Baby has been run down lately - lethargic and sleepy, puffy and just not herself. So I decided to bring her in before she got really sick. Just a few minutes after I made her appt, Cupid's wing seemed funny. I looked at him and looked at him and something just wasn't right. He was holding his wing out and it was all shaky, and he was favoring the foot of that side too, holding it up and kinda letting it dangle. I knew something was wrong even though I hadn't seen or heard him run into anything this morning. So I called to see if they could see him today. They were going to call the dr in from his lunch break, but I thought Cupie could wait till the available time.

 

We were really worried about how Cupid would react to being at the vet - being handled so much etc. He's just barely finger tame and still prefers to interact with us at a little bit of a distance rather than very much on our hands and stuff like Baby. After flying into the window in the office where they don't go and flapping around in a corner, we got him into the box fairly easily. However, once we took him out at the clinic, he had a little spot of blood above his eye! Poor little guy....

 

Baby ended up having a lot of debris and inflammation in her cere. It was a surprise because she hasn't been doing any sneezing and there hasn't been any discharge anywhere. We were hoping it was just another feather, but I was SOOO glad that we brought her in now instead of waiting till she was sicker. When respiratory infections get into their lungs, its almost impossible to treat because their airways are so narrow and the lungs don't have as many blood vessels as people's do. I'm sure that this is why when people see that their parakeets have a nose or breathing issue they almost always die. Larger birds have larger airways and can be treated easier.

 

So Baby is now on 2 antibiotics, one orally and drops to put right in her nose. Hopefully we caught it soon enough and the bacteria don't become resistant to the one med in case this has been a chronic thing and actually going on since December when she was sick before. Luckily, I'm starting my internship at the clinic on Monday, so if she isn't getting better it will be very simple to switch to a different one.

 

Cupid is another story. He was a complete angel at the vet and almost literally clung to jared the whole time. It was so sweet! He flew around the room a couple of times, but very readily stepped up for us and went to the vet with little hesitation too. We figured that our work with him at home was something familiar to him in a strange place. I really hope that he'll stay that tame here at home too!

 

So as for what's wrong with him, the vet really couldn't say for sure. His wing was not broken or injured in any way that he could tell. No bruising or swelling and he could obviously fly just fine. He was also hardly putting any weight on the foot of the same side, which really seemed to rule out a lot of things. The only logical explanation is that its something neurological. However, in such a small bird, its almost impossible to diagnose something specific in this case. He thought it might be an inflammation in the spine that is affecting a nerve which controls the limbs, but it would be too tiny to show up on an xray. And they don't do MRIs or cat scans on parakeets either. If it wasn't that, the only other explanation would be some sort of brain injury, like a concussion (but he wasn't showing other signs of that). And there really isn't treatment for that beyond oxygen therapy, which pretty much just gives them strength to heal (and its like 110$ a day!).

 

So Cupid came home with an antiinflammatory in hopes of reducing anything that could be pushing on a nerve and helping with any pain he might be having. He also is resting in a small cage by himself. I'm not sure if this is going to be something he'll have to continue for life, or if its just going to be a one time thing if the meds clear up what's going on. Time will tell. He doesn't seem too uncomfortable other than being confused about the teeny cage he's in and wanting to go home. He's eating and pooping good and since his first dose of stuff, he seems to be holding his wing closer to normal, but not quite all the way.

 

Poor little Psyche doesn't know what to do without her Cupid. I put his cage right next to hers, so they can still be near each other, but she's quite a bit more nervous than she has been lately. She really freaked when we took him out and put him in the little carrier box. We're talking "where are you?" calls like crazy! And she called out a lot when we came home too. I'm hoping that being 'separated' from him will help her gain a little confidence on her own. I've decided that I'm going to start reading to her every day. She's come out of her shell a little bit lately, not retreating to the top back corner when we interact with them and she takes millet more readily too. I just hope this isn't going to be a setback for her and I'm looking at it as an opportunity to work with her more to gain her trust.

 

The next 2 weeks are going to be interesting... giving 3 meds to 2 birds, all for different lengths of time. its going to test my nursing skills! *(Laughing out loud)* But as everyone knows, when faced with something not so pleasant, it helps to look at the positive side. Here's to hoping all 3 will come through this in better shape than before!

Keep us updated, you explained everything so well that I don't have any questions but just fingers crossed that all will be okay for both!!!

*(Laughing out loud)* I was thinking about that as I was writing. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. *L* Updates on all fronts will most definitely be coming (socializing Psyche and Cupid's tameness will probably go somewhere else though).

explanations are a good thing (I didn't mean it any other way) :ausb:

:ausb: Poor Baby and Cupid! Your vet sounds very good and thorough, glad they are doing well. :budgiedance: