1st Vet Visit

[BennyTheBeaver]

Our 1.5y/o we just adopted is going to her 1st vet visit (with us) this week.

Any specific questions we should be asking or tests we should be requesting?

Our female doesn't have a leg band, we were considering microchipping...is that generally supported by the Ekkie community or frowned upon?

 

[kme3388]

Hi there, and welcome! We have some wonderful, and educated Ekkie owners on here. I am an Ekkie owner myself, but I've only had mine for a year now.

We on this forum would never judge you for your choices, we are only here to help, and offer support. I myself have nothing against microchipping. If you have concerns of it causing pain to your ekkie bring it up to your vet. I am wondering if they couldn't assign another leg band, and get it registered? I am not exactly sure how that works.

 

[SailBoat]

Although, I am an Amazon Snob; Parrots of this size group handle micro chip well. In greater North America and Western Europe, Micro chip is the only true Identification of ownership should you need to prove ownership.

Regarding your first Vet visit, I would strongly recommend that you search the huge Sticky Thread near the top of the Amazon Forum and within the Thread titled: I Love Amazon is a multi-segment devoted to Vet Visits and developing Medical History for your Parrot! Sadly, the page guide no longer works, but will at least give you an idea how deep into that Thread you need to look to find those segments.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Thank you all!

She did great! Although we did find out she is terrified of towels...previous trauma? Shrug.

We did bloodwork, gram stain, and because we noticed she has been regurgitating parts of meals into her water we also did a crop wash. The crop wash noticed she had an abundance of a certain type of bacteria so the poor girl is getting some anti-biotics along with Bene-bac.

One interesting thing to note...the vet isn't too thrilled that we are feeding her Tops pellets and is recommending we switch to Harrison's. The vet is quoting some old criticisms (2013) that other vets have had with Top's. Leaves me in a tricky situation...do I listen to my vet or do I follow my research? Hmm.

 

[SailBoat]

Because of the need to assure a long shelf life, all Pellet mixes are cooked beyond the temperature that anything is alive. I.E., its a dead base, at this point, it comes to the quality of the chemicals added. IMHO, whether one choices Tops or Harrisons it comes to which list of chemicals fit your Parrots specific needs.
Vets are going to have favorites based on any number of reasons from that is what they learned in Vet School, they sell one and not the other, their Parrot likes that brand, etc..

 

[chris-md]

I'm glad you're getting your girl squared away! Fear of towels is simply fear of restraint + fear of foreign object. I wouldn't put that down to past trauma.

As for the pellets, I'm not sure what the past criticisms of TOP's are, but your vet probably recommended Harrison's for 2 reasons:

1. Did they have Harrisons for sale in the lobby, by chance? Quite likely so...FINANCIAL INCENTIVE
2. Harrisons is are enriched with vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients that TOPs lacks. Your vet is worried that your bird will miss out on vital micronutrients that can be hard to come by.

The answer to #2, assuming its correct, is to say simply that my bird is on a highly diverse diet, which leads with a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and grains. If your diet you're feeding is diverse enough (not just a mix of 6 ingredients), your micronutrient bases are covered. My vet brought this up the first time or two I took Parker to her. I politely told her i'm not worried about it because Parker gets a variety of fresh stuff. She never brought it up again, especially since she saw bloodwork over time showing hes in wonderful condition.

So no, don't get harrisons. As long as you're feeding your bird properly, theres no need for it.

 

[Laurasea]

Harrison is sold by vets . As above often why they push it.

Both are great pellets, I like Tops better myself from my reading and my test tasting parrots agree. Was a lot more crumbs and waist with Harrison...but it is also a quality pellet.

 

[kme3388]

The ekkie regurgitation is something else... Especially in the morning before they eat anything That smells awful

I am happy to hear you were able to connect with your vet. Did you decide on microchipping?

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

The ekkie regurgitation is something else... Especially in the morning before they eat anything That smells awful

I am happy to hear you were able to connect with your vet. Did you decide on microchipping?

The regurgitation has taken me by surprise. It does smell awful, is it normal at most meals?

I am going to microchip but the vet would only do it with anesthesia and that was just a bit much for her in one visit. So we will do it next visit.

 

[SailBoat]

Regurgitation commonly occurs when the Parrot re-chews food that it has held it in its crop for additional chew a bit later. With a heavy odder, it could indicate a bacterial mass that your Vet would commonly develop a culture.
Anesthesia has become a near standard as the Clinic's Insurance provider likely has required it as part of their Policy.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Well, we've had her almost 2 months and I have some updates.

Our Vet emphatically insists on Harrison's Pellets. We've been feeding her those pellets and a healthy chop variety twice a day. Her personality has really developed.

She has gone from being completely silent to mimicking sounds we make towards her (sweet noises, nothing obnoxious). She wants to be with us or around us almost all hours of the day.

She is so so so sweet, really good with our 4 year old and 7 year old kids. She is also really good regarding biting/nipping, she hadn't bit hard and her warning bites are firm enough to let us know how she's feeling without breaking skin. When she has had enough scritches/head pets she very gently grabs our finger in her beak and uses her neck to move it away from her. She also LOVES showers and is offered the opportunity daily.

(Post shower)

The regurgitation has been minimized, now its only once a day and a very small amount (following 2 weeks of antibiotics).

We returned to the vet last week (as I had to take our other bird in for his annual and I wanted them to trim her nails). We found out some interesting information from the vet: she had previously chewed her wing feathers (no destruction/plucking since we've had her), she was malnourished (she has gained 40 grams in the past 2 months and is now a healthy 395 grams, healthy as determined by abdominal palpitations by vet), and her feathers and plumage has regained brilliance that it seemed to be lacking when we first got her.

Attached are some pictures of her in her new glorious self.

Honestly, we couldn't have asked for a sweeter bird. She has become a prized member of our family and is spoiled with toys and attention. So glad we rolled the dice on a "rescue" versus trying to buy an Eclectus sight unseen and shipping the bird to us.

 

[SailBoat]

Your Sweet Ekkie is looking beautiful and clearly shows that Love and a good diet have wonderful effects. As her health continues to strengthen you may be faced with a heavy molt, which is a good thing.
Take care with how many Pellets you provide each day as Ekkies are sensitive to food sources that are heavily fortified (too many pellets).

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Your Sweet Ekkie is looking beautiful and clearly shows that Love and a good diet have wonderful effects. As her health continues to strengthen you may be faced with a heavy molt.
Take care with how many Pellets you provide each day as Ekkies are sensitive to food sources that are heavily fortified (too many pellets).

Thank you!

She is currently on the Harrison's high potency coarse. She gets 6 pellets at each feeding.

We will be transitioning to Harrison's lifetime in the near future as she's approached a healthy weight.