Orbit Update

[FoxersArtist]

Orbit goes back to the vet early tomorrow to have his labwork redone to see how his liver is functioning and how his anemia has improved. His energy levels are causing him to bounce off the walls - like any healthy lory might do - but I am still really concerned that the underlying cause of his sudden crash has not yet been corrected and am afraid he'll crash again if we don't find out. What that cause was for sure, we do not yet know, and do not know if his liver has made the same recovery that his energy levels have. I am suspecting that the anemia is much less or corrected based on how active he has been. Today Orbit was so bouncy that I could no longer keep him in his little ICU unit. He had even taken a bath in his water dish. I finally broke down and put him back in his regular cage where he was very happy, after listening to him screech, unrelenting, at me to be let out. I decided against tube feeding as he had been pigging out, though felt nervious about that decision due to him not gaining any weight yet. I hope his labs show much improvement on his organs and blood. I'll let you know what the vet says tomorrow.
-Anna

[becca623]

Good luck Orbit! Hang in there momma (Anna)!

[expressmailtome]

I hope that everything keeps getting better! Good luck!

Matt

[Ringneckmom]

Keeping you and Orbit in my thoughts and hoping that you can find out what caused this.

[ihavespirit]

I am glad to hear that Orbit is improving.... keep us updated on the blood work :)

[Abby]

You've done so well with Orbit. Huge pat on the back to you.

A quiet calm lorikeet who is normally ADD is a sign of a really ill lorikeet. He must be improving to be getting back to manic mode. As far as weight, are you able to keep him in a smaller cage. I understand that he's over the ICU unit but just being able to restrict his bounciness a little may help for the weight to come back up. The other thing being if his weight is stable (albeit low) and he's not losing anymore then you're also doing really well. He's obviously using up more energy again by being a lory so the needs are being met even if it's not quite enough to get the weight back up.

Once again, well done, you really should be proud of yourself. Fingers crossed for bloodwork and that you and your vet can get to the bottom of what the cause was.

[FoxersArtist]

Orbit went to the vet today and impressed everyone with his bounciness. He was playing peek-a-boo, brushing his teeth, blowing raspberries and smooches and just being a roudy mess. The vet was very impressed but said that she has seen other birds bounce back so quickly and is not super surprised. we will not have the results of the CBC until tomorrow but the easy blood draw was a first sign that Orbit had a lot more blood this time around. The techs at the office were able to spin his blood to get a hematacrit reading which was 55 (!!!!!!) I was not sure I heard the number correctly so I had to ask my vet to repeat what she said. Indeed, his levels had spiked from a deadly 10 up to a more than normal level (40 being normal) so he is no longer anemic at all. I am hoping for a similar result with his liver functions and hopefully some kind of explaination for what went on here. Hopefully my vet will be able to call tomorrow afternoon with the results.
-Anna

[kellywess]

He must have really wanted out of that IC Unit BAD. Wonderful News!

[Tx mommy]

Oh good!!! A quite Lori is a scary thought. SHows waht a great job his mommy is doing.

[FoxersArtist]

Orbit's labwork is back and showing great improvement. The labwork indicates that Orbit did have something akin to food poisoning and that is what caused him to become so suddenly, and seriously ill. All of his lab values were normal except for his liver which is still showing enzymes in his blood that are two times too high but the vet said that it would be impossible for his liver functions to be totally normal within only a week of such a serious trauma. She said that with the drastic decrease in enzymes, she expects him to make a full recovery soon. There were no other underlying causes for the illness. I may call the food company to get some specs on Orbit's powder, since I have not used it for long. The bacteria could have also come from one of the fruits or veggies I offered. The best we can try to do is be more careful but it sounds like this was just one of those freak things that happens sometimes.
-Anna