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Poop Abnormal Color & Less Energetic

MahaSarah

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Hello everyone,

So about one week ago I started to notice Echo's poop to be darker than normal. I also have been noticing her energy level is a little bit lower than normal. When she is in her cage she sometimes would go to the bottom and just sit there and stares at us until I take her out. She still plays with her toys, forages, and climbs around normally.

I went to the vet today for an annual wellness exam for my Lovebirds and told the vet about Echo and he gave me some probiotics and I also set an appointment for Tuesday for a physical exam, fecal test, and blood work. I may do an x-ray if needed as well. I am extremely worried so I want to get all the test possible to see what is going on.

Does anyone have any advice for this situation or by looking at the poop could you tell me what could be wrong? I have been thinking maybe fatty liver disease since I know Amazons are prone to obesity and fatty liver disease. When she was younger up until maybe 7 or 8 years old she had one bowl of seeds and one bowl of pellets. When she officially became mine seeds were eliminated from her diet and given as treats only. I do admit that lately maybe in the last six months I may have been giving her maybe too many fatty treats. Could this be the cause?

She eats Zupreem pellets along with chop made from at least 8-10 different veggies and 2-3 fruits daily. She eats the chop from her foraging sphere.
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Hankmacaw

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Fatty liver disease (or any liver disorder) almost always shows up as much lighter green. puffy looking feces.

Very dark feces are generally a sign of blood in the feces - upper digestive system bleeding.
 

MahaSarah

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Thank you so much for replying to her.

Okay, do you know what may have caused any upper digestive system bleeding? I haven't given her anything new or she hasn't ingested anything that isn't her food or treats.

Also, her urine is not clear but it has a greenish hue to it. I read that could be a sign of fatty liver disease.

Also what other tests if any could I have the vet do besides a fecal, blood test, and xray?
 

Hankmacaw

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After the vet does those three tests, he will have enough information to know which direction to go. Upper digestive bleeding can be caused by many things and it will be up to the vet to determine what. I forgot to mention that there are foods, like blackberries, that can cause poop to be black.

Here's a pretty good article about melena ( upper digestive tract bleeding.

Melena in Birds - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, Cost
 

JoJo&Loki

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Just want to say I hope everything turns out ok for your baby. It’s great that you’re being proactive and have already discussed with your vet and made an appointment. Being proactive when noticing these changes in our birds quickly is all we can do. You’re giving her the best possible chance at a good outcome. Good luck to you both, please keep us updated :)
 

enigma731

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Dark droppings can also be a sign that the bird is eating less or has slowing of the GI processes. Is she eating less? Can you smear a poop on a piece of white paper and look at the color? If it's dark green, then it's not bleeding. If it's brown or tarry black, then it might be. Bleeding is an emergency.
 

MahaSarah

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I will make sure to do that next time she poops.

The last few days she wasn't completely finishing her food bowl which was worrisome.

I added the probiotics to her food this morning and she ate all her regular portions of chop and pellets which makes me feel a little bit better. I will be continuing with the probiotics until her appointment in a few days. I will also double-check how she is popping tomorrow and see if I notice a difference. If it is still very dark I will be giving the vet another phone call.
 

Karen

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I will deff keep everyone updated on her condition and what happens at the vet.
Thank you, hoping for the best in the meantime.
 

MahaSarah

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So at the vet, they did a fecal and they said they found no bacteria, blood, or parasites. Also for her routine exam, he said she looked healthy, normal weight, heartbeat, lungs etc. So I asked for blood work to be done. The vet just called me and said everything came back normal. He also sent me the lab work via email. So I am stumped, what could be the issue? He said it might have been something she ate could have upset her stomach and thus the dark colored poop.

Does anyone have any ideas?
 

enigma731

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Has everything in her presentation returned to normal now?
 

MahaSarah

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Her poop has been a green color the past few days. I took out the dehydrated fruits completely from her diet. Could that have been the cause?
 

iamwhoiam

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Diet does contribute to poop color so it is possible the fruits or some other food might have caused that. It's good that the test results were within normal limits and the vet felt that all was well.
 
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