Yoshi Update

[Illumen]

Just took Yoshi to his vet appt. Vet said the bacteria infection is gone. She tested for parasites but test came out negative, which is good. She said not to worry too much about the whole seeds unless it's excessive. Yoshi only passes one whole seed every now and then, but if it persist to switch to pellet foods. Vet said since he's still not eating much, to continue to handfeed him for another 2 weeks, and if he still doesn't eat, to bring him back to the vet.

Otherwise, Yoshi seems to be normal and healthy for a baby. Yoshi does not seem to be a morning bird, he sleeps through the morning even with the other birds chirping, but he's so much more active later in the afternoon and staying up pass the other birds.

Mena

[shylevon]

That must be a relief. I always fear seeing undigested seed in birdies droppings, as it is one of the first signs for PDD, a fatal disease. I would keep monitoring the problem closely.

[Illumen]

Yoshi was doing so much better, even yesterday he was doing rounds in his cage and chirping. My boyfriend had a press conference today so I went to join him last night and didn't get back till this afternoon.

My boyfriend found him cuddled next to his birdie buddy not moving. When we picked him up he didn't move at all and his feather was puffed up and feet curled in. He couldn't even lift his own head. The worse part was his poop was very very black. He didn't eat anything since I left him last night, I know this because I empty the tray all the time, so I can monitor how much he eats.

So we frantically called around for an avian vet and no avian was available to see him today. The best we could do was a vet that know a little about birds, he couldn't even tell if Yoshi was a male or female and kept calling him a her. Before we took Yoshi, I handfed him and gave him what was left of the baytril from last week.

I really thought he wouldn't make it, but I was really uncomfortable with this vet. Yoshi was finally beginning to wake up and gain a little strength (I think because I fed him). The vet let Yoshi slide off the table and hit the floor twice to see how he would react. That really irritated me and my boyfriend. He even said to handfeed Yoshi until he can't eat anymore, this doesn't sound right either.

He prescribe Vibramycin (antibiotic) .10cc 3 times a day. Anyone know anything about this? The vet also injected him w/ a multivitamin shot with iron in it. Anyone know anything about that either? When we asked the vet why he prescribe this, he said it's cures a bigger spectrum than baytril, and I ask if it would cure Yoshi, he just said we need to cross our fingers, because if Yoshi was really sick, he would keel over and die on me any time no matter what he takes. Well...that certainly didn't put me at ease at all, about him or the medication he gave.

The avian vet in the area won't be back from a conference until Monday =(. I'm a nervous wreak and feel so guilty for leaving him alone last night and this morning. He's doing better than he did this afternoon, but now I'm handfeeding him a little bit every 4 hours, and watching him very closely. He was able to perch again not too long ago.

Mena

[Mummieeva]

I am truly disgusted with what the vet did to your bird. I know you said you tried the ones in your area. But did you look at the lsit in our library about avian vets by areas? Your bird needs to be seen by and avian vet . I hope your able to find one soon and that Yoshi is ok.



Steph

[bellarains]

Mena,

How are Yoshi's poops now? I don't want to scare you, but black stools can mean bleeding in the digestive tract, and he really needs to see a good, qualified avian vet ASAP. This may or may not be the case, but the description you gave is not normal as you know. They really need to run some tests to determine what is wrong, a CBC panel, grams stain, and a C&S.

In the mean time, do you have a small type carrier cage, or an aquarium? You can keep Yoshi in it, and put a heating pad under it to provide him with more warmth, sick birdies need extra heat, not too hot, but comfy.

Please let us know how he is doing, and I will keep him in my prayers.

[Illumen]

Thank you. The avian vet in the area won't be back until tomorrow. I will try to get him in there first thing tomorrow. He's poop has gotten much better, it's not black anymore. When the vet from yesterday did the gram stein, said that the poop didn't have much blood cells in there. I can't imagine what could of cause his poop to go black like that. We have a heating pad on this cage and covered 3 sides w/ a towel so he's warmer. I'm praying he stays alive until I can get him to the avian vet tomorrow.

[Buy A Paper Doll]

I am so sorry to hear that Yoshi is doing so poorly. The heating pad Lori suggested is an excellent idea. Birds use a lot of energy just keeping themselves warm. By helping him stay warm, his little body can focus his energy on healing.

I will pray that your little guy pulls through.

[kimsbirds]

:mad: HE dropped the bird off the table and let it hit the floor?????TWICE?????

I'd be calling someone, anyone, about THAT !! Absolutely uncalled for and completely abusive!
I'm praying that Yoshi makes it...the iron shot could have given him black stool, but generally speaking like Lori said, its' blood that causes black stool. Keep Yoshi warm and comfy, in a small container with ventilation...
I'm so sorry he's not doing well..I'll be thinking of you....
Kim

[Illumen]

Hello everyone, thank you so much for your well wishes.

The vet on Saturday was really horrible, I hope he treats dogs and cats a lot better than that.

I was able to get an appt for 10am this morning. Dr. Larry Nemetz (featured in Birdtalk) was very nice. Instead of having assistants coming in and out of the room, like most of my vet visits, he actually sat with me and Yoshi for a good hour educating me and documenting all the stuff that was going on with Yoshi.

First of all, Dr. N told me from Yoshi's age, he was way too young for me to take him home. He said at a very minimun, a parrotlet should be at least 7 weeks old fully weaned or 2 weeks past weaning.

After several tests, discovered Yoshi is anemic. He is 25% below the normal red blood count. His anemia is causing him to sleep most of the day. The anemia was probably caused by improper weaning. He's shaking and off balance is due to him being medicated for so long.

Dr. said his poop is normal and the light color is due to the handfeeding formula. He passes whole seeds can be due to his good bacteria has not reset since he was on baytril and it should clear up, if not, to give him a tiny bit of non-fat yogart to help with digestion.

The black poop from Saturday is due to starvation and it was a good thing I came home to feed him, otherwise he would have starved to death.

Dr. gave me a new prescription of Vibramycin since he can't tell what was the concentraction of the other one was, and gave me Anomic-Plus to help with the anemia. I am to handfeed him twice a day with 1.5cc for as long as it takes for Yoshi to be able to have regular feedings on his own. He gave me a list of foods I am to give Yoshi until he gets better.

Poor Yoshi, I have had him for 3 weeks and he has been to the vet 4 times. After over $500 in vet visits, at least we have narrowed down his problems and hopefully he will be on his way to good health. Thanks again everyone.

Mena

[bellarains]

Mena,

Bless your heart. I was not aware, or did not recall Yoshi being so young. That breeder should be ashamed selling an unweaned baby that young. I sure hope everything works, and Yoshi will start to thrive. I will continue to put the little one in my prayers.

Thanks for the update.

[mjm8321]

Mena,

You are to be commended for doing everything you could for Yoshi and he's alive because of it. Poor darling. So little and going through so much already. I'd call the breeder and let them know what has happened and even give them a good tongue lashing as well.
Glad you found a good vet and hope Yoshi continues to improve.

[graushill]

Hi Mena,

I'm sorry Yoshi has gone through so much and I do hope he's on his way to recovery.

I didn't know either that Yoshi was so young. From my own experience with babies they are not able even to digest seeds until they're around four/five weeks old. Maybe this was even a factor in him passing whole seeds in his poop. I agree with those that said that it was terrible of the breeder to sell you an unweaned baby. As for handfeeding, I'm not sure if what is true for lovies will hold even for parrotlets (they're smaller after all), but Linda (the board's founder) has a very good article on handfeeding (I think it's in the board's resource library) and in it she recommends not feeding more than 8 cc formula per feeding. I have masks which are smaller than peachies, so by the time the baby was 5 weeks old, I was giving him about 5ccs every four hours and he was doing well.

Good luck with Yoshi and once again I'm really sorry he had to go through so much.

Gloria

ETA: Never mind, I just saw that the doctor recommended to give Yoshi 1,5 cc per feeding. Sorry for not reading your post carefully!

[butterfly1061]

Poor little Yoshi. What a terrible way to start out life. I agree with MJ, I'd call that breeder and give them a piece of my mind >: I'm so glad to hear you were able to get Yoshi to a "good" vet and that he hung on long enough to see Dr. V. Sounds like Dr. V knows what he's talking about. I'll keep you & little Yoshi in my prayers. Keep us posted. :)

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Poor Yoshi, I have had him for 3 weeks and he has been to the vet 4 times. After over $500 in vet visits, at least we have narrowed down his problems and hopefully he will be on his way to good health. Thanks again everyone.

Mena, how I feel your pain! My Milo wasn't nearly as bad off as poor little Yoshi but he was sick with a staph infection when I brought him home. He had to go to the vet for weekly injections for the first 2 months that I had him.

I am so relieved that you found a good vet to treat your baby. Prayers that he continues to improve. :)

[Illumen]

Thanks everyone, he's such a good little guy. I can tell he's trying. I'm glad I finally found a vet that knows what's he's talking about. I like my original vet to, but I don't think she is as specialized as this one.

I've already called the breeder...the only option they gave me was to exchange Yoshi for another bird. We have already helped him through so much and grown so attached to him, we're willing to keep him even if he turns out to have special needs. Still praying that he will get better.

Aww little Milo...doesn't seem like they like shots at all. Glad he got better.