Here is an update on Esther. It's been a very long day, but it's good news. We were supposed to be at the vet when the office opened so got up early for the drive. Got a call that we needed to come later due to the vet needing to do an emergency surgery on a Cockatoo. Appt postponed til 3:30pm. Esther seemed to be feeling better, though a bit tired and weak. Didn't want to eat her formula, but we were able to get some in her. She was drinking fine.
We left for Louisville at 2pm and were a few minutes late for the appt due to construction. Esther perked up on the ride, making a racket in the car, throwing and destroying her wooden foot toys and shaking and rattling her plastic chain. The office was very easy to find and the 3 of us (I'm including Esther) liked the vet, Dr. Samuel Vaughn. Well Esther liked him until he took blood and swabbed her mouth, she still cooperated but wasn't her usual, loving and cuddly self.
Dr. Vaughn was very ticked off about the breeder selling an unweaned baby and he was a bit worried about her being unweaned, the lack of tail feathers (we think she's pulling them out, I found one whole, beautiful tail feather at the bottom of her cage each morning I was watching her) and said she was a bit underweight. He said her beak will be okay, her red blood cell count is very good, won't know about the white blood cell count until tomorrow, her gram stain was good but she did have a yeast infection and he put her on fluconozole (?) or something like that. She will be on it for a week and she goes back to see him next Monday. Once that is cleared up he wants to start weaning her as her protein level was 2.9 (I think) and not at an acceptable level. He only wants Harrison's in the food bowl, no seed treats at all and she can have good veggies and some fruit from the table when her parronts are eating. I hope I got it all right and remembered everything. I'm glad I got to meet the vet and I'm going to start getting my guys established there. It was a horrible feeling last night not knowing who to call or where to go. He could not refer us to anyone in Lexington at all, not even for emergencies, which is unfortunate. Oh, and as for the cauterizing with a solder iron, he doesn't recommend it, but he'd rather have someone do that then let the bird bleed out. He said that sometimes firm pressure, the use of cayenne pepper/flour etc as a paste does not always work especially if the bleeding is severe, and sometimes 'battlefield surgery' is the only way to save a birds life.
It couldv'e been sooo much worse.
