# Anyone with bird experience? Sick parakeet...



## Lilysmommy

Hey guys! I've resorted to asking here since I actually trust people on here...If anyone knows any bird forums or sites that are trustworthy and helpful for my issue here, links would be MUCH appreciated!

I work at a pet store, and today we had a customer return a parakeet. They said he wasn't eating, wasn't drinking, and was pooping funny. The poor little guy was completely listless, breathing hard, and has a messy tail. As soon as they left, I turned to my manager and asked if I could take him to the vet. She was a bit reluctant, not wanting me to spend my money, but the only thing she was going to do was give him these broad spectrum antibiotics (liquid form, he'd drink it instead of water) and hope it worked. If he wasn't drinking...Well, gee, how would they work? :roll: She ended up agreeing to let me help him, so...I now have a baby white parakeet for a temporary pet!

Now, I already have a vet appointment for him set for 2:20 tomorrow afternoon with Lily's vet. But since I don't have much experience with birds, I wanted to ask a few questions.

1. What can I do for him tonight and tomorrow before the vet? I'm keeping him in my room (nowhere else to keep him, Dad's not pleased about this >>), so he's being kept at about 73-75 degrees. I have a blanket draped over his cage right now to keep it dark, so he's sleeping. Is this fine? Should I do anything else for him in terms of food/water? He's eaten a little bit since we got him back, which has made me feel better.

2. I unfortunately don't have a choice about keeping him in my room, and therefore in the same room as Lily. I have them across the room from each other, and I'll be sure to wash my hands before going between them and their things. Is there any other precautions I can take? Is it likely that Lily could catch anything from him? 

Thanks for any advice anyone can give me, I feel a bit in over my head with this, but I just could not leave him at the store by himself.  I'm more than happy to spend the money on him if it means he has a fighting chance, especially since he's so young.


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## pooka dotted

What kind of parakeet is it? A budgie?

Also, I went google searching for info but to help I need more info. What do his poops look like? are they runny? what are his exact symptoms.

-Heavy breathing
-unkept feathers
-listless = lethargic? (Explain more ?)

Is he on the bottom of the cage? or is he perching?

Is he limp? Drained of energy?
(Sugar or honey water helps give them energy if they are very very fatigued. We gave some in eye droppers to wild birds that came into the wildlife center I volunteered at)

EDITED TO ADD A LINK

Here's a link to what sounds like your birds symptoms.

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/medical ... iosis.html


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## Lilysmommy

Sorry, yes, it's a budgie! His droppings are a tad runny, but the main thing I noticed was they're pale green tinted, not sure if that's normal...We had two budgies when I was young and if I'm remembering correctly, their droppings were usually black and white. 

As far as energy, he's actually still alert enough that he'll watch me move around his cage, and he wants to climb on my hands to get back to his cage. But he doesn't struggle very hard and seems to run out of energy quickly. In his cage, he moves around very little. He is able to perch, but he's trembling a bit, which could be from cold...I might turn my space heater up a bit and see if that helps. 

I'm not too concerned with trying to diagnose him with anything tonight, since he'll be going to the vet tomorrow. I just wanted to make sure I'm doing the right things for him tonight, namely keeping it dark so he can sleep, and keeping it warm. Thanks for helping!


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## pooka dotted

You pretty much have everything covered. If he is improving then the owner probably didn't take good care of him, maybe stressed him out, didn't give him proper food, their house was inadequate. Things like that. You could probably try to give him some honey or sugar water to perk him up. Just a table spoon though, if he starts to go downhill again. 

You could also put a piece of fleece on the bottom of his cage, and a heat pad under one part of it so he could regulate his heat if you have one  if not a space heater would be good if he gets cold. You might need to bump up his vitamins too.


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## Lilysmommy

Yeah, I've wondered if the customers just weren't doing something right...They did say they have two other apparently healthy budgies, but I dunno. I've turned the space heater up, and I'll see if I can find the old heating pad I had for Lily back when I first got her. If he gets a clean bill of health though, or as soon as he's done with any meds, he's going back to the pet store, so there's a limit to what I can do and keep doing for him. ><


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## Immortalia

Lilysmommy said:


> Yeah, I've wondered if the customers just weren't doing something right...They did say they have two other apparently healthy budgies, but I dunno. ><


Gee, how much you wanna bet they stuck the baby directly in with the oldies and they got territorial and beat up the new one and kept him from eating. Then by the time the owners noticed, he was too weak cause he was starved.


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## Lilysmommy

I dunno, he really does seem sick now... :? I put some fleece down on half of the cage bottom, and he's been laying on that for the past hour or two. He tries to climb up on the perch, but he can't stay on it. I got a few mouthfuls of the antibiotic-water that we have for him into him, but I'm not sure if he's gotten enough fluids...If he can just make it through the night, I'll get him back out in the morning and try some sugar water. I can't sleep because I'm too worried about him...

Edit - I did find the heating pad and put it under part of the fleece half of the cage. He's been laying down over that section, so hopefully that'll help a bit...I also found a budgie forum and posted on there for some advice and help.


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## Judi

I hope he's doing better now. 

Birds will hide their symptoms as long as possible, so a lot of times when you notice a bird is sick, they're really, really sick.


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## Lilysmommy

Judi said:


> I hope he's doing better now.
> 
> Birds will hide their symptoms as long as possible, so a lot of times when you notice a bird is sick, they're really, really sick.


Yup, that's one of the few things I do know about birds, which is why I was so worried about him. And this morning's update: he did make it through the night! He's having quite a bit of trouble moving around and can't balance on the perch at all. He spent last night laying on the fleece I put in for him. He's still pretty alert, though, considering, and he drank a few more mouthfuls of antibiotic-water, and ate some seed from my hand.  He's cuddling in my hand right now, poor little guy. I'm so glad that we managed to get a vet appointment for today. I'll update again after the appointment!


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## Lilysmommy

Just wanted to post a pic I took of him cuddling in my hand.


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## Nancy

He is beautiful. I hope he will be alright. You realize you are going to have yourself a bird. :lol: :lol:


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## Lilysmommy

Oh trust me....I would absolutely LOVE to keep him! Unfortunately, my dad is so very displeased with this situation. :? I didn't really call ahead to ask if I could bring Baby home (I didn't want to argue with him because I was absolutely determined not to leave him at the store), so I just kind of got home and went "Hey, do you mind if we have a guest for a few days?" and showed him Baby in my hands. He literally had a :shock: face before he started glaring daggers at me. :roll: :lol: I promised that Baby would only be staying until any medications are all done with and he's healthy enough to go back to the store. I know I'm going to have a hard time taking him back though! I'm already attached to the little guy.


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## PJM

I know nothing about birds. But just wanted to say I hope the little guy gets better & good for you! Helping him, I think that's just wonderful!


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## Nancy

Maybe your dad will soften. heehee


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## Judi

Lilysmommy said:


> Oh trust me....I would absolutely LOVE to keep him! Unfortunately, my dad is so very displeased with this situation. :? I didn't really call ahead to ask if I could bring Baby home (I didn't want to argue with him because I was absolutely determined not to leave him at the store), so I just kind of got home and went "Hey, do you mind if we have a guest for a few days?" and showed him Baby in my hands. He literally had a :shock: face before he started glaring daggers at me. :roll: :lol: I promised that Baby would only be staying until any medications are all done with and he's healthy enough to go back to the store. I know I'm going to have a hard time taking him back though! I'm already attached to the little guy.


My husband has the same reaction whenever we bring home another pet, whether it's a permanent addition to the family or a wild creature we're nursing back to health. But I know he really doesn't mind my pets, because he helps with them and with projects for them.


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## pooka dotted

I just remembered lol, if their other budgies are females there is a high change he starved. Females rule the roost in that situation, and when adding a new budgie you HAVE to put the cages side by side first before even THINKING of putting him in with others. Especially budgies because he will be tested by the others in the flock where his pecking order will be. 

If they have females or even one female....he was probably starved. I'm glad he's eating though. And he made it through the night. Cute little guy. Can't wait to hear the update after the vets office !!


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## Lilysmommy

Alright, home from the vet's with an update! 

The vet said that Baby looks like he has a kidney infection. His left foot isn't really opening or responding, and he said the nerve that controls it goes through the kidney, so if the kidney is swollen, it can affect the foot. Baby's also 20% underweight, so he wasn't able to draw any blood right now to get a closer look at the kidney/liver functions. The vet kept him at the clinic, he's keeping him in an incubator and they're going to tube-feed him to get his weight up, and give him antibiotic injections. I was told he has a 50/50 chance, so all fingers are crossed... I'll get a call tomorrow to let me know how he's doing, if he died during the night, or if he's doing better. Once he's eating on his own, and standing, and such, I'll be able to bring him home to a home-made incubator and continue giving him oral antibiotics. He was definitely interested in nibbling at the seeds that the vet had on the floor of the incubator for him, so I'm hoping that's a good sign... All good thoughts and prayers are totally welcome to help Baby get better!


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## pooka dotted

Fingers and toes crossed for this little guy! Kudos to you as well for helping this little guy!


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## PJM

Come on Baby! You can do it!


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## pearlthehedgie

Hope he does ok. Bless you for taking such good care of him!


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## Hedgieonboard

I'll be crossing my fingers for a good update in the morning


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## cylaura

Good luck! This is so very sweet of you to take such good care of him. I hope he pulls through.


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## Lilysmommy

Friday morning update!

Baby made it through last night too.  The vet I talked to wasn't the main one that we saw at our appointment yesterday, but he knew a bit about the current situation. He told me that they thought it was weird that Baby was doing fine with holding his head up and everything, but his back end just wasn't working. So they did an x-ray...And found a bunch of heavy metal in his gut. No clue where it came from, whether it was at the store or from the customer or what... They changed the treatment to different injections that will help treat heavy metal toxicity, but there's not really any surgery or anything they can do to remove what's in there. He said that it'll just get broken down and digested eventually. He also said that as soon as they can get the weight stable, I can bring him home, so it'll most likely be tomorrow that I go get him. I'd love to get him today, but I have to work all afternoon and evening, so that's not possible. I'll be shown how to give him the injections and can keep giving them to him, but I'm not sure yet how long he'll need them. The main vet is going to call me back later and I'll probably find out more from him and learn more about what his plans for Baby are. I'm SO relieved he made it through the night and that we know what's wrong now! Just have to wait and see what comes next...


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## Nancy

Poor little guy. What shapes is the metal? Is it something he could have gotten from a top that broke. Did they mention how long prior to showing symptoms that the metal may have been ingested?

Is your father starting to feel sympathetic yet. heehee
Sending more prayers for him.


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## Lilysmommy

I don't think he mentioned, he just said that it's something he could have picked up from anything like shoelaces (the ends of them or something?), or even some bird toys have it in/on them. I can ask more about it when the main vet calls me back though, or tomorrow when I go to pick him up. I will definitely be letting you guys know about everything I find out and keep you updated on his progress!

Heh, Dad's at work, so can't tell him about the newest update yet, but he wasn't glaring at me last night when he asked how the vet visit went! Didn't say much either though, so I'm still not sure where Baby and I stand with him. We'll see what he says if he asks for an update tonight or tomorrow, lol.

Edit - I forgot to add...The vet I spoke to mentioned that since he's not technically my bird, they might be able to work with me a bit on how high the final bill is. So that's also good news! Though he may end up becoming my bird depending on how this situation plays out...I don't intend on taking him back to the store until he no longer needs any injections or medications. If I absolutely can't keep him, I'll look for a home for him myself where they can handle his needs.


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## Lilysmommy

I'm sorry to have to update that I received a phone call from the vet this morning and was told that Baby passed away last night.  They tried everything they could to counter the heavy metal toxicity, but the little guy was all done fighting. RIP Baby, I'm sorry we didn't get to you soon enough. <3


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## pearlthehedgie

So sorry he didn't pull through. You gave him the best chance he could have possibly had to make it.


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## Judi

I'm so sorry to hear that. At least he was well cared for and comfortable during his last days. You did a lot more for him than many people would have.

The chalky, light-colored stools sounded like he might have been eating paint. If he was being kept in a bird cage from Mexico, or a really old painted birdcage, it's possble it was lead paint and that's where he picked up the heavy metal. I've had birds eat paint before...never lead paint, just latex paint...and they didn't get sick, but they had pale stools. Unfortunately, the paint they ate was attached to the walls and windowsills in my mother's house, and she wasn't very happy.


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## PJM

I'm so sorry he didn't make it. You're wonderful for trying.


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## Immortalia

Oh no!  Im so sorry, I was hoping he was gonna pull through.


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## Nancy

I am so sorry he didn't make it. You did everything you could for him.


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## Lilysmommy

Thanks guys.  I finally connected with the vet and I'm going on Monday to finish paying and to pick Baby up so I can bury her at my house. I really wish she could've made it, but I do take some comfort in the fact that she didn't die alone in the pet store, and that I did try. And knowing that other people on here and the budgie forum cared whether she lived or died helps too...So thank you.


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