Piper update. Good thoughts, please.

So, the regurgitation was what I initially thought -- a big problem. His droppings were grey this morning and he continuously held his wings away from his body while fluttering them. Obviously, none of this is good and off to the vet we went.

Right now, he's on a five day course of nystatin, baytril and reglan. His fecal swabs came back fine and because his crop was empty, I was advised that it probably wasn't a good idea to do blood work today. He's in a separate cage, but I was told keeping completely away from the flock would be too stressful for him.

If he's not showing signs of getting better, x-rays are our next course of action. Neither Pigpen or Cheney have been showing symptoms, so I was told not to treat them yet. I do have extra medication if necessary so they can all be treated.

I'm very sorry to hear this. I gather the vet suspects an infection of some type. I hope he's feeling better with the meds.

Poor little guy.

He's in my thoughts.

Are they thinking yeast? Slow crop for some reason? Poor baby, I'll send him all my good wishes... and I'll send some to you and the other fids too.

She's really not sure since his fecal flotation and gram stains were all literally perfect. She's decided to treat both fungal and bacteria and hope either of those will be it. Since he's a baby, she recommended treating for both fungal and bacterial infections as babies are more susceptible to secondary infections.

If the antibiotic and antifungal don't work, we'll do x-rays to determine if it's an organ structural issue. Blood work is a last resort at this point, especially since neither avian specialist would recommend taking any amount of blood from a sick bird that's so tiny. If he were a conure or bigger, she may. But his crop was literally nearly empty and it was bigger a risk than she was willing to take right today.

So far, he's been eating his old seed mix. I've stuffed his food dishes all full of his favorite things to get him eating again and it seems to be working. He's sleeping right now, though he's not too happy about being away from the other two and in a much smaller cage. I've got him sleeping right next to my bed so I can keep an eye on him throughout the night and we've got antibiotics and antifungals for 5 days, two of which are twice a day.

My poor baby hates the nystatin which is now apparently cherry mint flavor. The reglan is so diluted it literally looks like water and the baytril is mango flavored. Unfortunately the nystatin is the largest dosage he needs to take and the one he hates the most!

I've been checking his droppings pretty regularly and they're no longer grey and they're back to a normal consistency, so I'm hoping that since he's eating again, he'll be in tip top shape.

Also, for an emergency vet visit.. $177.18. I was shocked it wasn't higher, but if we need x-rays, that'll be an additional $49 and bloodwork will be $138. All in all, not too bad.. but still a small fortune right now.

That's not too bad compared to what I'm used it in vet bills, but still a heck of a lot of money. I'm glad he's eating and his output looks more normal. I wondered initially if he might have some kind of crop blockage, but I guess if his droppings are normal now, that probably isn't the case. I hope he keeps improving!

Sending good mojo and keeping you both in my thoughts.

I'm thinking it may be the new food, honestly. She said it may be a possibility, but wanted to treat with the antibiotics anyway just to be safe. He'll eat warm mashed bananas like no one's business and his crop has been emptying and filling normally when he does eat, so I dumped the new stuff I'd mixed in with the old stuff and just went back to the old stuff.