Hello everyone. I am sorry that it has taken this long to update all of you. It’s been another hectic day, but in a good way.
So, I called around to a well known animal hospital here, Citrus Park Animal Hospital. They have an AAV certified specialist, Dr. Brooks. I explained our peril from the previous day, having gone to two vets, both of which were not AAV, and both of which didn’t want to draw blood. Covid makes things even more frustrating as we had to actually sit in the car the whole time both vets had our baby. This one actually was going to let us come in and be with the baby and meet the doctor face to face as long as we wore masks. The opened up an 11:15 appointment for us, and as soon as my fiancé finished up her own medical appointment this morning, we headed to the place.
We got there, and they were super friendly and super understand of our peril from the previous day. They took all the records we got from both vets the previous day, and even called them to get the extras and detailed reports. They triaged us, getting all the information we had and how we felt this happened. The nurse who was with was amazed that Kylo, in her condition, wouldn’t just lie down and instead was propping herself up in the Rubbermaid so she could eat her food.
They then took her in back and we waited for a little while. My fiancé and I discussed a lot of what if’s, and what could be if she didn’t get better. It’s not a bridge we are crossing yet, but we know we have to have a plan if she doesn’t heal. Today did not have many tears, mostly smiles as she was so much improved and obviously not giving up herself.
The doctor then came in with the nurse and talked to us for a long time. I mean, this doctor spoke to us longer than my own doctor talks to me when I have a problem. He asked us about her cage, what was in the cage, the bar spacing, if we had pictures, if the other birds were healthy or showing signs of illness. He was concerned about the bar spacing of the cage, since we have the five of our conures in one cage. It is a large A&E cage that measures 32x36x24 inside, and we did our homework and know 3/4 bar spacing is safe. He asked about the events that lead up to her condition, which I have detailed in previous posts. We showed him the pictures we had, and he said he felt the cage was not the source of the issue.
He then gave us an incredible amount of details. He was somewhat unhappy with the first place we went to yesterday for doing x rays but not in the proper way for a smaller bird. He told us they should have used some anesthesia so the bird would have been still, and the ones they took were of barely sufficient quality. He also said they did not x ray her legs or vent area. He went into great detail about he would do x rays, and said he was giving this info to us up front so we knew the risks of putting her under. He continued on to talk about what he did see on the x rays was nothing of any major concern. The “fluid” in her abdomen is likely her being a little bit of having some baby fat, as he said his physical examination of her shows no signs of fluid. She does have a shadow in a lung, but again he said the quality of the x ray wasn’t enough to be conclusive of pneumonia. He said in his physical exam and observing and listening to her, she didn’t show a single sign of pneumonia.
He continued by saying he feels this is not a virus or bacterial infection, nor a genetic defect. He feels the issue is a neurological issue most likely caused by some type of trauma. He said he, himself, would do new x rays only to satisfy his medical curiosity, but felt for us it was not necessary. I even told him to go ahead and do them, and he cautioned that he felt the course of action we are on with the anti inflammatory is the best path for now. He didn’t outwardly say it, but we felt he was saying she had enough stress and putting her under for the x rays would be an unnecessary risk.
He said as far as physical condition, he would give her a 7 out of 9, with most of that being down from the 9 due to her beak abnormality (see vampire fangs post) and that she has lost some feathers underneath her vent due to her dragging herself around. He said she is actually well feathered, at a good weight (63 grams), and her body otherwise looks very good. He said the beak abnormality can wait for now, as it would also induce more stress for little gain. He commented on her definitely being a little determined girl, with a lot of fight in her. He and the nurse both said she is super sweet and didn’t bite them at all.
He wants us to keep her isolated, kept calm, and warm. He thinks the best course would be continue the anti inflammatory for seven days, and to follow up with her progress on Monday. If she doesn’t improve anymore then they want us to come back in and reevaluate then. He said the nerve damage can take weeks or months to heal, if at all. Due to her moving around more today, and even her feet starting to clench and open, that there are signs she could recover. It is just a waiting game.
He didn’t want to take blood as he felt there are zero signs or indications of some agent causing this. He also didn’t want to stress her and make her regress from her progress today. He reassured us that her actual vent is okay, and that her poop was normal and not a concern either.
We also found out we gave her too much medicine due to poor instructions last night. So, we were told to skip the medicine tonight.
We felt very comfortable with Dr. Brooks, and felt he did more then he had to when explaining things to us. So we feel a little better about the course of action right now.
We left and then immediately started running errands to ensure she was comfortable and had what she needed. A stop at our favorite bird store to get more food and supplies. She stayed in the car, with the air conditioning on. The owner of the store , who sold her to us, even came outside to see her. He is a really good store owner, but we can talk more about that another time.
Then some more stops to get a different rubbermaid with deeper sides so she didn’t try to climb out like she was attempting this morning. Then to Walmart to get soft towels to put under her, as that seems to be better for her footing then the pine shavings.
We got home, had to take care of the other members of our flock, clean and setup her new Rubbermaid, and eat ourselves. I fed her by hand as soon as we got home, and I did again just about half an hour ago. She ate about 7ml of Tropican formula, and she weighed in at 71 grams after feeding. She pooped a nice normal one just before feeding her. And she was calling out to her sister who was responding back.
I cleaned her up around her vent, and used a small q tip to clean out the pine shavings from her nostrils. She’s now in her Rubbermaid sleeping. We made sure we said goodnight to her in case she’s not with us in the morning. But we are more hopeful tonight then before that she’s going to be there when we wake up.
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What a little trooper she is. I hope she continues to improve for you!
