krosp

The vet said that we can just continue with lucrin every 1-3 months and that nothing else needs to be done unless he becomes sick again! I am stunned.... at his worst point I was 99% sure we were losing him..

As you may have read, Cosmo got very sick just over a week ago and I took him to an avian vet. He is heaps better now, and so we are just guessing that is due to the lucrin treatment he's getting. But we aren't too sure why he's so much better or why he was even sick (couldn't afford the x-ray and blood test). So anyway, the vet also told us we had to change his diet from seed to pellets. I have read a lot about this before, but not so much recently (haven't had time recently but plan to read everything again this week). I know there's some controversy around this. But the vet was insistant that seeds are bad for my birds. We do give them some vegetables as well but they have never had pellets. She wanted us to transition completely to pellets. So anyway... the recommended way of converting them over to pellets is by having the pellets in their old dish, and having small (decreasing) amounts of seed in a new dish. Last week when Cosmo was recovering, I just added a small scoop of pellets to their seed mix just so that they can get used to having pellets in their food dish without actually eating them (I was not supposed to do that, but I did not want to convert to pellets while he was so sick). Now today was my first day of the real thing.... gave them veggies as well but they still seem so hungry. I have put Cosmo on the pellet container a few times and he always picks at it and digs around looking for seed, but he doesn't eat the pellets. Him and Piccolo have devoured the small amount of seed and keep going back to it, I can tell they're really hungry. I don't really like this... I don't like starving my birds, especially when Cosmo has been so sick. Is it really safe to do this? Do I really have to or can I do it in a nicer way or anything?

*Update* Cosmo is looking so much better! Seriously, looking at him you could not tell how swollen his vent was a week ago. Poos are still about double their usual size, but are solid again. He hardly ever kicks himself anymore. He is no longer fluffed up and sleepy.... he is noisy and active and pretty much exactly his old self again. Obviously I am thrilled..... but also very confused. I seriously didn't expect him to recover, because we didn't even know what was wrong so I thought it was unlikely that we could have been treating the correct thing ! How can this be? Should I still be very worried even though he seems well? I'm going to ring the vet tomorrow and see what she says.

I'm so so sorry to hear of your losses

Cosmo went for his second lucrin injection today. He's looking so much better! I've seen him kick his bottom twice, but previously he was doing it constantly. It looks so much less swollen too. His poos are still really big but they aren't as runny anymore. He is so much brighter- he has been talking and chattering again... and he stands up in a proper posture rather than fluffed and slouched forward. We're really happy of course as he must be feeling better but I'm still trying not to get my hopes up too much as we don't know what is wrong. His cere has got darker, and he's lost 5 grams since last Friday He saw the nurse this time, so unfortunately it wasn't the same vet as last time so we couldn't get her thoughts on the comparison between last week and this week.

Thanks GenericBlue .... she is an avian vet :hurryup: ... I had the same thoughts as you, but then she said it could be harmful so I don't know. Maybe if it upsets his tummy which is already upset could make the runny poo thing worse? I'm still not giving it to him today, and he's much the same.... behaviour wise. Same as yesterday, he seems better if anything, but it's so marginal that it's hard to know if it's actually a change or not. He's been doing this cute but annoying thing a lot where he comes up so close to the side of the cage for a scratch, but then stops JUST out of reach of my finger, and gets all fluffy and expects me to be able to scratch him even though I can't get my finger in any further lol but that is nothing to do with his sickness, he always does that. Oh one more thing ---- his cere is changing colour. Getting darker.... could that be because of the lucrin injection or is it a sign that the vet is right about her hunch of something to do with the testicles?

I'm still stumped about the antibiotics, but I stopped them because I just figured it's more sensible to do what the vet said who actually examined him, although I'm not totally sold on it... Anyway, he was on it for about 24 hours... Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon. Today there are still no significant changes.... still kicking himself, still pooey... but still eating and being fairly normal otherwise. If anything he's a little better - he chirped along to some music tonight which he hasn't done since he first got sick on Friday. Does seem maybe a little sparkier than he was yesterday. But not enough for me to be certain that there was a change.

Just saw this. As you know Cosmo is doing the kicking himself thing too and it's hard to watch him do it and seem uncomfortable I noticed that in your other thread about Sunny he has a funny coloured cere which some people thought might have something to do with a hormone imbalance. Cosmo has that too now - the vet picked it up. I hope Sunny picks up soon

Hi everyone Well... Cosmo is still pretty much exactly the same. He's still kicking himself and looking pooey, and still eating... not his bright usual self, but still relatively alert. (He sprung over to my hand to eat his veggies as usual this morning). I bought the sulfa treatment yesterday, and used it yesterday and today... but then this afternoon the vet rang me to check up on how he's going, and she said not to use it. She said she checked him and there's no infection and over the counter antibiotics will do more harm than good. I'm a bit confused now... probably should take the vet's advice since she's the one who's actually examined him. But I like to feel that I could be doing something... on that "just in case" sort of thinking. I guess the possible bad thing about the sulfa D is if it upsets his gut or something. Anne - my husband and I really appreciated your lovely comment and your offer.

Should I keep the lamp there overnight? Then he won't get any darkness to sleep in? My husband has put a lamp on top of the cage while I was out, and they both are sleeping right under it currently, but maybe because they like to sleep on the top. Do you leave your lamp on all the time even when you go out? nubbly5 - I am guessing I can't buy that sulfa-D stuff anywhere myself? He's already kicked off most of his own feathers around the vent, but where it's getting stuck I have been pulling it off. He doesn't like my hands anymore

Liv - we discussed his weight and changing diet... I did think he's heavy because Piccolo is so so light that Cosmo just always felt heavy. But the vet said that he was very lean. So I guess he's not overweight? But we are working on improving the diet too.... But if it's just a weight/diet thing then why would he just suddenly have his poo so sloppy and sticking to him? I really don't know what to do now. He's still eating, but he's constantly kicking his vent area, and now his claws are getting pooey too. But it's not like thick and caked on. So his claws still look normal, just a little green. And the poo isn't blocking anything... like, it's more that it's colouring the area rather than actually having lumps that stick if that makes sense. So what should I do? Should I clean it or just wait until it looks too cakey? Because I really can't constantly scrub him. Can anything be done about him kicking himself so much? I'm just worried that he's going to make the area raw and then the poo will infect it. We're kind of prepared for the worst now... but still just want to do our best to keep him comfortable and with the hope of improvement if possible. He still does stuff... like, we get him out, he just flew to my shoulder and started nibbling the spots on my shirt. He's not so noisy anymore and doesn't bite us when he's had enough, so he's obviously sick.. but he still likes interaction and head scratches. The thing is that now he's so pooey it's not too nice to have him out on us either The vet said I can call again. Will be going in on Thursday for the next injection but it's only with the vet nurse. She mentioned pain relief.. ? Feeling so at a loss And Kaz -- he's probably 18 months or a bit under.

*UPDATE* Took him to an avian vet... we took Piccolo too just to be safe. She tested his faeces sample and crop sample and found nothing wrong. Felt him all over and there seems to be a mass near the vent. She also noticed that his cere is pretty dark so she seems to suspect testicular cancer... but she couldn't say for sure without doing x-rays and blood tests, which were around $300 all up so we decided not to do it. Instead, she has given him a lucrin injection in case there is some hormone/testicular condition... and will get two more. She reckons he looks otherwise okay besides the distended abdomen and so just to keep going as normal unless he worsens considerably. My poor baby

I'm so worried.. everything has seemed fine... but suddenly this morning I saw cosmo doing a weird dance on his perch. As I got closer, I noticed he had a fluffy pooey vent, and he was actually kicking it with both his feet. He's obviously really uncomfortable and trying to sort it out by kicking his feet up onto it. I'm so worried because I know this is bad news. The avian vet doesn't open until 9.... I don't know if I'll get an appointment, so I just have to go to school (I'm on prac as an education student) Thought about bringing him but decided he's probably a lot better at home. So my plan is to go to school, call the vet at 9 and take whatever appointment I can get and leave if I have to. I'm so worried to leave him on his own. He seems still his normal self apart from bothered by his vent. I just can't help thinking I'll come home to him on the floor Please give me any advice or reassurance or anything.

Aww sounds like you have a real soft spot for Cirrus. They look a bit like dogs if you don't look closely... with that curly scruffy look. They're going amazingly well! Glad that hen was not a FD too.

I agree, I would have picked this one, although maybe crop just the top half of it? The little guy down the bottom is cute, but it might be too much going on for one picture if you keep the whole bottom half, losing the effect. Or maybe not? What do others think?

okay here's photos... it's the left front claw that is super long, the rest look normal to me.. what do you think? Was so hard to get these, as he kept stepping up onto the camera

lol Dave! love the imagery there Macka - I'll try to get a photo, although it's hard to get a close up of his claws.. he's a bit obsessed with the camera ever since we replayed him a video of himself, he's fascinated and always flies onto it if I get it near... so I'll see what I can do. maesie - yes we do have varying widths of natural branches in the cage. They're not all smoothed yet. I don't particularly want to clip them but I just wanted to know what was recommended as I've heard of it being done.

We have noticed lately that Cosmo has got quite long claws. We have natural branches in their cage, so I'm not aware of anything more I can do about it. He seems okay in the cage, but out of the cage his claws will snag on anything, like if he's on our shoulder he'll always get caught on our clothes etc. Am I better off just leaving it, or should I try and trim them? Or is there something else I haven't thought of?

Maybe the yellow was so pale before it looked like white?

Piccolo has always been quite clumsy, and I'm just wondering if there's any cause for concern or if some budgies are just like this? He does have his wings clipped, but I don't think that can be the entire cause of his behaviour, as they have now been clipped for a few months, and most budgies I've ever had have been able to get well used to it within that time. Besides, he's so light that he can still fly relatively well with clipped wings. He just generally seems to have poor balance. If he wants to get from one place to another, he regularly falls and crashes to the bottom of the cage. Like... if he's on a swing and wants to get off, he never seems to make it to the branch he aims for- he just crashes to the bottom. He also does this thing where he climbs on these plastic linked ring things, and when he gets to the bottom, he's stuck there hanging by one foot and doesn't seem to know how to let go (we have checked and helped him lots of times and he's not actually stuck, like as in, not stuck in the apparatus somehow) -- so he just eventually flaps until he falls off and crashes. Many times we just hear him crash to the ground and are just used to it now! That seems to be the best explanation I can give. It's not all the time, he's capable of getting around normally and can manage his cage fine, it just seems that at least a few times a day he gets it wrong!

Progress is slow but is still happening. The best news is that even though Cosmo and Piccolo have very much bonded, Cosmo is as tame as ever and still enjoys coming out of the cage, begging for attention and interacting heaps with people. He still talks A LOT when people are around too... and wolf whistles lol. I think Piccolo is starting to imitate the inflections of the human voices, but hasn't started talking yet... I do think he's picking it up off Cosmo though. Piccolo is still shy and cautious, but seems comfortable on us if Cosmo is around. He used to only stay on us for a short period of time if cosmo was on the same exact hand, but now he'll sit on us for a much longer time even if Cosmo is on a different part of our body or on someone else but just generally in the same area of the room. He nibbles my fingers heaps (very gently) - such a little nibbler. The only other budgies I've had that nibbled in that way were all hens.

Glad this helped someone else and that your budgie is okay. I am thinking that maybe your oven isn't teflon coated but the fumes of something burning irritated the budgie's lungs all the same? I would be very surprised if an oven was teflon inside. But maybe it has some grill trays still inside it that might have some non-stick stuff? either way, good on you for responding to respiratory symptoms in good time! I don't have an answer on the heaters...

Thanks Neville. I had a thread a little while back about Millie's father - Sunny Boy. I can't remember anyone saying he was opaline back then, I will have to dig it up. I didn't realise dilutes could make him look so bright.... as in, he's not a pastel colour, he looked quite bright a yellow just that the greygreen part was extremely dilute. I think you are right as his markings were always extremely feint but the same kind of "pattern" as normal.

Wow... Kaz said this type of opaline spangle with markings is a "new development" lol maybe Millie is really ahead of the times as she is quite old.

*UPDATE* This is Millie today (at about 10 years old) For those who asked for a current picture! I really think her head looks opaline but she was obviously a spangle baby.