Hi all! I have a few questions about an online friend of mines african grey who is a 7 yr old male...she said he has been acting strange for several months now...looking around the room like he is frightened of something, flying into walls, and falling off his perch to the bottom of his cage! (I would be horrified!!!) She has taken him to an avian vet who has had him on medication for a respiratory problem (not sure)and has had his eyes checked and they are okay too. She is wondering if she should get a second opinion...I told her yes and said I would also try to get some info for her! I was wondering if it could be some sort of an inner-ear thing (that will throw off the balance)...but mainly just wanted to post and see if anyone has any ideas or advice! Thanks!

My first question is "did she change the cage around or put something new in the cage just before this started?" My CAGs hate it when I change the cage & sometimes they will be very frightened - looking up where the new "dangerous toy" is hanging and flying randomly trying to get away from it. Granted - several months sounds like it might be something more serious, but actually what he is doing sounds very much like what both my CAGs did when I put a swing up in their cage. It took me a few days to figure out what was wrong & when I removed the swing, they were both just fine.

If your friend has an avian vet that she is happy with, how about she just mention your thought of inner ear problem to see what she says. Let me check with some other people too & see what they say.

Here is one reply I received:

"I have no idea but I would wonder if a calcium problem could cause the bird to appear to be off balance.
I would certainly seek a second opinion, and I would like to know if the treatment for the respiratory problem began before the balance problem."

Here's another reply - you didn't say what kinds of tests her veterinarian did so this is worth considering too:

i would recommend the bird should be tested for zinc and lead levels. did the person mention if the bird had a seizure?

Mavis, sorry it took so long for me to reply and thank you for the info! I have given my friend the directions to get to this site so she can post here too! Hopefully she can find out what is wrong with her birdy and get him to feeling well soon! Again, thanks for the info! LYDIA*

I am the aforementioned online friend on Lydia.
To answer some of the questions that have been asked: a full blood panel was done as well as a fungal and yeast culture. All the tests came back normal with the exception of proof of a bacteria which was explained to us to be similar to e-coli. We treated Matt Bird for 10 days with 2x daily injections of an antibiotic - can't remember the exact name but it begins with a B. His wheezing pretty much dissapeared but his behavior problems, if you can call them that, remain. He doesn't talk as much as he used to, and he doesn't appear to be able to fly properly. When he "up ups" onto our hand, his feet feel very weak he hardly grips at all and falls tothe side very easily. He appears confused about his surroundings, turning his head and studying the ceiling and walls of the home over and over again. He makes his noise that indicates he is frightened much more frequently than in the past. He flys into things and falls off from his perch. When he falls he rolls over and over on the floor of his cage as if he doesn't know up from down. We are very concerned. He is on daily vitamin suppliments given to him in his water which include calcium, although his calcium test came back fine. We have still been written a prescription within the last few days for a calcium syrup and were waiting on payday (today) to get it so we will see if that makes a difference. The vet we took him to said that even though his calcium test came back it only reflects one type of reading so it may help. We have not added anything new to his cage. That is why it took us a while to notice that this was a problem we had moved to a new house and had boxes around for a few weeks, and then were moving furniture around while we decided on a permenent arrangements. It has been months since anything was changed in the house now and this behavior persists. Our vet is thinking of diong an EKG and x rays on him - we are willing to do this but are on a budget and need to plan as payment is due on the same day of service. I will post about any changes or lack of due to the calcium syrup.
Thanks all for your input and to Lydia for asking for me.

Hi Margarita! So glad to see your post on the board! I figured you could explain best what was going on with Matt bird! I sure hope things get better for him soon...I know it is hard to watch so you take care too! <sending lots of good luck and health your way!> Lydia*

PS...I can't sleep tonight so decided to do something productive! 4:30am...ugggg!

Hi & Welcome Margarita. You said that you moved and it has been a while since you moved, but could it be something in the house that could be effecting him? Maybe you have new carpet there? Maybe a gas leak? I am probably just grasping at straws here. I sure hope you birdie get to feeling better soon.

Connie

Hi Margarita

Thanks for dropping by to explain a little more about Matt Bird's problems.

Because this all seems to have started right after your move, Connie might have a point about there being something in the new house that has caused this. I sure hope you and your vet can get to the bottom of this so he's back to his normal self again soon.

I appreciate everyone's comments. It is very hard to watch and we feel quite helpless. Not to say that vets should accept payments but we have gotten spoiled with our other animals as both of the vets we use for our a)horses and b) cats and dog accept payments. Because of this these animals recieve really good medical care, with very little thought given to expense. I wish we could do that with Matt Bird as well but since she wants payment on day of service we have to plan. If money was no object I would have been calling her tonight and asking if we could bring him up and just leave him there until she figured out what was wrong with him from observation, etc. When we came home he was not on the floor of his cage, but clinging to the bottom wall near the floor sort of in the corner and had his wings which are not clipped semi spread. He seemed confused as to how to get out of this position, so I opened his cage, leaned in and gently cupped my hands over his back and wings to try to help him get himself organized. He still acted as if he didn't know what to do. We then took him to the couch where he just stood and stared off in space, acting as if he couldn't see all that well. My husband could practically touch his eyeball without any change in the pupil, but then he tracked my husband's finger as if he were going to bite it. He then proceeded to tuck his head in and close his eyes as if he were going to take a nap on the couch. He stayed there in that drowsy position for some time - about an hour before my husband placed him back in his cage. He is now in his cage making little distressed sounds every once in a while and I just don't know what to do for him. He is eating and drinking normally. He is perching on one foot. His droppings are mostly solid. I am thining of moving his perch down near the bottom of the cage as he has been falling so often that I don't want him to injure himslef but I don't want to further distress him with a change either. What do you all think? His head has a few light scraped on it around his beak and cheeks and his wings are starting to look pretty beat up. The vet didn't think he was blind but I wonder if his vision is impaired from the infection he had. We have a family reunion to go to this weekend and my MIL is putting us up in a condo as is family tradition - we usually take Matt with us in his small cage. I don't want to leave him here alone for 2 days with only my mom coming over for short visits and to feed, but I also don't want to cause him any stress by taking him. I am feeling pretty stressed out and like a terrible friend to our parot right now.

Ok sorry I know I just wrote a book. I went into the dining area where Matt Bird's cage is - it is a well traveled area that we spend a good amount of time in, is well lit by natural light and no drafts - anyhow I wanted to check on him and he was up in the corner (top) with his wings spread again as if he was using them for balance - hanging on with both feet and his beak as well. Just sitting there making sounds of distress. I placed him on the floor of his cage and even changed the paper in the bottom of his cage so he would have nice clean paper to be on - put water and food down there for him and he is just hangin out. I have noticed also and failed to mention that he keeps his right foot curled and uses only one of the toes, the others he keep curled while gripping with only one toe. While standing flat on the floor he does open all three toes.

Two more replies I received - now I'll mention your last post to my experts.

"Do I want to suggest PDD?
Heavy metal tests. Tell them they are separate and wouldn't be done in
normal blood work. I would do this test.
I don't have a heck of a lot of faith in the vet if they are saying
vitamins in the water.
I also question doing injections of Baytril for a questionable bacteria.
Some bacteria is normal. Baytril can also cause seizures."

and

"Did they test him for zinc and lead poisoning?"

One more thought:

"My first feeling is metal toxicity. I would also line the bottom of the cage with towels so that if he does fall, he falls onto something soft.

My vet also requires payment on the day of service, but in an emergency, I'm sure she would make an exception. This is an emergency and I would be calling around to see if this bird could be seen by someone."

Margarita...hun, my heart goes out to you! I sincerely understand about the money, but I would call your vet back today and tell them what is going on with Matt!!! Maybe see if he could go in for observation...and yes, it would probably be too stressful to take him on a trip right now...can you stay with him? It sounds like things are progressing so I wouldn't waste much time...I know this is so stressful...I'm not even there and I'm stressed! I will say a little prayer for Matt and you! Oh and don't forget to place a thick towel in bottom of his cage...please keep me posted! ((((hugs))))

The vet and I discussed metal toxicity and after I explained that Matt's time out of his cage is always very well supervised as we have a toddler and Matt bites, and after discussign the manufacturer of his cage she didn't think it was a real possibility. We specifically discussed lead and zinc.
The vet had instucted us to give the calcium syrup and see if that made a difference and to check in with her in a few days.
I wanted to add also that whatever the problem is it is not a continuous problem. At no time is acting cmopeltely like himslef but there are more times during the day that he acts more normal, vocalizing, apparently coordinated (I don't know about his flying as we are trying to prevent him from flying at the same time we don't want to add the stress of clipping his wings just now). After I put him on the floor of his cage last night he seemed collected, shaking his feathers out and then grooming himself. After a while he climbed back up his cage and perched for the night with apparently no problems and this morning he has seemed ok all morning he is right now peeling grapes and eating them. Someone mentioned that Baytril caused seizures. Before we managed to track down an avian specialist in our area (actually not in our area she is almost 2 hours away) we had taken Matt to our equine vet as they also do limited work on birds. We were given Baytril to giv ehim orally at that time, he went through 2 courses of this over approximately a one month time period. It was after that failed to work that we were able to find an avian specialist and take him up, and she put him on the Baytril injections. Ok thinking back he was a little uncoordinated but not falling down in his cage prior to being put on the Baytril - having some problems flying to his destination sometimes crashing but not falling down in his cage. Is it possible that the Baytril would still be affecting him? It has been about 3 weeks since we were done with the injections.
His cage is quite large and I don't have many towels so instead I line his cage with 2 folded flannel sheets and then put paper over that - it is not soft like a pillow landing but it is certainly a lot better than the metal floor.
I am going to call the vet today and see if she thinks I should bring him up and if so will she take payments and if she doesn't think he should come up I will see if I can find another vet. If he doesn't go to the vet, I am really torn between leaving him here where my mom will come twice a day to feed and water him and spend some time with him (he knows my mom she stops by frequently and she has cared for him before) or take him with us. The drive to the condo would be shorter than the drive to the vet so the driving wouldn't be any more stressful than going to the vet - and I could keep him in the bedroom in a corner, I could even keep him covered for that matter to keep him queit. He has been to these condos every year for 6 years now but I don't know if he actually would remember being there.

Margarita...I am sure you are torn between leaving and staying with him! I don't think I would take him with you as it probably would be too stressful...but I would make sure your mom knew what to look out for and had the vets number handy! Could you board him with the vet for observation by any chance? ($10 a day at my vet) Had anyone mentioned chemical poisoning...the kind they spray fruits with? (You had said he was eating grapes)... I have thought of you often today and hope to get to the bottom of this soon and Matt-bird on the road to good health again! You said he seemed to be content sitting on the couch with you...I would make sure to comfort him as much as possible...it'll make you feel better too! TC and keep me posted! LYDIA*

Margarita - could you tell us where you are located? Maybe someone here could recommend a good avian vet in your area that you could take Matt too. What you've been telling us is very scary and I'm extremely worried about this bird.

One more comments from one of my friends:

Conferring with a vet about heavy metal is not doing the test, nor does it mean the bird couldn't have gotten into something.

Yes Mavis, I am in Western Washington. I am willing to drive a fair distance to have him examined - the avian vet we have taken him to was one and a half hours. I don't want to disclose the name of the vet I took him to already because I don't want to lose any business for her if any of the posters here live in this area. I don't know alot about parots (obviously) and she doesn't explain a whole lot so perhaps she is assuming I am doing certain things or know certain things I don't know- she seemed very knowledgable however she wasn't really all that interested in listening to anything my husband and I had to say. For example, I started to ask her about high fat foods and what ones might be best to help him get stronger and gain some weight back from being sick and she interrupted me and went on a tirade about not taking any foods away that he was used to - well tirade is a strong word but she doesn't have good bedside manners thats for sure. Anyhow, she didn't really help me. I am not taking any foods away - just want to suppliment with fodos that will help him to gain some strength back. I have been handfeeding Matt hard boiled egg yolks, and peanutbutter and sesame seed butter in addition to the seed/nut/fruit mix he has always eaten. The vet has told me that this really isn't the ideal diet for him but until he is feeling better I should not change his seed mix. We decided to leave him home, and again his cage bottom has been well padded, I put food and water for him at the bottom of his cage as well as in the holders and my mom stopped by 3 times yesterday and this morning to check on him with instructions to call me if he was acting worse (she sees him all the time as she lives close by - knows what his behavior has been like lately) even so I worried about him all weekend and called from the cell to check on him twice. The vet was in apts every time I tried calling Friday and all I got was the tech returning my calls. The calcium syrup that was prescribed had to be ordered and then after thinking it was all set for me to pick up Friday I found out that it is no longer distributed period so will be calling my vet again frist thing tomorrow to ask what to do now. The vet thought that Matt may have had that infection for sometime and I am wondering if perhaps he is just very weak. Poihnding my head against the wall trying to figure this out. The vet seems interested in helping me, but says she can't really help me until she sees him again and runs an EKG and x-rays and whatever else she may decide are necessary at the time - I am asking the vet if I can't just bring him up and make payment arrangements and just do all the tests now instead of waiting to do them as I can afford them. Have about $500 invested in this already. I don't know what she will say though - she made it very clear when we had to make payments on the first apt that we were not to expect it in the future. Husband took Matt out and just held him on the couch for awhile upon our return and he is in his cage now acting fairly normal - eating grooming, fluffing feathers etc.

Margarita...glad to hear you made it back without any complications with Matt-bird! I'll bet he was glad to see you too! :love: Vets, like doctors, can be so uncaring sometimes..especially if they think you might have trouble paying them! That just burns me up! One way to check to see if Matt is loosing weight is to feel his tummy where his legs are attached or if the area around his breastbone is sunk in abit...changing his diet would stress him, but I see nothing wrong with adding some extra vitamins in the form of treats as you have been doing! With his strength up, he will be better able to fight off whatever this is! At any rate, I would keep on that vet until she helped you or at least could figure out what was causing the problem! And as I said before...comfort Matt and let him know how much you love him! Keep me posted...sending you hugs and LUCK! Lydia*

Hi Margarita
First, by western Washington do you mean the state, or Washington DC? If the state, near Seattle or further south?

While I agree with your vet that you don't want to work on changing the base diet right now, I would really suggest you do something other then give egg yolks, peanut butter and the sesame seed butter. If you are worried about nutrition, and want to hand feed something, I would suggest you go get a formulated hand feeding formula. This will have the vitamins and minerals necessary for growth.

The eggs are very high in protein and of course, the butters in fat. I would worry about causing other problems like fatty liver disease.

If you need and want weight gain, give some higher carbohydrate things, like birdie bread, which most birds love and is good for them. Serve this warm.

Have you tried sprouting the seeds? Sprouts are far better then just dry seed and most birds will accept them fairly well.

The ideal way to know if your bird is losing or gaining weight, is to purchase a scale. This does not have to be expensive. You can usually get a cheap digital scale at Walmart. You just need 1 that will weigh up to a 1 1/2 lbs....but whatever. Even if its inaccurate, is usually inaccurate all the time, and will still serve its purpose of showing gain or loss.

Just a few thoughts for you.
Gay

Well what I hope is a small improvement tonight. Matt Bird (I don't know why I can't just call him Matt but hey we just recently found out he was a he, not a she, Mathilde Grey, or Matti as we were callingher for the last 5 years) was doing some slow and careful somersaults in his cage, but definitely trying to play. He also was sporting an attitude when I reached in to ask him to up up, which is more like him - he doesn't like to be taken from his cage but taken from the top of it. He hasn't fallen off his perch once since we have been home. He has been vocalizing a little more and when my dh was holding him, he did fly off my dh's hand but landed a little more controlled than he has been, landind on his feet and tail instead of crashing crazily. I hope this is the start of him becoming well again.
Gay, he is underweight - our vet pointed this out to us when we took him up for all his tests. She knew we were offering him free access to plenty of seed mix and offering him veggies and fruits but said it was not optimum and that he had probably just become really run down from being sick and not eating much for a while. He is still pretty boney in his breast area so I am hoping to do two things: get some weight on him fast so he has more energy/fat stores to help him heal up. I will have to check into a high quality formula food at the store where we bought his cage tomorrow. Anyone else have any input into this? Also Gay, I live in the state. If you are familiar with Washington, I live about a half hour west of Olympia - I am about 2 hours southwest of Seattle and the vet where I have been taking Matt Bird is in Lakewood which is near Tacoma - about an hour and a half away. I am willing to travel! I have done a search online in the yellow pages to find a second avian vet for a second opinion but got nothing. The one I am using was recommended to me by 2 different people and she does seem knowledgable - we just have a communication problem I think as well as a cash flow problem at the time. It's called getting too many animals when things are going well and still having too many animals when things aren't going as well. Thanks for your input - it is much appreciated. I just want to get him feeling better again even if it means listening to his crazy talking and whisteling when I would rather not ;-). It's been much too quiet around here since he has been under the weather.

Margarita...that is great news and I hope things continue to get even better!

Gay...what is "birdie bread" and where do you find it or do you make it yourself? Never heard of it, but I would like to let my bird try some! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Margarita...that is great news and I hope things continue to get even better!

Gay...what is "birdie bread" and where do you find it or do you make it yourself? Never heard of it, but I would like to let my bird try some! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Gay - thanks for coming in to help out here. Your advice is always appreciated. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

As for birdie bread Lydia, its something you make yourself & there are dozens of recipes around. You can find Bobbie's Birdie Bread at Parrot Talk Connection Recipes

Thanx Mavis! Sammy bird should like that! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

And if you don't want to use the corn muffin mix, you can substitute one box of the muffing mix=1 1/2 c. yellow cornmeal and 1 /2 c. flour

Gay

Well we are sort of on a holding pattern right now. Matt seems to be showing a few small signs of improvement and as he is scheduled to go up for a recheck on his bacterial infection to make sure it is gone on my dh's next payday we felt (after talking to the vet) that he is in no immediate danger. He is vocalizing more now, and trying to play a little in his cage rather than being listless all the time. ALso he has not fallen down from his perch or crashed into anythign for the last 21/2 days although last night while playing on the couch he walked right off of it as if he hadn't seen the edge. The vet told me she had checked his eyes but I wonder if they need to be looked at more extensively? If he wasn't able to see well (he can see some, he tracks with us when we move our heads around - bobbing etc, but other times you can put your finger right up to his eye and no response at all) would this be causing enough stress to make him weak and obviously he would be disoriented.
Thank you Gay - I realized that I hadn't told you that! I appreciate everyone's help here as I am stumped at the vet didn't seem to have a very concrete idea of what may be going on.

Well Matt-Bird is going back to the vet Friday for his re-check. He is still showing signs of improvement however he has started scratching at his nostrils again and they are all bruised looking around them. I am going to borrow a camcorder and tape his behavior here at home and also so the vet can see his surroundings - maybe she will see something that will give us a clue as to what is causing some of the problems or at the least his scratchy nose. He hasn't seemed to gain any weight yet although I have been watching him carefully and he is eating and I am hand feeding him the aforementinoed foods plus now a mash mix. He only eats a few bites of each but they are big bites.

Well Matt Bird is not recovering as well as I had thought based off his sudden improvement in playfullness and coordination. Not to say that he is back to normal, he's not, but has had a big improvement. He has lost weight since his last apt. The vet took a new culture to recheck for the bacteria we treated him for. Then we discussed what might be causing the problems he is still having. She took a culture from his nostrils as well as he has become stuffy again and is scratching his nose again. She thinks that he may have a fungal infection - can't remember the name right now - that is commom in Greys even though his culture came back normal. We are thinking that after Tuesday (when we are to check in with her on his results from the cultures she took today) we will go ahead and treat for the fungal infection, and also make plans for x-rays as she wants to make sure he has no lesions inside. I guess he has little lesions in his mouth and also some weird gray patches that are inflamed in his mouth that she said were there when she first saw him and are not normal. As far as his weight she said to continue what we are offering him and gave me some other ideas as well. Matt is now fairly stable, he has fallen only once in this entire week - a huge improvement. His feet are gripping alot better and he is actually playing! Thanks everyone for your input and support and I hope I will have better news for you soon.

I found this article and thought you might read it and ask about Vitamin A deficiency. It doesn't sound exactly like what is wrong with your bird, but I didn't figure it would hurt to check into it. Connie Vitamin A Deficiency in Parrots

Sounds like it might be a promising idea though. We give our Grey & amazon's a drop or two of cherry flavored cod-liver oil once a week on their food.

I also would suggest INSISTING on testing for heavy metal toxicity! <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> Heavy metal poisoning can come from more than just his cage... Toys (Just because it is sold for a bird does not mean it is safe for a bird!), house hold items they are allowed to play with, twist ties (BAD), keys, etc. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Also after he improves, I beg you to 1. Get him on a Good pelleted diet & 2. clip his wings.

Will have you and Matt Bird in my prayers

Connie, Debbie~
Thank you. That article does sound promising and when I speak with my vet on Tuesday I will tell her about it and hopefully will be able to send her a link if she will allow me, otherwise I will tell her the URL. Anyone have any advice on how to offer this to her without offending her? I get mixed messages from her, sometimes feel like she doesn't want us to really offer our opinions. I have been wanting to get his wings clipped for a while - we have always been very careful about precautions about windows etc however now with a toddler I am worried about doors being left open. I have been giving him vitamin suppliment in his water for several weeks now but am going to make sure that he also will be eating some more vitamin A rich foods regardless of my vets diagnosis. We are planning on getting him on a more appropriate diet as soon as he is feeling better - hopefully it won't be dificult to find around here. Today we were finally able to start with the oral calcium syrup - it turns out the pharmacy we used is just basically incompetent otherwise we could have had it alot more quickly - they misplaced the order twice and then had to order it only to tell me that it was no longer available even though there was a genaric form available. Anyhow!! Appreciate everyone's thoughs and prayers - it has been very difficult to see him so sick. Just a quick add on - sorry I always write books - the vet told me to lower his perches in his cage even though he is no longer falling. Hello! WHy didn't I think of that? So now his perches are only about a foot off the bottom of his cage which is still padded as a pre-caution.

We had an extremely sick dog and spent lots of money on it going to the vet. I would just tell the vet, I read so-in-so, could this be what was wrong with the dog? She was never offended, just tell you vet you are so worried and want your Matt to be well. I hope that you find out what is wrong with your bird soon, I know how frustrating it can be to have a sick animal, especially because they can't tell you "hey, such-in-such is wrong!!" I will keep you and your Matt bird in my prayers. Connie

Debb...I just LOVE the quaker site and graphics! Your bird is adorable!!! My first bird was a little quaker, so I have a special place in my heart for them!(My dad bought him at Woolworths back in 1967 for $7.99...he lived about 18 yrs and was my faithful friend growing up...and a great playmate too!!) I would love to have another one..especially a hand-raised baby, but 2 birds in the house are enough for right now..but surely someday! :-)

Margarita...been reading your posts about Matt and how he is doing...sounds like he is improving and I hope things will get better! Take care! :-)

Matt Bird died about an hour ago. My husband got up for work and he was laying on the bottom of his cage, feet out behind him, his whole body shaking. He brought him to me to hold while he got his little cage out to move him to our bedroom where he would be undisturbed by our toddler when she woke up and while I held him I could feel his heart beating really fast, his tail was bobbing with each beat - and then it stopped.
He took a turn for the worst last Monday and we were due to leave for vacation on Tuesday so we hospitalized him, which we probably would have done even if we were going to be home to tell you the truth. When we dropped him off we asked the vet to do whatever she needed to to keep him alive. He had shown some improvement the week before that but suddenly Monday he started falling off his perch again. Anyhow, I know she started him on Baytril because his re-check came back abnormal for bacteria, and we gave ehr the go ahead to start medication for fungus as well even though his tests came out clean she thought that might be the problem. He was also on calcium syrup and vitamins. I don't know what the vet did as far as further testing, we left her a $400 deposit when we dropped him off to cover the hospitlization and medications as well as x-rays (they ended up not doing them - too risky because of the anethesia) tried to call twice during the week to check on him but the vet was busy so I just left a message saying if he was getting any worse to please call and leave a message so we could come home. My sister in law had to pick him up on Saturday as no one would be in the clinic to care for him Sunday. SHe said he acted like he was having seizures, which I had witnessed in the past and told the vet about but that he ate (he had gained 7 oz while at the vets) and at times seemed to perk up. We brought him home and he sat on his perch for the whole car ride, and talked to us a little. When we got home we debated to put him in his cage or leave him in the little cage but my husband felt he would bem roe comfortable in his own cage so we padded the bottom and his perches were as low as they could go - about 3 to 4 inches from the bottom. He stood on his perch and looked around. Then we gave him his medications and after that he started acting funny again. He never "perked up" after that - was standing on the bottom of his cage looking a little unsteady when I went to bed last night - but we've had other nights like that so I was pretty confident he would straighten out and get back hi perch.
I am thinking that either the stress of being moved from my sister in laws (he seemed ok there when we picked him up but she's afraid of him and he needed his meds so we couldn't leave him there - she's a 45 minute drive away) back here killed him, or the medication itself. I don't know. It was very sad, my husnand and I both feel like we should have done something different with his treatment. I wish I had been able to find a second vet to take him to for another opinion. The one we used came recommeded by 2 different people but maybe that's because she is the only one around? Well, it's easy to want to blame others in circumstances like this. I am glad he died while I was holding him and petting him, although he looked too out of it to care. My daughter will be up soon, and I have no idea what to tell her. She loves Matt and asked about him all throughout our trip. She was so happy to see him come home. I feel sick to my stomach over the whole thing, and am sure I will end up crying later.
Maybe I am so inclined to blame the vet because we have been so spoiled with our other vets. If one of our other animals is sick, our vets will run the gammet and tell us later and make arrangements on the money. They know that our animals are our family and they treat them that way. I feel that our lack of ability to cough up whatever she needed all at one time hindered his care. As is, we have invested over $900 into this. For that kind of money it seems like we should have had more answers. Now I am just being bi---y - sorry.
Ok, I am done trying to work things out here in this novel, no fun for you all to read. Thanks so much to everyone who offered advice and support and prayed for Matt - I appreciated it greatly.

I'm SO SORRY to hear about your Matt Bird passing. I'm also sorry you had to go through such a long struggle before it happened. It's hard enough to lose a pet without having to watch them suffer first. My heart goes out to you! <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Margarita...I undersand what you are going though right now as I have had a few of my birds pass away and still miss all of them so! I even had the same problem with my vet not wanting to help because I called them at 1 am and they were too lazy to come in to the office...I stayed up all night with my little quaker parrot, but in the end he passed early in the morning before the vet opened, but I held him until he passed and told him what a good bird he was. I still get a little angry when I think of how uncaring that vet was, but I really don't think they could have done anything and maybe they knew it. (He had a severe respiratory problem)
In dealing with your kids, I have always found it easier just to tell them the truth and let them know that it is in Gods hands now...but I have faith in you that you will find a good way. We have a couple little pet graves in our backyard, marked by little rocks with the pets names...its kinda' comforting in a way and keeps them in our memories. You take care...(((hugs)))

I'm so sorry Margarita!

I am so sorry to hear about Matt bird, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Connie in Texas

Margarita, I am so sorry to hear about Matt bird. It is so difficult to lose a pet who is of course,a family member as well. May you find some comfort in knowing that you did the very best that you could for him. He is soaring with the other birds who are in animal heaven! Take care. sincerely, moose