Nike Health Scare

bill_e

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Dec 24, 2015
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New Hampshire
Parrots
Nike a Hawk Head Parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus)
Last week my dog got me up at 3am so I went downstairs to let her out and heard Nike squeaking. I rushed into her room, flipped on the light and lifted the cover to find her flailing around on the floor at the bottom of her cage. I grabbed her and cupped her wings close to her body and she stopped squeaking and trying to move. Over the next hour she recovered in my hands and was sitting on her own and chirping like nothing happened.

Thinking that it may have been a night fright or maybe a mouse that spooked her I moved her to her day cage which was uncovered and turned on a light so she wasn't in complete darkness as she has been for the last 9 years.

By 8am in the full light of day you wouldn't know that anything had happened. We watched her for the next 5 days until her Avian vet appt (Mine had retired just 3 weeks earlier).

It was a good, thorough exam with some beak and nail maintenance. We did xrays and blood. Heart and lungs sounded great and organs looked good, noting enlarged or fatty.

Of concern was an artery that may have the beginning of plaque build up but because there is an air sac on either since of it the Doc thought it could also just be exaggerated by the black of the air sack. If the artery was getting constricted it could cause syncopy which might explain what happened.

Her Uric acid was at the high end of normal as was her white blood count but the white blood cells themselves looked healthy.

Of course "normal" ranges was for an Amazon and she is not an Amazon so who knows what's normal for a Hawk Head.

So for now, I'm reducing her nut intake (HH's require a higher nut content in their diet.) and trying to hydrate her more with watery fruits and veggies as well as increasing her Harrison intake which I must admit I'd reduced quite a bit.

Back for another round of blood and maybe xrays in about a month and I'll ensure that she's not dehydrated for that blood test so we can rule that out.

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Oh, WOWWWWWWWWWWWW... that WAS a scare. A beloved pet can scare the daylights out of us with antics like that. I hope all those labs and views evetually come together for a confident result.

Nike, BEHAVE!
 
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Good to hear Nike is OK, man. What a scare, right?
Yea, I honestly thought she was going to die when I first saw her. Now I think it is most likely that it was a night fright caused by a mouse or who knows what. She is acting perfectly normal and I've put a night light in her room just in case.
 
I am very sorry to have missed this Thread Bill!
Nike is such a part of this Forum that any news of her suffering even a bit pulls heart strings of even Amazon snobs.

Sodium is something I keep an eye on with my Amazons, as I have found that it exists in so many food products.

The direction you are taking makes sense and with hope you will see better numbers on her next blood test.

Tons of Love and Hugs from the Boats House Hold, good friend!
 

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