Nike Vet Visit

bill_e

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Hi all,

Been a busy summer for me so I haven't been on here much.

Today was Nike's annual wellness check and nail trim and clip. I finally decided to have bloodwork done though I am not having her sexed.

Man was she in a bad mood when we left and all the way home (1 hr.)

What was interesting is that when I pulled in the driveway, which to her would feel just the same as driving for the past hour, she immediately perked up and started calling and chirping. I have to believe it was the smell...what else could it be? She couldn't see anything from her position in her Pak O Bird on the seat and is not outside other than traversing to the car so she would not be familiar with the location.

Totally weird.

oh and a portion of her blood was sent off to some study that is supposed to result in an in-house blood test apparatus some time next year....something about white blood cells.
 

Laurasea

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Glad to hear from you, I was worried since yiu hadn't been posting. And I passed onto many people your great recommendation on my safe burd store,. Wrench liked tge shreddees I posted
 

noodles123

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They don't smell much---- the noise/texture/angle would be my guess (plus car pace). Noodles can tell when we are going to my parents' house (obsessed with my dad even though they met long after I adopted her). She knows when we pull into their town
 

Laurasea

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noodkes I just read in tge book The Bird Way, that they may smell more than we think!! But references to a study weren't included...
 

wrench13

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Hi Bill, hope all is well w/Nike, my favorite Hawk head!

Don't know 'bout smellin' but I do know that we take almost the same roads to go to Salty's vet as we do to go to the pet shop to buy toys and goodies. Once we take the exit for vet, Salty starts cheeping, and not in a happy way, like he knows the exit number. Maybe Nike sees some difference in the lighting or other cues?
 

fiddlejen

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My Sunny always knows where we are. Granted, I position her carry pack in the car so she can always see -- but directionally she knows where we are even if we approach from a direction she has never been. There are two areas I avoid when driving with her (one is the petstore where I bought her) because she will physically orient herself to face them if I get near. Doesn't matter where I approach from, she knows.

Having an exceptional sense of direction myself, I am of the belief that birds simply are very aware of their own physical motion, so even if covered, the simply things like change in speed, vibration (ie from the physical road surface), and how many turns you've taken, are probably enough to signal your bird when you've traversed in reverse.
 

noodles123

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I tape the windows off because Noodles flaps on the highway, but she does know. She notices EVERYTHING- I wouldn't be shocked if she memorized the motion of the trips we take.
 

Scott

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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
Welcome back Bill, glad all is well!

I'm wondering if Nike (and other parrots) know location based on a variety of cues, including subconsciously plotting position in their head based on acceleration, turns, and time.
 

SailBoat

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Now this is a subject of high merit! All of our Amazons have had truly great sense of direction and as stated above, just seemed too 'know.' They have all been in the position to see what is happening around them, so I had historically logged it to being their abilities to learn and lock in flight paths based on sight.

Now with the added insight of those Parrots with limited to no view of where they are traveling, it calls for a rethink of what they are using!

BUT, after all, we are talking about "Nike the Great," are we not!!! :D
 
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bill_e

bill_e

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One of Nike's lab reports. I believe I have another coming but I cant find my invoice ;)

nike-cbc.jpg
 

noodles123

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One of Nike's lab reports. I believe I have another coming but I cant find my invoice ;)

nike-cbc.jpg


would they be red if they were bad? Some look on the low end, but generally, thing look good if green means go lol!
 

Scott

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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.

SailBoat

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The spread of Nike's values seems cautionary to a lay person but probably easily interpreted by avian vet. However, reactive lymphocytes appear off the chart with amber designation of 126. Brief explanation: https://eclinpath.com/hematology/morphologic-features/white-blood-cells/reactive/

Fully agree with Scott's description. I have not seen this test item outside of the normal range of any of our Amazons. That said, our Amazons are historical much older. Love to hear what your Avian Professional has to say about this.
 

Laurasea

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Do you feed citrus fruit? I worry about citric acid and iron storage disease, some burd species are more sensitive to this. I've seen citrus is ok and that its not ok. His pvc is on the higher end of normal, can be nothing more than he needed a drink of water.

Reactive lymphs, haven't read Scots link yet, but can be a calibration error or such if all else seems Normal, or any early indication of a problem..
Hope all is good news
 
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bill_e

bill_e

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bill_e

bill_e

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I'm not worried about the 4 or 5 readings all the way down because those have the lower level as 0, which is where they are. If 0 was bad it wouldn't be green and obviously you cant get any lower.

I ran out of apple juice and was spritzing her freeze dried with orange juice for a while but that was very little juice intake in both volume applied and because she didn't really like it.
 

noodles123

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I didn't even see that lymphocyte thing- why the heck would they leave the bar green and then add that yellowy orange in the corner without indicating that?

I agree that those are off-the-charts. I would look into it. I would also ask about the readings that are hoovering along the cusps of normal.
 
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bill_e

bill_e

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I didn't even see that lymphocyte thing- why the heck would they leave the bar green and then add that yellowy orange in the corner without indicating that?

I agree that those are off-the-charts. I would look into it. I would also ask about the readings that are hoovering along the cusps of normal.
It'll be interesting for sure why I was told it was all normal.

As for the ones hovering on the cusps, they are all at 0. I would be worried if they were near the top end.
 

Laurasea

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"I ran out of apple juice and was spritzing her freeze dried with orange juice for a while but that was very little juice intake in both volume applied and because she didn't really like it."

Thanks for answering that. One of the ways birds will deal with iron , is to start building up their blood cells. Till we have to remove blood to lower the pcv... Your bird is within normal range of your lab. So I'm sure he's fine.
I was just curious because I've seen pcv creep up with citrus in the diet. ( for me orange juice is enough )

Hopefully all else is fine. Do humans double check the machine differentials? Or do they rely on machine run only?
__________________
 
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Laurasea

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Nike WBC is well within normal, as are the rest. Reactivate lymphocytes are tricky, im hopeful its just a lab sensitivity issue. I see mono is low normal as lymphocyte, its " possible " some of those reactive lymphocytes actually fell into those categories, as it takes delicate calibration, or skilled technicians. Eosinophils and basophis are 0 or 1 normally not sure why the lab gives such a wide range of normal for them.
Here is some more info for you.

" Large lymphocytes can be confused with monocytes. Size and nuclear shape are not reliable identifying characteristics for these cells because both types can have round to slightly horseshoe-shaped nuclei.6 Therefore, cytoplasm color is important. If a large lymphocyte and a monocyte are next to each other, the cytoplasm of the monocyte will be an obviously darker blue than that of the lymphocyte. It may be necessary to scan a slide before performing the differential count to see a normal monocyte and a large lymphocyte.

Identifying reactive changes in lymphocytes is one of the most difficult aspects of avian hematology.
Immature forms of lymphocytes are usually grouped into blast category. In the author's experience, blast cells are usually associated with neoplastic conditions or can be found during bone marrow evaluations. Darkening of the cytoplasm is the most common reactive change.2 Problems arise when this darkening crosses into a shade similar to that of monocyte cytoplasm. Because of the size range and nucleus shape of the avian lymphocyte, reactive lymphocytes can be easily confused with monocytes. Again, to limit confusion, it may be helpful to scan the slide to see what the normal monocytes and lymphocytes on the slide look like before evaluating morphologic features and performing a count. There can be normal lymphocytes and reactive lymphocytes on the same slide.

Lymphocytes can also show some other notable morphologic changes. Azurophilic granules are commonly seen in lymphocytes and appear as medium-blue granules in the cytoplasm of the lymphocyte.1,6 Other reactive changes include scalloped edges and vacuoles.2,6 Conditions associated with reactive lymphocyte changes include acute viral infection5 and terminal viral disease2 (e.g., polyomavirus, herpesvirus)"
 
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