Pictures Help!

[Karen]

Sending good thoughts your way.

We successfully worked our way through a sinus asper diagnosis with my Macaw. I have pictures of the nebulizer - tank set up I used and will gladly post them if you need ideas.

 

[Zara]

I´m so happy you took him home Lisa! He is such a lucky bird for you to have found him. Sending positive thoughts your way, hope everything goes smoothly

Also, I loved reading this thread and seeing all the other macaw members coming together and putting their wings around you two, it´s really heartwarming

 

[MiniMacaw]

Thank you everyone for all of the support and kindness.
We’re still at the vets. We had to go in a little later than planned since they were squeezing him in as an emergency and other emergencies came in this morning too. I’ll post an update once I know anything. Right now he’s just having a bunch of diagnostics done.

Here he is outside the clinic where you sanitize the cage and then a tech comes out and gets him. He’s so nervous but I told him he’ll feel so much better soon and he gets to come home and be spoiled after.

 

[Flokirocks]

Ooh, how good to take him to your home! Good luck with him, I bet he'll be fine once everything gets diagnosed, treated and the proper amount of TLC.

What a handsome one

 

[MiniMacaw]

Well, I love Dr Driggers. He took care of my guy immediately after he was brought back. Didn’t waste time calling me, just handled it. Cleaned out/debrided his beak and sinuses. Took biopsies and blood. Helped shape up his beak.

So the news: he’s severely underweight at 739 grams and we want him at at least 900 grams. Dr Driggers says that his beak is extremely painful and that’s why he hasn’t been eating. He said the inside upper portion of his beak (the area macaws have to grind nuts and other hard foods) was sponge, just rotten. (He removed as much as he could) His sinuses were also filled with debris and a lot of scar tissue. He said he’ll probably hurt a lot tomorrow while recovering, but he’s giving him a massive dose of a pain control shot and also sending me home with some.
We are sending out a few biopsies and histopath samples that take up to a couple weeks for results to better know what we’re dealing with. We’re waiting on some in house bloodwork now to see what other meds he may need to go home with. He did say we’ll need a much stronger antifungal for sure, but I haven’t heard which yet. They sedated my guy so thankfully he’s doing ok right now.

 

[sunnysmom]

He hit the birdie jackpot with you. I'm glad the vet visit went smoothly. I hope he starts feeling better very soon. He is a handsome boy. Maybe Romeo since he immediately gave you kisses? Tyson because he's a fighter? Lucky because, well, he just got lucky?

 

[Mizzely]

Poor baby!!

 

[Karen]

Poor guy went through a lot today but it will all be for the greater good. He'll be doing better soon. He has a great vet and is in excellent hands...yours! Sending all the best to you both.

 

[Macawnutz]

I'm so happy you took him to Driggers. It will just leave us without questions about his care going forward.

Hang in there. You are about to need to do the hard stuff with a bird you don't even know. Hopefully we can get those meds in him!

 

[Hankmacaw]

I'm so glad that Dr. Driggers was able to do so much on him today. Right now all I can think is like @Mizzely said - POOR BABY. He breaks my heart.

Did the Dr. say he probably has Asper or not? Dr. will probably give you Tebinifine as an antifungal, unless there is a new one out there I don't know about. The only ones out there stronger is Itraconazole ( highly liver toxic) and Amphotericin B which is too dangerous for oral or veinous use, but he may recommend for a nebulizer.

Thanks for taking him in, sincerely.

PS - Dr. is great about pain control - he just doesn't believe in them hurting when it can be helped.

 

[MiniMacaw]

I'm so happy you took him to Driggers. It will just leave us without questions about his care going forward.

Hang in there. You are about to need to do the hard stuff with a bird you don't even know. Hopefully we can get those meds in him!

So....you DONT want to fly to Arizona to help administer medications?

I’m trying to not towel him. I got him to walk calmly into his travel cage this morning so I’m gonna try to get him to accept his meds. But we’ll see how that goes lol.

 

[MiniMacaw]

I'm so glad that Dr. Driggers was able to do so much on him today. Right now all I can think is like @Mizzely said - POOR BABY. He breaks my heart.

Did the Dr. say he probably has Asper or not? Dr. will probably give you Tebinifine as an antifungal, unless there is a new one out there I don't know about. The only ones out there stronger is Itraconazole ( highly liver toxic) and Amphotericin B which is too dangerous for oral or veinous use, but he may recommend for a nebulizer.

Thanks for taking him in, sincerely.

PS - Dr. is great about pain control - he just doesn't believe in them hurting when it can be helped.

He broke our hearts last night. He gets to the bottom of his cage, curls his head under one wing and whimpers. One of the saddest things I’ve seen. I barely slept. If I started talking to him he’d perk up and come back to a perch. Then he’d stick his beak out through the bars so I could softly pet him. He seemed to like that.

The Dr. didn’t want to speculate. He said we’ll know exactly what we’re looking at when the results come back. But for now we’ll treat as aggressively as the situation calls for. He did say he’s almost positive it’s a primary fungal infection with secondary bacterial infection, we just need to determine which. I’m still waiting on meds since some have to go to a compounding pharmacy and he hasn’t finished his notes yet, but I’ll post them ASAP.

We just got home with him. He is still a bit wobbly. He’s got some bleeding from his nostrils and mouth, which is to be expected today and tomorrow.

 

[MiniMacaw]

I almost forgot to say his name is Seamus.
(Pronounced “Shay-mus” for the non Irish lol)

 

[faislaq]

I got him to walk calmly into his travel cage this morning so I’m gonna try to get him to accept his meds

He gets to the bottom of his cage, curls his head under one wing and whimpers. One of the saddest things I’ve seen.

Poor Seamus looks super rough, but 1000 times better. Thank you and your husband for saving his life. The lady caring for him may be wonderful, but without food it was only a matter of time.

 

[Hankmacaw]

You know, maybe it's my imagination, but I think he actually looks better. POOR BABY

That would have put me to my knees, if I had heard/seen him last night like you said he was.

Darned Dr. - he probably knows pretty much what is wrong with Seamus, but wants the test results.

 

[MiniMacaw]

View attachment 347799


Poor Seamus looks super rough, but 1000 times better. Thank you and your husband for saving his life. The lady caring for him may be wonderful, but without food it was only a matter of time.

I know. He was very close to complete starvation due to pain...I sent her an update today and she immediately called me crying. I told her we only look forward and he’s getting care now and that’s what matters from this point.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Like Bowser, Seamus is going to consider you his angel of mercy and savior. I think he's going to be a good bird.

 

[MiniMacaw]

You know, maybe it's my imagination, but I think he actually looks better. POOR BABY

That would have put me to my knees, if I had heard/seen him last night like you said he was.

Darned Dr. - he probably knows pretty much what is wrong with Seamus, but wants the test results.

I’m sure he does know. He was very confident in the treatment plan, though he did say there may be some adjusting here and there depending on results. He was also obviously upset at the condition Seamus was in. I’m used to vets taking so long to call, then go over an estimate, then finally get started on working on the problem. But not him. He just took him straight back and handled it. I was very impressed.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Me too obviously - my two birds have been with him for 21/22 years. We cried together when Hank died.

 

[MiniMacaw]

Me too obviously - my two birds have been with him for 21/22 years. We cried together when Hank died.

He’s a very straight talker, which I appreciate.
And his care was obvious...I would have loved to have brought up your babies names in conversation since it’s such a small world, but the opportunity didn’t arise. I know the care you provided Hank (and still Jasper) is top notch so I’m glad I live within five/ten mins of his office.

And Seamus is a good bird. He’s a little wild and a whole lot fearful, but that’s my soft spot. If he starts feeling better soon I can start introducing toys and fun and play. That helped Bowser heal emotionally immensely.