I posted a brief update in my original thread but thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread. For anyone new to what's happening, Winston (red lored amazon), started vomiting mid-late February. It came along with more time spent puffed, sleepiness (although not quite lethargy), undigested food in his poop and some liquidy poops, and decreased appetite for a couple of days. The vet I took him to did a gram stain, culture for candida, and took x-rays but didn't do bloodwork. He sent us home with probiotics, everything came back normal, and essentially did no follow-up (I was told I'd need an appointment when I asked to discuss the results and follow-up testing with the doctor ).
Following this, Winston returned to his normal self over the course of about a week. Then, about two weeks after the probiotics ran out (I wanted to talk to the vet about continuing them but see above...) he started vomiting again. I started him on probiotics again and took him to a different vet (who had previously been our back up). This time he had only one day of vomiting (very very early in the morning and then again in the afternoon after returning home from the vet) accompanied by sleepiness and abnormal poops. No decrease in appetite.
The vet did bloodwork and everything came back normal. He essentially recommended I keep him on probiotics indefinitely and then if Winston started vomiting again or I noticed anything else do another gram stain followed by another x-ray and a crop wash if the gram stain didn't show anything abnormal. One last thing I've noticed (and it may be totally irrelevant) is that Winston has been molting on and off now for maybe three months. I don't know if this just happens and I never took note of it before or if it's indicative of a problem. As many of you and the vet have affirmed, his feather condition is good. But I'm worried he may be losing new feathers and regrowing them rather than old feathers that need replacing.
The second bout of vomiting was nine days ago. Winston has been his normal happy self and his poop has been looking more normal. No more vomiting. But then tonight, he's been essentially dry heaving but has not yet brought anything up. It's happened twice so far tonight and it lasts for a couple of minutes each time (not bobbing the whole time) before going back to sleep. This happened the first time around before he started bringing anything up so I'm worried it's only a matter of time before he starts vomiting again. I do not think it's behavioral (especially since he's been waking up in the middle of the night to do it!). It comes along with a sound (hard to describe but NOT a vocalization) and I have videos but not sure how to share. I'll be bringing him back to the vet but figured I'd pop in here to see anyone has any words of wisdom. I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight and I'm feeling very worried and alone
Following this, Winston returned to his normal self over the course of about a week. Then, about two weeks after the probiotics ran out (I wanted to talk to the vet about continuing them but see above...) he started vomiting again. I started him on probiotics again and took him to a different vet (who had previously been our back up). This time he had only one day of vomiting (very very early in the morning and then again in the afternoon after returning home from the vet) accompanied by sleepiness and abnormal poops. No decrease in appetite.
The vet did bloodwork and everything came back normal. He essentially recommended I keep him on probiotics indefinitely and then if Winston started vomiting again or I noticed anything else do another gram stain followed by another x-ray and a crop wash if the gram stain didn't show anything abnormal. One last thing I've noticed (and it may be totally irrelevant) is that Winston has been molting on and off now for maybe three months. I don't know if this just happens and I never took note of it before or if it's indicative of a problem. As many of you and the vet have affirmed, his feather condition is good. But I'm worried he may be losing new feathers and regrowing them rather than old feathers that need replacing.
The second bout of vomiting was nine days ago. Winston has been his normal happy self and his poop has been looking more normal. No more vomiting. But then tonight, he's been essentially dry heaving but has not yet brought anything up. It's happened twice so far tonight and it lasts for a couple of minutes each time (not bobbing the whole time) before going back to sleep. This happened the first time around before he started bringing anything up so I'm worried it's only a matter of time before he starts vomiting again. I do not think it's behavioral (especially since he's been waking up in the middle of the night to do it!). It comes along with a sound (hard to describe but NOT a vocalization) and I have videos but not sure how to share. I'll be bringing him back to the vet but figured I'd pop in here to see anyone has any words of wisdom. I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight and I'm feeling very worried and alone