Lucky's in the Hospital

**sporkula** · 06-02-2007, 09:16 PM

I finally got to a board-certified vet and she is amazing. I drove out of state today to see her (Exotic Bird Hostpital in Jacksonville, FL) and she was fantastic with the birdies.

Snowflake's doing great, but Lucky, my eight-year-old, definitely has liver disease; she diagnosed it on the spot. But after his tests got underway, I learned that he had elevated levels of uric acid, meaning kidney trouble. He also has high cholesterol and large amounts of fat in his blood (even though his weight is healthy with no fat pockets on his body). So she asked me to leave him there for hospitalization for the next few days.

I bought them toys for their travel cage, and Lucky will be on fluids and cherry juice for the next two days to flush out his kidneys, as well as milk thistle for his liver. The doctor will keep in touch with me and let me know how he's doing. I was totally unprepared for this. I knew he must have liver problems, but was not expecting kidney trouble or hospitalization or anything. I left both birds there to keep each other company.

I've never been through anything like this and I miss my birdies; it's so quiet without them and they're hours away from me. I'm hoping he will be alright and that we caught these problems in time. I'd love to hear any stories you'd like to share about your birds or these specific diseases, any experiences like this. I hope he recovers without problems.

What this has taught me is the importance of having a *real* vet to look at my birds. I would not have caught any of these things if it weren't for the wonderful people on these forums, and I am so appreciative.

**boomer girl** · 06-04-2007, 10:45 AM

Hi Ashley, I hope Lucky is doing better these days and hopefully will be able to come home to you soon. It must have been such a nervous weekend for you with both of your birds not home with you... please let us know how little lucky is doing.

My lovie had troubles a few years back and spent about a week at our vets here and I remember how hard it was not having him home and also not knowing how he was doing all the time... the vet I had was nice enough to call me everyday to update me on how he was doing so that helped me out tons getting calls everyday, hopefully you to can either call your vet or they call you for updates as well. HUGS to you for finding a good vet who will take good care of Lucky for you!!

**silfert** · 06-04-2007, 10:49 AM

Poor babies! Smart idea to leave them together, but rough on you for sure. We'll be keeping wings and fingers crossed here. Do bird kidneys respond to cranberry juice?

**shortncrazy2** · 06-04-2007, 10:58 AM

Hope Lucky will be better soon.

**sporkula** · 06-04-2007, 12:47 PM

The vet called me yesterday to let me know they were doing just fine. Lucky's tolerating the treatment, though he's not liking it (he screams continuously whenever she holds him, like a siren

). She'll be calling me again today after she checks his uric acid levels.

Originally Posted by silfert

Do bird kidneys respond to cranberry juice?

I should ask her about that. I know he's drinking cherry juice now and will have to continue it indefinitely, it must work the same way.

Thanks guys, I'll keep you updated!

**boomer girl** · 06-04-2007, 06:50 PM

Thank goodness they both are doing fine, it least Lucky has snowflake there to keep him company... and you have all of us here crossing our fingers and sending you good vibes that Lucky responds and gets well. I cannot say I blame Lucky for screaming when the vet has to pick him up, lucky sounds like he figured out real quick that the vet does bad things like poke him and give him nasty tasting things... poor Lucky

Please keep on updating us, we do care about your little Lucky...

**sporkula** · 06-04-2007, 07:16 PM

Just got a call from the vet. His uric acid levels are a little bit lower, but not as low as she'd like. For her, she said that's a little more troubling, because it could mean the damage to his kidneys has been there for a while and may be irreversible. And if his levels go back up, he could develop gout and die. I'm trying to keep my hopes high. She's going to keep him on fluids for a few more days and call me again on Thursday. It's actually lucky we even found the kidney damage. She only recognized the trouble because of tests she decided to run on his liver. But we still may not have caught it early enough.

I will post again when I hear back from her on Thursday. Thank you all for your support, it means a lot to me. And Deanna, Boomer is so absolutely adorable.

**proud of my budgie** · 06-04-2007, 07:26 PM

Thanks for keeping us updated.
It's nice to hear Snowflake is there to keep Lucky company.

Your in my thoughts and prayers.

**boomer girl** · 06-04-2007, 08:18 PM

HUGS to you, this must just be one huge emotional roller coaster for you! It is sooo hard when they get sick and are not with you.

I feel so bad, I hope you caught it in time and things can be reversed and it sounds your vet is right on top of all of this so that is a god send to have her taking good care of Lucky. My thoughts and prayers are with Lucky and you, hopefully soon his kidneys will respond to the treatments.

Thanks for your nice words about boomer, he is my little sweetheart