Asking for prayers

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I'm very happy to read that Phoe is improving,Terry! It does sound at least to me,that the first "vet" is a knucklehead Who knows more about Phoe than you?? Glad you stuck to your guns!
I have read far too many bad things some members have experienced with vets I guess I am very lucky to have excellent support with Amy and beebs doc,and having her just twenty minutes away.
Keep on improving Phoe! Still sending "hurry up and get better soon" thoughts your way



Jim

 

[Anansi]

...As already mentioned, you cannot reverse kidney "damage", however, it's important to keep in-mind that "Kidney Disease", UA levels, Creatinine levels, BUN levels, etc. do not equate to Kidney "damage"...So it's quite possible that even though Phoe's Kidneys aren't working correctly right now, that once the reason/cause of this is taken care of that Phoe will be just fine and have little Kidney "damage" at all...That's an important distinction to make, the one between "Kidney Disease" and "Kidney damage", as they are not at all the same thing, nor does one necessarily have to cause the other...And this is a good thing!!!

Excellent point, Ellen. Thanks for highlighting that.

 

[Anansi]

Terr, it warms my heart that he is doing so much better! And despite those ridiculous notes by the vet, I stand by your decisions regarding Phoe. I get the feeling that she doesn't like to admit when she's a bit out of her depth.

Looking forward to hearing what Phoe's real vet has to say on Thursday. Still keeping him in my prayers, my friend.

 

[Scott]

Wonderful and hopeful update, Terry! Phoe is responding well to your love and you'll hopefully get some clarity Thursday.

Wow, the initial vet notes are a horror.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Phoe, Phoe, Phoe! I'm so happy!
I'd like to chime in and thank everybody for supporting our Terry. She does so much for so many (people AND birds!) and rarely asks for anything in return. She wanted some prayers and wow, did our Community come through!
I believe we made a difference, and I'm really proud of us, even though Terry (and Reg) did the heavy lifting, as usual!

 

[Tami2]

Thank you Terry for the update. I agree w/ all that has been said and looking forward to the visit w/ ‘Your’ Vet on Thursday. In the meantime, I’m still praying for a Christmas Miracle.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Good mornin', Phoe. How are you, little love?

 

[ChristaNL]

Still wishing you all the best.

So hope this kindney-issues are indeed reversible.
(even if it is not Poe is in the best possible hands.)


(yup, knucklehead vet indeed, though I agree on the "clipping a nail into the quick should be an obsolete practice": why not just tap a vein - almost immediately forgotten- instead of inflicting days and days of discomfort on the bird /who cannot get of the feet so has to deal with it till it really, truely finally heals and stops hurting. Maybe something to keep in mind when one has to do bloodtests regularly.)

 

[EllenD]

I'm so glad that Phoe is doing well. It sounds very much like he's got "The Gouts", as my grandfather called it (he had it bad!), but this is actually good news in comparison to what it could have been.

The big thing with Gout is just taking a daily Allopurinol pill and watching for any swelling/pain in his toes/feet/legs, and using Metacam if there is any. That's it, and the Allopurinol works extremely well to lower the UA levels to normal quite quickly. (I know I'm spelling that wrong; by the way, while I'm thinking about this Terry, if it is Gout, he will no-doubt be put on Allopurinol once a day for the rest of his life, but just because I've seen this happen a few times to people, Allopurinol is an extremely common human drug that costs nothing to buy in a human pharmacy without insurance, and there is no "Veterinary Grade" Allopurinol, so what sometimes happens is that the Vet will actually order already-compounded Allopurinol from a Veterinary Supply Company, which is made from the human-grade pills, but costs hundreds of dollars for a month's supply, while a month's supply will cost around $20 from a human-pharmacy with a simple prescription from your Vet, and your pharmacist will compound it for you into an oral-suspension for Phoe for free; just wanted to remember to say that because I know several people who were paying over $300 a month to have it sent from some Veterinary Supply Company for their parrots or Bearded Dragons, while all the time they were paying that much for them to simply compound the same human-grade pill that you can get at your own human pharmacy and compounded for free)...Just keep that in-mind, as a lot of great Vets aren't aware of the difference in cost...

Otherwise, yes, regardless of the cause of the Kidney Disease, "Purines" are not your friend, but that doesn't mean that "protein" is not your friend, as the purine-based protein is what causes the rise in UA levels when their is a kidney issue...There are tons and tons of healthy non purine-based proteins, and the white rice was a great call. And after-all, it's not like parrots eat many steaks!

Keep us posted, and I hope you, Phoe, and family have a happy holidays!

 

[saxguy64]

I agree Ellen. Gout is very treatable. Our first dalmatian had it bad. Diet change and allopurinol were the answer. Yes btw the spelling is correct. I have no idea what dosing for a bird would be, but just so you know, pharmacy cost on 100mg tabs is under 10 cents a piece. No, they won't sell it to you for that, since there is lots of other inherent costs in filling any script, but the med itself is cheap. (I own an independent pharmacy) With Patches' thyroid meds, I ground it up, mixed with some juice, and put it on a little piece of toast. He gobbled it right up. Of course exact measurements involved, but you get the idea.

 

[RavensGryf]

Thank goodness for the good news Terry! I’m glad that Phoe’s condition is under control, and your competent vet is working with you. Not only for his sake, but for you and Reg as well. I’m picturing him running toward you when you come in lol, how cute. Yay!

 

[Terry57]

Phoe is still doing well, still eating and drinking although still tiring more easily.
Thank you for mentioning getting the meds if he goes on that from a pharmacy. We used to get my dog Chazzie's Lasix from there because it was so much cheaper, but I am not sure if I would have thought of it with a different med.

Keep us posted, and I hope you, Phoe, and family have a happy holidays!

Thank you Ellen!
Reg, Phoe & I would like to wish you, and everyone, a holiday filled with much love, laughter & wonderful memories.
I am so thankful for the people on this forum, the support you all have given us is a thing of beauty. I have been reading everyone's comments to Phoe, I want him to know how many people are pulling for him. I'm sure if he could, he would want to say thank you and Merry Christmas to all

 

[BoomBoom]

Sending prayers and warm thoughts your way. Here's to Phoe's continued healing.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I agree Ellen. Gout is very treatable. Our first dalmatian had it bad. Diet change and allopurinol were the answer. Yes btw the spelling is correct. I have no idea what dosing for a bird would be, but just so you know, pharmacy cost on 100mg tabs is under 10 cents a piece. No, they won't sell it to you for that, since there is lots of other inherent costs in filling any script, but the med itself is cheap. (I own an independent pharmacy) With Patches' thyroid meds, I ground it up, mixed with some juice, and put it on a little piece of toast. He gobbled it right up. Of course exact measurements involved, but you get the idea.

I have been treated for gout now for over twenty years..I take 100mg allopurinol daily and have not had an episode since I wouldn't want my worse enemy to experience it


Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

You, go, Phoe! Keep giving us good news, little love!

 

[Jen5200]

Wishing Phoe and your family a happy holiday season....and sending positive, healing thoughts

 

[Terry57]

I just wanted to post an update since we went to my vet yesterday.

The appt. went well. When we got into the room and his vet came in and opened his carrier, she got him out to weigh him. He ran off that scale and she had to catch him, and he was climbing all over her. Then he bit the crap out of her. She laughed and was thrilled he was biting and so energetic, and when we did manage to keep him on the scale he had gained 2 grams since last week.

She then flipped him over to look at his body, and he was not dehydrated and looked good. She did a swab to check for a yeast infection as well.
She wasn't even going to do blood tests at first because she was expecting him to be really weak, then said she was sure it would be fine to rerun them. She said that she was expecting to see a very ill bird, and not the condition Phoe was in at all.


When she came back after doing the bloodwork (which shocker needed no anesthesia and was drawn from a vein) she said he showed no signs of stress or breathing heavy or anything. She also did a gram stain.
She commented on what a happy guy Phoe is and how good he looks multiple times, which made me feel good.

This morning she called me as soon as she got the results back - and his UA is 482! The other test had to be wrong, once I received the labs I saw that his calcium and protein levels are just fine too. She is still waiting on the gram stain results, they come from a different lab, but she thinks he may have had a viral infection that is clearing up because he is doing so well. He does not have a yeast infection. She will be calling me back with the rest of the results when they come in, but said that since he is drinking on his own that I can stop with the extra fluids unless that changes or he shows signs of dehydration. I will know more after the next call, but she is very hopeful at this point.
Here are the labs:

 

[Jen5200]

Well that is great news! Hoping for continued good news as the results roll in .

 

[Tami2]

I've been praying for a Christmas Miracle …. :heart:

 

[ChristaNL]

Glad the hydratation got the levels back to semi-normal