Hello everyone,
I have a conure and cockatiel and have been feeding them a diet consisting primarily of sprouted seeds (handy pantry bird blend + lentil fest and protein powerhouse) that I add nekton S multivitamin to as well as some red palm tree oil. I offer them a lot of fruit and veggies but they are quite picky, especially my cockatiel. I also make bird bread for them from tops, mommas, harrisons, and try to add some harrisons or roudybush pellets in there but so far they are not fans of any pellets I've tried (and I have tried every brand under the sun with every conversion method). Until recently I have also been giving higgins safflower gold seed mix to supplement but that stopped last week because I took my conure to the vet for some feather plucking. She said he was in great shape but did full blood and liver panels to be sure. She told me that it was most likely a nutritional issue from the high seed diet so I stopped giving seeds entirely. Yesterday I got a call that said his bile acids were fine and as such his liver is working okay but his WBCs and AST were somewhat elevated and they started him on enrofloxacin 2x daily for a potential infection. The vet is out of the office until monday so I am not able to ask any questions until then but I am a complete wreck. I am desperate for any advice or tips on what I can do to improve their diet and lifestyle.
Diego is a peach fronted conure and 2.5 years old, both birds have 8+ hours of free flight time every day. They have a large cage and lots of toys. He started plucking the feathers under his wings which is why I took him to the vet. Other than this and his blood test he is fine, healthy, eating and drinking, playing, talking. I googled his test results because I was desperate for information on what is happening and everything that came up involved liver failure and death. I am beside myself with anxiety wondering where I went wrong. Did I give too many vitamins? I ordered an avian sun lamp that I set up yesterday since I live in the northern US without a lot of sunlight. I cannot lose this bird, he is my best friend and companion and I could never forgive myself if he died so young. I am a people medicine student so my knowledge of AST revolves around people illnesses and I am clueless about what this means for a bird and googling only led to me catastrophizing endlessly.
I am happy to do or try anything that you wonderful people suggest! I was reading about making a softened pellet + organic baby food mash to add to the sprouts so they get more veggies. There is so much conflicting info about what a bird diet should be that I feel lost but I will spare every expense to get my boy healthy and happy. Thanks to everyone that reads this and offers support, it really means the absolute world to me!
I have a conure and cockatiel and have been feeding them a diet consisting primarily of sprouted seeds (handy pantry bird blend + lentil fest and protein powerhouse) that I add nekton S multivitamin to as well as some red palm tree oil. I offer them a lot of fruit and veggies but they are quite picky, especially my cockatiel. I also make bird bread for them from tops, mommas, harrisons, and try to add some harrisons or roudybush pellets in there but so far they are not fans of any pellets I've tried (and I have tried every brand under the sun with every conversion method). Until recently I have also been giving higgins safflower gold seed mix to supplement but that stopped last week because I took my conure to the vet for some feather plucking. She said he was in great shape but did full blood and liver panels to be sure. She told me that it was most likely a nutritional issue from the high seed diet so I stopped giving seeds entirely. Yesterday I got a call that said his bile acids were fine and as such his liver is working okay but his WBCs and AST were somewhat elevated and they started him on enrofloxacin 2x daily for a potential infection. The vet is out of the office until monday so I am not able to ask any questions until then but I am a complete wreck. I am desperate for any advice or tips on what I can do to improve their diet and lifestyle.
Diego is a peach fronted conure and 2.5 years old, both birds have 8+ hours of free flight time every day. They have a large cage and lots of toys. He started plucking the feathers under his wings which is why I took him to the vet. Other than this and his blood test he is fine, healthy, eating and drinking, playing, talking. I googled his test results because I was desperate for information on what is happening and everything that came up involved liver failure and death. I am beside myself with anxiety wondering where I went wrong. Did I give too many vitamins? I ordered an avian sun lamp that I set up yesterday since I live in the northern US without a lot of sunlight. I cannot lose this bird, he is my best friend and companion and I could never forgive myself if he died so young. I am a people medicine student so my knowledge of AST revolves around people illnesses and I am clueless about what this means for a bird and googling only led to me catastrophizing endlessly.
I am happy to do or try anything that you wonderful people suggest! I was reading about making a softened pellet + organic baby food mash to add to the sprouts so they get more veggies. There is so much conflicting info about what a bird diet should be that I feel lost but I will spare every expense to get my boy healthy and happy. Thanks to everyone that reads this and offers support, it really means the absolute world to me!
