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Truman is Not Eating Well

Talk about bird illnesses and other bird health related issues. Seeds, pellets, fruits, vegetables and more. Discuss what to feed your birds and in what quantity. Share your recipe ideas.

Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby HyperD » Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:16 pm

Michael, I have been away for a few days but I am glad to hear things are slowly improving.
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby thejoie » Sat Aug 21, 2010 1:17 am

Capri- my Cape is a few weeks younger than Truman but she still loves her soaked weaning pellets. I've been abundance weaning her with those. I hand feed her them every single night. I like the Scenic pellets but you can really use any pellet. I heat up some water, let the pellets soak a little bit to make them soft and mushy and handfeed them to her. It's a huuuge comfort food to her. She goes all "baby" on me everytime. Some nights she only takes a 2-3 some nights she'll eat 8-10!

Hopefully Truman starts eating again soon.

Good luck!
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:09 am

I have never comfort fed Truman and it always worked out fine. He'd scream like a baby but eventually eat his pellets. In fact I even changed him over to a different pellet. It's just now all this stress and trauma may have caused him to regress.
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby pfinarffle » Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:14 pm

i think michael's doing the best thing he can right now, ie getting truman to eat anything at all. but he's also right to be careful with "babying" a young parrot too much. my parents' timneh grey was babied with warmed syringe feeds (not into his crop directly, but still) well into his adulthood because my dad thought he was getting more nutrition into the bird that way. :roll: the poor guy never learned how to eat pellets, basically, and died from aspirgillosis (sp?) probably secondary to malnutrition. no matter what, make sure truman has some pellets around here and there to remind him it's still food that's good for him!

this whole thing sounds like quite a nightmare so soon into acquiring your new cape, michael. one big question i had that i haven't read a hint about elsewhere is whether or not you have been having second thoughts about having truman flighted, at least at his current age, given his tendency to go for the window etc. our senegal is a pretty good flyer. and i really wish in my heart we could allow him the ability to exercise around the apartment the way some people manage their birds. but the day he flew into the kitchen towards a turned on oven was the final day we allowed him to be flighted. we also have a ceiling fan. my mind reels at stories such as this as well as stories where birds end up escaping. :?
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby el-parrot » Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:43 pm

Michael wrote:I have never comfort fed Truman and it always worked out fine. He'd scream like a baby but eventually eat his pellets. In fact I even changed him over to a different pellet. It's just now all this stress and trauma may have caused him to regress.


Michael, I so hope that Truman will be much better soon. He is such a gorgeous birdie and you are doing your best to deal with this! Respect!
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby purringparrot » Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:49 pm

I really don't think Truman would regress with the extra feeding. I can't imagine how painful a cracked pelvic bone is and the main thing is to get him eating with assistance or without. Have you thought about getting a possible second opinion even if it through email? I know that Jean uses Dr Margret Wissman for her birds and since Truman came from Jean maybe she would have some suggestions. Our vet here is San Diego is board certified and he may have some suggestions or could do an email consult, Dr Jeffery Jenkins, http://drexotic.com/contact.htm
Patrick and I have been so worried about Truman and not eating. He sounds like he might be masking his symptoms when you are around and would be natural for him to do. I would keep him as immobile as possible so he can heal and feed him baby bird formula until he starts keeping his weight on. Being in pain can cause a lot of caloric burning.
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:13 pm

Ok, today we have had a significant improvement and that is that I was not home for 12 hours to help him with anything. I left at 7AM and returned at 7PM. I woke Truman up a bit earlier than usual and offered him a hand feeding. He only ate 3cc's so I figured it's his loss. Unlike usual, I did leave water in a low flat dish today, a ton of pellets, and a few nuts. His weight this morning went from 311-313g since his feeding. I came back 12 hours later and his weight was 312g. Clearly he must have eaten on his own.

The whole tub was an enormous mess. The water bowl was full of everything from newspaper to walnut shells. This is why I normally prefer to use a water bottle. I will probably give Truman a small hand feeding tonight just so he goes to bed a bit fuller. I think at this point I will stop making him rely on hand feedings but just use them in the mornings to get him going and in the evenings to close the gap on whatever he under ate. He is beginning to eat on his own now, I just have to give him the opportunity to by letting him get hungry.

Also I think there is some noticeable improvement with his leg finally. I'm watching him right now on his training perch and he's going in circles turning around a bunch. He's doing it just on his legs (maybe leaning with beak) but he's no longer supplementing it with flapping like he used to. Also he stepped up for me a few times which was unheard of even a few days back. I think this improvement in the leg is also bringing forth an improvement in appetite (even if incomplete). In the upcoming days I will begin to wean him off of medication and supplemental feeding slowly. I'll keep you posted about the progress.
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Michael » Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:12 pm

One more update. Truman didn't eat anything else on his own since I got back and his weight was still a bit low so I hand fed him. For the first time he actually seemed to want it and enjoy it. He was leaning in toward the syringe and pumping a bit. He ate the full 6cc's out of the syringe and barely dripped a drop. So not only does it look like he's starting to eat on his own but also it looks like he's starting to develop an interest in food. Just overall, for the first time since a week ago, he appears to be on a path of improvement.

pfinarffle wrote:one big question i had that i haven't read a hint about elsewhere is whether or not you have been having second thoughts about having truman flighted, at least at his current age, given his tendency to go for the window etc.


I wrote about this in one of my earliest updates:

Michael wrote:Please don't mistake the moral of the story and think the answer is clipping your parrot. I am not suggesting that one bit and I will not be clipping Truman. The important thing to remember is not to contribute to a stressful situation your parrot is in whether flighted or clipped. It is important not to evoke the fight or flight response because then the parrot is in a panic and not thinking clearly which can lead to things like this.


I also said this:

Michael wrote:Actually I think clipping his wings at this stage would be the most pointless thing to do. It's already been over two weeks since the break and the leg is already beginning to look better. A few more weeks and he should be able to walk on it. By having his flight he can stabilize himself and take weight off when he needs to. When he does take off, he is able to land very gently. I've felt how he lands on my hand. He keeps flapping and slowly eases the weight down. I think stepping up is more difficult for him than just flying onto my hand. He also flaps when he wants to turn around on a perch. If anything I think flight is helping him out for the most part. If I were to clip him, he'd still try to fly but just end up crashing and probably hurt himself more. By the time he would realize he is clipped and shouldn't fly, the bones would be healed anyway. He's not flying that much and he doesn't seem to be hurting himself in the process so I think it's alright.


BTW he has never flown into glass. I've just been irritated cause he lands on my window shades a lot and then poops a cascade down them. Interestingly he has barely gone up there since his return so while an unfortunate outcome it does appear that he has learned his lesson. He used to fly up there whenever he had nowhere else to land. and after some time fly back to his cage Lately he aims for it, then changes his mind, turns around and lands on his cage instead. I am much happier with his new choice of landing site. Basically I was overly zealous about trying to scare him off of flying onto those shades. This tactics have worked extremely well with Kili but unfortunately he wasn't prepared for this and it led to a terrible outcome.

As for regression/getting a second opinion. Besides the fact that he's developing an improvement tendency lately, I don't think another vet would be particularly helpful. The simple fact is they really can't do anything about the injury. It's something that will heal on its own but simply needs time. The vets role has been to survey his situation, advise a recovery plan, provide medication that might help achieve it, and to give him emergency feeding if necessary. The vet had no way to fix the injury and all of the stress and difficulties are stemming from the injury. As the injury improves, so does Truman's mental state. Vets can debate over what medications are most suitable all they want but what it really is coming down to is having the patience to wait things out until this heals itself and Truman feels better.
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby Azure Hanyo » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:37 pm

Michael wrote:One more update. Truman didn't eat anything else on his own since I got back and his weight was still a bit low so I hand fed him. For the first time he actually seemed to want it and enjoy it. He was leaning in toward the syringe and pumping a bit. He ate the full 6cc's out of the syringe and barely dripped a drop. So not only does it look like he's starting to eat on his own but also it looks like he's starting to develop an interest in food. Just overall, for the first time since a week ago, he appears to be on a path of improvement.

pfinarffle wrote:one big question i had that i haven't read a hint about elsewhere is whether or not you have been having second thoughts about having truman flighted, at least at his current age, given his tendency to go for the window etc.


I wrote about this in one of my earliest updates:

Michael wrote:Please don't mistake the moral of the story and think the answer is clipping your parrot. I am not suggesting that one bit and I will not be clipping Truman. The important thing to remember is not to contribute to a stressful situation your parrot is in whether flighted or clipped. It is important not to evoke the fight or flight response because then the parrot is in a panic and not thinking clearly which can lead to things like this.


I also said this:

Michael wrote:Actually I think clipping his wings at this stage would be the most pointless thing to do. It's already been over two weeks since the break and the leg is already beginning to look better. A few more weeks and he should be able to walk on it. By having his flight he can stabilize himself and take weight off when he needs to. When he does take off, he is able to land very gently. I've felt how he lands on my hand. He keeps flapping and slowly eases the weight down. I think stepping up is more difficult for him than just flying onto my hand. He also flaps when he wants to turn around on a perch. If anything I think flight is helping him out for the most part. If I were to clip him, he'd still try to fly but just end up crashing and probably hurt himself more. By the time he would realize he is clipped and shouldn't fly, the bones would be healed anyway. He's not flying that much and he doesn't seem to be hurting himself in the process so I think it's alright.


BTW he has never flown into glass. I've just been irritated cause he lands on my window shades a lot and then poops a cascade down them. Interestingly he has barely gone up there since his return so while an unfortunate outcome it does appear that he has learned his lesson. He used to fly up there whenever he had nowhere else to land. and after some time fly back to his cage Lately he aims for it, then changes his mind, turns around and lands on his cage instead. I am much happier with his new choice of landing site. Basically I was overly zealous about trying to scare him off of flying onto those shades. This tactics have worked extremely well with Kili but unfortunately he wasn't prepared for this and it led to a terrible outcome.

As for regression/getting a second opinion. Besides the fact that he's developing an improvement tendency lately, I don't think another vet would be particularly helpful. The simple fact is they really can't do anything about the injury. It's something that will heal on its own but simply needs time. The vets role has been to survey his situation, advise a recovery plan, provide medication that might help achieve it, and to give him emergency feeding if necessary. The vet had no way to fix the injury and all of the stress and difficulties are stemming from the injury. As the injury improves, so does Truman's mental state. Vets can debate over what medications are most suitable all they want but what it really is coming down to is having the patience to wait things out until this heals itself and Truman feels better.


Well said. :thumbsup:

This is great news, I hope he keeps it up! Go, Truman!!! :D
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Re: Truman is Not Eating Well

Postby purringparrot » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:58 pm

I'm glad that he seems more perky and that he is starting to eat more. Truman's tramua brings back memories of our little cape Hercules that we lost to bone marrow cancer when he was 2 years old. We were hand feeding him about 20cc twice a day and his weight never got over 280g. In a period of a month he went down hill very quickly but his attitude was always positive and upbeat until the last 24 hours.
We will keep hoping for his speedy recovery :D
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