Any ideas?

[OSUtoo]

Obviously a vet appointment is being made--I'm calling first thing in the morning -- but I figured it couldn't hurt to see if I could get some ideas here in the meantime!

Malley is a 17 year old U2. Always been pretty healthy, save for an issue when he was a bit younger with a prolapsed cloaca. He had surgery to repair it and has been good ever since.

However, recently I've noticed that he seems to have "dry" droppings, for a lack of a better word. His vent area is often dirty, and occasionally I will see a little bit of fecal matter stuck to a nearby feather. I always clean him up if I see this. Other than the messy vent area, everything else appears to be normal looking.

He was at the vet in December (2011) and while we were there, he of course was nervous and pooped as soon as he was taken out of the travel carrier (which is good since they can take a fresh sample for the Gram stain). The poop, to my shock, had a bit of blood in it. I was concerned as was the vet, but this was the first, and only, time I'd ever seen that. I'm always checking the poop in his cage for problems and have never seen blood, and the droppings always look pretty normal. He hasn't had any blood in the stool since then, either. Still not sure what caused that?

The vet also noted the dirty vent area (which is fairly recent, started noticing it just before the vet appointment) but didn't seem all that concerned. He said that the Gram stain showed a mild E.coli (I think) infection and we were sent home with antibiotics, to be given in the water every day for 10 days.

He still appears to have "dry" droppings at times and the vent is still dirty. He is not losing weight, and his appetite is good. Drinking is good. His behavior is the same also.

Just tonight when I was cleaning the cages, he pooped while he was out on top of it, and I noticed that the urates part seemed yellowish. I know this isn't normal, and I looked at the rest of the poop in his cage and for the most part it looked fine, except for just a few droppings with the yellowish tinged urates. The poop itself looked fine, and the urine seemed fine too (clear) and no bubbles.

I am making the appointment first thing tomorrow and actually, if I can, I'll take him tomorrow too. I don't know that it's an emergency since he seems totally normal otherwise. I know birds can hide their illnesses but really, I'd think that if nothing else he'd be losing weight, but he's good.

I'm perplexed. I've been googling to see what I can find, and see things like liver disease...I hope that's not what it is. Of course, I hope it's not anything serious but I know something is wrong because this isn't normal.

[Cinnyluver]

What Your Parrot’s Poop Can Tell You
See if this website helps.
I hope you find out what's wrong. I'll be praying for you.

[waterfaller1]

I would get a different vet, since he gave you "antibiotics to put in the water". Antibiotics, usually accompanied by an antifungal, should be administered orally to insure the bird is getting the correct dosage. Birds drink very little. A follow up visit to check that he was clear of the e-coli should have happened as well. E-coli can kill your bird. He should get a crop swab, gram stain,fecal float, and CBC.

[OSUtoo]

I really don't think there are any other bird-specific vets anywhere close to me...the one I go to is already over an hour away. I will just have to keep asking him questions and make sure he's really looking into things. I know they have oral antibiotics because we had to give those to our other bird a few years back.

And as an update, while I'm here, this morning I checked and all the poop I could see seemed totally normal...white urates. Weird. I did make an appointment still since I want to be sure, but it's weird how last night they appeared yellowish and this morning they were white...?

[OSUtoo]

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but the antibiotics we were given was supposed to be so many scoops (tiny little scoop obviously) per so many ounces of water. Water was changed every day of course and new antibiotics in it. So it's not like we were told to just dump a couple scoops of medication into water, it was measured out.

[OSUtoo]

Found this link....interesting.
Old World Aviaries: The truth about E. coli

[cosmolove]

I really don't think there are any other bird-specific vets anywhere close to me...the one I go to is already over an hour away. I will just have to keep asking him questions and make sure he's really looking into things. I know they have oral antibiotics because we had to give those to our other bird a few years back.

And as an update, while I'm here, this morning I checked and all the poop I could see seemed totally normal...white urates. Weird. I did make an appointment still since I want to be sure, but it's weird how last night they appeared yellowish and this morning they were white...?

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but the antibiotics we were given was supposed to be so many scoops (tiny little scoop obviously) per so many ounces of water. Water was changed every day of course and new antibiotics in it. So it's not like we were told to just dump a couple scoops of medication into water, it was measured out.

I would try to look around for a avian vet, I know its a pain in ohio mine is an hour and 15 away. I have closer vets that see birds they just aren't the same I guess. Avian vets generally have a better understanding of bird illnesses and such.

I think what they ment was more along the lines of that you don't know exactly how much of the antiboitic the bird was actually taking. Like what if he only took a couple drinks one day and a bunch another. See what I mean?

I hope he is okay! Keep us updated!

[OSUtoo]

The vet I have is an avian-only vet (been in practice since 1976!), I just meant that I don't know of any other avian-specific vets that aren't over 2-3 hours away. As much as I'd like to, it's too hard to take an entire day for a 30 minute vet visit.

Ah, yes I get what you're saying about the water now. I was thinking more along the lines of how much of the actual antibiotic was in the water each day, which was consistent, but I guess you're right you can't keep it consistent with how much they're drinking each day.

[cosmolove]

Ohhh sorry I read that post way wrong! I thought you meant yours wasn't an avian vet due to avian vets being so far away. Sorry its getting late and I've been sick all day so I'm all bleh.

I would just go back to the same vet and tell them the concerns you have and the concerns about how much treatment the bird was actually getting last time and you want to consider these things when doing another treatment or whatever you may need. Anti-boitics, if I'm not mistaken, are kind of something that helps fight off most sickness, infection, etc. So maybe he perscribed you to put the anti-boitics in the water just as a precaution and maybe he really didn't NEED them. Based off that article that's kind of the vibe I got from that so maybe he just needed a little kick to help him in feeling better but since it comes back in cockatoos often he didn't think a huge dosage was neccassary.

Sorry that could be way off but I'm just trying to go off of what you and your vet did. But from the sounds of it that's my guess. :P

EDIT: I also just saw when skimming some articles about e.coli that the antiboitics given orally often increase the risk of dehydration so this may have been another reason why your vet chose to go with the antiboitic that goes into the water. (this sounds like a better reason than the one I mentioned before in this post) The article said there were two antibiotics that could be injected and were most effective and then there were two that should be given orally. One of the ones you could give orally said you could mix it in their water.

[OSUtoo]

That might be it. Because I know that he's given us oral antibiotics before for our other bird, but that was for a different reason. I guess it's probably just dependent upon the particular situation. I will definitely ask though when I go back, just to be sure.

Honestly the "dry" stools are what concern me. He doesn't appear to be stressing and he's active, eating well and whatnot, but occasionally he'll just have a dropping that looks like it has no urine in it at all, despite appearing as though he is drinking fine.