|
Post by Jane on May 27, 2019 14:20:50 GMT -7
Thank you for the update.
I have just timed Mitzi sitting on her perch and it was 30 per minute. Are they giving him any other medication such as antibiotics?
Jane
|
|
|
Post by Adele on May 27, 2019 17:25:57 GMT -7
I just timed Manzi and he did 18. I tried counting Maui's, but it was too hard to see.
|
|
|
Post by Adele on May 29, 2019 10:55:36 GMT -7
How is Merlin doing? Is he getting any better? Have they tested his current zinc levels to see if the chelation treatments are helping?
I hope he's improving!!
|
|
|
Post by Rich on May 29, 2019 12:16:38 GMT -7
Hi all. Just giving the update, I have no idea if the chelation has helped at all becuase the the blood test hasnt come back yet. As for the breathing in of the sick, he has still got very laboured breathing. He is still alive though thank god......I found out tonight tthat the vet didnt think he was going to last 24 hrs - something they didnt tell me thank god! The problem now is that Merlin is incredibly tired. He has his eyes closed most of the time with only a few mins where they are open, so feeding is the problem. he weighed 570g a couple of months ago, so no recent weight really, but now its down to 480g. They have said that i should take him home during the day and then bring him back at 6pm to spend the night at the vets so that they can give him his antibiotics injection, anticeptic and f10 via nebulizer. The vets is 45 mins away, so by the time I get Merlin home, he is knackered and just sleeps. I have had him home now 2 days on the trot which is lovely but he is so very very tired. I am guessing that if he doesnt stop loosing weight, then they will force feed him, which is what started this aspiration in the first place
scary!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Jane on May 29, 2019 13:27:01 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by Thomas on May 29, 2019 20:18:10 GMT -7
As long as you can keep his weight up, that is half the battle and will keep him on the road to recovery. Merlin is in my thoughts daily. I lost a Timneh grey, Manfred, about 8 years ago. He was 26 and got some sort of heart sack infection.
Here's hoping and praying that Merlin will recover.
Thomas
|
|
|
Post by Jane on May 30, 2019 3:45:47 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by Rich on May 30, 2019 15:33:42 GMT -7
Hi, thanks Jane for those links and the email. I already have Guardian Angle, but its old so will bin it. I buy high potency course from harrisons for merlin so it seemed a good idea to me to get the recovery one, so I ran it passed the Vet. She said the biggest thing to worry about is diarrhea, so wanted me to use things Merlin has had before and is ok with him. But later contradicted herself by saying that they have been using "Emeraid Omnivore" to build him up, something he has never had. Is this something anyone has heard of? Do you think I should continue with the vets one or try the harrisons recovery or will they react some how together?
On another note, Merlin was home today from 10am until 5pm. The vet said that he didnt have a good night sleep wise so I was expecting him to be the same as yesterday. HOWEVER, hold the phone........he was great! He was alert, eating, and wanted a good fuss. This went on for a couple of hours. It was brilliant to see him like that. Dont get me wrong, he is still strugging to breath, but not as bad as it was for the last few days. He still isnt eating right, but defo was full of beans in himself. I took him outside in the sun and he started preening like usual.
Anyway, am picking him up tomorrow at 9am, so fingers crossed he is how he was today. Just need to get this food issue sorted out
thanks all.
|
|
|
Post by Jane on May 31, 2019 0:35:09 GMT -7
I am so pleased to hear that Merlin has improved, and been eating, hopefully this will continue. I haven't heard of it either but I found it on this site: lafeberinternational.com/emeraid/ with the one for parrots here: emeraid.com/emeraid-omnivore/It is a specialist veterinary product, a powder that is mixed with water: "WARNING: Emeraid has been scientifically designed for extremely high digestibility. Avoid contamination. Handle product carefully. Keep dry. Use a clean, dry scoop. Do not cross contaminate with scoops used with non-Emeraid foods. Contamination can cause harmful bacterial growth.
The 400 g (3.5 oz) pouch and 2 kg (5 lb) tub come with a red scoop that has both large (1 tablespoon) and small (1 teaspoon) ends. Use the smaller end of the scoop to prepare a relatively small volume of formula. To prepare larger volumes of Emeraid, fill the large end of the scoop with powder. Measure level scoops, and do not pack the powder. Shake dry powder to facilitate mixing. Mix three parts powder to two parts hot water measuring 122°F (50°C). Stir the mixture vigorously to avoid any hot spots until smooth. Fill the syringe with formula. When mixed as directed, this product will pass through a 18-gauge stainless steel feeding needle and 5-French red rubber catheters. Feed your patient immediately whenever possible, and always within 30 minutes of food preparation. Keep the gavage tube and syringe in very warm water 103-105°F (39-41°C) until ready to feed. In the adult animal, crop or stomach volume is estimated at 30 ml/kg (3% body weight). The first feeding is often one-third to one-half of this calculated volume, however the volume and number of feedings must be adjusted based on species and patient condition.
Feed as the sole diet for 10 days or less unless directed otherwise by your veterinarian. For patients with poor weight gain or malabsorptive conditions, Emeraid can also be mixed with the regular diet to boost enterocyte function and enhance digestion (25%-30% Emeraid; 70%-75% regular diet).
Discard any leftover formula. Make formula fresh for each feeding. Flush and clean the feeding syringe. Storage and Shelf Life Use Emeraid Intensive Care Omnivore within 6 months of opening. Refrigerate Emeraid Intensive Care Omnivore after opening. The shelf life for an unopened package of Emeraid is 18 months from the date of manufacturing or no later than the “Best Before” label on the package."
Jane
|
|
|
Post by Adele on May 31, 2019 18:38:04 GMT -7
Richcheckmate, my female Maui was sick several years ago with a clostridia infection. I was away on vacation for a week and came back to a much lighter bird. She lost a similar amount of weight as your Merlin. I was really worried and took her to a vet. Luckily, at my work we had a lab and one of my friends there did a quick fecal culture and was able to detect the bacteria within a day. The vet wasn't able to get results nearly so quickly. I was able to call the vet and give her the results, so then she gave me antibiotics.
Maui's recovery was really slow at first and she hardly ate anything for several days. It took about two weeks for her to go back to eating normally, and then another two weeks to be back to her old self. So even though it is a lot of weight, they can recover, it will just take some time. Hopefully those high calorie foods help.
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Jun 3, 2019 1:11:22 GMT -7
Hi guys
I have had Merlin home now for 2 nights. Both nights were real scary and I didnt have much sleep because he sounds realy airy, like his air way is restricted but I cant hear liquid like a wheeze. This does stop when he changes position, he put his head under his wing an was quiet. But saying all that, he was down to 23 breaths per min at rest - the lowest he has been since all this started. So if that is the guage, then defo things have improved a bit. I have to give the Vet an update today.
He is now taking a few harrisons pellets from me. I wrap them in a small ammount of paper and twist the end so that it looks a bit like an ice cream cornet with the paper bit being something he can hold and the pellet being on top like the ice cream part. He had 5 last night, with a lot going everywhere but defo a bit going in, and the same again this morning. Thank you Jane for the advice on the harrisons recovery, its ordered and on its way. He weighed 498g when he went to sleep last night which is awesome. I was running around a lot because he gets tired quickly when eating, so you have to start again every 20-40 mins or so, but was eating a bit of fruit, cashews, wallnuts a litle potato, seeded bread and a new seeded bell thing. We also fed him bits of a tea dunked custard cream bicuit to follow each one of his antibiotics syringe, 0.57ml of one, and 0.24 of the other. The vet said to fill him up with anything he will eat as he was loosing weight, so not the best diet but beggers cant be choosers. This morning he weighed 480g.
Will keep you all updated
|
|
|
Post by Jane on Jun 3, 2019 2:44:40 GMT -7
That is good he is eating more. Slowly but surely. Even with the weight loss he is still a good weight for a Grey, Mitzi is usually between 500g and 520g. Monty has always been lighter than that but he is difficult to weigh because of his foot problems. Time of day can affect the weight. Feel his keel bone and either side if he will let you.
We once did a weight survey on the forum and the results were: "This survey of Greys on the forum produced a range of 350g to 600g for CAGs and 225g to 335g for TAGs. There were 17 CAGs and 8 TAGs. The majority of the CAGs (12) were between 400g and 496g. There was one CAG below 400g and 4 CAGs over 500g. For the TAGs 4 were in the range 225g to to 290g and 4 were 300g to 335g.
I read that breathing rate for birds depends on their weight (this is all birds, not just Greys) and for a 400g bird resting rate would be 25 to 30 per minute, for a 500g bird it would be 20 to 30.
Jane
|
|
|
Post by chris on Jun 3, 2019 7:06:45 GMT -7
That's interesting about the weight survey. I wasn't around for that but can report Ruby (TAG) is consistently around 300g (+/- 5g or so) and I always weigh her the same time of day (evening).
|
|
|
Post by Adele on Jun 9, 2019 14:07:03 GMT -7
How has little Merlin been doing? Have you been able to bring him home for good? I hope all is well.
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Jun 10, 2019 4:15:06 GMT -7
Hi all, Just giving you an update. Merlin is back home with us now and is putting on weight all be it rubbish food, sunflower seeds from those bell things you hang from the cage and other nuts etc. He has had a few harrisons pellets but would rather eat the junk food so to speak. I am over the moon to have him back! He is speaking like normal now and doing his whistles and seems in himself to be normal. His breathing however is still not right, he still jerks with each breathe but is much better that before. His antibiotics and anti-fungle meds are now stopped......he only has his F10 mix through his nebulizer morning and night - thats it! His other meds stopped yesterday so I have to be even more observant than normal as they can go down quickly I have benn told/read, so am worried but hopefully he will be ok and its just the case of waiting for his breathing to improve.
The funny thing is, I keep asking what his blood tests say about the chelation treatment - did it work?? But they say the results are not bck yet.......it only took a couple of days originally! I am guessing this has all been nothing more than a waste of time and absolute hell for merlin, and at the end of it cost £1500!
When I get the results I will let you all know
thanks
|
|