weird poop. is it from diet or is it a bacterial infection? (photos with poop)

[anurim]

Hey. My cockatiel has had weird poops for about two weeks, but they weren't constant. The first time (really watery, not always with feces, only urates, and clean urine) they went away after one and a half days, so I didn't take him to the vet. Now, after almost two weeks he's having them again. It does feel like he eats a bit more chop, so I'm thinking maybe it's from the chop? But some of the poops look to me like he could have a bacterial infection. I've taken the pellets out of his diet for two days now, so he's only eating seeds at this moment. Here are some pictures:

Poop from right after eating chop-yesterday morning

Another one from after chop. This one looks like it has some bits in it. (it looks to me like it could be plum skin?? The chop does have plums in it)

A few hours after eating chop, well formed, but still has little bits in it.

Last night's poop, right before bed. well formed, and green. (keep in mind he has only been eating seeds these past 2 days)

This morning's poop.

After the morning poop he had a normal poop, like the last night's poop, well formed and all the components there, and right when I was writing this, he had this poop, pretty watery. (it did fell from the top of his cage-1.5 m- so that's probably why it splashed like that, but it's still watery.

I'm thinking of taking him to the vet. What's stopping me is the fact that I know he'll be really stressed out. If I do take him, I'll ask the vet to also do some blood work on him, since he's never had it done and I want to be sure he's all good. what do you think?

 

[anurim]

Update: He's having watery poops again. I've noticed in the morning he has watery poops and towards the evening the poops look ok. I'm going to try and get an appointment to the vet for today or tomorrow.

 

[Kassiani]

I'm afraid I don't have a cockatiel for comparison. My bigger bird is a red masked parakeet (cherry-headed conure). His poops change consistency throughout the day. Of the pictures you shared, the ones that seems a bit concerning to my eyes are the first two photos in which the urates seem stringy. Were you able to make an appointment yet with your vet?

 

[anurim]

I'm afraid I don't have a cockatiel for comparison. My bigger bird is a red masked parakeet (cherry-headed conure). His poops change consistency throughout the day. Of the pictures you shared, the ones that seems a bit concerning to my eyes are the first two photos in which the urates seem stringy. Were you able to make an appointment yet with your vet?

Yes, I was thinking the first two seemed off as well. I did book an appointment for tomorrow. What was concerning for me is the fact he has never had poops like this until now, and they also did not change through the day.

 

[CrazyKozmo]

Glad you have a vet appt. Let us know how it goes and any test results (getting a cloaca culture may be a good idea, along with blood work).

 

[anurim]

This is the next day. We had the appointment at 6 pm and got home at 8 pm . They got him in first since it's pretty cold outside, and we waited for avian vet to come out of an urgent surgery. She then looked at him, weighed him, and called me since you're not allowed to be in the clinic(covid reasons). Finn hasn't had any other tests done, so she suggested we do most of them. She said he was really active and that he looked good. She took some blood from his jugular vein, which made Finn so upset, I could hear him scream from outside the clinic. The results from his blood work should come today or tomorrow. The Chlamydia test may come a little later. I'll gather poops in the next 5 days for the feces tests. He was so exhausted when we came home, wouldn't even move in his carrier. I got him to drink 2 sips of water last night, but I haven't had any luck with food. He did eat some millet this morning, which is good. He is fine, and he is recuperating.
Ohh, I remember he was so mad he bit the dr. 3 times! She came out all bandaged. She also did have to wipe some of HER blood of him, that's how ruthless he was. For reference, he never bit me and drew blood.
As a diagnostic, the dr. doesn't think it's from the diet, since he's been eating the same thing for a year now: chop in the morning, pellets during the day, seeds as treats, and in foraging toys. She also said I was the first person she had that takes so good care of parrots meaning the cage, the food, the toys, etc.
I'll announce all of you when we get the results from the tests.
Edit: Here's some pictures of him:

From today, the blood on his face is actually the vet'sI'll have to clean it up. It does look like he is a little bit hurt near his eye, but otherwise, he is all good.

From last night, he was so tired he fell asleep the second he stepped into his cage.

 

[CrazyKozmo]

Yes, vet visits are ultra stressful! He made is dislike known with the bites! I just had my caiques in for a nail trim and bloodwork on Tuesday. They have been just wiped out from the vet visit (quiet in their cage and much more mellow than usual)...I'm kind of enjoying to quiet , but it is so unusual at my house! Let us know what the test results show.

 

[anurim]

I'm kind of enjoying to quiet , but it is so unusual at my house! Let us know what the test results show.

I feel the same lol. He is so active and chatty normally. He has been a little more active today but still pretty quiet.
Will surely announce the results when I receive them.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

He’s so precious!
It’s good you took him in, even just for your peace of mind, but it’s great that you will now have the results of other tests and a relationship with a vet. I’m sure he’ll perk back up soon.

 

[anurim]

He’s so precious!
It’s good you took him in, even just for your peace of mind, but it’s great that you will now have the results of other tests and a relationship with a vet. I’m sure he’ll perk back up soon.

Thank you for the compliment. Yours are also little cuties<3
Yes, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's actually pooping normally now...All-day he only had one watery poop (all water, no feces)... I think a vet trip scared him enough to not want to poop watery again... in his life
I was actually planning on taking him to the vet somewhere later this year, but he made me take him a little sooner than expected. I'm sure he's not proud about this one.
Also, he played for the first time with a toy today, right when I was writing this. He's slowly getting back into himself.

 

[anurim]

Ok, we finally have the results in. They took way longer than expected, and from what they told me there was a problem with the transport (since they're going to another country). I'm going to tell most of it to you, trying as much as I can to translate from my native language to English.
- Hematocrit is 0.1 over the limit. Dr. said it's from dehydration (since he has polyuria).
- Eosinophils is 3 (max. is 2). associated mostly with parasitic infections or inflamed tissues.
- CK is 1297 (max. is 300). it could be from lesions of the tissues, but it's also because of all of the manipulations and stress. (prob from the blood draw and the general exam).
- Amylase is 1000 over limit. could be hepatic or pancreatic problems.
- Total protein is a little too low. could be from malnutrition, intestinal absorption problems, parasites, excessive hydration, and some more.
- Sodium is very little over the limit, because of the loss of water and could also be from too much salt(Not very probable, he doesn't get any salt, and very rarely he gets any human food like biscuits, bread, or even crackers, and if he does get anything from me he only gets a small nibble)
- Cholinesterase is 722 (min. is 2000). It's associated with intoxications with insecticides or too many foods that prevent the making of Cholinesterase like broccoli, carrot, apples, pumpkin, etc.
I decided to add the numbers so that you can maybe understand everything a little better since I'm not good at explaining medical terms.
She suspects a metabolism or nutrition problem, excluding, for now, a renal or a liver disease. The dr. also suggests not feeding the vegetables from above for a period, so that we can correct the Cholinesterase since it could lead to problems if it continues. I also have to remove all seeds from the diet for a period of time so we can hopefully exclude the insecticides intoxication. The Chlamydia test hasn't arrived yet.
We're waiting for the fecal results, I just sent them in today. I will update you when new things appear.

 

[anurim]

We have all the results. Chlamydia is negative, and the fecal tests indicate a bacterial infection. He gets an antibiotic for at least 10 days. It should all be fine. I'm glad I trusted my gut. Thank you all!

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

ask yout vet to check your bird for chlamydia ( probably from sample of blood or poops on pcr investigation ), and also some other bacterial infection. My budgies also have often such poops like those wet spots on your 5. picture. it can be also affected hormonally or by stress, but first of all I would recommend the chlamydia test.

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

Now I read that chlamydia is negative. Ok, sorry.

 

[Mizzely]

I'm glad you have a course of action

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

what does he have????

 

[Blueberry]

What brand of seed mix do you feed?

 

[finchly]

what does he have????

A bacterial infection.

@anurim, if you want, tell us about your ingredients in the chop and seed mix, and what brand of pellets you use. Maybe one of us can find where the problem lies.

 

[anurim]

What brand of seed mix do you feed?

I feed multiple, depending on what I find at the pet store. I don't think it's from the seeds mix because he's had the same bag for 2 months now since his main diet is pellets and the seeds are only fed as rewards. His problems only started 3-4 weeks ago.

 

[anurim]

A bacterial infection.

@anurim, if you want, tell us about your ingredients in the chop and seed mix, and what brand of pellets you use. Maybe one of us can find where the problem lies.

He gets Harrison's adult lifetime, and as for the chop, the ingredients mainly change every month. Now, he started getting the problems almost one month after feeding the new chop, so that's when I thought maybe it's something from the mix. I then changed it, changed some of the ingredients, and the problem still continued, so maybe it was something from the mix. Not sure tho. I don't keep old chops in the freezer, and also I don't keep old seeds. Even if there are some left, I throw them away. His polyuria actually went away, with only maybe 2 watery poops a day, in the morning, after eating some vegetables the vet agreed on (the ones that don't affect the Cholinesterase production, as I've stated in the blood tests post if you scroll up a bit). I haven't been feeding seeds since then. So maybe it's actually from the seeds? No idea tbh. I don't remember the last seed brand that I bought, but I did throw it away, and I don't have any memory of what it was called. The thing is, this is the brand that I've bought a few times in the past and never had a problem with.