Noble Macaw Mihijo's vet check

Today I took Mihijo in for his yearly wellness bird checkup and I am not pleased with the preliminary findings. To be honest I left the appointment very upset and scared for Mihijo.

I take my birds to one of the best Avian vets in the area. Dr. Blair is just awesome so I would like to convey that I am not upset with her but just with what may be going on with my 16 year old parrot.

All in all Mihijo is in very good health. Except for his blood. She had problems collecting it because it was too thick and sludgy. Dr. Blair suspects highly that Mihijo probably has high cholesterol with just about sends me into a panic. As you may know I just lost my 9 year old Illiger's macaw to a sudden fatal stroke and I am very concerned that my Noble macaw may be going down the same road. She also thinks that Mihijo might have a heart murmur and he will need to be re-checked in 6 months. This puts it out to February which is is hatchdate month and he will then be 17 years old.

At this point I am prepared to do ANYTHING the doctor need me to do to reverse this condition. After she fully diagnoses him with the bloodwork then I am sure some drastic changes will have to be made to Mihijo's lifestyle. I need to make Mihijo's blood healthy again as I want him to live out his full potential lifespan. If I end up loosing him I would be so devastated I don't think I could move forward with getting the baby Red Fronted macaw. I can't help but think I have in some way killed my Diego and am slowly killing Mihijo. I just want to cry and be depressed but I can't I need to work very hard to reverse his condition so that Mihijo can be healthy again.

I think I am loosing confidence in my ability to care for parrots properly. I always felt I feed them a very good diet but I also know as medical technology advances in the care of avians more information is shedding light on conditions that are appearing in our birds. At this point I am willing to start from zero and re-learn how to care for parrots properly, how to keep them healthy and happy, and to improve their diets.

At this moment I am shaky about taking in the baby Red Front. I need to regroup and work with Mihijo's lifestyle changes to get him as healthy as I can.

Thanks for reading I guess I need this as an outlet for being upset and depressed about Mihijo's well bird check up.

Noblemacaw

What did the vet tell you to do to reverse this condition?
What do you feed Mihijo?
I couldn't find your e-mail address that is why I haven't e-mailed you, my e-mail provider automatically deletes anything older than a certain time period & I haven't been able to change that thus far.

Dr. Blair told me after she has the blood tested she will get back to me for what exactly she wants me to do with him. We talked about how to excersize Mihijo more since he cannot fly. We talked about his diet. She does not have a problem with the fresh wet mix I make but I will have to cut out the Goldenfeast. She wanted me to feed him mostly pellets. Although Mihijo loves his pellets he LOVES his wet mix too. This is going to be hard because Mihijo loves his food. I hope the changes do not have to be very drastic because Mihjo will be one miserable parrot if I umm...well..restrict his foods.

As for the heart murmur she wants a recheck because she stated that it was when he was exhaling that it hard to hear what she suspects is a murmur. Mihijo did really good at the vets. He is always so calm during his exams and does his best to charm the doctor and the techs. I love that bird.

Noblemacaw

Are you kidding? You're an amazing parrot owner if Mihijo's lived this long!
It sounds like you are more than willing to do anything to help his unusually thick blood consistency, and I'm sure you'll be able to with only little adjustments! At least I'm also hopeful that that as well. You've done great so far, so don't doubt yourself!

It was very sweet to hear of how calm Mihijo is when at the vet's. He sounds absolutely precious!

Thanks Kawaii I appreciate the good wishes and all.

I lived 4 years in Hawaii on Oahu and really enjoyed my stay there. This is where I really honed in on my love for the parrot.

Still no word on the blood test results for my Mihijo. So far I have "cut him off" from feeding him off of my plate. My poor parrot is such a foodie he is miserable. Poor little guy. I also cut out his Goldenfeast mix until I get the doctor's instructions of how to feed him. I kind of feel like I need to re-study parrot nutrition so I can be current with the latest medical findings with parrots and heart troubles. I want Mihijo to live his full lifespan which is suppose to be what 40 to 50 years?

I also want my baby Red Front to live his lifespan too. I don't want to ever have any of my parrots die from a sudden fatal stroke again. That was very devastating and very hard for me to deal with. I still grieve Diego's death every day. I miss him and I miss his company very very much. Who else would lay on my neck while we watch TV? Diego did that.

Noblemacaw