Aspiration in baby- Sad Update Post #5

[Terrance]

I have a baby Jardine parrot about 6-7 wks old which have a suspected Aspiration of baby formula in to the lungs. Took it to the vet, and vet only prescribed antibiotics. No x-ray was done to confirm aspiration. The vet asked me to take the baby home and monitor it myself

I suspected Aspiration of fluid in to the lungs after noticing a soft clicking noise after feeding. It can be quite hard to hear and I have to put the baby chick right beside my ear to hear it. The noise gets more prominent during feeding and when it is calling for food.

This is the 3rd day it's on antibiotic treatment. I realize no weight gain in this 3 days, generally lethargy in the bird and crop movement seems slow in comparison to usual. I am wondering how long does this condition takes to recover and should there be any course of concern if there is no weight gain during this period.

The weight taken when I first visited the vet is at 143g. it is at 144g right now. Do you all have any advice on how I can take better care of the bird and what should my next course of action be?

 

[Mizzely]

I have no experience or advice... Is there another vet you could ask?

 

[finchly]

I hand feed finches, a far cry from yours. But I’ll try to help.

Slow crop movement. Have you measured the formula temperature with a thermometer? How hot is it? Cool formula can cause slow crop. So can food that is too thick.

Have you tried water, pedialyte or applesauce? You can add a little to the food , I’d probably add pedialyte for extra vitamins. Also there are bird specific emergency vitamins- Thrive, Guardian Angel.

@Mockinbirdiva

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Aspirated formula as you may know by now can be deadly. It depends on how much formula the baby may have taken into it's lungs as to how well it can recover. Did the vet listen to the lungs with a stethoscope? If he did he may not have detected any sounds like fluid build up and prescribed the antibiotics as a preventative for pneumonia caused by aspiration. You can help us help you if you describe in EXACT detail how you are keeping this baby ( what type of container, how warm is the inside of the container), what food ( formula) you are feeding, the temperature of the formula, syringe or spoon feeding..... include every detail and if possible share photographs of your set up. At this point is your baby having labored breathing, not eating well, not active as before this happened? You may need to follow up with this vet frequently to help your baby recover... are they an Avian vet? Where are you located? Here's a short article you can read.

Dog Conditions - Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery, Management, and Cost

Dog condition information to check symptoms, discover causes, diagnose conditions, price check treatment and seek recovery.

wagwalking.com

 

[Terrance]

Hi Mizzley , fincley and Mockingbirddiva.

Thanks for your responses. The bird has passed away of 9oct after second vist to the vet.

Upon second vist to a avian specialist on 9 oct as I noticed there was no improvement in the baby parrot after adminstering oral antibiotics.

Doctor did listen to the lungs with a stethoscope and found that it was ok. They did examine the food in the crop and fecal matter and found unusual amounts of bacteria. Such levels of bacteria shouldn't exist because they antibiotics was administerd via the oral route for 2 days.

The vet suggested a change in antibiotics ad bacteria might be too resistant. However upon injection of antibiotics intramuscular , the bird suddenly collapsed and they did tried to resusucitate it was not successful

Post - Mortem was done to find out what when wrong with the baby bird. The lungs was actually found to be in good condition. However, liver was found to be abnormally large with faint pale spots on it.

There were few causes to it mainly 3 possible causes
1) Bacteria infection.
2) Due to high metabolism and not receiving enough food, the liver had to overwork by breaking down muscle tissues which cause it to be enlarged
3) Birth Defect.

I am using a thermometer when I'm doing the feeding in case you guys where wondering. Maybe I would write down the sequence of events just for sharing purposes and maybe I can learn a thing or two from this bad experiance and see what I could do better the next time

2nd Oct - I received the bird from pet shop. Bird appeared to be active

3rd Oct - Notice Poop was inconsitent amount. large sometimes but most of the times in small amount. Bird was active and have feeding response. However loses feeding response quickly

4th Oct - Tried to feed the bird in small amounts more often as it loses feeding response quickly. Not much change observation.

5th Oct- Bird was starting to show slow crop movement and general letharthy. It still response to food. This was when I heard the clicking noise Decided to monitor a day.

6th Oct - Not much change in behavior, Worried that something might be wrong, immediately took it to a 24/7 GP vet. Vet took a look at it and said it looks fine, but administered antibiotics via oral route to be safe. Note that vet said no clicking sound was heard. The clicking noise at this point occurs after feeding or when it is calling for food. Weight taken here was 143

7th Oct - the bird was taken home to be monitored and take care of. Crop was still slow, however the antibiotics was administerd as pre-scribed.

8th Oct - the bird does not show any sign of improvement. Weight taken here was 144. Note that by this time the noise is really faint that's it's hard to pick up.

9th Oct - was really worried about the bird not improving and the slow weight gain. Took it to a specialist for a second look. This is when it passed away after admistaration of antibiotics via intramuscular route.

 

[expressmailtome]

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[Shezbug]

I’m very sorry for your loss.

 

[finchly]

I am so sorry. You did everything you could for that baby. It was out of your control.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Very sorry for your loss. You did what you could to help the baby.
Do contact the seller.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I’m so very sorry for the loss of your little baby.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

I'm sorry for your loss and what you had to go through. It's unfortunate when people sell unweaned babies. If the formula isn't fed consistently at a correct temperature or babies aren't kept in the proper temperature in a brooder their crops can start to slow down in digesting formula and a whole host of issues can happen and progress quickly. This may well have begun while in the sellers care to begin with. I think you need to visit the seller with your vet bills and necropsy findings and request a refund. They need to know the practice of selling babies before they are weaned is irresponsible on their part. We see it all too often on the forum where well meaning people buy young babies only to see them suffer a sad death due to inexperience with young fragile creatures. These sellers make enough money by not having to invest the time and funds to raise them to fledging, can encourage breeding pairs to continue breeding and raising babies by taking them away from parents...which in turn is detrimental the the health of breeding birds. All around, it can be a vicious cycle. A baby loses it's life and you also suffer the loss of a living being you cared for.

I hope you get resolution with the seller. If they offer you another baby as a replacement..... please do NOt consider this for one moment. Again... I'm very sorry for your loss.

 

[sunnysmom]

I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[Zara]

I´m very sorry for your loss