Bixby Update

He's so green! I do love a green birdie! Kisses to Mr Bixby and his lovely lady, Ms Maya. XX :)
 
Awww Doc! Those photos make me want to snuggle the gorgeous, Sir Bixby! What a little sweetheart and he really does have an angelic little face! Looking forward to hearing his vet visit resulted in a perfectly clean bill of health.

BTW, his feathers look immaculate!

Thanks, Huckleberry! I'll definitely post here straight away once I know about his health, one way or the other. And yes, his feathers were a little more preened than is usual for him. I hope it's a sign of things to come!

He's so green! I do love a green birdie! Kisses to Mr Bixby and his lovely lady, Ms Maya. XX :)

Kisses received, darling Trish! I'll pass them on to my crazy ekkies!
 
Anansi what beautiful birds you have. Thanks for sharing and hope Bixby gets better real soon.
 
Thanks, Ron! Hopefully he's already better! Haha! Made the mistake once of assuming he was all clear. This time I'm going with another blood-test.
 
Stephen, I am so happy that Bixby is getting back to his normal, adorable self! His feathers do look amazing, and he has the sweetest face in the world.
I also love Stalker, I am a little obsessed with it..lolol. How did I know you would also love that? I love the way they redo songs at the end and make them somehow creepy.
 
Stephen, I am so happy that Bixby is getting back to his normal, adorable self! His feathers do look amazing, and he has the sweetest face in the world.
I also love Stalker, I am a little obsessed with it..lolol. How did I know you would also love that? I love the way they redo songs at the end and make them somehow creepy.

Aww, thank you, Terry! It's really good to have Sir Bixby seeming more himself. And I'll make sure to pass on your compliments to him.

Yeah, I've been really impressed with Stalker so far. And I love Maggie Q!
 
I'm a little late with this update, as things have been a little hectic on this end, but whatever Bixby has been fighting was apparently rather tenacious. His last bloodtest revealed that his white blood cell count was still high, though not so high as it had been before.

So Bixby is now on the tail end of a THIRD round of antibiotics. This time around, however, the vet opted to go with a different antibiotic. He reasoned that Bixby might have something of a resistance to the antibiotic used the previous two times.

It's been almost 2 weeks that he's been taking this new medication, and I'm cautiously optimistic that this one may be doing the trick. While he's not yet flying his previous distances, his flight is stronger now than it's been in months. And he seems to have rediscovered his joy for flying. The little tail flourishes when he makes a maneuver that he's particularly proud of are back! As is his tendency to just randomly fly off of his tree stand to my chair when he wants to be held and petted NOW! Hahaha!

So I'll soon be setting up yet another appointment for a blood test, (Man, but those things are expensive!!!) And hopefully he'll be getting the all-clear.

On a side note, my wife has been the one giving him the medication, lately, as she leaves for work later than I do and gets home earlier. And she has somehow taught him to open his mouth wide like a baby bird waiting for formula when taking his medication! The little bugger used to make me work between three and ten minutes to get him to drink some down... and always in small, dainty sips. But their method? Like he's doing shots in a bar! Bam! Done! Smh.
 
Stephen, Stephen... you are well old enough to know that a man will do whatever a woman wants to stay in her good graces. Sir Bixby is no exception.

I'm so glad he seems to be feeling better! I hope this last round of meds does the trick for him. You might consider giving him some probiotics after such a long stint on antibiotics. Poor little guy! Please give him a nice treat on my behalf and tell him Barney says 'G'day mate! Sorry you've been feelin' crook.' :)
 
Stephen, I'm sorry poor Bixby is on yet another round of antibiotics, I hope this new one does the trick for him. I'm glad to hear he and his mom have the medicine routine worked out so nicely, that's not usually an easy task at all, Bixby's mom must have the magic touch when giving meds. Please give sweet Bixby a little kiss from me and tell him I hope he feels perfect again in no time.
 
Stephen, Stephen... you are well old enough to know that a man will do whatever a woman wants to stay in her good graces. Sir Bixby is no exception.

I'm so glad he seems to be feeling better! I hope this last round of meds does the trick for him. You might consider giving him some probiotics after such a long stint on antibiotics. Poor little guy! Please give him a nice treat on my behalf and tell him Barney says 'G'day mate! Sorry you've been feelin' crook.' :)

Hahaha! True, dearest Trish. True. And funny, Aida has mentioned that if ever Maya needs to be medicated, I might be on my own. Hahaha! (Though their relationship has improved, lately. Maya hasn't drawn blood from her in weeks, and has only nipped her once in that time. Considering their rocky start, that's a massive improvement!)

Funny you mention the probiotics. I'd asked the avian vet (who is known and widely respected as an amazing bird doc. Extremely knowledgeable about birds and considered something of a bird-whisperer. For those who might remember, he's the one who I'd said rubbed Bixby over his face like a loofah upon meeting him! Lol!) whether I'd need probiotics, as I'd heard that some antibiotics can damage the "good" bacteria of the stomach. Well, I think I managed to offend the man! Hahaha! He's usually rather cool, humble, and affably agreeable but he responded in a stiff and decidedly arch tone, "Maybe a vet who didn't have 25 years of experience treating birds would make the mistake of prescribing antibiotics that would damage your birds beneficial bacteria, but I assure you that I would not!"

Uhmm... wow. Okay, then. Hahaha! But whatever. He's still the best avian vet in my area, so if I have to eat a little attitude for the sake of my birds... so be it. :rolleyes:

And I will certainly pass along both your treat and your message! ;)
 
Stephen, I'm sorry poor Bixby is on yet another round of antibiotics, I hope this new one does the trick for him. I'm glad to hear he and his mom have the medicine routine worked out so nicely, that's not usually an easy task at all, Bixby's mom must have the magic touch when giving meds. Please give sweet Bixby a little kiss from me and tell him I hope he feels perfect again in no time.

Thanks, Allee!

Yes, I'm so hoping he'll finally be done with medication. Crazy thing is, Suzie, the cockatiel that I had for almost 18 years, only got sick twice in that entire span of time! The first time required nothing more than for me to crank up the temperature in the room to a balmy 80+ degrees for a night. He was right as rain the next day. The second was the terminal kidney disease that ended his life. (Miss that bird!)

But poor Bixby has been battling this uber-virus for a few months, now. I'm looking forward to getting him to a clean bill of health!

Another positive sign I'd forgotten to mention is that Bixby is slowly regaining weight. I'll feel a lot better once he's in the 400+ range again, but baby steps.

And I will deliver your kiss straight away, though following Trish's observation, he'd likely much prefer it coming from you. ;)
 
Stephen, I'm sorry this bacteria is being so stubborn! But it's good to hear Bixby feels well and is enjoying his flight maneuvers once again :). I can't wait to hear when all is clear and 100% back on track. I know he will be soon... He has such a great mom and dad (and vet)!
 
Stephen I'm sorry Bixby's still battling the illness- I hope this last round of meds does the trick...I'm glad he's starting to feel better already!

And your wife has him doing medicine shots?! Oh man- that would've been really handy to teach chili a few months ago...it would've saved my eyeballs from the grief they endured ;) lol
 
Thanks, Julie and Shirre! Bixby has continued growing stronger each day, and he's steadily recovering his confidence in his flight capabilities, so I'm thinking this last round of antibiotics may really have done the trick. I'm hoping that is indeed the case.

And as for the medicine shots, their routine was rock-solid up until two days ago. Apparently, Bixby has now tired of the taste of this particular shot! Hahaha! So now it's back to a contest of wills. (Thankfully, I've only had to force him once. I much prefer working with his cooperation, no matter how grudging. Lol!)

Anyhow, Bixby's follow-up to his follow-up is this Monday, so please keep him in all of your thoughts and prayers.
 
Sending prayers for Bixby! Hopefully this last round of meds fixed whatever's been bugging him. Can you blame him for being sick of the meds? Poor guy!
 
Thank you, Sunset. No, I couldn't blame him. Not even in the slightest. He's really been such a trooper, throughout.

Edit: Wow! Just noticed your flock count! That's an impressive array of birds!
 
Thanks Stephen! They keep me busy!
 
Bixby is definitely in my prayers, and I hope he gets a clean bill of health on Monday, my Friend:) More pictures would be awesome too!
 
Yay!! Sounds good.. Prayers and fingers crossed for Monday :)
 
Wishing Sir Bixby a clean exam and good news on Monday!
 

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