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Caique 911 (sad update #17)

Kbeas07

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New Caique owner here. Although not a novice bird owner. I’ve had my white bellied caique Karen for 4 days now. On day 3 she was very lethargic and sleeping most of the day. I had her on a heated perch. She was still eating drinking.
We have our initial avian vet visit scheduled Monday (tomorrow)There’s only 3 or 4 avian vets in my entire state with as far as I’ve been able to find - no emergency services for exotics.
I’m getting increasingly worried as her behavior is still declining. Is there anything I can do before my vet visit tomorrow?
 

Kbeas07

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We have an appointment with vet tomorrow (Monday) with one of 4 avian vets in my state
My brand new Caique Karen was very lethargic yesterday, day sleeping, puffed up most of day etc.
She’s approximately 6-7 months old- so that made me freak out.
I had her on a heated perch, she was still eating/drinking (not nearly enough- but at least doing so)
Her squeaks are soft and her eyes squinted and closed
If any of the vets offered emergency exotic care I would already be on it.
is there anything I can do besides watch her to get us to tomorrow? I’m terrified she won’t make it
 

WBCmom

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How old/young is she ? Ive never used a heated anything for birds so I cant comment on that other than I would probably not use a heated perch ? Husbandry and diet is 99% of the game with exotics. Need more info ?

@CrazyKozmo @Destiny @Shezbug @Irishj9

Y'all wanna jump into this thread ?
 

Mizzely

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Sorry to hear your baby isn't doing well! Will she eat moistened pellets off a spoon? That will help her get some nutrients and water and might help her perk up.

Is it warm enough in your area to crack open a window and get some fresh air in the house? Just in case it's a reaction to something airborne. Don't let her get chilled though.
 

Kbeas07

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How old/young is she ? Ive never used a heated anything for birds so I cant comment on that other than I would probably not use a heated perch ? Husbandry and diet is 99% of the game with exotics. Need more info ?

@CrazyKozmo @Destiny @Shezbug @Irishj9

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Vet told me to keep her warm and suggested that. We’re in a colder climate so I have heated perches in all my cages if they ever get cold to help regulate their body temps.
 

Shezbug

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Warm and quiet, maybe offer some soft warm food such as Mizzely suggested from a spoon or your clean fingers.
I would call the vet back and let them know her symptoms and ask if there’s a sooner appointment or if they can give you more information to keep her safe till your appointment time
 

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If you can get her to eat or drink anything that would be good. When birds are fluffed and sick they often need supplemental heat. If you are able to put her in a enclosed area like a plastic bin with holes for air and then place it on a heating pad and monitor the temperature that will help her and help her body if she is fighting a bug. 85-90 degrees is the temperature to aim for. The only time this is not recommended that I know of is in case of a head injury (just for future reference). Give her a perch or something to stand on and only place the heating pad under half the bin and put a towel on the bottom of the bin. Definately sounds like she needs to see a vet. If you do not have an emergency vet I would drive to the vet first thing in the morning and wait in the waiting room until they can see you. The sooner she gets seen the better. It could be as simple as stress from a bacterial infection but you need her check asap. Also keep here somewhere quite and away from noise, activity, kids and other animals, that will help if it is stress related.
 

CrazyKozmo

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Yes, I agree with @Mizzely and @Shezbug, warm and quiet (maybe crack a window in the room, a little bit, for fresh air). Mix some Pedialyte with some of her regular food (pellets, seeds, oatmeal), warm it up and spoon feed (or finger feed) her. And @Laurie's suggestion regarding a hospital cage/bin with heating pad on half of it is something necessary to have at the ready...may as well get it ready now. Sending positive energy~~~~~~~~
Please let us know how it goes at the vet.
 

Kbeas07

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I found an emergency avian vet and drove my poor bird an hour away - for the vet to call in “sick” 15 min before her shift. So I got a hold of my regular vet who came in tonight and gave her some antibiotics. I will be getting up at 5am to drive the 1.5 hours to my regular avian vet in the morning. She is drinking some and took the pedialyte via syringe pretty well. I have a heating pad taped to side of her cage. She’s definitely preferring the bottom so I moved her food and water down. To answer previous questions she’s only about 6-7 months old. I’ve had her a total of 4 days. I hadn’t even started putting my hand in her cage yet when this started.
She’s still very lethargic, not reacting to stimuli at all, and her pee is almost neon yellow. I feel so bad for her.
 

Kbeas07

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Yes, I agree with @Mizzely and @Shezbug, warm and quiet (maybe crack a window in the room, a little bit, for fresh air). Mix some Pedialyte with some of her regular food (pellets, seeds, oatmeal), warm it up and spoon feed (or finger feed) her. And @Laurie's suggestion regarding a hospital cage/bin with heating pad on half of it is something necessary to have at the ready...may as well get it ready now. Sending positive energy~~~~~~~~
Please let us know how it goes at the vet.
I have her carrying cage for travel- should I set that up as her hospital cage? It has a perch built in. Just feel bad leaving her in it
 

Laurie

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I have her carrying cage for travel- should I set that up as her hospital cage? It has a perch built in. Just feel bad leaving her in it
If it helps get the temperature up to 85-90 degrees then yes. I am glad you could get her to a vet and she could get antibiotics. If it is an infection then the meds and the heat should help. Obviously, you don't want to over heat her but I have seen heat really help sick birds a lot.
 

CrazyKozmo

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I have her carrying cage for travel- should I set that up as her hospital cage? It has a perch built in. Just feel bad leaving her in it
I think her carrier should be fine. Cover her up, but leave one side uncovered to circulate air (and so she doesn't overheat). Check on her frequently...I don't imagine you'll be sleeping very much tonight. When my Kozmo injured her beak years ago (and she was down and painful), I would offer her some pedialyte gruel through a syringe about every 2 hours....you don't want to stress out your bird more than necessary, but you may want to see if she'll take a little nourishment through the night. Glad you were able to see your vet tonight and got some antibiotics into her.
 

Kbeas07

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@Kbeas07 How are you and Karen today?
We left this morning at 530 to be at the vet when they opened. They are keeping her. No idea what’s wrong, they have her on heat and oxygen and will do X-rays today and administer fluids. If they feel she can handle it today they will do blood work. Otherwise they will try that tomorrow. She was pretty catatonic this morning and very weak. So just hoping they can get her well. Thank you for checking.
 

CrazyKozmo

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@Kbeas07 Sounds like she is in good hands. Just curious..did you get her from a breeder or a pet shop? And have you let them know what's going on? My flock and I will be sending positive energy your way for quick healing~~~~~~~
 

Kbeas07

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@Kbeas07 Sounds like she is in good hands. Just curious..did you get her from a breeder or a pet shop? And have you let them know what's going on? My flock and I will be sending positive energy your way for quick healing~~~~~~~
Pet shop. But he gets all his birds from a local breeder. I did make him aware of what’s going on. The vet is not optimistic about her survival chances though. I’m thinking she’s gotten pachecos based on her symptoms- but can’t confirm until we do blood tests. She’s still hanging on for now. Her chirp sounded stronger when vet called me and I could hear her on the phone. I’ll take all the good vibes you’ve got.
 

Mizzely

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I'm so sorry. You did everything within your power to help that baby, which I know is not a huge comfort but I wanted to say thank you on behalf of Karen for trying :sadhug2:
 

April

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Oh no im so very sorry. You did everything you could for her. Fly free sweet girl.
 

CrazyKozmo

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Oh no, so sorry to hear this :sadhug2: I was thinking about you guys a lot yesterday. As everyone has said, you did everything that you could, so take some comfort in that. Fly free sweetheart.....
 
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