Skippy seems well now. It has been 3 1/2 weeks since He was at the vet. The last of the test results did not come until sept 9th. Thankfully bornavirus was negative. He had been on an anti-inflammatory for 3 weeks for his cloaca and proventriculus. He has been eating well, taking to the gloop even though I had to hand feed it to him each morning in wee bits, eating some myself between his bites and making sounds like it was ambrosia. (It really is not bad at all, if a little bland) It was slow to start but now he eats a decent portion and of course there is also some inside his cage. I have found sources for a great variety of organic whole grains, some I had never heard of. Amaranth and teff, for two. I googled them all before including them in the diet and from aviculture sources, not just other forums where I had gotten bad advice before coming here. Hem seed and chai (or chia?) seeds is another I tried. He likes the hemp but not the other and although it is very expensive a bit now and then will not bankrupt me. I also found organic millet which he really likes cooked. He will not even try the sprigs that all the other birds love.
The vet said almonds were not a very good treat for him because of the possible effect on the inflammation (?) it's been a while and I do not remember exactly, I got no written forms, only a phone call but am planning to follow up with my vet soon as they faxed everything to him.
I was told that ALL other tests were within normal limits....
I have not had the fortitude to reply until now, as I was too upset about it all to form complete thoughts enough to put into words, AND was spending as much time as I could with Skippy while NOT ignoring the others. Internet was low on my priority list. As I had only had him 11 days before this happened I wanted to make sure to spend as much time with him as I could. During this time however, I was reading a variety of sources on bornavirus and PDD. Also I was in contact with the previous owner via email, letting him now what was going on and asking questions.
They moved to their current house less than a year ago and had been doing massive renovations. Drywall was one of them. I know from past experience how incredibly messy and dusty that is ! plus then there would be priming and painting, and having been in their house, which was open concept, I wonder if \Skippy was ingesting all of these harmful substances. The previous owner even said that it was after the move that Skippy started plucking, he thought is was because of the reduced time spent with him while they were busy with the new house. I know that could certainly have been a cause but I am thinking ( and plan to ask my vet his opinion) that all the airborn pollutants getting into his system would have had a serious effect, perhaps even caused the enlarged proventriculus ?
Now on the good side
OMG Skippy is a wonderful entity! Crayola
was qquite jealous of him at first but has accepted his presence now. I guess she has possibly come to understand that her lot of attention is not going to be diminished by the attention I show him. Jasper, my little 'Baby Boy', my little 'Red Britches' who loves when I talk to him and bobs fiercly and chirps when I do, does not have a problem with Skippy at all. A few interactions I have been doing with both Crayola and Skippy together, games of sorts, plus dancing and singing. One game Skippy really enjoys is ...I flick or roll a plastic lid or small ball toward him and he attacks it and throws it back at me. Lots of laughing and exclaiming from both of us and Crayola on my shoulder, she seems to enjoy it too, she will at times squawk or bob her head but always is watching with apparent interest. Boris, my dog, though gets jealous when I play this game with Skippy, lol, and then I end up playing with both but I often miss the catch at those times, and Boris never wants to release his ball but would rather play tug with it !!!!
Skippy had many vocalizations when he came to me, but Doug and I have seen that he is already picking things up from me. He became mine on Aug 14th, very late in the day. Today would be day 40 if my math is correct. One question though.... As he has been ''feeding'' me lately, one time a whole (unshelled) sunflower seed came out onto my finger ( use my fingers to gently hold his beak when he presents it toward my mouth after doing the regurgitation bob, do the same with Crayola) Is it normal for a bird to swallow something whole to chew later? the other matter that comes out is gooey.