Hi everyone,
I'm so sorry it has been very long since I have posted on here, it has been a hectic past few months with studies and exams coming up this week (which I'm struggling to prepare for in the current circumstances!) and taking care of the birdies. I am hoping to provide an update on everyone soon but first I have a question about my little Kiara lovebird.
It is now Tuesday afternoon here, and since Sunday she hasn't been herself. She has been sleeping a lot during the day. Kiara has always had dreamy / sleepy style eyes but now its like she struggles to keep them open. Almost as if she is dizzy. Her poop is also not the same. All my birds have the same healthy poop: a little circle which contains the green part (because they eat seeds and vegetables, no pellets), the white part and the clear urine. Now hers is more clear urine, no white, and the green part is a more darker green and not like a little ball but a very very thin piece of small string. Also when the urine part has dried up it ends up turning yellow.
Yesterday we took her to a local vet, we did ask for someone that knows about birds, and my partner is trying to find a more local vet in case of emergency, I think this local vet clinic is doing a bit better in getting more vets who have at least some knowledge on birds because my partner has had to take injured wild pigeons to them a few times and they have helped with that and he actually got to rehabilitate and release one.
Anyway back to kiara, the vet checked her vent and said it was clear. I also brought the towel with me with her poop to show her the difference and she did say it didnt look good the day before but that her fresh poop from the same day was looking a little better. She didnt actually handle kiara but my partner held her and she was able to see her vent. She did say that she is looking brighter and appeared active and curious. This was true at the vet because when kiara was in her carrier she would peak out to see who was there and whats going on etc. The vet prescribed something called vetafarm psittavet in power form this is a link to the product, I cant find it on vetafarm's official website for some reason:
https://www.allparrotproducts.com/vetafarm-psittavet/
We need to put it in her water daily and allow her to drink it for 7 days. However, we do not know if she is drinking a lot of water so instead my partner is getting her twice a day and holding her and getting her to drink a little of it. On Sunday afternoon after just mostly sleeping all day she did actually go to drink a lot of water herself. This made me think that she was dehydrated from diarrhoea yet I do not know what would have caused the diarrhoea. It is only her with this problem, everyone else is fine and chirping eating etc. My partner thinks because she is alone in her cage that maybe she ate too much vegetables and that it caused the diarrhoea, in particular he thinks it was the corn. The only new thing in her cage from Saturday is a new water bottle because her previous one kept leaking and there would never be water in there. I did rinse it very well but I did start to wonder if the new product smell was still there and affected her because she did drink from that bottle straight away. But my partner doesnt think it is that.
This is a shorter timeline of events:
Sunday daytime - kiara sleeps too much most of the day and we can see her poop in her towel is not the usual green white clear circle but a lot of clear urine and a dark green small stringlike feces. Kiara also has not eaten too much.
Sunday evening - kiara drinks a lot of water by herself from her bowl. when its blanket time, she does her usual flock call that she does every night to the others until the lights are off.
Monday morning - kiara is still the same looks very tired, sleepy and blinks her eyes differently as if to be dizzy. but she eats a lot and eats her carrots and spinach. she chirps a little bit with the others as she always does.
Monday midday - kiara is back to just sleeping mostly and not talking with the others.
Monday afternoon - partner comes home from work and when he sees her she is actually a bit more active and jumping around when he is talking to her. She is chirping more and is acting like her usual self. gets her foods and water bowls changed and with fresh seeds she goes straight to eat lots and lots of them. Partner moves her cage closer to the other birdies cages and she is looking at them and talking to them more and appears like her usual self.
Monday evening - vet appointment and after getting home she starts to drink the medicine for the first time. then bed time.
Tuesday (today) morning - she appears to be more sleepy again like she was the other days. but when she received her vegetables (only a very small amount for the water content) she goes and eats them and is happy with them and eats seeds too. but then goes straight back to sitting and sleeping. partner gets her and gives her some of the medicine mixed with water. after going back to the cage she is just sitting and sleeping again. she did move around a bit though to talk to the others and started tipping one of her containers. also her overnight poop was still the same string appearance.
Tuesday daytime: still sleeping mostly but when she eats, she eats a lot and when she drinks, she drinks a lot of water. We tried putting the medicine into her drinking water bowl - she knew the difference and started typing it as she didnt like it meaning she won't drink from that water if it has the medicine so partner is still going to handle her and provide it by hand. bowls have just been cleaned and changed and she ate LOTS of her seeds and drank lots of her water but then back to sleep again. When she sleeps its at the top on her perch or her swing. Not sitting at the bottom.
I should also mention she looks more rounder than usual, even though she is normally fairly round. It is as if she's either bloated or maybe keeping herself warmer due to dehydration? I am also thinking she is struggling to make poop because of how stringy it is now and how infrequent she poops now.
I am really worried about her. If things do not improve in a few days we will try to take her to another vet.
However, if anyone has suggestions or comments I would appreciate it.
Hi, Laila, and welcome back. Like you, that stringy poop does worry me. I do agree that corn could cause loose poops, but there should not be strings. And her behavior and well being are somewhat off track. Is there some way you can find an Avian Vet specialist. I think her poop needs to be grain, or gram stain checked. And the bloating too is a red flag for me. I would recommend a second opinion ASAP. Something is just not right with her, poor baby!!
I think you need to take her to another vet and have them check her out. It is not right for her poops to look like this. It sounds like something is bothering her digestive system. The poos you describe sound a awful lot like Boomers when he had Avian Gastric Yeast. His green parts were long and skinny and he had lots of clear liquids. Not saying its AGY but to me it sounds like something digestive is going on. For now I would give her only a seed mix and no fruits or veggies because the seeds are easy on her digestive tract. Spray millet is great for upset guts as well. Benabac or a digestive powder might help too. Hopefully she will just get better by just eating seeds and then you can slowly add other things to her diet.
Hugs to you and your partner!!
Fly Free Boomer, we will forever love you.
Thanks Ellen and Deanna for the fast replies.
I really hope it is not anything serious but you are right it could be anything. I agree after watching her the past few days I think it is something digestive too. We are still giving her vegetables but I'll see if he wants to stop giving them to her from tomorrow morning, She did eat her vegetables today and is always eating her seeds a lot and drinking water. I am also concerned about the stringy poops. Yesterday evening my partner decided to put her back with Kovu, her previous cage buddy. He couldn't stand seeing her just sitting around. They were going to have bedtime earlier but instead it took longer, but after she was in the cage, she recognised her previous home and they were happy together. They ate together, drank water together, preened each other. I was hesitant to put Kiara back with Kovu incase she has something contagious, but my partner really wanted to do it as he thinks she's become very lonely in her cage alone. She hasn't been the same since she was separated from Kovu, but she was eating drinking and making happy chirps but she wasnt moving around much and would mostly stay in the same spot all the time. When she was with kovu she was moving more playing with toys etc. Anyway she seemed happy last night being back with kovu and we heard them making soft chirps with each other as they preened and went to sleep once the lights were off. Beforehand she did go to check if Koko was still in the cage next door and chirped to him too.
This morning she still appears the same, sleepy eyes, not looking 100%. However, she eats a lot and drinks a lot. That has not stopped. But I think she is constipated. I feel something is blocking her from pooping. I saw her try to poop this morning and she tried about 3 times and nothing came out. But she made nothing of it and was just rubbing her beak on a perch and then went to rest for awhile. She mostly either sleeps or eats and drinks or sometimes sits with Kovu preening each other. We're still giving her the medicine we were given. My partner went to buy some dried dates to try to feed her with it, and he mixed it in water to so that it would be like a date juice to try to help her but so far nothing. At the moment she's sleeping again and we will start cleaning out the bowls and waters soon.
We do not have a certified avian specialist here but I have an exam tomorrow morning about 35 minutes away from home and our preferred vet is on the same route so we are thinking to take her there tomorrow if things do not improve. What I do not understand is she still eats and drinks as usual, not less, but cannot poop. Yet her vent was clear when the vet checked. I do not understand what is causing this or how it happened all of a sudden.
There could be a bowel obstruction, even something such as a tiny piece of a broken toy, or shredding material from a toy.
I do agree with Deanna. She is well apprised of Boomers challenges with AGY, and I think having a wellness check, with gram\grain stains is a good start. From what I read, usually meds prescribed make the poops loose, because they work to rid the body of infection. And that is not happening with her.
We will watch for updates.
Thank u Ellen. As u know I have already posted about kiara's passing on the rainbow bridge forum. I also saw your reply and I thank u dearly for it and I will come back on here later to read all of it.
I wanted to make a note on here incase someone ever has the same problem in the future. I don't know the whole story but kiara's vet said there were abnormalities in her liver and questioned her cage and any paints on it. But I am hoping to clarify any possible causes when we collect her next week.
I would like to say to anyone if your bird ever has the same symptoms, don't hesitate and take them to preferably avian knowledgable vet straight away. By the time these symptoms appear it might be too late though but if u can save your bird by getting her to the vet earlier then it is worth it to save their life. Always check their poops and behaviour everyday.
Thank you Deanna and Ellen for your help this week, I really appreciate it.
I love you as my birdy mom friend, and am thinking of you today! I do hope you will get some report, from the vet, so at least you can have some closure to this tragedy. (((((((Hugs)))))). Ellen
Thank you so much Ellen, and I too, love you also as my fellow birdy mom friend as well. You have been wonderful in providing advice and help on these forums and providing so much support. You are a blessing here. Hopefully next week, I will talk with the vet and know more about what caused little kiara's passing.
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