Seed stuck in throat: Bella RFM at Vet all weekend w/Oxygen

Anne & Gang · 4/10/13

so happy she is home and on the mend :hug8:

Birdbabe · 4/10/13

Glad shes home!! :hug8:

juliashmulia · 4/10/13

I had no idea that could happen. How awful.

tpoduje · 4/10/13

Me neither, very strange but apparently not all that uncommon. Today we were able to get her the first dose of antifungals on an almond covered in peanut butter. Hopefully this works for the next 10 days as that would make it the easiest birdy medication we've ever done!

juliashmulia said:
I had no idea that could happen. How awful.

Katy · 4/15/13

tpoduje said:
Me neither, very strange but apparently not all that uncommon. Today we were able to get her the first dose of antifungals on an almond covered in peanut butter. Hopefully this works for the next 10 days as that would make it the easiest birdy medication we've ever done!

Todd- Been thinking about Bella. How's she doing? Updates....pics......please!!!?

waterfaller1 · 4/15/13

I am sorry I missed this. I will keep Bella in my thoughts for a full recovery! :hug8:

tpoduje · 4/15/13

Thank for asking, she has been quite well but still no luck with the obstruction clearing. she is active and delightful. She moved in last Tuesday and stepped up for the first time on Friday, we have been having a blast getting to know her ways and giving her meds has not been difficult, thank goodness. With those antifungals, we can at least prevent the obstruction from getting larger and hopefully her body will sluff it off soon allowing it to come up. Bella already tries to regurgitate for me (no inappropriate contact, just a sign of appreciation apparently following our Macaw beaking sessions) I just wish it would clear her throat one of these times... It will be clear when it happens as her voice is very hushed right now, her breathing is nice and quiet unless she gets too excited but her voice does not allow much beyond a whisper which just breaks our hearts, we just hope we can have the privilege of hearing her at full volume!

Here are some of my favorite pics so far... :o:

waterfaller1 · 4/15/13

She is adorable. I am surprised they did not suggest trimming down her beak. It's a bit long. RFM's nails are long,thin, and sharp too. They tend to need trimming about every 3-4 months.

yvette · 4/15/13

glad she on the road to recovery :dance4:

SandraK · 4/15/13

I'm glad to hear she's home and her name is very appropriate for her, she is indeed Bella. :heart:

Katy · 4/15/13

Thanks for sharing this good news....there's a special place in my heart for her. I have a Bella too. :heart:

Bokkapooh · 4/15/13

How is she doing?

I have a question. I didn't see an answer for it in this thread, so if you answered it I apologize in advance for a repeat Q.

If the vet did xray, they had to anesthetize her. Why couldn't they pull the seed out?

Maybe my medical knowledge is flaud but a seed stuck in the wind pipe absolutely will not "break down and work it through hsr system". If its left there it can cause an abcess, irritation and inflammation and completely stop her from breathing.

If they can do an xray, I don't see why they can't just get the seed out.

The poor baby has to suffer

Marlene · 4/15/13

hugs to you both :hug8:

tpoduje · 4/15/13

waterfaller1 said:
She is adorable. I am surprised they did not suggest trimming down her beak. It's a bit long. RFM's nails are long,thin, and sharp too. They tend to need trimming about every 3-4 months.

Good feedback, my wife and I were just talking about the beak and how it is so sharp. She does not seem to chew on her toys much so we will try some new, smaller ones as most our bird seem to prefer something they can destroy in a sitting or two, that may help her work the point down before we go back for her follow up appointment when we have another opportunity for a trim. I know this past visit they did not want to stress her anymore and make her breather heavily for fear of her inhaling the obstruction. She sure is adorable and has been very kind with me right off the bat, I'm feelin' lucky!

Katy · 4/15/13

tpoduje said:
Good feedback, my wife and I were just talking about the beak and how it is so sharp. She does not seem to chew on her toys much so we will try some new, smaller ones as most our bird seem to prefer something they can destroy in a sitting or two, that may help her work the point down before we go back for her follow up appointment when we have another opportunity for a trim. I know this past visit they did not want to stress her anymore and make her breather heavily for fear of her inhaling the obstruction. She sure is adorable and has been very kind with me right off the bat, I'm feelin' lucky!

Such awesome news. Glad she is so comfortable with you. I'm getting more relieved all the time! :hug8:

tpoduje · 4/15/13

Bokkapooh said:
How is she doing?

I have a question. I didn't see an answer for it in this thread, so if you answered it I apologize in advance for a repeat Q.

If the vet did xray, they had to anesthetize her. Why couldn't they pull the seed out?

Maybe my medical knowledge is flaud but a seed stuck in the wind pipe absolutely will not "break down and work it through hsr system". If its left there it can cause an abcess, irritation and inflammation and completely stop her from breathing.

If they can do an xray, I don't see why they can't just get the seed out.

The poor baby has to suffer

Not an expert here either but here is my understanding from our conversation with the vet, Dr. Lintner, in Lake Oswego, OR by far the most experienced and knowledgeable avian vet in our area. The obstruction worked its way down very far where the windpipe meets the syrinx (a narrow spot much like the reed on a clarinet) this is a very sensitive area and the procedure to extract it has had a very low success rate in the past, significant risk of death within 24 hrs from infection and bruising in the throat, given her current condition she did not believe it was worth the risk or the cost.

The concern now is preventing fungal growth, she said in these cases the body will often build somewhat of a scab around the seed or feather (we are not sure what is stuck down there exactly) and eventually the body will sluff it off and then it only has one of two ways to go: 1. Up in which case she would cough it up, or 2. down in which case it could suffocate her. It is a bad situation without much remedy.

We are to give her 10 days or antifungals followed by 10 days off, and lastly another 10 days on. She is behaving very normally, active, playful, and sweet. You would barely know she had the problem, except for her voice is barely a whisper and when she gets excited she wheezes, we are trying to minimize this as much as possible to prevent her inhaling the obstruction. It is an awful situation and we hope we can simply give her the calm environment she needs to get through her antifungal regimen and then reassess at our next visit if nothing changes.

Has anyone else been through similar treatment? I am very curious to get some perspective.

glitterbird · 4/15/13

Poor girl! She is in my prayers. :heart:

Bokkapooh · 4/17/13

I would talk to other vets. Birds can't cough up anything they inhale. So with surgery you risk bruising and infection and without it you risk suffocation. Lose lose options

I'd definitely see if you can consult with other avian vets for their opinions. I don't mean to scare you and I apologize :hug8:

suncoast · 4/17/13

I agree it wouldn't hurt to have a consultation with another vet. If your vet is truly interested in helping her, s/he won't be offended by getting another opinion or two from some of the top vets in the U.S. I would ask him/her to do a consultation with Dr. Burkett in Raleigh/Durham or with Dr. Don Harris in Kendall Florida. Many, many prayers for your girl that this can be successfully resolved with the minimum of trauma. Hugs to you too, I know how worried you are.

Ginger

tpoduje · 4/17/13

Thank you both for the feedback, I was thinking about local vets and unfortunately most other vets that see birds in the area are not Avian vets, rather generalists that happen to see birds. I will ask for another consultation now even if it is remote as I agree with you all that there certainly must be someone who has performed this procedure successfully. Meanwhile, I sugarcoated the risk as our vet put it, to be exact, her experience has been that over 90% of the birds they see having had this procedure die within 24 hrs of the extraction due to bruising and infection, many of them come to her after having had the procedure done elsewhere. Because of this, and her improving condition, our vet suggested the antifungals in the regimen I described above. She thought it could come up, perhaps coughing was the wrong term on my part, I did not know much about this when we were told so I did not ask many good questions. We're due back there in a few days so I will call in advance and see if she can consult with another vet, otherwise we will find one we can take her to. THe rescue covers all the vet bills so that is not the primary concern.

Mercedez, I had noticed you are in Washington, perhaps you could PM me with a recommendation assuming you may be within driving distance.

Thanks again to all of you for the feedback, this is exactly what this forum is so excellent at and why I posted the request for help here.

Seed stuck in throat: Bella RFM at Vet all weekend w/Oxygen

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