My Bird is Dying

[dragon06]

I haven't posted on here in a long time cause I haven't been all that well myself and just didn't get to it. I have a Senegal Parrot named Merlin and a Budgie named Mister Feench.

Well Merlin is dying. He got sick literally overnight, fine one minute then suddenly had a seizure. So I made a doc appointment right away. Then when we were at the docs he had another seizure. After the first seizure he became very lethargic.

So they did some blood test and the test for the liver was apparently "off the wall" as quoted by my doctor who said that was probably the worst one he has ever seen and this doc has been around forever.

So he has stayed lethargic and we have been giving some antibiotics and meds for the liver. They also said he was a bit anemic so we have been adding vitamins to his veggies and he already eats a good food (Harrisons). He has been eating though, I have been seeing him eat and he has been eating his veggies too. His poops look normal. However when we went back into the vets office today for a recheck and more tests (to see what is causing the liver disease) he has lost 30grams and they said he was too weak for them to take any blood. So they just did a psittacosis test.

So now we have to start handfeeding him twice a day to see if we can get him to put on weight. We're also getting a heatlamp for him. But the doc, who is a very well known (here in NJ) doc for birds said to me "I don't think he is going to make it". I'll keep trying until the end cause there is nothing else I can do, I cannot just give up. We have another appointment on Dec. 26 (or bring him in earlier if he gets even worse) for a recheck again and hopefully he will be strong enough then to take blood to retest the liver to see if the meds are helping at all.

I find it really hard not to blame myself for this. I had put off his yearly physical (I had to have surgery) and keep thinking that if I hadn't that maybe we could have caught it sooner. Although no one has actually said that is the case. It's seems to have just come out of the blue. When we first brought him in the doc checked him over and said that if it wasn't for the seizure he would have called him a perfectly healthy bird. Good weight, good grasping good everything, but then the blood tests came back and we knew it wasn't good and he has just been going downhill from there.

He is very good about it though. He even still sings for me when I bring his veggies to him. And he is good when we give him his meds. He is even eating right now as I write this.

Only thing is is that no one knows what it is exactly, the docs are baffled, he even called a specialist. All we know is that it is causing liver failure. I wish we knew but I am not sure we will find out in time!

Thanks you for reading such a long post...I just had to get this out somewhere. I am so upset that I am most likely going to lose my baby. He is definitely a one person bird and I am that person.

Please send good energy our way and hope that my Merlin pulls through!

[kellywess]

Thoughts and prayers coming your way. Hang in there, and dont beat yourself up.

[catschair]

I'm so sorry for your troubles. Hope you and Merlin are feeling better --I know you will both be healthy together in good time. Sending strength to you both.

[joshbirdlover]

I am so sorry for everything that has happened and I hope that merlin gets better!!!!

[Laura65177]

Goodluck with Merlin defiantly thinking of you two.
Don't blame yourself you said yourself you were in surgery and have been sick.
Be strong for Merlin!

[amanda143]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm sending positive thoughts your way.

[Monica]

Are you hand feeding him parrot hand feeding formula??? If not, you might want to consider doing so.

What are the meds?

Could he have gotten metal poisoning? Do you have any PTFE appliances? (self-cleaning ovens - teflon coated pans - toasters - toaster ovens - etc) Or an ionizer products? (ionizer air cleaner? ionizer hair dryer?) Do you use anything scented? (candles? perfume? incense? potpourri? etc) Did you get any new furniture or carpets or other floor installments? Did anything change recently?

[Lori~D]

SEnding a prayer your way.

[alohashark]

Hoping for the best for you and Merlin.

[shosh]

So sorry to hear Merlin is so unwell.....Hope he makes a full recovery with everything you are doing for him.