Update on Baby

[Aimee72]

Hi Everyone,
Baby saw a diferent vet yesterday. He doesn't seem to think that there are any congenital defects and he was very upset with the self-mutilation and feather plucking (aren't we all). He was also upset at the length of her beak and nails. I did explain to him that the other vet is the one that takes care of that (just last week in fact) and that they were cut to the discretion of what the vet thought was best. I also told him that I was told her beak was long and thick due to a beak deformity, he said that was not true.
Warning...the rest is not for anyone with a queasy stomach...
He took her into surgery on the spot. He let me go into surgery and watch everything that he did. He cleaned up all the wounds and trimmed her beak and nails both all the way back to a normal length. I thought that her right leg was swollen twice the size as it should be but it turned out that it was just a very, very thick scab. He at first thought that it was a wound all the way to the bone and he didn't want to remove the scab (her other vet also had thought it was best not to) but then he went ahead and removed it anyway. Luckily, it looks like she was mainly picking at the scab and hasn't done any further damage to her leg since she couldn't get to it. Now she just has a sore where the scab has been for so long that needs to heal. It was the same on her neck, once the scab was removed it wasn't nearly as bad of a wound as we had thought was there. After she came out of surgery she already looked so much better. When she woke up he asked me again if she was able to perch and I said no, she hadn't been able to for weeks and he picked her up and she perched on his hand!! She had so much scab like material on her leg before that she could not make her legs straight plus the long nails didn't help. This is the first time I have ever seen this bird pick up her legs like a normal bird.
So then we waited on the blood test and x-rays to come back. The x-rays showed that she has an enlarged liver. He was concerned until he looked at the blood test and he said he doesn't think it is anything serious at this time. We were expecting her blood test to show how sick she was but they were much better than he expected they would be.
So he prescribed "Pluck-No-More" to be sprayed on her and to be put in her drinking water. No pain medicine, no antibiotics. He said that he didn't think she had any abnormalities at all. In fact, the only thing he agreed with the other vet on is that her wings are severely contractured. He felt that she had an excellent chance of making a full recovery and that he had seen birds in her condition do just that. Actually he said, "as long as their owner's had lots of money" they could recover.
I'm not going to make a statement at this time as to which vet is right or wrong. Only time will answer that question.
However, my bird no longer looks "retarded" as was her diagnosis from the other vet and she no longer acts it either. Her movements are pretty normal when you take how weak she is into consideration. Now she just acts scared at first when she sees your hands coming towards her. She still screams but she doesn't throw herself around. She has stepped up for me all day today and sits in my lap calmly. This evening I took her out of her basket and put her on a perch where she has been for two hours and she hasn't fallen off or even lost her balance. She said four different words today (but I did not understand what they were besides "Ricky" which I know was her favorite word when she was a baby) and I've never heard her talk at all since I've had her.
So for right now I have her in a basket with a perch which I carry around so I can keep her right with me. She shakes at first when she goes into a new room but then she peeks her head over the basket and looks around and starts doing her little whistle.
My husband tells me not to get my hopes up (that from the person watching tv with the bird right next to him.) But you know what? I'm due for a little bit of hope. I was able to snuggle her and give her a kiss today and I never even thought I'd be able to hold her.
Speaking of the devil...LOL...my husband just called for me to come downstairs. Apparently, Baby was on her perch, crawled off by herself to eat and then crawled back up on her perch. She is whistling while he claps for her. It doesn't take much to make us happy does it? LOL

And finally I will end this already too long post by telling you that we found out from Baby's past vet records that she is in fact a he. So this is the last post I will be referring to Baby as a "she". My husband has also renamed "her" Owen. We actually started calling her/him Irwin but then I logged on last night and saw that someone had suggested that as a name to someone else so we changed it to Owen since it sounds close.
I hope all of you are doing well.
Hugs to all,
Aimee

[FeatherLover]

Aimee,
It sounds like things are going a LOT better than you'd predicted.

That's SO great.

Keep going, Owen! You can do it!

[Winged_Victory]

Way to go Owen!!

[Dayna]

Owen is a fantastic name for a fantastic bird! Good job getting that second opinion. They are usually worth it. Just for peace of mind if nothing else. :)

[Monica]

I think the second vet knew what they were talking about if you are already seeing such fantastic results with Owen!!! Glad to hear of the progress!!! Even if it'll turn out to be one step forward, and two back, I think you'll get much further now than before!

[Lisa B]

I am sitting here with tears in my eyes. I am soooooooooooooooooo happy for you all!!! I've been trying to get some time to give you a call to see how He was doing.... Remember to take it slow, but you are on your way.....
I think I will finally be able to sleep good tonight...knowing things are going well....I'll call you either Fri or Sat.....

[Baby5566]

I'm so happy for Owen! What a GREAT doctor you have.