Gouty bird is sad bird

[Tanya]

Poor girl is having a flare up... Mostly on her left side. Her foot is swollen, and she's really favoring it.

(She has a choice of perches, some wrapped in terry cloth... And lots of different water dishes in easy reach.)

It started this weekend with slight chewing near her left wrist (the turn of the wing). She really increased the picking in the last 24 hours and her foot swelled in that time... We're headed to the vet on the AM.

 

[Birdbabe]

Oh no! Hope she's gonna be OK.

 

[Greycloud]

Poor baby. I hope she soon feels better. Give her from me and the flock!

 

[Susan in So Cal]

Feel better Rhubarb!

 

[Clueless]

Would tart cherry juice help with that?

 

[gibsongrrrl]

Oh no! Poor little rhubarb

 

[fluffypoptarts]

Poor little girl! Hoping for a good vet visit and relief for Rhubarb.

 

[expressmailtome]

I hope that her pain/discomfort eases soon.

Matt

 

[Kellie728]

Poor sweetie. Hope she's feeling better soon.

 

[Lo_]

Awe, poor sweetie
I hope everything goes okay at the vet!

 

[parrotluv]

Was she diagnosed with gout before?

 

[sunnysmom]

Poor Rhubarb. Cherries? Can she get pain meds?

 

[Hankmacaw]

Has the vet prescribed Allipurinol for her?

 

[Tanya]

@Birdbabe, @Greycloud, @Susan in So Cal, @Clueless, @gibsongrrrl, @fluffypoptarts, @expressmailtome, @Kellie728, @Lo_, @parrotluv, @sunnysmom, @Hankmacaw

Thank you each so much for taking the time to write. I woke up this morning and felt a lot of love and support as I read your encouraging notes. The girl is in a grumpy mood but was willing to receive scritches on your behalf.

Was she diagnosed with gout before?

This is an good question! The answer is sadly yes. She was hospitalized for it over the new year holiday this January, requiring an IO (not IV, since the needle was placed in a bone and not a vein due to her medium-small size and dehydration at that point).

Has the vet prescribed Allipurinol for her?

She's been on it 2x a day since January to help clear the excess uric acid (she was 103.1 mg/dl blood uric acid on December 29th of last year and normal is 2-10 mg/dl). We agree with the vet's suspicion that her kidney troubles are related to an underlying ABV infection that she had when we brought her home...

That stack of papers is her medical file... Poor girl.

Would tart cherry juice help with that?

Poor Rhubarb. Cherries? Can she get pain meds?

I didn't know about cherry juice and gout until yesterday. We went to the store and got these because I was seeing both black and tart cherry mentioned when I started looking around.

The little bottle on the left is standardized milk thistle seed (liver support) with tumeric (general anti-inflammatory). I made up a solution of 10 ml black cherry juice, 10 ml tart cherry juice and one caplet milk thistle. She got 0.2 mL of "juice" last night and at breakfast today. She's still not sure she likes it. Maybe the color scares her? She's fine drinking her clear medicine from a syringe.

Pain meds are a little more tricky. Most are rough on the kidneys and liver... She had her massive crash immediately after starting NSAIDs. So it's kinda scary to think about trying them again. I'll talk to the vet about gentle options.

Will keep you posted after the vet. Should have more info in a couple of hours.

 

[Tyrion]

Poor girlie ..hope she feels better

 

[Hankmacaw]

As far as pain meds go, we had to switch Jasper to gabapentin (and Celebrex which is an NSAID), but before the Celebrex she was doing well on the gabapentin and metacam (NSAID). There is also Tramadol which made Jasper a little dull. Her pain originates from arthritis in her feet and lower legs - no gout as her kidneys and uric acids have tested well every time.

It makes so much difference if the pain can be controlled.

 

[Hankmacaw]

I just found this article about gout in birds. I'm sure that you have researched a bunch, but this article seemed to be very complete and addresses some of the downsides of some of treatments and medications.
Gout In Pet Birds - Avian Kidney Disease

There is no evidence of SAMe being used for gout treatment, but it does have an anti-inflamatory property.

 

[HazelBird029]

praying for her to get better

 

[WeasleyLover]

Poor baby!

 

[Tanya]

At the vet now!


Edit: Blood drawn and waiting for the results.