Urgent male eckie biting at himself frantically

[Milo]

Did they give a time frame for viral testing? There may be a wait time as well because some require a blood sample and I know he's had some taken recently.

How is he today?

 

[murphys girl]

The asper titer is a completely separate test and you would know if you had one. I would ask the vet if he specifically tested for asper. Have they done a heavy metals test?

I can ask you questions but I have nothing for answers. My amazon is doing the exact same thing as your Ekkie and my vet is reaching.... I have been fighting the unknown for over a year. I finally gave into the haldol so my bird could at least have a break from his misery. It is NOT behavioral and if he could stop itching himself HE WOULD. I'm so very sorry....

I will ask about as per.... Never heard of it. I know that my vet thinks it might be macaw wasting disease but he's not saying that but he keeps telling me about the symptoms of it. he said we need to test for viruses next. We are waiting for the lead and zinc results to come back.... Should be by this Friday. I'm also waiting for the review of the x-rays by a specialist as there was some grit or gravel in the intestines of an unknown source to me.... He is eating today but clearly frustrated doesn't want me near him is making whining noises and is not himself at all. he's holding his weight at between 340 and 345. My god I don't know how you've been able to stand this for one year I don't think poor Murphy could make it.. I don't want to use the haldol. Even though he is biting at himself because then he becomes listless and will not eat at all

 

[Monica]

This is just something I saw on FB and thought it intriguing. A work in progress.

Mobile Uploads - The Chloe Sanctuary for Parrots and Cockatoos | Facebook



Don't know if this link would be helpful at all at this stage, if you haven't seen it already.....

Avian behavior

 

[murphys girl]

I have a spray the vet gave me for soothing.. Of course I don't know but I don't think that this attacking himself is an itch it appears more like he's trying to catch or bite back and something that just bit him.. He doesn't stay in one place it's from under one wing to the next to the chest to the back. it's like he's being attacked from the inside. as far as after I just looked it up. I'll ask the vet but he's never had a nasal discharge or sneezing or the like so not sure about that

 

[Milo]

Aspergillosis is a fungal infection, its in the environment and theres no way to eliminate it (From the environment, it can be treated) It usually presents with respiratory symptoms but can be neurologic as well.

Be careful if you go down the PDD road. It is very difficult , to diagnose definitively. There may be a recommendation to test for avian bornavirus, but that test is notoriously unreliable. Vets also disagree how common this disease is in parrots.
I ended up going the crop biopsy route with Wyatt, and Im not sure what I would do given another chance with him. PDD is a diagnosis of exclusion, and unfortunately theres no way to know for certain. Response to treatment is usually what is used as evidence

 

[murphys girl]

I agree about the PDD and he did mention testing for Borno virus. My vet said that it is a very difficult test and more of an elimination process. my personal guess is that my bird may have a fatty liver.... I'm altering his diet right now since this morning he did chow down the crazy bitd mixture to which I add brown rice quinoa and organic corn..... I usually give them with that or a variation thereof along with golden feast Caribbean bounty which does have a lot of nuts in it. no more seed whatsoever for now anyway and as always I'll offer lots of fruit and veggies although he is picky and likes the watery veggies. that and the herbal remedy that is supposed to be good for the liver is what I'm doing right now until I hear further from the vet. Thanks for all your great information it is much appreciated

 

[Hankmacaw]

My Hank had chronic Aspergillosis and he didn't express any respiratory symptoms. His Asper colonies were on his kidneys, liver, gonads and ultimately into his airsacs. Like my vet says - Asper can present in a 100 different ways. He also never did the self-mutilation that your Ekkie is doing, nor did he ever express any discomfort with his skin.

A year ago when I took Jasper in for her checkup she was clinically dehydrated and her CBC/Chem panel was very goofy.

 

[Happynme]

Again no exp..but.could he be chasing a paracite such as a mite or flea or lice? Even bed bug?

 

[Yoyo'sMom]

Sorry if I haven't followed the whole thread. I'm super fatigued right now due to, too much work and health problems. I'm going to PM you a very good Avian vet in the California area. I think you said you were an hour away from San Diego?

Sometimes when they start picking at themselves it's due to some kind of internal discomfort. I agree with you on the Haloperidol...for one thing it's kind of old school and birds on it are often zombie like.

Hope you and your baby get some answers soon.

 

[parrotluv]

Any news today? How is he feeling?

 

[murphys girl]

Any news today? How is he feeling?

His appetite is better than it's ever been and he's drinking a lot of water. picked up the medicine for the chelation to begin today so far he's had one dose..

Fingers crossed it kills the zinc out of his system.

 

[parrotluv]

Oh I must have missed something? He as been diagnosed with toxic metal?

 

[parrotluv]

Is that what they found on the X-rays?

 

[murphys girl]

Oh I must have missed something? He as been diagnosed with toxic metal?

I'm new at navigating this forum. I posted under the eclectus forum that the zinc came back high and that also the interpretation of the xrays that we're done show a possible mass on the kidney... My vet is hoping that the chelation and removal of the zinc in the body through urine might take care of the mass?? I'm looking for optimistic outcome on removal of zinc and hopefully there are stories of such that people could share. thank you

 

[murphys girl]

Is that what they found on the X-rays?

A possible mass was seen on the xray but no metal fragments were l obvious anyway. The high zinc result came back from the blood test results which were sent out 2 weeks ago.

 

[parrotluv]

So the mass has not been identified? Hope the zinc clears out. Do you know where he picked that up?

 

[murphys girl]

No I have no idea my only possible guess is that I had put toilet paper roll to cover a sharp part on the feeding stand and he likes to stand on that I noticed he's also chewed into the cardboard which some people say has zinc in the glue?? Of course I removed it when I noticed a couple weeks ago but that could possibly be it?? Other than that I am clueless as to where he got the zinc in his system

 

[Lady Jane]

I read that the cuddle bone holders that are metal are zinc.

bird toys with zinc - Google Search

Winged Wisdom Magazine. The A - Zinc of Zinc Poisoning in Birds

 

[murphys girl]

I don't have one of those but I realize that I need to change out all of the hardware holding their perches because we used some spacers that might have zinc I don't know but just to be safe I'm going to the bird store and asking for stainless steel and also for their toys and stuff the hangers I'm just not sure about so I need to make sure I have stainless

 

[parrotluv]

I never knew toilet paper rolls contained zinc in the glue. Good to know, not that I ever give that but I have given paper towel tubes, but they never bothered with it.