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Prayers For Sarah Please?


elenamarie

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Hi Guys--

 

It's been forever since I've been on, life had been absolutely insane, but something is wrong with Sarah and we're off to the vet in a few hours. She's not eating, throwing up and moderately lethargic. No fever that I can detect but something isn't right. She's putting herself in her crate throughout the day, which she NEVER does. She started this four days ago, not as severe but just off a bit and throwing up, but today it's obvious something is wrong.

 

So if you're the praying sort please offer one up for Sarah.

 

Thanks!

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Hi Guys--

 

Thanks again to everyone who offered prayers and encouragement.

 

We just got home from the vet's office. A series of x-rays didn't show any foreign objects in her system but a couple of sections of her intestines are dilated which suggests that she may be trying to pass something she shouldn't have swallowed. She constantly grabs parrot toys that Casper throws out of his cage and she may have swallowed a large bead or something similar. Did I tell you guys I was given a 21 year old Umbrella Cockatoo named Casper? I don't remember whether I did or not. That's been an adventure in environmental management and training!

 

They pulled blood for a full panel--kidneys, liver, pancreas, full cell counts, etc.--and those results should be in tomorrow.

 

The vet is concerned about pancreatitis. He didn't see evidence of it on the x-rays but not all cases of pancreatitis show up on imaging. She's on a bland diet for several days and we'll see where we go from there. Once the bloodwork is back we'll know more.

 

That visit set me back $400. I love my vets' office. They're open from 7am until 9pm as a matter of course, the vets are all wonderful with Sarah, it's a full-service animal hospital with complete surgical unit, and they treat everything from intestinal worms to cancer. But they certainly are not cheap.  Hubs is mad but he'll get over it. Maybe this will light a fire under his butt to get her on a vet insurance plan, something I've been trying to talk him into for over a year.

 

So that's where we are for now. She seems okay, still not right but okay.

 

I got a great compliment while we were there. We'd signed in and went over to sit down. I gave Sarah the hand signals for sit and lie down, which she obeyed, and one of the receptionists turned to the other and exclaimed, "did you see that? That dog is really trained!" It was a nice interlude in an otherwise stressful evening.

 

I'm going to be a grandmother in 8 months and while pacing at the vet's waiting for them to bring Sarah back from the x-ray I wondered if I'll be as anxious waiting for my first grandchild's birth. If so I need to get some medication for that! ;)

 

Thanks again everyone!

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I hope all is okay soon. I remember years ago my dog got quite sick and after all the tests etc, it turned out that she was eating bird seed that our new parrot was throwing out of the cage. Parrot went back to the store and the discomfort, redness and illness went away. 

 

I dunno if your situation has anything to do with the the Cockatoo or seeds but it might be worth considering if other avenues don't reveal the source of the problem.

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I hope all is okay soon. I remember years ago my dog got quite sick and after all the tests etc, it turned out that she was eating bird seed that our new parrot was throwing out of the cage. Parrot went back to the store and the discomfort, redness and illness went away. 

 

I dunno if your situation has anything to do with the the Cockatoo or seeds but it might be worth considering if other avenues don't reveal the source of the problem.

 

Hmmmm, this is something I've considered. I have Casper on pellets, Nutriberries and dried fruits and veggies. The vet seemed to think that Sarah's occasional eating of those items wouldn't cause this issue but. . .. If that's it I'll have to come up with a way to keep Sarah from eating those items. He cannot go back to a store. I just got him healthy again--no easy feat for an Umbrella 'Too.

 

Thank you so much for the heads up.

Edited by elenamarie
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We didn't really have a choice with taking our bird back, our place was small and impossible to separate from our Tessi. I am sure that it is absolutely possible for your pets to co-habitate without having to resort to drastic action like we had to. It was sad indeed, but our dog Tessi was 12 years old and I have had her since a puppy, we only had the bird for 4 weeks so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

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We didn't really have a choice with taking our bird back, our place was small and impossible to separate from our Tessi. I am sure that it is absolutely possible for your pets to co-habitate without having to resort to drastic action like we had to. It was sad indeed, but our dog Tessi was 12 years old and I have had her since a puppy, we only had the bird for 4 weeks so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

 

Did Tessi have skin reactions or digestive system problems or what?

 

I have already instituted a stringent management program to make sure Sarah doesn't eat Casper and Casper doesn't take a huge chunk out of Sarah (Cockatoos have a vicious bite.) I can find a way to keep her away from the bird food if it comes to that. I hope it doesn't, though. I just recently got Sarah to the point of lying down and not going nuts when Casper is out of the cage on his play ring. I'd hate to see all that work gone to waste.

 

Thanks again!

Edited by elenamarie
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...it was both, she got very red skin and some vomiting and runny poop. 

 

Having said that, this is only a guess based on what happened to my Tessi, it may not be the issue at all. Interestingly our vet was not 100% certain that bird seed could cause the problems, but he did say it was possible. Tessi was not allergic to any other foods from our experience.

 

The good news is  that it will clear up really quickly once the bird seed is eliminated from Sarah's diet. Cockies are very common in Australia obviously and I am sure that in 99% of situations there is no issue. They are a great bird, full of personality but can be messy with throwing stuff around  :)

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