Sneey

Oh no! Gosh, that's scary! You and Peppy will be in our prayers... I hope it turns out to be something easily resolvable!!

Hoping that all will be well with Peppy.

Not all the tests are back yet, but from what is it's pretty clear that he has fatty liver disease. Why the sneezing and the link to the abdominal fluid isn't clear to me yet, but I'm going over to pick up a milk thistle compound tomorrow and will ask. The most important thing for now is to make sure he's eating. I can feel the loss in his breastbone. He's picking at his food, but not pooping much. I just made him a scrambled egg with a little cheddar cheese and he seemed to enjoy that. I'm going to get some hand feeding formula to see if he feels badly enough to want to revert to babyhood. Poor little guy is napping a lot.

Sorry to hear about the fatty liver disease. I know there are special diets you can put them on for this disease. Your avian vet should have something that can be put in the water to help build him up - it is called Quik Gel in Australia. Dont be swamped by this news - look on it as a challenge. Sending hugs your way.

Thanks, all. Aaron, I think the vet was holding back her final judgment until all the test results were in, though she was not expecting any more bad news. I hope I can speak to her today when I pick up the the milk thistle.

"Swamped" is a pretty good description of how I felt yesterday. I was kind of prepared for that diagnosis when I took him to the vet the first time a few months back, since I think he was on a largely seed diet for who knows how long. When that didn't show up, I relaxed. It was a blow, but I hope to adjust my attitude today. The vet said she has seen them come back with full liver function, so I'm going to follow her instructions. 

Thanks, Jan. I know you're no stranger to what I'm going through.

I was really worried yesterday. He would not eat anything but a little scrambled egg. The vet said to keep his liver functioning he has to eat, even if it is junk-ier foods, so I tried everything. Plus, his weight loss is pretty alarming. Finally I left to get the milk thistle and hand feeding formula. When I got back, I gave him some chicken breast, and he ate it. Then he ate his grape. Then he started picking at his Higgins cooked food, and after a while he started really eating it. I don't know if the antibiotic is helping the infection, or what.

The link between his symptoms is still a little murky to me. It was pleasantly chaotic in the office while the vet was talking to me. A man walked in with his extremely friendly Great Dane and French bulldog, the GD spied the resident cat, scrambled to get away from the cat (her owner said she is afraid of them), and the bulldog was intent on making friends with everyone there at once. All in tight quarters. But if I understood correctly, his liver was partially compromised, but it probably would have gone unnoticed except that the infection caused him to quit eating, which further compromised the liver. It's a long weekend here, but I'll be talking to her next week and hope to understand better.