Post by aaron on Jul 18, 2017 16:11:07 GMT -5
Hi guys!
So, a couple weeks ago Cupcake woke up and it was clear she was not feeling well. Acting very reserved and fluffy and not chipper as usual. We then looked in her cage and noticed that she had either thrown up or regurgitated overnight, which has never happened before... We were hanging out with her and just trying to be calm and assess the situation, and she suddenly started throwing up again... No regurgitation behavior, it was clearly not hormonal in nature. She was shaking her head side to side and saliva was getting on top of her head... Typical stuff for throwing up.
We decided to take her to the vet immediately, but it was Sunday, and our normal vet does not have emergency services, so we went to the exotic animal clinic at the facility that our vet recommends for these sorts of situations.
They started with a fecal gram stain test and found that her gut flora was healthy, so they wanted to do blood work. We said ok, but asked them to take the blood with us present, and explained that Cupcake can get extremely stressed out when taken away from us and into the back at the vet (last time was really rough on her). They insisted that it was best that we not be present, because they didn't want her to associate us with the unpleasant blood taking experience... We shouldn't have bought this reason, but sadly we did and let them take her back.
A bunch of time went by, and it was clearly taking too long. Finally, the vet came back and explained to us that Cupcake had struggled free when they tried to take her out of her container and had flown into a window. Yes, you are reading this correctly. This place chose to handle a flighted bird (which they knew) with a tendency to freak out in such situations (a tendency they had been warned about) in an examination room with a FULL WALL OF UNCOVERED GLASS WINDOWS. Unbelievable.
We ran back there to see her. She was just dazed, and they had her on oxygen at that point. Thankfully, she seemed fine, just shaken up a bit. Furious, we packed up our stuff and put her in the container and left without paying (they did not charge us--they knew they had majorly screwed up).. We did this hoping she would be ok, knowing there was a chance she wouldn't be... We just couldn't bear the idea of her being under their care any further. Luckily she has been fine, and has been essentially acting normal since.
The only difference we have noticed is that the pattern of movement when she grinds her beak while happy has changed. There is a distinct beak chatter that seems a bit involuntary. Almost like her beak is quaking against itself. It's minor, and literally everything else about her is normal. It's been a little over two weeks. Is this a sign of neurological damage? Anything to be worried about? We might take her back into our vet soon, but for the time being I want to avoid stressing her out if at all possible.
In the end, we concluded that the Swiss chard she had pigged out on right before bed was a little weird and had caused the vomiting. When I ate it, it gave me an unusual mouth sensation that I don't get with chard typically. We also read that chard can cause clumping in the digestive system that can cause upset... She had eaten a ton of it that night, so that was probably it. Just an upset tummy.
Thought you guys would find this story interesting if nothing else! Personally, we will now always ask to inspect the facility before we allow Cupcake to go into the back at a vet, and we'll be pretty reluctant to allow that unless it is absolutely necessary. I have faith that our relationship with Cupcake is strong enough that it would not be greatly damaged by her "associating us with the bad guys" if we are present. Sheesh.
So, a couple weeks ago Cupcake woke up and it was clear she was not feeling well. Acting very reserved and fluffy and not chipper as usual. We then looked in her cage and noticed that she had either thrown up or regurgitated overnight, which has never happened before... We were hanging out with her and just trying to be calm and assess the situation, and she suddenly started throwing up again... No regurgitation behavior, it was clearly not hormonal in nature. She was shaking her head side to side and saliva was getting on top of her head... Typical stuff for throwing up.
We decided to take her to the vet immediately, but it was Sunday, and our normal vet does not have emergency services, so we went to the exotic animal clinic at the facility that our vet recommends for these sorts of situations.
They started with a fecal gram stain test and found that her gut flora was healthy, so they wanted to do blood work. We said ok, but asked them to take the blood with us present, and explained that Cupcake can get extremely stressed out when taken away from us and into the back at the vet (last time was really rough on her). They insisted that it was best that we not be present, because they didn't want her to associate us with the unpleasant blood taking experience... We shouldn't have bought this reason, but sadly we did and let them take her back.
A bunch of time went by, and it was clearly taking too long. Finally, the vet came back and explained to us that Cupcake had struggled free when they tried to take her out of her container and had flown into a window. Yes, you are reading this correctly. This place chose to handle a flighted bird (which they knew) with a tendency to freak out in such situations (a tendency they had been warned about) in an examination room with a FULL WALL OF UNCOVERED GLASS WINDOWS. Unbelievable.
We ran back there to see her. She was just dazed, and they had her on oxygen at that point. Thankfully, she seemed fine, just shaken up a bit. Furious, we packed up our stuff and put her in the container and left without paying (they did not charge us--they knew they had majorly screwed up).. We did this hoping she would be ok, knowing there was a chance she wouldn't be... We just couldn't bear the idea of her being under their care any further. Luckily she has been fine, and has been essentially acting normal since.
The only difference we have noticed is that the pattern of movement when she grinds her beak while happy has changed. There is a distinct beak chatter that seems a bit involuntary. Almost like her beak is quaking against itself. It's minor, and literally everything else about her is normal. It's been a little over two weeks. Is this a sign of neurological damage? Anything to be worried about? We might take her back into our vet soon, but for the time being I want to avoid stressing her out if at all possible.
In the end, we concluded that the Swiss chard she had pigged out on right before bed was a little weird and had caused the vomiting. When I ate it, it gave me an unusual mouth sensation that I don't get with chard typically. We also read that chard can cause clumping in the digestive system that can cause upset... She had eaten a ton of it that night, so that was probably it. Just an upset tummy.
Thought you guys would find this story interesting if nothing else! Personally, we will now always ask to inspect the facility before we allow Cupcake to go into the back at a vet, and we'll be pretty reluctant to allow that unless it is absolutely necessary. I have faith that our relationship with Cupcake is strong enough that it would not be greatly damaged by her "associating us with the bad guys" if we are present. Sheesh.
