Urgent 9yo budgie. White bumps on feet. Right foot swollen.

[MRCharlieBird]

Hello, all. This is for our parakeet, Charlie. We’re trying to find a vet in NJ to find out what these white bumps are. His foot has swelled, these white pieces fall off after epsom salt soaks. Any idea/recommendations? Trying to remember when changes started is boiling down to 2 months back when a noisy neighbor scared the bird in the middle of the night. He tucked his tail downward. The next morning, i found him with a mass of dried droppings stuck on him. Soaked his bottom till it could be removed. He was vomiting the whole day. Nursed him, he was eating by the next day, but being picky with only seeds and throwing out the veggies and fruit (More on that down below). As the weather cooled outside, we noticed his feet were burning hot and he’d seek cooler areas to hang out. When the bumps grew, we thought maybe it was bumblefoot. Epsom salt soaks and in a few days, these bumps fell off. No bleeding until one day, he bit his white bump off on the left foot. Stepic powdered the cut and now it turned to a dark scab. He rarely talks these days. He’ll eat, he’ll fly as usual, eats and does number 2. We’ve tried soaks, calendula Grape seed oil beeswax salve, iodine liquid soap diluted wash, GSE in his water, have been feeding him blueberries, lemongrass teas, tart cherry juice, Fresh pineapple close to the core (pain relief), eating seeds, but now we started limiting him to encourage more fruit&veggies. Is this gout, bumblefoot, a pox virus? Hopefully we get some vets calling back from the several calls and emails to see if they’ll treat him without another visit to a hospital in need of money.


History of his health: did great for 8 years then we‘ve had a bad experience with a “great” hospital. He was squeaking and nasal, sounded off within days after we separated him from a toy mahogany chip he tore to shreds. we thought something made it into his lungs or cere. They felt it was in order to test for chlamydia without any discharging or obvious symptoms related to chlamydia. Ran tests, x-rays, bloodwork, and gave antibiotics without diagnosis. 1200 later... they wanted to do more bloodwork. We were sent home with a NSAID... and tried to guilt us into more tests without promises of a diagnosis. He was now getting jumpy from the shot, diarrhea and vomiting. We just kept him warm in a travel case by a warm bottle and then started using a nice regulated electric blanket Set it to 85˚F. Found AVITECH immune boost and in two days he was back to eating/drinking/normal droppings... then in a month on/off for a few short spurts of diarrhea. Then when summer came, he was ok. Then noisy neighbors ruining our sleep pattern.

From today

 

[finchly]

Why in the world are you soaking the sores in Epsom salts? Please stop that unless your vet instructs you otherwise.

Clearly (1) it is painful and (2) it is not bumble foot and (3) you have issues with your vet. Is this a certified Avian vet? If not, please find one.

I’d also like you to know that vets don’t make much money, if any off the tests they run Their purpose is to help you.

So if you aren’t happy or comfortable with your vet find another one. But that bird needs to see a vet.

They probably saw signs of chlamydia, and wanted to check for it. Perhaps they knew more about how it presents than you do. The on-and-off diarrhea is a huge concern.

Have you ever treated your bird for mites, airsac mites, protozoa, or parasites? What is your normal way of treating for illness other than what you’ve told us? What does he eat or drink? Do you have other birds?

EDIT: i just re-read and saw what all you’ve treated with. A lot of that Internet Expert medicine you’ve been practicing is nonsense. For example, putting oil on his skin wil hold bacteria against the skin and cause further issues.

I doubt any vet is going to treat going off an email. They need to see the bird.

@PoukieBear
@Monica
@Hankmacaw
@enigma731

 

[MRCharlieBird]

Thanks, we’re trying to find a local avian vet that’s not telling us we have to visit that “great” hospital again.

Were the folks certified avian vets, yes. Local vets told us he may have obstruction and take him to this ”great” hospital where they have the best equipment. They have state of the art facility, best in the nation... but, they’re more interested in running tests and offering $800 overnight stays than giving a diagnosis or use of endoscopy. Which is what the original vet said we may need and they’re the only ones that have it. You can beat me up on my vet complaints... but bla bla bla. They were horrible. Their ratings have been tanking for a while. When many reviews all complain about the same thing (their lack of diagnosing), it’s real. They’re constantly guilt tripping customers into more and more tests without giving answers, is just their way of doing business. They are in desperate need of money with state of the art equipment that’s not paid off yet & maintenance fees are through the roof, say past employees. Vets that worked there had these complaints on how the facility runs. Others say it’s because of the pet insurance co that aren’t paying out and not enough cash customers come around to keep the place afloat. This is just how they are instructed to perform. It also explains the constant staffing turnovers.

Anyways. He has no diarrhea with this recent bout.

Epsom salt soak. He’s taking one right now and I have to chase him to get him out. Is he in pain? How do you know this? Some sites say it’s good for gout sufferers and also the way to clean bumblefoot. It’s said to relieve the pain. He’s able to walk again after a soak. He’s never made noises as if he’s in pain. He doesn’t look like he’s hurting right now. He’s still walking on it after a soak and splash of some fresh aloe juice.

The “it’s not bumblefoot”. That would have cost me $500 at the hospital. Much appreciated.

 

[finchly]

LOL glad I could help.... except there’s always the possibility that I am wrong! That’s why I tagged some people I thought could help.

When I said he was in pain, I was watching your video . It looked to me like he was trying to avoid using the foot - it seemed painful when he put weight on it.

I’m still studying your posts and trying to come up with something that makes sense.

Are the bumps hard or soft when you touch them? Do they burst or shrink?

Do you have him on vitamins?

 

[Mizzely]

So one thing to note with birds is that diagnosing stuff can be difficult because they hide illness and pain so well. Things with very similar symptoms and very different treatment plans require different tests. I know it's frustrating, but avian medicine sometimes feels like shots in the dark.

Maybe some of these will help?

Recommended Bird Vets in New Jersey, United States

Pamela J. Schott, DVM, 169 US-206, Augusta, NJ 07822 – Tel. (973) 579-1155

www.beautyofbirds.com

Association of Avian Veterinarians

Find an Avian Veterinarian – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

When you think your bird is ill, it's critical to consult a veterinarian knowledgeable in treating pet birds. Use this lookup to start finding one.

lafeber.com

 

[finchly]

@Milo can you help?

 

[finchly]

There are Avian Vets on justanswer.com, have you tried that?

 

[rocky'smom]

Epsom salts could be the cause diarrhea, it's used for people to relief constipation. So I would stop using that period. What are Charlie's perches like? Dowel? Plastic? Rope? How are you cleaning and santizing those perches? This could be a bunch of things. How much sleep is Charlie getting nightly?

 

[MRCharlieBird]

@rocky'smom

Charlie hasn’t had diarrhea since late September. Never has he been fed epsom salt water. He gets rinsed after soaks.

Perches - mostly Booda rope perches (washed once a week, scent-free detergent, then vinegar, then the hot water rinse). Natural wooden perches. One smooth “relax” wooden perch.

Wooden perches are always kept clean by wet (Water) wiped then air dried if there’s ever any droppings or food. Never used anything more than water to clean his cage or wooden perches. He spends most his time out the cage, so he never meets wet wood or cage.

The laptop is where he has most his meals, we’re always cleaning up after Charlie at the laptop. If he’s ever stepped in droppings, we give him a quick rinse under room temp sink water.
Sleep - 10 hours at night, during cloudy or stormy days he naps here and there. Sunny days he’s flying to the window. Since we’ve had him, he’s fixated on sunsets.

We’re worried of the vibramycin he was given. Could it have caused kidney failure or renal disease? Exacerbation of renal failure associated with doxycycline. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[rocky'smom]

Any rough areas on wooden perches? Wooden perches can be padded out with nonpilling double sided fleece cut into syrips and then vet wrap covering it. Washing them is not sanitizing them. F-10 is a sanitizer that is bird safe, my suggestion is washing them then sanitizing them with F-10.

 

[MRCharlieBird]

LOL glad I could help.... except there’s always the possibility that I am wrong! That’s why I tagged some people I thought could help.

When I said he was in pain, I was watching your video . It looked to me like he was trying to avoid using the foot - it seemed painful when he put weight on it.

I’m still studying your posts and trying to come up with something that makes sense.

Are the bumps hard or soft when you touch them? Do they burst or shrink?

Do you have him on vitamins?

Sorry about the video, my phone is what he was running back and forth from. I try to cover it with my hand, but he knows the paparazzi and despises the camera. He seems more calm after a soak than before it. The cool water makes the swelling go down and it seems to soften those growths (tophi?). When they grow outward, they seem to come out of his skin like a blackhead and it’s visible that the skin opens like a pore to release the white stuff. Then when the white stuff is exposed, they shrink a little, then fall off next soak, or breaks off by touching surroundings. It seems the worse of the growths was last week, 8 total. We’ve seen three that fell out since Saturday.

No vitamins.
Food: He’s usually eating Tops seeds/pellets
Mixes: all organic- romaine, Boston lettuce, butter lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, blueberries, asparagus, broccoli, sweet peas (Cooked from frozen), lemongrass, and tart cherry juice.
Supplements: Starwest botanicals Kelp granules.

 

[MRCharlieBird]

Any rough areas on wooden perches? Wooden perches can be padded out with nonpilling double sided fleece cut into syrips and then vet wrap covering it. Washing them is not sanitizing them. F-10 is a sanitizer that is bird safe, my suggestion is washing them then sanitizing them with F-10.

Since the white things came out, we were padding it with paper towels till the vet tape came. They all get wrapped till we feel it’s spongy.

 

[finchly]

Staph infection?

It sounds like you’re feeding him REALLY well. He could probably use more protein, via dry egg food, eggs, mealworms, and so on. You can also feed him sprouts — the best source of nutrition as far as plants go . And grains, quinoa, oatmeal, lots of the Bob’s Red Mill grains.

Also I don’t see a lot of the orange veggies on your list, sweet potato, peppers... there are a couple vendors here that offer freeze dried veggies. Bodacious Birdie Bites and Avian Organics

I’m going to send you a pm. I don’t know if you have enough messages to be able to answer it.

 

[MRCharlieBird]

The seasonal pumpkin and sweet potatoes are offered to him, but he always goes after the carrots. We tried it diced and mashed with seeds on top, but he barely gets the pumpkin or sweet potatoes. His weight was always on the light side. He at an ounce (28g) now.

 

[rocky'smom]

Staph infection?

Could be.... my best suggestion is to find certified avian veterinarian that you can work with. I would also do fecal exam and testing which would show any parasites. Also add throat / crop swab, if possible with blood work.

 

[finchly]

Could be.... my best suggestion is to find certified avian veterinarian that you can work with. I would also do fecal exam and testing which would show any parasites. Also add throat / crop swab, if possible with blood work.

Sounds good, and that puts you in charge of the testing.