For four months now, madam has had the runs. She was on some medication for eight weeks because they couldn't work out what was making her sick. While on the medication her poo was runny, excess urates and bright green around the edges in the mornings with giant pools. Truly bizarre.. and not something you'd want to deal with long term! She was drinking more, was eating normally, and fat and happy. The vet wasn't fussed. There was no sign of problems with our new budgie either (the problems were around before he was)

 

Thursday, she was off colour and grumpy, her feathers had dulled and she was just Microsoft Corporation ® ruuude! Sleeping, and biting.I knew something was up.. I'm so in tune to that bird it's insane. So we popped some medicine into her water... I went away on holidays. Mum kept it up over the weekend. I came home and she said "You won't believe it, Merlin's poop is normal, she's bright and healthy again" I just thought naa.. can't be true.. I had really thought she was on her way out, she's been through so much in a year. Our other bird was fine.. no problems at all, she must just have some kind of weird bug that likes to randomly make her sick or something :fear

 

Wandered out to the cage... there was my Merlin, feathers bright and blary, bouncing around twittering... being all smoochy.. and the most amazing thing, she had NORMAL droppings... I had to keep going out there and checking every few minutes.. we'd really accepted it as normal for her. Will have to see what happens when she's off the meds in a week... if it comes back then I'll ring the vets and have a chat with them.

 

In case people are wondering, she didn't get taken to the vet because she has been hospitalised and tested on four occasions over the past year, and only once did they find conclusive evidence on what was causing her illness.. and we're still paying off the darn vet bill! Plus.. we have just about every type of medication they'd think to give us.. so they're happy for us to just give her what we've already got and just bring her in if it doesn't change. At least they're convinced she REALLY IS a girl.. and doesn't have cancer... thats a good start (Laughing out loud).

 

This bird is such a puzzle.. but she's made it to one year.. she'll make many more!!!!

Love my precious lil girl.... Merly the miracle bird(and she really is!) :fear

It really does sound like an allergy to me, as I know you have had all the tests done and more :fear Like Eterri suggested to Booms, maybe keeping a diary would help? Including everything you use in the house, or to clean her food containers etc. You might be able to narrow it down. Whilst the symptoms don't seem to be an illness, whilst she has the runs, she is not absorbing the nutrients from her food properly, and longterm that will cause problems

glad there is improvement, I believe birds can be so puzzling. I agree with Lin, a journal is excellent. Adding daily what you feed her, if you see her drinking excessiving write it down, normal poos throughout the day etc... You may find it out on your own .

It really does sound like an allergy to me, as I know you have had all the tests done and more :hap: Like Eterri suggested to Booms, maybe keeping a diary would help? Including everything you use in the house, or to clean her food containers etc. You might be able to narrow it down. Whilst the symptoms don't seem to be an illness, whilst she has the runs, she is not absorbing the nutrients from her food properly, and longterm that will cause problems

 

 

We knew what was cuasing the allergy.. well so we thought. You're right, I should keep a diary it might help us work it out. She never stops eating she's in that food dish all day :glare: I guess with patience we WILL work it out eventually. At least the timeframe between "attacks" is getting longer.. unfortunately poop is back to runny this morning....

With human children, and I have no idea if birds are the same, they quite often crave the food that does them the most harm. If she is eating all day it could be she is hungry, as the food passes through her so quickly she is not absorbing it, or it could be that she is allergic to one of the seeds in there. I would be tempted to buy small quantities of seeds, and feed her one type of seed at a time, maybe for 24 hours, and see what results you get. Wonder what others think of that

Where I am, we don't have the option of that, there is only commercially made seeds and even when she was on other brands the problem was the same.