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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 3, 2015 21:48:29 GMT -5
Pippin has passed the blockage, however, his Vitamin D is very low (I am sitting in the winter sun with him and Spike). That deficiency caused him to do certain things - one of which was to eat the newspaper (which he has never done before). Spike is a girl - she appears to be okay. The vet was very taken by her appearance - she is a very pretty bird. I am a bit disappointed she is a girl as I just don't want to go through the egg saga again. She is definitely not interested in Pippin as a mate - he doesn't feel the same way  Now to Shah. The vet picked up just by looking at him that where he mutilates on the neck is exactly where his crop is - he said he thought he might be getting reflux. The xray showed that he also has a blockage but it has been there for a long time. Yep, you guessed it - he has reflux in the crop. I mentioned to him that Shah is aggro and unhappy and he said that is because he is in some discomfort. He goes back to the vet next week for the same treatment as Pippin got but, as he is in a little worse state, he will have to go back at least another 2-3 times next week (there go my holidays). Pippin cost me A$850 last week and the 3 of them cost A$1350 this week. There is still Shah's vet trips next week to add to it. And I thought the pony would be expensive However, I am absolutely thrilled that we have got to the bottom on Shah's mutilating behaviour and that all birds are being brought back to good health - you cant put a price on that. Nor can you put a price on getting back that lovely little quaker that I had - no more Mr Grumpy. |
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Post by easttex on Jul 4, 2015 6:06:24 GMT -5
It is a lot, but it definitely sounds like money well spent. Imagine Shah, no longer in a rage! |
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Post by aaron on Jul 4, 2015 11:58:30 GMT -5
Wow, that is fantastic about Shah. Wonderful news!!
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 4, 2015 19:56:21 GMT -5
It's good that you now know exactly what's happening with all the birds, and what needs to be done about it. Now that it's known exactly what was bothering Shah, there seems to be little doubt that it can be corrected. All the best to everybirdie for better health and improved dispositions. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 5, 2015 2:50:02 GMT -5
Today I felt so bad especially about Shah. Because I didn't want to spend the money, I took him to a cheaper vet (who is also a bird vet) when he started mutilating. I just feel that I have put him through 3 years of discomfort because I didn't want to spend the money on him. I was supposed to go to a workshop today but cancelled it and took my dog Emma to see Izzie who I haven't seen for 2 weeks. It was lovely spending time with the pony and the dog and come home and spend some time with the birds. Poor Shah starts his treatment tomorrow. I really feel I have let him down badly but have learnt a very important lesson from this and it wont happen again - to any of my animal buddies.
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Post by biteybird on Jul 5, 2015 4:38:47 GMT -5
Jan, it's not your fault. You still took him to a bird specialist vet and the problem might not have been picked up back then by your other vet, anyway. Now you should just try to look forward. I'm sure Shah doesn't blame you. Good luck for tomorrow's visit!
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Post by easttex on Jul 5, 2015 5:53:36 GMT -5
Ah, yes, the good old perfect-vision-in-hindsight guilt trip. I know it well. My nearest certified avian vet is in Dallas, which is 180 miles from me. So, I choose to see a vet about 40 miles away. I will regret that if someone goes undiagnosed one of these days, but we have to make choices that are a reasonable balance of time/money/whatever and risk. Sure, if you knew then what you know now, you'd do it differently, but you didn't. Don't be too hard on yourself. How many people do you know, aside from from the ones here or in rescue work, would go as far you did? I don't know about there, but there are many, many animals here in the southern U.S. that never see a vet of any kind. If I were a furry, feathered or finned critter, I'd be happy to be in your care. |
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Post by aaron on Jul 5, 2015 14:14:37 GMT -5
Jan, don't beat yourself up. It's always a delicate balance trying to figure out the right decisions in these situations. You've ended up where you need to be. If there's anything to be learned from the situation, learn it and move on, but no need for guilt... Shah is lucky to have you working to figure out his situation... So many would have just gotten frustrated and given up.
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 5, 2015 20:01:29 GMT -5
There's really no guarantee that a vet that charges more will be better at diagnosing and treating a parrot's illnesses-- though in your case, it did work out that way. Since the cheaper vet you had been going to was an avian vet, it was reasonable to have confidence in that vet. Don't dwell on what happened in the past, but concentrate on the progress that's going to be made now that Shah's problem is understood and effective treatment can begin.
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