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Recently, my female budgie, Chicky started vomiting. It was over the weekend but she had vomited on and off before but I was too busy to notice. I know it's a really bad excuse but I had a lot going on and I just didn't think too much of it. But this weekend was different. She vomited a lot and was overall puffed up and lethargic. It was the weekend and there wasn't much I could do because all of the avian vets in my area were closed until Monday. It was the same situation with exotic animal vets. Canine and feline vets said they don't treat birds. I put her in the hospital cage to reduce activity and separate her. I thought I could wait and get her an appointment on Monday but things got worse. Her poop became all slimy and watery and a very dark shade of green. She started becoming unresponsive and would only open her eyes if I shook the cage and when she needed to vomit. She vomited all night and all day for more than two days. It was like her body wasn't digesting any food. I was so worried and I did start a thread on 911 BIRD EMERGENCY HIGHWAY but there wasn't much I could do without a vet. I gave her ACV just to slow down any yeast growth (@Lady Jane and @Shezbug helped me with that) so she would make it until Monday. I was so scared at night fearing the worst in the morning. In the morning, I would wake up at the crack of dawn with so much fear to check her cage. I got no sleep and was overall depressed. My whole family was. She was never too close to us and preferred to be on her own. It's been over four months and she still gets scared when I am around. Still, we felt bad of course. What made us feel worse was that when she became sick, she started to bond with us. Stepping up, running to us, flying to us, sleeping on my shoulder, etc. These few days were the worst, especially considering the night before, I had gotten great news that would change my life. But she held on and eventually Monday came. I called my vet the first thing in the morning but more bad news came. They said they couldn't get me an appointment until the next month. I thought she wouldn't make it until then without treatment so I called other vets and they said the same thing. I was worried again and I called more vets farther and farther away. Eventually, I found a vet a few hours away that did could give me an appointment that day. The doctor had been treating birds for 22 years and had studied Avian Medicine and Surgery. I was worried the car drive would make her sicker or that she wouldn't make it but I had no other choice. I said I would be there and gave the receptionist my information. We arrived and they took Chicky in. I couldn't go in because of COVID-19 restrictions so everything was curbside. The doctor called about 45 minutes later and asked me to explain the symptoms. I did and he asked me more questions about diet and whether she was cage most of the time or not. I told him she was out of her cage most of the day and based on her symptoms and this info, he said two things concerned him. One was AGY and the other was that since she flies freely around the house, she could have swallowed something. He said he would have to do a stool test to check for yeast and an x-ray to check if she swallowed something. I asked if he could do the stool test first because I highly doubted that she swallowed something. Sure enough, they found yeast growth in her stool. He said the x-ray wouldn't be necessary anymore and prescribed Amphotericin B. He gave me a medical report and the prescription and thankfully, said he could have the prescription sent to a pharmacy in my city. When Chicky came back, she looked a bit better. The doctor hadn't done anything but somehow she kept her eyes open the whole ride back and reacted when I tapped on her cage.
I picked up her medicine (Amphotericin B) the next day after the pharmacy called and told me it was ready and I also got instructions on how to give it to her. The doctor had told me I would have to give it to her orally using a syringe with a towel restraint for a whole month. The instructions on the bottle said the same thing but with more info. 0.12 ml (squirted into her mouth as two drops) every 12 hours using the syringe provided by them. They also said the medicine had to be refrigerated. At this point, I have given her two doses, the Tuesday night dose, and the morning dose today (Wednesday). I accidentally lost a dose yesterday when Chicky moved when I squirted it and it spilled on my mom's finger. She is the only one in our household who can hold the birds without panicking lol. Anyways, since Chicky is not tame, it's almost impossible to "catch" her. She keeps running and flying around so it's impossible. So far we have been cornering her in her cage (sounds and honestly feels cruel but I don't know how else to do it) but I don't know how long I can keep this up. Does anyone have a more effective method? Also, she keeps biting and she bites hard too. She has drawn blood before and it is painful, trust me. Even as a budgie, her bites hurt but my mom refuses to use a towel to hold her because she is afraid she'll put too much pressure on her. She says she will only know if she uses her hands but when Chicky bites, her grip loosens and she sometimes lets go. Does anyone know what to do? So far, with drinking the medicine, Chicky is doing fine. She does refuse to open her mouth sometimes but when it is open, she swallows it and doesn't spit. I got the medicine banana-flavored because apparently, it was what most birds preferred at the pharmacy. They also said they could reflavor it for free once if she wouldn't drink it but no problems with that so far. It's the holding her part that we are having trouble with. Can someone please help me with this?
Recently, my female budgie, Chicky started vomiting. It was over the weekend but she had vomited on and off before but I was too busy to notice. I know it's a really bad excuse but I had a lot going on and I just didn't think too much of it. But this weekend was different. She vomited a lot and was overall puffed up and lethargic. It was the weekend and there wasn't much I could do because all of the avian vets in my area were closed until Monday. It was the same situation with exotic animal vets. Canine and feline vets said they don't treat birds. I put her in the hospital cage to reduce activity and separate her. I thought I could wait and get her an appointment on Monday but things got worse. Her poop became all slimy and watery and a very dark shade of green. She started becoming unresponsive and would only open her eyes if I shook the cage and when she needed to vomit. She vomited all night and all day for more than two days. It was like her body wasn't digesting any food. I was so worried and I did start a thread on 911 BIRD EMERGENCY HIGHWAY but there wasn't much I could do without a vet. I gave her ACV just to slow down any yeast growth (@Lady Jane and @Shezbug helped me with that) so she would make it until Monday. I was so scared at night fearing the worst in the morning. In the morning, I would wake up at the crack of dawn with so much fear to check her cage. I got no sleep and was overall depressed. My whole family was. She was never too close to us and preferred to be on her own. It's been over four months and she still gets scared when I am around. Still, we felt bad of course. What made us feel worse was that when she became sick, she started to bond with us. Stepping up, running to us, flying to us, sleeping on my shoulder, etc. These few days were the worst, especially considering the night before, I had gotten great news that would change my life. But she held on and eventually Monday came. I called my vet the first thing in the morning but more bad news came. They said they couldn't get me an appointment until the next month. I thought she wouldn't make it until then without treatment so I called other vets and they said the same thing. I was worried again and I called more vets farther and farther away. Eventually, I found a vet a few hours away that did could give me an appointment that day. The doctor had been treating birds for 22 years and had studied Avian Medicine and Surgery. I was worried the car drive would make her sicker or that she wouldn't make it but I had no other choice. I said I would be there and gave the receptionist my information. We arrived and they took Chicky in. I couldn't go in because of COVID-19 restrictions so everything was curbside. The doctor called about 45 minutes later and asked me to explain the symptoms. I did and he asked me more questions about diet and whether she was cage most of the time or not. I told him she was out of her cage most of the day and based on her symptoms and this info, he said two things concerned him. One was AGY and the other was that since she flies freely around the house, she could have swallowed something. He said he would have to do a stool test to check for yeast and an x-ray to check if she swallowed something. I asked if he could do the stool test first because I highly doubted that she swallowed something. Sure enough, they found yeast growth in her stool. He said the x-ray wouldn't be necessary anymore and prescribed Amphotericin B. He gave me a medical report and the prescription and thankfully, said he could have the prescription sent to a pharmacy in my city. When Chicky came back, she looked a bit better. The doctor hadn't done anything but somehow she kept her eyes open the whole ride back and reacted when I tapped on her cage.
I picked up her medicine (Amphotericin B) the next day after the pharmacy called and told me it was ready and I also got instructions on how to give it to her. The doctor had told me I would have to give it to her orally using a syringe with a towel restraint for a whole month. The instructions on the bottle said the same thing but with more info. 0.12 ml (squirted into her mouth as two drops) every 12 hours using the syringe provided by them. They also said the medicine had to be refrigerated. At this point, I have given her two doses, the Tuesday night dose, and the morning dose today (Wednesday). I accidentally lost a dose yesterday when Chicky moved when I squirted it and it spilled on my mom's finger. She is the only one in our household who can hold the birds without panicking lol. Anyways, since Chicky is not tame, it's almost impossible to "catch" her. She keeps running and flying around so it's impossible. So far we have been cornering her in her cage (sounds and honestly feels cruel but I don't know how else to do it) but I don't know how long I can keep this up. Does anyone have a more effective method? Also, she keeps biting and she bites hard too. She has drawn blood before and it is painful, trust me. Even as a budgie, her bites hurt but my mom refuses to use a towel to hold her because she is afraid she'll put too much pressure on her. She says she will only know if she uses her hands but when Chicky bites, her grip loosens and she sometimes lets go. Does anyone know what to do? So far, with drinking the medicine, Chicky is doing fine. She does refuse to open her mouth sometimes but when it is open, she swallows it and doesn't spit. I got the medicine banana-flavored because apparently, it was what most birds preferred at the pharmacy. They also said they could reflavor it for free once if she wouldn't drink it but no problems with that so far. It's the holding her part that we are having trouble with. Can someone please help me with this?