High White Blood Cell Count

[kathy62]

I took my Sevier Macaw into the doc a month ago..definitely ill. Bloodwork showed high biliruven, and high WBC (60,000). Rechecked this past Monday. Bili is now normal, but WBC has gone to 65,000. He looks amazing and is eating like a horse. Feathers are gleaming. Vet says he has leukemia. He's 29. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Shezbug]

@Hankmacaw @Macawnutz @macawpower58 @Karen @MiniMacaw

 

[Karen]

Hi Kathy, I don’t have any experience with Leukemia but have dealt with very high WBC’s a time or two. May I ask some questions? What brought your vet to the Leukemia diagnosis? What symptoms was your Macaw experiencing a month ago that brought you to the vet? What treatment was given? What is your birds diet?

As far as the high WBC, yes, that can be an indicator of disease, infection or inflammation but it has also been my experience that Macaws can often show a very high WBC just from the stress of the vet visit. So that reaction often has to be figured into the equation.

 

[enigma731]

Can you post the specific blood panel results? There are certain patterns that might suggest leukemia.