Pascal was on a blood check. Things aren't ok.

Skarila

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āœ»Archibald the cockatiel (fostered 6 months)
āœ»RIP - 28 YO Zeleni the mischievous IRN
āœ»RIP -Sunny the budgie
Sorry to everyone for being away for so long and very inactive. Life has been very hectic in terms of private life and my work.

Most of you know my little troublemaker Pascal the Emma's conure. Beginning of April I took him to the vet for his annual check. I was bit scared to give him for a blood check but something was telling me I must do it, to be on a safer side. His general physical exam was scored pretty well, overall he seems like a super healthy active bird. I mean, you'd never be able to tell he had any health issues. Perfect weight, strong and flighty bird.

I went for it and blood sample was given for checks, also his fecal matter.
Good news is that his gut flora has been normalised which is great news, also he's negative to any GI diseases.

However the blood worried me and my vet.

Despite him being on a fairly good diet with high quality pellets, getting his veggies daily, fruits seldom, having quite a variated diet, things simply don't look good. Some markers regarding his liver is high, he is anemic, but most of all we are mostly worried about the absurdly high Alpha Amylase enzyme, which is pointing out that there's some issues with his pancreas. First thing i was asked by the vet is, does he consume a lot of fat and sugar? This surprised me as he's on low fat diet and he doesn't get fruits often, nor does he really eat starchy food, the "fattest" food is some budgie seeds he steals from time to time, but according to the vet that's perfectly fine. Also some other markers pointed out that there's some slight infection going on.

Guys, I'm freaking out. 2 days later after I got the news I was bawling my eyes out. I was told not to panic as there is absolutely no symptoms and very likely we can still fix things. I will have to give him some sort of a special supplement for 2 months and keep him on a strict diet, and give him cranberry juice into his water so he gets more antioxidants. We agreed to keep him like that for 2 months then come back for another blood check.

I am also freaking out because I will be traveling with my partner for work in less than 2 weeks. I did found through my friend a very nice lady vet who also works with exotic animals, also specialized in birds, and we will board Pascal there at her place so he will get all the attention needed, and also being monitored.

Also lately he is shouting like crazy. I wonder if this excessive shouting is due to the spring hormones or he's trying to tell me something...
 

BirdyBee

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Oh I am so sorry for this terrible news! I'm so sorry to hear you're going through a very difficult time, sending hugs and prayers your way!


Sometimes liver/pancreas issues are not related to diet, and may be chronic issues such, issues processing fats/carbs and a variety of factors. I really hope Pascal will be ok!
 

LaManuka

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Skarila, my dear friend, I am so very sorry you are going through this. I'm sorry that I really don't have any particular advice that I can give you, it does sound like you have a very good avian vet and that Pascal will be receiving the best possible care from both him and most definitely from you too. I am praying that the medication and the tweaks you are making to his diet will help do the trick for him. All my very best wishes, lots of love and positive vibes are heading your way and I hope that my favourite little Hungarian nephew will be OK! šŸ™ā¤ļø
 

Icca

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I'm sorry to hear this and I don't really have any good advice. But get a good cry out then start taking notes. I do this with all my critters if I think there could be a problem. I write down every thing. Even if it seems pointless. But especially take note of what time things happen like what time he eats, bathes, screams, has a weird poop. My livestock and avian vet find it helpfully. Just short notes doesn't need to be a book. Good luck with him sounds like you are doing everything right so far. Hang in there
 

foxgloveparrot

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Iā€™m so sorry you have to deal with thisā€¦get well soon you little sock muppet.
Pay attention to him, and like Icca said taking notes can be really helpful. Sorry I donā€™t have better advice than that.
Hugs to you and Pascal ā¤ļø
 

Laurasea

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I'm so sorry to hear this! It's nit something I'm familiar with in parrots.
I do have a cousin who has hereditary pancreas issues since birth. Human medicine has come a long way with this . Tho because of this did develop type 1 diabetes.

Super glad not symptomatic. And wishing you the very best with this challenge. Pascal has the best parrent and you are providing top notch care!!!
 
OP
Skarila

Skarila

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āœ»Csillam the rescued budgie
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āœ»RIP - 28 YO Zeleni the mischievous IRN
āœ»RIP -Sunny the budgie
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Just wanna thank everyone for their kind words, you guys are my saviours.

I managed to twist my ankle badly last Friday so I'm still stuck home and my partner was away for few days... I will have to nag him to get the supplement for Pascal i was prescribed by the vet.

Apparently it is called "Gladiator Plus" for birds, i still Don't fully understand what is it exactly, aside that it is to help recovery for any ill animal or animals that have chronic diseases. I still need to deep dive into what is it... Also will be picking up some of the F10 solution for cleaning, and for those who are curious - yes even perches can be sprayed with it and left to dry without rinsing. I double checked with my vet :) won't be super duper effective as cleaning smooth surfaces but still helpful. I will use the desifecant just because Pascal has absurdly low number or white blood cells, so I must keep him safe.

I'd share his results here but it is on Hungarian so I'm not sure how helpful or informative would it be for you guys :')

On another note Pascal is very active as ever, super friendly and snuggly, super loud and loves to burst my eardrums.
 

LaManuka

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Thank you for updating, Skarila, though I am very sorry about your ankle. I hope Pascal is bringing you plenty of treats and giving you lots of skritches .... oh hang on ... that's probably supposed to be the other way round, isn't it?? :) Give my favourite Hungarian nephew lots of extra skritches from me, won't you, and I am sending plenty of hugs and love for you too Skar! ā¤ļø
 

ravvlet

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Iā€™m so sorry Skarila, that sounds stressful! Our tiel seemed to frequently have weird blood work, and our Amazon gets rhinoliths like itā€™s going out of style. Sometimes they just have issues that are genetic that you couldnā€™t have predicted. Hang in there, I hope your Pascal is feeling better soon!
 
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Skarila

Skarila

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āœ»Csillam the rescued budgie
āœ»Pascal the Emma's (Venezuelan) Conure

Previous owned:
āœ»Archibald the cockatiel (fostered 6 months)
āœ»RIP - 28 YO Zeleni the mischievous IRN
āœ»RIP -Sunny the budgie
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Thank you for updating, Skarila, though I am very sorry about your ankle. I hope Pascal is bringing you plenty of treats and giving you lots of skritches .... oh hang on ... that's probably supposed to be the other way round, isn't it?? :) Give my favourite Hungarian nephew lots of extra skritches from me, won't you, and I am sending plenty of hugs and love for you too Skar! ā¤ļø
Thank you Aunty Martina <3 I'll make sure to give those extra scritches to Pascal and let him know they came alllll the way from Australia :D
 
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Skarila

Skarila

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āœ»Csillam the rescued budgie
āœ»Pascal the Emma's (Venezuelan) Conure

Previous owned:
āœ»Archibald the cockatiel (fostered 6 months)
āœ»RIP - 28 YO Zeleni the mischievous IRN
āœ»RIP -Sunny the budgie
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Iā€™m so sorry Skarila, that sounds stressful! Our tiel seemed to frequently have weird blood work, and our Amazon gets rhinoliths like itā€™s going out of style. Sometimes they just have issues that are genetic that you couldnā€™t have predicted. Hang in there, I hope your Pascal is feeling better soon!
The whole bloodwork is very odd, but we will see if the new supplement will work. I mean, otherwise the vet was unpleasantly surprised as the bird is in such a good shape! Strong little bugger.

But did your tiel have any symptoms that forced you to go for these bloodtests?

Also I was planning to switch him back to roudybush simply because it's cheaper and back in stock, buuuut after finding this circus out I don't think I will... Also gotta get milk thistle again, hopefully he will eat it as I remember he wasn't such a fan of it.
 

ravvlet

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Broccoli - Dusky Conure - 3?mo old (July 2023 -)
~~~
(Rehomed) Sammy - YNA, 45 yrs old (2022-2023)
(RIP) Cricket - Cockatiel (2019-2022)
The whole bloodwork is very odd, but we will see if the new supplement will work. I mean, otherwise the vet was unpleasantly surprised as the bird is in such a good shape! Strong little bugger.

But did your tiel have any symptoms that forced you to go for these bloodtests?

Also I was planning to switch him back to roudybush simply because it's cheaper and back in stock, buuuut after finding this circus out I don't think I will... Also gotta get milk thistle again, hopefully he will eat it as I remember he wasn't such a fan of it.
No, he acted normal. I was shocked to find he had abnormal liver levels. Like your bird he didnā€™t really eat a lot of seed and was very active.
 

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