Baby African Grey poop suddenly abnormal and throwing up- Sad Update Post #13

[Chicoo]

Hi guys, so I just got a baby African grey of 4 months this past Sunday. He seemed to be doing fine. Took him to see the vet on Wednesday and he visibly checked him, he said he was fine, looked healthy. Well yesterday I noticed his poop looked different. More watery and a bit brown. I also noticed he had thrown up pieces of food. They look undigested and all over the cage bottom. He is acting ok at times and at other times a little extra sleepy (he is a baby still) and irritated. I took him to the emergency yesterday and they wanted to start him on a bunch of tests, xrays and possibly antibacterial. They told me he was puffed up and looked really ill. Sounds scary but as I questioned them, the vet that saw him was not an avian vet, they said it was just procedure and that the avian vet was not going to be in till Monday. I asked if it warranted the vet stay and they said he was stable but anything could change. Before we left I made an appointment with his avian vet we just saw on Wednesday and they said he could be seen on Monday, tomorrow. Here is a picture of his poop this morning, it looks a little worse today. He is still eating and drinking and playing even, although not as much. What would you do? Take him in to emergency with a regular vet today or wait for avian vet tomorrow??

 

[Hankmacaw]

@Greylady1966 @Tvdv96 @Snowghost @Nikomania @jmfleish

 

[Mizzely]

Are you feeding the same food that the breeder did?

 

[Chicoo]

Are you feeding the same food that the breeder did?

Yes, although I did up the pellets because my vet told me more pellets are better than seeds.

 

[Greylady1966]

IMO if it's worse today I'd see the emergency vet. It sounds like he has experience in birds if he wanted to do testing and was concerned.

 

[Chicoo]

IMO if it's worse today I'd see the emergency vet. It sounds like he has experience in birds if he wanted to do testing and was concerned.

Actually he really didn’t seem like he did. He said there is no way to know what was wrong with the bird unless he got tests. He wanted to keep him in the emergency room for a minimum of 5 days, I asked what they thought it could be. They said it could be that he is stressed or it could be something else. I asked about the poop and they said that the avian vet would have to see it.

 

[Tvdv96]

Actually he really didn’t seem like he did. He said there is no way to know what was wrong with the bird unless he got tests. He wanted to keep him in the emergency room for a minimum of 5 days, I asked what they thought it could be. They said it could be that he is stressed or it could be something else. I asked about the poop and they said that the avian vet would have to see it.

I'm so sorry that your little one isn't feeling well! It's indeed important to get a bird tested with these kind of symptoms, because vomiting and weird poops can be a number of things so it's really hard to say what it is by just looking at a bird.
My CAG also had weird poops and was vomiting a while ago, my vet directly took a poop sample and looked at it under the microscope and drew some blood to get it tested. If your little one is doing worse today I would go to the emergency vet so you can maybe get a head start in testing.. if your avian vet is the only one who can look at the feces, you can maybe make an arrangement that they already do some tests today and you can come back on Monday when the avian vet is there?
However I wish you the best of luck with your little one, and please keep us updated!

 

[Chicoo]

I decided to wait till tomorrow as he had a normal dropping. The breeder told us it could just be stress but I’m going to take him in tomorrow to get tests done anyway.

 

[Hankmacaw]

BTW African Greys don't need any seeds and should not have them. Greys are more susceptible to atherosclerosis than any other breed.

The silent killer: Atherosclerosis in pet birds (Proceedings)

Atherosclerosis is a devastating disease common in older birds and often associated with sudden clinical decline and unexpected death.

www.dvm360.com

 

[Chicoo]

BTW African Greys don't need any seeds and should not have them. Greys are more susceptible to atherosclerosis than any other breed.

The silent killer: Atherosclerosis in pet birds (Proceedings)

Atherosclerosis is a devastating disease common in older birds and often associated with sudden clinical decline and unexpected death.

www.dvm360.com

Yes, I agree. I am trying to switch him over slowly since he is a 4 month old baby and didn’t want to stress him out.

 

[Hankmacaw]

What did the vet have to say?

 

[Chicoo]

Hi guys! The vet said it looks like it might just be the change in homes. His oxygen levels, heart, weight, all looked good. They took a stool sample to get it tested to check for bacteria but as of now all he recommended was some avian immune and digestive support.

 

[Chicoo]

Hi guys, so I have heartbreaking news. Unfortunately, Chico passed away. My son woke up to find him on the bottom of his cage. He was still alive and we rushed him to the vet but unfortunately stopped breathing as soon as he took him back. Now we are just left with unanswered questions.

So what happened? Our Vet checked him out and he said he appeared to look all good. The bacteria test came back borderline, as he said and he still thought that giving him some immune support would be a good place to start since he was only 4 months old and seemed to be fine. He checked out his air sacks, said his keel was a little pronounced but nothing out of the ordinary. Yesterday he was fine, eating, drinking, not as playful as he was when we first brought him home, but ok.

My concern now is if I was sold a sick bird. When we went to pick up our already purchased African Grey, there was a lady there who told us that she was there waiting on her second macaw because her first had died just a week and a half after she took him home. I asked what he had died of and she said of a possible bacteria. If I would have known, I wouldn't have purchased my parrot there, but unfortunately, I had already done so. Now in the contract, it says if for whatever reason the bird does die, they would get us another bird. My 11-year-old is having a really difficult time right now, I am afraid if it did come to this, that it would happen again.

I took a picture of his droppings to show the vet. ( see below )

 

[Tvdv96]

I'm so incredibly sorry for your loss
Did your vet also take some blood to test on certain diseases, or did they only take a feces sample? It's hard to say what it really was, as mentioned before the symptoms can mean a number of things.
I don't know how things are where you live, but generally my experience is when there are clauses in the contract where you can get a new bird when the other dies because of sickness doesn't mean anything good. There is one particular bird store here in the Netherlands who does that, and almost all the birds he sells are sick. So I would probably look at a different breeder or possibly at rescues etc.

 

[Chicoo]

I'm so incredibly sorry for your loss
Did your vet also take some blood to test on certain diseases, or did they only take a feces sample? It's hard to say what it really was, as mentioned before the symptoms can mean a number of things.
I don't know how things are where you live, but generally my experience is when there are clauses in the contract where you can get a new bird when the other dies because of sickness doesn't mean anything good. There is one particular bird store here in the Netherlands who does that, and almost all the birds he sells are sick. So I would probably look at a different breeder or possibly at rescues etc.

Yes, I agree and had I known I would have looked for another breeder. Unfortunately, the only option we have according to the contract is we get another bird. After speaking with her, it turns out she is not the breeder, she gets them from a breeder at about a month old. This particular bird was sent to her from a breeder had never used. She let is know the new bird would be from another breeder she has worked with for years. I don’t know how much comfort that actually gives us but it’s what we have to deal with now. Im in San Diego California

 

[camelotshadow]

So sorry, Poor young bird, Give the new bird a home & I hope this time it works out for you but its still so hard to lose one even at a young age. Sometimes we have to deal with the cards we are dealt. Sometimes the hand is not good but I am hoping that your bird is waiting for you in the "wings"

 

[Chicoo]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful message. I really appreciate it.

 

[Zara]

I´m very sorry for your loss.

 

[Pat H]

I AM SO SORRY...

I bought a little Spectacled Amazon [years ago], and he developed a problem shortly afterwards. Thankfully, he was in quarantine, so I didn't lose anyone else when he passed...

 

[Snowghost]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I never received any notification for this post. @Chicoo If you do get another bird from this person, I would have it vet checked. I had to put my Amazon of 25 years down and Paco (Bird in my profile) came into my life 2 weeks later. For me he was great comfort, that is a personal decision only you and your son can make. The droppings really wouldn't alarm me unless it went of for 2 days. They will get watery if Paco eats a cucumber or grape. One place you can look for to adopt a bird is local avian vets. Many people get a bird and do not realize the responsibility it is to take care of them. I adopted Paco neglected as the owner did not have time he needed. Stay in touch. Hugs!