I had noticed for a while that Lysander was starting to look puffed up & wasn't as active as she used to be. But then she seemed to shake out of it. However when I noticed that it was happening again I took her to the vet. She is around 7 or 8 months old, and from his examination of her he said that when he felt her abdomen that her intestines felt squished to the bottom, which would mean her liver was pushing them down. He has given me Baytril to give her, 4 drops 2ce a day, but said he also worries that if that doesn't help that it might be a viral infection. Has anyone here had any experience with anything like this? Are there any possible explanations as to why she would be having this when she's so young??

 

Thanks in advance for any insight anyone can provide.

I wish I could give you a clear cut answer. She may have a tumor down there and that is genetics. Did you go to an avian vet? The only way to really know what is wrong if she is strong enough is blood work and x-rays to see since the keel bone goes all the down. That was what was told to me when Pretty was sick.

 

Keep her very warm this is essential. I would ask about additional tests.

I wish I could give you a clear cut answer. She may have a tumor down there and that is genetics. Did you go to an avian vet? The only way to really know what is wrong if she is strong enough is blood work and x-rays to see since the keel bone goes all the down. That was what was told to me when Pretty was sick.

 

Keep her very warm this is essential. I would ask about additional tests.

 

Yes the vet I took her to was an avian vet, I have taken 2 other birds to him as well & he has always been very helpful. He asked me to take her back in a week so that he could check her out again to see if the Baytril has helped any. He said if it hasn't then it is likely viral & that is something to be pursued on a different path - I am thinking as you said that it will then mean blood work/x-rays.... :fear I'm just not entirely sure what "viral" could mean..but I know it's not good!

 

This is also my first time giving a bird oral medication...thankfully he gave me extra as I am finding out that it can be tricky!

 

She does seem to be doing a bit better though, she is not as fluffed up as she was & she doesn't seem to be sleeping as much...I'm crossing my fingers.... :mellow:

viral means that antibotics don't work and his immune system will have to fight it off vs bacterial which can be treated with antibiotics. Like when we get colds they are most likely viral and not bacterial.

 

I hope she is okay and I will keep her in my thoughts. If you find her getting worse by tommorrow call back because I can tell you that antibiotics should work within 24-48 hours. Birds can go down hill in a snap as I learned with my Pretty.

My budgie Pippin has recently been on Baytril and also Ornicure in his water for a sinus/kidney infection problem. As it is difficult to determine how much a bird is drinking, I held his water pot up to him to make him drink. Maybe this is something you could try with your little one.

 

One of the signs that Pippins had a problem with his kidney was he went lame in one leg. The vet advised that this could be down to an enlarged kidney (infection) or a testicluar tumour pressing on the nerves in his leg. Thankfully, the medicine had the necessary effect and he is back to normal.

 

Lets hope that the medicine works for your little one.

you may also want to consider getting an electronic gram scale that goes up and down in increments of 1 gram or less to weigh your bird. Weight loss or gain is a huge factor in health. I recently got one for Merlin since Pretty passed. You can get them on-line or at an office supply store.

Really sorry to hear about your little sweety.... terrible when they aren't well. I can only tell you about my darling bird, he's 5 yrs old now and never been "well". Eventually after xrays they found he has enlarged liver which has not helped him with gut problems (obviously pushing down on his intestines) and also he has a fatty lipoma... again not helping and that's why he has the gut problems that have been going on all these years. I don't know the answer to it, he's been on antibiotics, etc etc but nothing is curing him, we just manage his health the best we can and he is chirpy and happy most of the time...

 

I hope your little angel does well and that your vet can help her out... I'll pop in here to see how things go, hopefully you will have some good news soon.

 

best wishes

Chrissie

I hope that Lysander will be okay. All the best.

 

Feathers.

viral means that antibotics don't work and his immune system will have to fight it off vs bacterial which can be treated with antibiotics. Like when we get colds they are most likely viral and not bacterial.

 

I hope she is okay and I will keep her in my thoughts. If you find her getting worse by tommorrow call back because I can tell you that antibiotics should work within 24-48 hours. Birds can go down hill in a snap as I learned with my Pretty.

 

 

okay well reading what you wrote Elly makes me even more worried about what may happen if it is viral. However, she is less fluffed & has been calling down to the other birds occasionally today so I'm hoping that's a good sign. She's never been a very active bird though so it's hard to gage on that one. When I brought her back from the vet I had to uh..wash her bottom for her...and since then she hasn't had anything sticking to her & her droppings look more "solid". I'm trying to take all of these as good signs, but I'm still worried.

 

My budgie Pippin has recently been on Baytril and also Ornicure in his water for a sinus/kidney infection problem. As it is difficult to determine how much a bird is drinking, I held his water pot up to him to make him drink. Maybe this is something you could try with your little one.

 

One of the signs that Pippins had a problem with his kidney was he went lame in one leg. The vet advised that this could be down to an enlarged kidney (infection) or a testicluar tumour pressing on the nerves in his leg. Thankfully, the medicine had the necessary effect and he is back to normal.

 

Lets hope that the medicine works for your little one.

 

Thanks for the suggestion...now that you mention it, I haven't really seen Lysander drinking anything...but I'm not home during the day as I'm at work. I will keep that in mind though with the water!

 

Really sorry to hear about your little sweety.... terrible when they aren't well. I can only tell you about my darling bird, he's 5 yrs old now and never been "well". Eventually after xrays they found he has enlarged liver which has not helped him with gut problems (obviously pushing down on his intestines) and also he has a fatty lipoma... again not helping and that's why he has the gut problems that have been going on all these years. I don't know the answer to it, he's been on antibiotics, etc etc but nothing is curing him, we just manage his health the best we can and he is chirpy and happy most of the time...

Chrissy, the vet said that from the way her abdomen felt, that Lysander's liver felt enlarged. He used this to explain why her bottom was getting poopy b/c her intestines weren't able to work properly..I hope the Baytril does in fact help. How young was your bird when you started suspecting there was something wrong??

If it is liver I have read that diet plays an important part with an enlarged liver and they will be okay. Keep us updated.