Carmen

I got off the phone from the clinic about 20 minutes ago, and Chomp is perching and moving around his cage today. He still isnt eating, but will keep getting crop fed. So, it sounds like he may have improved slightly on yesterday, yet I still dont know about his weight today. I will go in today at 2pm to check on him again, and talk to the vet about how many crop feedings he is getting a day, how many he got on the weekend, and his weight loss. So I will talk to the vet again today, if he keeps pushing euthanasia on me, I will ask when the vet who had been caring for him will be back in. If he keeps insisting, I will move him to another vet who has been recommended to me if this particular vet doesnt seem to want to go the extra mile. This current vet is getting on my nerves a bit. If Chomp appears to be improving and not as close to death as he has been in recent days, when the female vet was caring for him, why would be push for euthanasia? If he keeps this up, I will ask him if he is willing to do what it takes for this little bird. If I get anything other than a satisfactory answer, I will be very upset. The nurses who are medicating him are wonderful, they give me an update every morning and remember everything about his treatment, and about my other budgie Jim. I hope my normal vet is back in tomorrow.

I agree Richo I was incredibly disappointed when he told me that. Even if I couldnt crop feed him at least he would have been safe and warm in my house with someone watching over him.

AV youre a wonderful person. Thank you so much for being so considerate - we will see how he goes in the next few days, thanks again!

I went in and saw Chomp, the poor little guy is so sick. He sat in the corner of the little cage when I spoke to him and I had a little bit of a chat with him which perked him up a bit. He started lying down on his sternum while I was talking with the vet which is a sign of extreme weakness. He has gone from 53g when I brought him in to 38g in 4 days. I told him that I understand how sick he is, but the report from this morning sounded so much more positive than yesterday which makes me think that he may improve. He asked me that if he was not improving and losing weight tomorrow, would I consider euthanasia. After I explained to him how he had seemed to improve today, he then decided to leave the decision till tomorrow. He also said that being during the week, he will get better care than he would have gotten during the weekend since they are left alone for so long on the weekend - I didnt realise that after 12pm, they dont get any more crop feedings on weekends, which is possibly why he has lost so much weight. God I hope he improves tomorrow.

Thank you all so much for your replies! Angelic Vampyre, I believe you will know who my vet is, it is vet #1 from a post of yours I saw around these boards. I am so happy to read your post, I think it must be so hard for vets with budgies since they are so fragile and go downhill so quickly. Chomp was perched this morning, the first time he has perched in days. He is chirpier today than he was yesterday so he might be on the up. I didnt speak to the vet who had been caring for him today but I spoke to the other avian vet on duty, and he said that if they can get him over the trich, he will be fine. He has lost lots of weight and will need more feedings. He reminded me of the state of my account and 'didnt know how far I wanted to go' - I told him I am not concerned with my account, as long as Chomp gets all the care he requires and gets the very best chance of survival. Even if he doesnt make it, I will be happy to pay that money knowing that he had the very best chance he could. I couldnt live with myself knowing otherwise. He wants me to come in and have a chat to him this afternoon, I am not sure what he will want to talk with me about. If he tells me that he thinks we should stop trying, I will want to know the opinion of the vet who has cared for him so far first - the other vet thought he may have been dead yesterday when she came in but when Chomp perked up after getting his medicine and some food, she wanted to keep trying. It sounds as though the mega is under control, they are still just working on the trich. Fingers crossed! ETA: Also, please ignore the window to the left that says I am a budgie breeder, I clearly am not and dont know how to change it!

Thank you so much for all your fast replies, I am finding this all so confusing. Everything I read about these two illnesses tells me that they are easily treated, and my veterinarian is one of the few vets registered in bird medicine in the country and she is stuggling with this. I hope I here some better news tomorrow.

Hi all, I currently have a budgie in the fight of his life against trichomoniasis as well as a macrorhabdus infection. He is in his 4th day of intensive care at the vet and the outlook the vet has given me isnt a good one. I found Chomp the budgie one day out the front of my house, walking on the footpath. After trying to find his owner, I decided to keep him and took him to the vet for a checkup, where she wormed him, checked his poop for macros and his blood for psittacosis, all of which came back negative. I then got him a friend, who I quarantined him from for 45 days and had him checked at the vet also (everything came back negative). I have no idea where Chomp came from and dont know anything about Wednesday I woke my boys up especially early since I had an appointment. Chomp woke up very perky and ate his breakfast without any fuss or any problems at all. That evening I came home and noticed Chomp seemed to be sleeping a bit. He would wake up, play with his cagemate Jim, eat some food then nap again. I ruled his sleepiness down to being woken up so early and didnt draw any immediate conclusions - its not the first time I'd seen my boys napping. The next morning, Chomp seemed quite tired when I woke them up and thought he seemed a bit fluffy but he often is in the morning when he has just been woken. I came home at lunchtime and checked on him to find he was perched in the same place, still fluffed up. I got him to turn around for me and noticed he had vomited down his front. I immediately packed him up and took him to the vet, where he fell asleep in his carrier on the way there (very unlike him). He tested positive for trichomonas in his crop and macrorhabdus in his feces despite both my birds initially testing negative. He was immediately treated with spartrix for the trich and amphotericin for the macros, with no improvement. She has continued treatment with both, and added in injectable antibiotics in an attempt to improve his condition as well as crop feeding. This morning there was no improvement, he is still foaming at the mouth from the trich and isnt eating enough on his own. She said that while there is a chance for him, she will perservere - he is still hanging in there. I have taken Jim in to be treated incase he has it also but isnt suffering yet. He seems perfectly well and happy, but is calling out for Chomp. Has anyone gone through this with their budgies before? Did you have any success in your pets treatment? Did they survive? I am at my wits end at the moment, I am willing to do and spend whatever it takes to get him better but I am not sure that there is much I can do. Any help?

Thanks guys, these are all options I hadnt even thought about!

Hi everyone, Do any of you have a source for shallow feed dishes? I've been looking for some for my budgies to feed them a veggie and sprouted legume 'mash' I've made up but all the dishes are so deep, I have to really fill the dish to the top for my budgies to be able to eat from it without having to stand in the dish to eat it!