At the emergency clinic last night...

[Lauren]

Poor Skittles


I went to go get her from her cage last night for our usual nightly snuggles and I noticed her right eye was very swollen and looked irritated. Worried it could be conjunctivitis I took her into the emergency vet clinic to have her looked at..

What an absolutely horrible and pointless trip.. He had the nerve to tell me that her eye didn't look puffy or swollen.. I almost laughed... it's VERY obvious that it is swollen. the vet had no idea how to even hold her, I <--- had to hold her while he dropped a bit of Tobrax in her eye.
He went out to put a label on it for me and came back out and was like "This expired in February, but you can still use it". I almost lost it. Really?! You put EXPIRED drops in my bird's EYE?
(I talked to my landlord who used to manage a pharmacy, she said not to worry about the expiration date.. it is still usable!)

He saw her for 10 minutes, didn't charge me for the Tobrax bottle and then charged me 155$ and told me he would recommend going to my normal veterinarian (yes I do realize this was an after hours clinic and it is much more expensive).


I slept for about 10 minutes last night lol. I was just watching her the entire time - yes I know I may be overreacting.

Other than her eye being irritated she's acting normal. Eating lots, devouring nutriberries, shredding paper, beeping, ringing, stepping up to strangers etc..

I've brought her into work this morning so I can administer one more eye drop at lunch and keep an eye on her. I've also made sure that my hands are clean every time I handle her (just to be on the safe side).

She was PERFECTLY normal when I had her out about an hour before our snuggle session the ONLY thing she did after I put her back was sit in her food dish to eat. I am hoping she got some bits of food in there and her eye is irritated.



As I write this, she's sitting on my desk in her carry cage, making noises to everyone

 

[suncoast]

Unfortunately this is the norm. It sucks that you don't have a choice and if you get someone who doesn't care anyway it could be lethal. I am sorry you had such a poor experience. If it was me I would call the head vet or whoever runs the clinic and tell them what happened. Nobody can fix anything is they don't know about it. You can also review them on the internet and call the Chamber and BBB.

Ginger

 

[suncoast]

Forgot to say I will be keeping your pretty baby in my prayers that it's nothing serious.

Ginger

 

[Karen]

Poor baby, I hope she's feeling better today. A nice misty shower might help her too.

 

[Birdiemarie]

I'm sorry Skittles is having an eye problem and hope she heals quickly. Did you actually watch the vet open a new bottle of the expired eye drops? If not I would not use it on her in case there is bacteria in it. I personally would not use it anyway because it is expired.

 

[LunaHestia]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I thank my lucky stars that we have Cornell University Veterinary School about 30-45 minutes away, they are THE after hours emergency contact for almost all vets around my area.

@birdiemarie my father in law is also a pharmacist and there really are no worries using medicine that has expired. The worst that happens is over time they can lose some of their potency but they don't actually go bad.

 

[lzver]

I'm sorry Skittles eye is bugging her and I'm sorry you had such a poor experience with the vet.

I used to work in the pharmaceutical business and in the majority of cases, once pharmaceuticals have expired, they don't go bad. They just start to loose some of their medicinal strength.

But I agree, if this wasn't a brand new bottle opened for Skittles, I would be a little concerned as well. If it was a bottle already used, who knows where it had been used.

 

[Lauren]

Thank you everyone <3

Marie, it was NOT a new bottle of the eye drops, it was their clinic bottle.

I will be calling my vet in a few minutes (I think they open at 9am) and hopefully will be able to get her opinion and advice.

 

[Daisy's Mom]

I'm soo sorry you went thru that.. Thats awful.. I went thru the similar thing when Mikey was sick and us having to go to a emergency facility.. He was gasping and they did a nasal flush but couldn't get everything out and then she told me if she had experience with birds she would have put him under anesthesia to do the flush.. She didn't give me any antibiotics or anything.. Sadly I didn't know anything about sick birdies or what protcol was suppose to happen.. Thank goodness, I was a member here and the roadies walked me thru what needed to be done.. Please let us know what happens with your avian vet..

 

[Big Blues]

Healing prayers for poor little Skittles, unbelievable experience at the emergency clinic, there's an expired date on the bottle for a reason.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Our local emergency vet clinic tells you right off they do not have the expertise to do bird emergencies, but they will do immediate 'first aid' like splint a break or give fluids. There is, however, an emergency bird vet in York, PA, thirty minutes away. Our local ER vet will stablize your bird for the trip to York, but they stress that is all they can do. At least they are available for in extremis needs.

 

[Annamacaw]

 

[Greycloud]

Poor skittles! After talking to your vet please keep an eye on her as this could be a sinus issue. I will keep her in my prayers.

 

[Anne & Gang]

many healing energies on the way.

 

[Birdiemarie]

I'm sorry Skittles eye is bugging her and I'm sorry you had such a poor experience with the vet.

I used to work in the pharmaceutical business and in the majority of cases, once pharmaceuticals have expired, they don't go bad. They just start to loose some of their medicinal strength.

But I agree, if this wasn't a brand new bottle opened for Skittles, I would be a little concerned as well. If it was a bottle already used, who knows where it had been used.

I concur and have also used various pharmaceuticals after expiration if it has only been a few months but never when it has to do with the eyes (have read incidences of such practice resulting in terrible infection/blindness) and never if it is not a new bottle.

 

[65sunnyday]

It's understandable that you're upset. Is Skittles better today? Many times exp dates are just to encourage new sales of product. Here's one for you--I used to be a physician's assistant (he's long dead) There was a woman who came in weekly for injections of penicillin for inflammation of the pericardial sac. He gave me the bottle, told me how much to give. I noticed it had expired some months before, & he said not to worry about it, it doesn't go bad that quickly. I thought that was dangerous, what if it wasn't potent enough (it had to be refrigerated?) I really was shocked at his attitude, but the woman recovered completely in the normal amount of time. I think Skittles will be OK, though I would get her looked at by your regular vet. Be careful not to touch her eye or the area around it when you apply the drops. Get well soon, Skittles!

 

[Lauren]

My actual vet is away until Monday which is fine! The veterinary tech who I talked to was amazing. She said, since we don't know if there's a foreign object, keep using the eye drops I was given, despite them being used already and expired (just to prevent any infection IF for some reason there is bacteria), they will be OK for now. She is going to be checking with my vet on Monday and she will let me know what they recommend doing.

If Skittles worsens I can bring her in Saturday.

She's still sitting on my desk mimicking things she hears here at work

 

[Lauren]

Thanks April!

I know it's such a sensitive area of any animal really, especially a small lovebird.

I HATE seeing her uncomfortable, it's very watery and I've covered her with a towel to make sure there's not much light coming through. It makes me sick to know she's not 100% healthy.

 

[Wasabisaurus]

I am so sorry she is sick. I hope she gets better quickly. I would flip if a vet gave my bird expired meds and didn't explain WHY the meds would still be OK. Me, I would not use them.

 

[Lauren]

Another update, she HATES being in her carry cage she was whistling to all my customers and showing off how she can shred paper.
I don't want to let other people hold her, JUST in case there's anything that could trigger it to become worse.

No difference in her eye, its watery and looks like she scratched the lens of her eye or had it poked (they do have a toy with long foraging/shredding bits they were playing in too). It's looking the same way my eye has if I've gotten a piece of wood or metal in it and rubbed it.

If it IS conjunctivitis (sp?) is this a type of disease/infection that could flare up in a few hours? Her being normal at one point then two hours later or so, have her eye swollen.


I am leery with the eye drops, but part of me is telling me to use it.. JUST in case


I love my Skittle bird and I hate it when any of my little dudes are feeling yucky.

She's devouring another nutriberry and dying to shred stuff on my desk haha