Uh-oh.....watery, strong smelling poop

[Zeb]

Of course, this would have to happen now.

My most favorite bird Lady (female eclectus ) is now worrying me. Her poop is very watery, fairly large, and it smells.

The first time I noticed it I thought it was odd, and now this is the second one I have seen. The smell is quite fowl....gassy, really. It's bigger than usual, and so watery is kind of sprays out.

So looks like I will be calling the vet first thing in the morning. This will probably need a blood panel....liver I'm thinking?

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[kastelling]

I would add some unfiltered apple cider vinegar to the water ASAP (the kind that is cloudy), while you are waiting till morning for the vet! Possibly some Aloe Detox also, if you can find a health food store open tonight that has it....

I am not sure what it is, hopefully it is just a bacterial infection or something minor!

 

[Zeb]

Thank you. I hate this feeling.....especially because she is so special to me. She was my first big parrot, and has always been "the queen". Plus, I lost my job...so it sucks if I have to charge up a credit card, but I will.

Anyhow...I am colorblind but Gingernsnap said the poop looked "creamy colored" or dark green. I noticed the smell and watery nature of it more than anything.

So in my head I'm thinking bacterial infection, liver problem, kidney failure....aaaah!

 

[DQTimnehs]

I haven't found mine will drink the water with ACV in it. The first I tried threw his bottle on the floor, had never done that before. The latest tried to dump her bowl of water (never did that either). But she will drink juice mixed with ACV (ACV 1:100 juice) if I let her drink it from a spoon. Right now on pink grapefruit juice but she likes cranberry juice more. I feed it twice/day but if you are home you could do 3 or more. Hope she is ok!

 

[Zeb]

I would add some unfiltered apple cider vinegar to the water ASAP (the kind that is cloudy), while you are waiting till morning for the vet! Possibly some Aloe Detox also, if you can find a health food store open tonight that has it....

I am not sure what it is, hopefully it is just a bacterial infection or something minor!

I do have some apple cider vinegar...it's the cheap kind. Says diluted with water to 5% acidity. Would that work?

Assuming she will even drink water......she is acting quite normal, behavior wise.

 

[Kathie]

Don't panic. It is probably yeast. Keep us posted. Smelly poop usually means yeast. I would definitely see your vet ASAP.

 

[kastelling]

I do have some apple cider vinegar...it's the cheap kind. Says diluted with water to 5% acidity. Would that work?

Assuming she will even drink water......she is acting quite normal, behavior wise.

It's got to be the unfiltered cloudy kind- that's the beneficial bacteria floating around in there. If it's clear reddish and easy to see through, it won't work for this.

I routinely add ACV to all my birds' waters about once a month, just a splash per bowl, to proactively help the digestion....

 

[Zeb]

It's got to be the unfiltered cloudy kind- that's the beneficial bacteria floating around in there. If it's clear reddish and easy to see through, it won't work for this.

I routinely add ACV to all my birds' waters about once a month, just a splash per bowl, to proactively help the digestion....

I see....yeah, what I have is see through. I'm sending Gingersnap to Walmart right now for some healthier juice & ACV.

I'm not panicking....because at least she seems normal otherwise.....but, again, if the house were on fire she would be the first thing I'd save after my kid.

 

[Kathie]

If you are going to try ACV, Zeb, you need Bragg's. I doubt they have that at Walmart. I wouldn't play around with it.... I'd get her to a vet ASAP.

 

[Zeb]

If you are going to try ACV, Zeb, you need Bragg's. I doubt they have that at Walmart. I wouldn't play around with it.... I'd get her to a vet ASAP.

Oh yeah. She's going to the vet first thing in the morning. I just wanted to do something....anything...to get a good start.

 

[April]

hope she will be ok.

 

[WingedVictory]

Hi Zeb, please try and relax as what you are seeing may be a one time thing simliar to you having an upset stomach. Analyze what your bird has been eating and drinking the last 12 hours for clues. Keep an eye on the next several poops looking at size, color, smell, consistency, amount of urates (white or cream),bubbles, etc. If the bird were one of mine I would add 1tsp of Bragg brand organic ACV to a quart of water. Trader Joes has their own brand of organic ACV and Whole Foods carries Bragg. After adding the ACV, you need to make sure your bird is drinking the water and not turned off by it, most birds like ACV. If you see no improvement by the AM call your Avian Vet for his advice.

Take a look at this link on poopology.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Yoyo'sMom]

Sorry and hope all goes well at the vet tomorrow. I probably wouldn't advise doing too much in the way of changing food or water but get a good blood draw first. You don't want to throw off any values.

 

[Zeb]

Thanks, everyone.

I actually noticed this for the first time yesterday, but it only happened once that I saw. I noticed the smell...so I cleaned all the cages and I didn't notice it again. ( Being home as much as I have been, I have been cleaning cages every 1-3 days )

She hasn't had anything unusual....actually, just her pellet and some strawberries.

Her massive poop this morning was during her bath....and then it happened again just before this post. Since then, she has pooped twice more - these don't have the smell or large amount....a little bit of clear urine, or none, and a bit of white and darker green. ( Well, I am told it's green... )


So I think we might have a problem. However, she is acting normal so at least I'm not in that bad of a situation.

 

[Kathie]

Zeb, Eclectus can go down real quick. I really would not play around with anything and agree with Yoyo's mom on that. If worst comes to worst, just take a sample of her morning poop to your vet to test. It may be that she is going to have an egg, but I would not mess around with it. Ekkies just crash too quickly. I am sure you know that.

You may want to read the thread on ACV that is in this same section.

 

[Zeb]

Thanks, Kathie.

I was reading about ACV over the past few minutes. The stores close by don't have it anyways, plus I don't want to make any changes that would throw us off the trail of figuring out what is happening. I will just have to wait for morning to come.

Wondering if I should let her have some of that orange juice I got her.....

But anyways....it's somewhat encouraging that the past few poops have not been bad. Still, I never take a chance with her. When she was 2, I had a full blood panel done because her beak grew too fast. Turns out she just has a fast growing beak. But anyways - she is going.

 

[wonderb]

My 1st thought with smelly poops was yeast. Too much sugary stuff can exacerbate yeast so i would personally hold off on the juice.

 

[Zeb]

My 1st thought with smelly poops was yeast. Too much sugary stuff can exacerbate yeast so i would personally hold off on the juice.

Good thought. I didn't give her any....so for the past 30+ hours, she has only had uncolored pellet.

I changed her paper so I can see what's new first thing in the morning, and I wiped down the tree stands she was on with vinegar.

 

[Kathie]

Please let us know how she is doing in the morning and what the vet has to say.

 

[Zeb]

Will do. Thanks, again.

This comes at a funny time because I have been complaining about the smell in the macaw room ( where she also lives )
We had to block off part of the ventilation because of some bird unrelated problems with the add on to the house. With the sun coming in, "soupy" water is always gross smelling....plus, my green wing stinks himself. Both the poop and his musky odor, but it's very different from the eclectus problem.

I would have noticed this sooner, perhaps, if I wasn't used to plugging my nose when I walk in and opening the window in the morning!

( I have noticed changing the GW paper daily helps....)