gavagai
New member
My quaker rather suddenly developed several behavioral issues last week which had me concerned about a health issue. The most concerning of them was that she wasn't defecating much even though she seemed to be eating normally. Other behaviors had me worried it was a hormonal issue, so my first thought was egg block and I took her to the vet yesterday. The vet thinks it's heavy metals based on an x-ray and has sent away blood samples to test for lead and zinc. (Since the cage itself is a nice cage that I've seen other people on this forum use, I'm guessing the metal must come from either the carabiners holding the toys to the cage or the bells that the green-cheek loves.
She wasn't eating there so they gavage-fed her. She was also severely dehydrated and they her an injection for it. The second-most concerning behavior is that she started plucking, going from normal plumage patterns to legs, belly, and back completely bald within a matter of under two days. While at the vet she started picking at her skin, so they put a collar on her. The vet gave me antibiotics to prevent sepsis, which she's taking with no issue.
I'm supposed to bring her back Monday, for observation. But in the mean time, I'm supposed to take he off the pellets which she still still isn't eating much of and give her as much seed as she wants. Even doing that, I'm worried because she doesn't seem to be eating and drinking. They mentioned that she'd be much less active with the collar on, and she ate enthusiastically yesterday, but I've seen her eat only one seed today. I've also not seen her drink anything yesterday or today.
I could bring her in tonight, but the reason I'm supposed to bring her in Monday is that today I wouldn't be able to bring her in before four, which the vet said wouldn't be useful. I could bring her in tomorrow morning, but the vet who has a specialty in avian and exotic medicine (yes, I know, but the only CAV in Austin is retired, she has the same qualifications as my Massachusetts vet who was good, and like him she had birds of her own) won't be in then, meaning she'd be seen by a vet with no special training for birds. So if the only issue is that she's not eating and drinking and the vet didn't seem too concerned yesterday, I'm wondering if I can/should gavage-feed her myself until then?
ETA: Immediately after I posted this, she ate a few more seeds. She still isn't drinking though.
She wasn't eating there so they gavage-fed her. She was also severely dehydrated and they her an injection for it. The second-most concerning behavior is that she started plucking, going from normal plumage patterns to legs, belly, and back completely bald within a matter of under two days. While at the vet she started picking at her skin, so they put a collar on her. The vet gave me antibiotics to prevent sepsis, which she's taking with no issue.
I'm supposed to bring her back Monday, for observation. But in the mean time, I'm supposed to take he off the pellets which she still still isn't eating much of and give her as much seed as she wants. Even doing that, I'm worried because she doesn't seem to be eating and drinking. They mentioned that she'd be much less active with the collar on, and she ate enthusiastically yesterday, but I've seen her eat only one seed today. I've also not seen her drink anything yesterday or today.
I could bring her in tonight, but the reason I'm supposed to bring her in Monday is that today I wouldn't be able to bring her in before four, which the vet said wouldn't be useful. I could bring her in tomorrow morning, but the vet who has a specialty in avian and exotic medicine (yes, I know, but the only CAV in Austin is retired, she has the same qualifications as my Massachusetts vet who was good, and like him she had birds of her own) won't be in then, meaning she'd be seen by a vet with no special training for birds. So if the only issue is that she's not eating and drinking and the vet didn't seem too concerned yesterday, I'm wondering if I can/should gavage-feed her myself until then?
ETA: Immediately after I posted this, she ate a few more seeds. She still isn't drinking though.
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