for Olive!

Flboy said:

This has to be so hard for Olive!

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I'm sure it is but you honestly couldn't tell by her demeanor, I'm very lucky she's got plenty of fight in her!

I'm so sorry little Olive is going through this. It sounds like she has excellent vet care and I know she has a wonderful home. I hope she recovers quickly, please keep us updated. Thank you for posting this thread, it may be very helpful to others.

Definitely pulling for little Olive, a little fighter indeed. Will look for updates.

Nice to have you back on here, just could be better circumstances

Here is some info I found whilst researching. http://www.melbournebirdvet.com/abdominal-distention.aspx

Poor Olive, hope the vet can offer a good diagnosis and treatment plan. I would image that swelling would be mighty uncomfortable. Always good to see improvement, no doubt in part due to a strong disposition. Hoping for some great updates, she is such a pretty girl!

COme on Olive!!!

Hey, this looks like it might be "water belly". I'm exhausted right now, so I'm too tired to get into details, but checkout my posts on Charlie, my budgie. Water belly is a symptom of heart disease. If it's her heart, you'll want to talk to the vet about Enalapril and Furosemide. Also, start feeding her foods high in magnesium, give an alkaline diet, and make sure the temperature of the room she's in is at least 80°.

wow that is an amazing amount of fluid buildup. did it stink? why would her body respond to whatever it is by building up such an enormous amount of fluid?! nuts! good job keeping her as happy as can be in such a situation! keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Picked up some oral baytril today, still no results on the fluid but I'll probably go back next week to see if he can drain any more so long as she's doing okay. We're still pretty positive that it's the result of egg contents leaking into the abdomen since the fluid has a lot of protein in it. My vet may send it out to a colleague if he can't pull anything from it, just to be sure.

Her poops have been a bit soft and watery, but not all the time so I think it's just from the Emeraid I've been feeding her, and I do believe she's still eating a bit on her own. I've made some egg bread and a few other things for her to hopefully help her gain some weight, but right now as long as she's not losing (or gaining because of fluid) I'm fine until she recovers. I know this can take a while but we're taking a moderate approach for now. From what my vet gathered on the ultrasound, organ function is normal and nothing looked enlarged or of concern, but once she's healthier I'll feel comfortable running more tests, but I know there's only so much she can handle right now. I'm not terribly worried about cost, though we're wracking up a bill so far. Thankfully her and her mate were free so I can't complain too much!

I'll probably continue doing one Emeraid and one handfeeding formula feeding per day until her weight is more stable, as well as offering egg food and egg bread so she'll hopefully gain back some weight. I'm looking into everything else I can do to provide supportive care.

Keeping Olive in our thoughts!


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Aquila said:

We're still pretty positive that it's the result of egg contents leaking into the abdomen since the fluid has a lot of protein in it. My vet may send it out to a colleague if he can't pull anything from it, just to be sure.

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Definitely sounds like water belly. When the heart starts having trouble working properly, blood pressure increases due to the fact that avian kiddies have poor elasticity in their veins and vessels compared to mammals. This build up of pressure causes the liver to start pumping out blood proteins into the abdominal cavity, leading to a build up of amber-coloured, protein-filled fluid. This leads to plucking, tummy kicking, pain, and difficulty pooping, flying, walking, eating, etc. Whatever you do, do NOT give her Metacam.

If it is heart disease, you'll want to crank out the heat (this helps with oxygen absorption or distribution or something like that, decreasing the workload for the lungs and heart. It also helps decrease her metabolic demand), give her an alkaline-diet (this greatly helps the heart out. Seriously, google the effects of an alkaline diet on the heart), plenty of magnesium, and mineral water. I definitely encourage you to check out "water belly in poultry".

Teddscau said:

Aquila said:

We're still pretty positive that it's the result of egg contents leaking into the abdomen since the fluid has a lot of protein in it. My vet may send it out to a colleague if he can't pull anything from it, just to be sure.

Click to expand...

Definitely sounds like water belly. When the heart starts having trouble working properly, blood pressure increases due to the fact that avian kiddies have poor elasticity in their veins and vessels compared to mammals. This build up of pressure causes the liver to start pumping out blood proteins into the abdominal cavity, leading to a build up of amber-coloured, protein-filled fluid. This leads to plucking, tummy kicking, pain, and difficulty pooping, flying, walking, eating, etc. Whatever you do, do NOT give her Metacam.

If it is heart disease, you'll want to crank out the heat (this helps with oxygen absorption or distribution or something like that, decreasing the workload for the lungs and heart. It also helps decrease her metabolic demand), give her an alkaline-diet (this greatly helps the heart out. Seriously, google the effects of an alkaline diet on the heart), plenty of magnesium, and mineral water. I definitely encourage you to check out "water belly in poultry".

Click to expand...

The only reason I would say otherwise is that she's been actively laying and there was no evidence of organ problems on ultrasound, but we'll go down the path of further testing when she's stronger.

So far she's still doing pretty well and is only on antibiotics. I haven't noticed an increase in swelling, and the color of her abdomen seems to be less red and returning to a more normal color, though it's still a bit spongy and may need to be drained one more time if the antibiotics don't help enough. My avian light is on during the day which provides enough radiant heat, plus the temperature here has been 85 most days, 90+ on others, though my air conditioner brings it back to about 80-85 ambient temperature, and either my ceramic heat emitter or an infrared bulb during the night.

Right now her diet is pretty well controlled but I'm also more concerned with her gaining weight before I worry about anything else. Her and her mate aren't big on pellets right now but they will eat some cooked foods as well as ample amounts of sprouts (which are currently steamed lightly to avoid any bacteria.) As well as providing vitamins and minerals on top (I prefer Prime as my supplement of choice) and hand feeding.

I'm very lucky that my vet is very experienced with birds, since he and his wife were rescuers themselves, even though he isn't technically an "avian certified" vet, he's an exotics vet that has worked in the field for a very long time. So far he's never steered me wrong with anything he's done and often consults with colleagues from other exotic vets and from the University of Pennsylvania's vet's. Once she's more stable I'll get more in depth studies done but unfortunately it's difficult to get things like xrays and bloodwork done on such small birds, so I'm doing the best I can to provide her supportive care.

Thanks for the update. Thinking of you and Olive every day. I'm glad you have a vet you feel confident with. Looking forward to hearing more good news as Olive recovers. Hugs and best wishes.

Unfortunately Olive has passed away. She had been improving and seemed fine about two hours ago when I gave her the antibiotics, but I found her on the bottom of the cage a few minutes ago. Unfortunately it seems I caught this too late with her and I knew the prognosis was slim. I'll be taking her tomorrow to be cremated.

So very sorry for your loss of little Olive.

Oh I'm so sorry... I was hoping for Olives recovery!


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I'm hurting and so is her mate but I knew from the beginning the prognosis wasn't good. It's an unfortunate consequence of birds that have been bred extensively and it likely happened sometime before she came to me. There's not much that can be done to prevent it besides good nutrition, exercise and proper lighting. In more severe cases, hormones or even spaying but for a bird of her size, options would always be limited. Sometimes it's just a defect in the way the egg travels, ectopic egg, , stress or trauma.

I'm hoping I can find another rescue so the male has some company but in the mean time I'll be working to get him more tame if I can. Unfortunately she spent 7 years as a breeder, him 6 so it's hard to say how long taming would take. I might see how he does next to my male red rump parakeet or my female cockatiel Willow who's very gentle, though they wouldn't be sharing a cage. Poor thing has been calling for her all day.

My deepest condolences, was hoping Olive would heal. You, Olive, and the vet tried so hard.

Oh no. I'm so very sorry.


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