Hi All!
Meet Winston, my 14-year-old red lored amazon. He’s sweet as could be, very smart, has spunk for days and has been with me since I was a young teen.
About three weeks ago, Winston had a week where he was clearly unwell. His breath smelled slightly fishy, he did a bunch of head bobbing (essentially dry-heaving) that progressed to vomiting after the first day. His poop wasn’t quite right either, more liquid than normal and some very small and green (I think because he was having trouble keeping food down). He slept more than usual, spent a lot of time puffed, and had a couple of days of decreased appetite.
I took him to a vet who did a gram stain, an x-ray (to make sure he hadn’t swallowed something), and cultured his crop to test for candida. He sent me home with probiotics.
He got a lot better with the probiotics on board. His appetite returned with a vengeance, he stopped vomiting, returned to his normal, active and playful self, and his poop slowly returned to normal.
Fast forward to today, I finally received the test results from the vet via email and everything is normal. But that’s somehow more concerning than reassuring for me. He’s his normal self but I’m still noticing the occasional abnormal poop (like little pieces) and this started after running out of the probiotic.
I’m also noticing some strange feathers. He lost and re-grew some feathers while he was clearly unwell and has some feathers on his nape with stress bars. Those I’m not as concerned about — it makes sense. However, he also has some feathers on his wings that are yellowing on the edges, strange almost oblong feathers on the underside of his wings, some “pinched” down feathers on his nape, some broken feathers on his face (maybe this is just from lots of scritches?), and some feathers with dark edges. I did mention it to the vet but he didn’t seem concerned.
I’m kind of questioning the vet’s competence at the moment and wondering if that’s warranted. I like him and how he handles Winston but he didn’t call to discuss the results and possibility of continued probiotics or additional testing (despite assurance a week ago from the office that he would). I’m not sure if I should follow up with him and ask him it do bloodwork (he wanted to avoid it because he thought it was most likely an ingested foreign object, candida, or a bacterial infection that would be picked up by the gram stain) or possibly bring him to a different vet.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this (loooooong) post. I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking for here! Maybe thoughts on what I should be asking for from the vet? Opinions on whether it’s worth seeking a second opinion from a different vet? Money is, unfortunately, a concern as both my partner and I have been unemployed since the beginning of the pandemic and we just spent quite a bit on vet bills. That being said, if y’all think I should be seeking additional testing (at our current vet or a different one) we will absolutely figure it out! I’m worried about my baby and just want to do what’s best for him.
I’m including some images of the oddly shaped feathers under his wings and the yellowing feathers and one of the most recent not quite right poop. You’ll hopefully be able to see some of the dark edges as well (not the ones on his nape — that’s normal).
Meet Winston, my 14-year-old red lored amazon. He’s sweet as could be, very smart, has spunk for days and has been with me since I was a young teen.
About three weeks ago, Winston had a week where he was clearly unwell. His breath smelled slightly fishy, he did a bunch of head bobbing (essentially dry-heaving) that progressed to vomiting after the first day. His poop wasn’t quite right either, more liquid than normal and some very small and green (I think because he was having trouble keeping food down). He slept more than usual, spent a lot of time puffed, and had a couple of days of decreased appetite.
I took him to a vet who did a gram stain, an x-ray (to make sure he hadn’t swallowed something), and cultured his crop to test for candida. He sent me home with probiotics.
He got a lot better with the probiotics on board. His appetite returned with a vengeance, he stopped vomiting, returned to his normal, active and playful self, and his poop slowly returned to normal.
Fast forward to today, I finally received the test results from the vet via email and everything is normal. But that’s somehow more concerning than reassuring for me. He’s his normal self but I’m still noticing the occasional abnormal poop (like little pieces) and this started after running out of the probiotic.
I’m also noticing some strange feathers. He lost and re-grew some feathers while he was clearly unwell and has some feathers on his nape with stress bars. Those I’m not as concerned about — it makes sense. However, he also has some feathers on his wings that are yellowing on the edges, strange almost oblong feathers on the underside of his wings, some “pinched” down feathers on his nape, some broken feathers on his face (maybe this is just from lots of scritches?), and some feathers with dark edges. I did mention it to the vet but he didn’t seem concerned.
I’m kind of questioning the vet’s competence at the moment and wondering if that’s warranted. I like him and how he handles Winston but he didn’t call to discuss the results and possibility of continued probiotics or additional testing (despite assurance a week ago from the office that he would). I’m not sure if I should follow up with him and ask him it do bloodwork (he wanted to avoid it because he thought it was most likely an ingested foreign object, candida, or a bacterial infection that would be picked up by the gram stain) or possibly bring him to a different vet.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this (loooooong) post. I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking for here! Maybe thoughts on what I should be asking for from the vet? Opinions on whether it’s worth seeking a second opinion from a different vet? Money is, unfortunately, a concern as both my partner and I have been unemployed since the beginning of the pandemic and we just spent quite a bit on vet bills. That being said, if y’all think I should be seeking additional testing (at our current vet or a different one) we will absolutely figure it out! I’m worried about my baby and just want to do what’s best for him.
I’m including some images of the oddly shaped feathers under his wings and the yellowing feathers and one of the most recent not quite right poop. You’ll hopefully be able to see some of the dark edges as well (not the ones on his nape — that’s normal).