The white stuff is the urates, the liquid us the urine and the brown/green stuff is the faeces (poo). She is producing a lot of urates and urine (although to be honest it doesn't look as bad as I imagined , I think I've had a budgie poop like that before and then it went away after awhile), this means she probably has an issue in her kidneys, or she could just be stressed. I can't recall any useful information off hand though, unfortunately. I'll be way more useful in 2 years time, or after I've worked in the wildlife ward for a bit.

glad to hear that it looks better

what type of testing do they do for kidney's for her just curious.

Not sure to tell you the truth Elly, they took swabs from all over and stuck her with needles and also had her overnight at one stage so not sure what they stuck her with

hmm, it would be interesting to know that information for your own knowledge of what you are paying for and it would help other forum members including me for our birds. The only way I know that you can confirm kidney disease is to take a blood test.

Hope she gets better sounds like it

hmm, it would be interesting to know that information for your own knowledge of what you are paying for and it would help other forum members including me for our birds. The only way I know that you can confirm kidney disease is to take a blood test.

 

 

okay looked up the bill they list a bunch of test names and and action list (which I am going to say it what they did)

 

Blood test x 4, blood slide x 6, waste scrapping x 2, waste dye lot x 1, crop sample x 3, intestinal sample x 1, feather sample x 2, feather blood sample x 1, skin scraping x 3, cere scraping x 2 & nail scrapings x 1.

 

After reading that I know why she freaks out if anyone goes near the cage! It would be really nice to know what is going on but maybe it will always be a mystery.

 

Also I like my vet as he started to get annoyed and stopped charging me towards the end

that is good to know you know though he should have a print out of the blood work I bet you can ask for that and it would show her kidney function just having that information is good so you know the normal range, annoyed or not lol you are paying for it even if he stopped charging at the end...don't mean to offend, I am a why person and black and white and it is easier for me to understand if I can see the results in hand vs just taking it by word.

Edited August 19, 200816 yr by Elly

okay next vet visit I will see if I can get a print out of the results. Also of the tests say next to the them "within normal range" or "Clear no signs" but will see if there is more info I can get.

Glad to hear that the vet stopp charging you

Also glad to hear that her poos are getting more soild :budgiedance:

Looked better today, nowhere near normal but more colour in them and more soild. A little too green for my liking but I figure that some colour is better then nothing. So will keep up with the Cider untill the start of next week and re asses the situation.

 

Thanks for all your ideas and hints and support guys

I hope things re getting better after your expenditure of such massive amounts on this bird AV. I have too many birds to watch what each ones droppings look like, but I have had a couple of birds that once they are in cabinets, they drink massive amounts of water compare to normal birds, but they still seem to produce normal healthy young. I definitely think they must have some problems but what it is, is a mystery. Failed kidneys, livers etc aren’t good for each individual bird, but at least I don’t think that they are contagious.

Glad to hear that there is some improvement

I hope things re getting better after your expenditure of such massive amounts on this bird AV. I have too many birds to watch what each ones droppings look like, but I have had a couple of birds that once they are in cabinets, they drink massive amounts of water compare to normal birds, but they still seem to produce normal healthy young. I definitely think they must have some problems but what it is, is a mystery. Failed kidneys, livers etc aren’t good for each individual bird, but at least I don’t think that they are contagious.

 

I am a bit the same in some ways. If this issues had happened in the avairy and I only noticed it in the breeding cages then I would have just kept and eye on her and her breeding partner and let it be. However she was the first of my birds to get sick and the rest of the birds got sick from her we believe so she got split out and the others got better she got better but this issue did not clear up. As bad as this sounds if she had been about three other of my birds I may not have gone to the lengths that I have gone to but something about her makes me want to save her if that makes sense. I love her colours and there is just something about her. I know that I had gotten to the point where I said to the vet I am not sure how much more money I can spend on her and he is just as fustrated as me so has been using her to teach the vet nurses how to handle a bird and also the few vet students that come in have been doing some of the tests under him so the last few rounds have been free.

I understand. Hopefully you get some answers soon.

Give her teatree and eucalyptus leaves and grevillea and bottlebrush flowers fresh daily to chew on. She needs phytonutrients which can only be ingested from fresh plants. Also, the oils in these native plants are antimicrobial and in natural balanced form that budgies eat in the wild.

To test kidney function, you can take blood tests, but you can also look at the urine and urates. That can be difficult though as glucose from the faeces can move into the urates, giving a false reading, as they are mixed up together all the time.

 

I wonder if maybe she has parasites? I don't know.

 

Blood tests test a lot of stuff, they can also test liver function, whether or not muscle and/or bone is being broken down, thyroid problems, pituitary gland problems, adrenal gland problems, any gland problems!, if they are deficient in something or in excess of some thing.

 

Some tips for reading the tests:

If a word as "aemia" at the end of it like hypocalcaemia for instance, it means it is in the blood. Aemia = blood (Americans shorten it to emia, they like to forget the base and origins of the word ). Hypo = low, Hyper = high.

 

Therefore:

Hypocalcaemia = low blood calcium

Hypercalcaemia = high blood calcium

Hypoglycaemia = low blood sugar

Anaemia = low red blood cell count (an = absence, aemia = blood)

Myoglobinaemia = myoglobin in the blood (this happens when muscle breaks down, for the horsey lovers out there, when horses "tie up")

 

etc etc

The same goes for urine, except aemia is replaced with uria

eg:

myoglobinuria

 

 

This is why I find it weird/funny when people say their kids have been hypo all morning lol! I know what they mean, but it is the complete opposite to the word they are using. lol

Edited August 23, 200816 yr by Sailorwolf

WOW SW, That is great information ... Thanks for sharing that with us ...

Thanks for the info guys, she seems to be harding up and more bulk in her droppings rather then just all white. It's still white but going to leave her for another week and re asses the situation. She does get fresh leaves and loves them now she has worked out she can eat them!

I just thought I would update you. The vet still can not work out what is going on. The Apple Cider Vinger has helped but not as much as we hoped and even then we don't know why it is helping. He has run ever test that he could think of and everything is within normal range. He spoke to two other vets and one guy who was down from Sydney came to see her and still nothing. We then decided to take a different measure.

 

I took Brandon into see the vet and he got a full health screen and came out healthy we then put them together at the vets and they where monitored for 2 days. Brandon shows no signs of coming down with thatever she has. They then got returned home and stayed together and nothing. As she is going into breeding condition I have added a nest box (but she is not really intrested in it at this time) and we will see what happens. The vet thinks that maybe she just naturally produces alot of urine and there is nothing we can do about it. She drinks no more then any of my other guys so he said just to make sure she always has water avaible to her and then we can go from there.

 

They have now been together for 11 days and no signs of illness in Brandon. Granted this was taking a risk and I am sure people will think that I should not have done this but the other option was for her to spend the rest of her life in a cage by herself away from the rest of the flock or to be put down neither of which I wanted to do. If Brandon shows signs of illness or if they have chicks and the chicks show signs then I will put them all down and take the loss on the chin and accept that I did everything I could. But the general opinion is that this might be her normal state.

Av I would have done the same, Regardless of what any other member may think . I would rather risk 1 bird then risj my flock just like what you did ..

 

I hope all goes well with you , Bugger the vets don't have any answers - May be it was the Doxy she was on ? Who knows

Maybe she is just a wee factory.

 

I'm sure even if her babies are sick you'll find loving homes for them.

AV, you do what you think is best in this situation. You have spent a lot of time and money trying to work it all out. It would have been different if you just threw her into the fire with the rest without care and consideration. Keep us updated.

A risk, yes, but a calculated one. Hats off to you for spending money and time and researching what is best. An owner who cares... got to love that :hap: . Do keep us updated!