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Urgent Distended cockateil crop

kinetic

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David
Hi there. I've recently been to my Avian vet. Bobby my cockatiel was x rayed to find out why his breast was enlarged. It turns out he had a yeast infection and a distended crop. The vet said the yeast infection is treatable with medication which he is receiving morning and night but unfortunately he said it shows on the x ray his crop is really overstretched and he doesn't think it will go back into position naturally (which it hasn't) to ge fair. The vet put on a crop bra to support the sagging crop made from a stickable dog bandage. I was really worried about my teail as he'd stopped eating as much and was shaking and not sleeping as he couldn't burry his beak in his back anymore and was trying constantly to pick off the bandage. It has been very distressing for me and my teil. I removed it after the third day. I noticed after the removal of it he had a sweat band where it had been on. He now seems more like himself again. I told the vet I had to remove it yesterday due to the stress it was causing. He did tell me it was a trial and error thing and we need to try and find something comfortable he can ware to support the crop. My teil Bobby is 10 years old. Has anyone on here ever came across an overstretched cockatiel crop before and and solutions how to deal with it? Please see attached picks of how the bandage was and a picture of his distended crop. Help will be much appreciated.

Kind regards

David
 

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CeciliaZ

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I am so sorry - I do not know anything about this condition.
 

Tiel Feathers

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Aw, poor little cutie. I’m not familiar with this type of problem either unfortunately.
 

kinetic

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I'm going to get my mother to make some sort of comfortable vest to support his crop on Sunday or Monday. Something that is breathable too. I will report back when hopefully I can get something to sit comfortable for him. Unfortunately after removing the bandage vest his crop is distended again. He's fine in himself for now. I just hope I can get something that is suitable for him as he may need to ware it for the rest of his life
 

Fuzzy

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Awww poor Bobby. Looks like the vet put on some vet wrap. You can buy your own and wind it looser on him (vet wrap only sticks to itself) until your mother makes him a vest.
 

Birdbabe

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I've had tiels with yeast problems..never seen the crop overstretched..nystatin was the med used..I hope he will be ok..maybe a second opinion?
 

kinetic

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I've had tiels with yeast problems..never seen the crop overstretched..nystatin was the med used..I hope he will be ok..maybe a second opinion?
He's been on nystatin. His yeast infection has cleared up from the latest swab test. Unfortunately there wasn't anything my mother could make for him as good as the laticity bandages because without the laticity the crop won't be able to stretch. I've just had to make more bandage vests and I put it on every couple of days to help his crop empty. The crop does stretch to a big size again once the crop bandage is removed after a day or so. He does hate it and won't sleep with it on but I've had to try to find out a happy medium to help to empty his crop every couple of days. His poops are OK. The food is still passing through but if I leave his crop too full for too long like before the diagnosis he was starting to vomit.
 

sunnysmom

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Poor little guy. I hope he'll be okay.
 

Monica

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There's a few different things that could potentially help to lift a distended crop up... however, they will all have their pros and cons.

You can look at vests for pluckers or 'bird diapers', but the best bet may come down to the vet wrap unfortunately. A sock could potentially be an option if you had some of the right size and cut to the right shape... but you don't want a bird to ingest anything.
 

kinetic

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I've managed to get Bobby into a routine that suits him the best. I have the vest on every other day for around 10 hours each time. Normally from 7am till 5pm. When I remove the vest his crop swollen crop is clearly empty. Or so I hope. It gives him a chance to eat again before he goes to bed around 9pm. He never had a problem passing stools although after a day without his vest on his crop is clearly overstretched again. He is on 0.3ml of milk thistle every day as he's had liver problems in the past. My vet had him on 0.02ml of cisapride morning and night since his diagnosis with the overstretched crop. I ran out of cisapride a few days ago but have been reluctant to continue it as I've heard bad things about it online. My vet wants jim on it for the rest of his life. Is it safe? I've since added 2 tiny drops of apple cider vinegar instead to his water daily as I've read good things about apple cider vinegar. Does it do a similar job to cisapride? I'm going to see how he goes on apple cider vinegar. Any suggestions on correct dosage of this and how often i should add it to his water? Also I'd like some advice on if he should stay on cisapride for the rest of his life or not?

Thanks
 

Hankmacaw

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If your vet has stated that he wants your bird to take cisapride for the rest of his life - that is what you should do. At the very least you should have a conversation with your vet before stopping giving it. In my opinion vinegar will do nothing to improve the motility of his crop - which is what he needs.
 

Laurie

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A distended crop my cause crop motility problems. So that is probably why he needs the cisapride. Also when he has eaten is when he really needs the crop bra not when he is empty. I believe you need to ask your vet all of these questions rather than the internet. I can see you are gathering information which is great but you should take the info back to your vet so you can work out a treatment plan that works rather than trying to piece things together on your own. Otherwise it is unlikely to work out as well as it would if you work with the vet. Everything that your vet has recommended seems to fit with what I know about the treatments and conditions. I am certainly no expert but if you are looking for confirmation it sounds like you have a good vet and you should continue to work with them. Good luck with your bird.
 

kinetic

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Thanks very much for your kind comments. I will consider picking up some more cisapride. I had the conversation with my vet and he was insistant on using the cisapride to keep the crop muscles moving.
 

Tyrion

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Best of luck with your lil guy :hug8:
 
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