My friends budgie is very sick …😭

[Shivali]

Our elderly disabled neighbor has two budgies which he hasn’t been able to care for since his wife passed away. My husband and I help him with his care and also take care of the budgies there.
puffy was adopted with his brother, who passed after a few years. After his human mommy died, he was alone in the cage, screaming and regurgitating on mirrors.
When I took over, I removed mirrors and we brought him another budgie, because his human dad is incapable to give him any attention.
Petunia is a rescue budgie that came from a hoarding situation, she had PTSD and was missing toes. She is still wild and thinks all humans are trying to murder her.
but she And puffy are in love. We lucked out!!!

they have a good quality of life relative to some other budgies, but they have never been tame. Since we don’t live with them it’s hard to spend enough time to tame them, they just fly into walls and big out if we try to take them out. It’s traumatic for them. So unlike our babies at home, they have more of a mediocre lifestyle that id like. We do our best with their food and enrichment and peek in on them 1 or 2 x a day. Sometimes I can’t get there more than once a week and my husband goes every day. I often wish we could rehome them… but that would be stressful and their human dad wants them there. Any tips about their unique situation would be appreciated.

anyway! My husband told me Petunia was sleeping a lot. When I went over I found her hunched over , her abdomen quite distended! Poop crusted tail feathers, looked egg bound? Breathing a bit rapidly.

thank god the vet had an immediate opening, we took them in.

the vet X rayed her, said it’s not an egg, but the liver is really enlarged and so much fluid in the abdomen, and possible fluid in a lung .in the X-ray she said the swelling was such that she could barely see the heart. She suspects infection or heart disease but doesn’t really know.

of course at this point I’m bawling my eyes out bc I know when a bird is this far along, it’s bad.
gave us antibiotics to hand feed once a day.
I sectioned off a corner of the flight cage, and made a platform for her to rest on, food and water right next to her perch etc. with a little bath.

the vet said antibiotics and pray!
Does anyone else have any advice or experience? I’ve never had a sick bird, myself .

puffy is being so sweet and feeding her, which they never did before. He obviously adores her, and it would be devastating to him if she passes, as he’s already suffered two big losses in his short 5-6 year life… they are so cute together that I wrote a love song about them which I play on the guitar for them. I’m trying so hard to be hopeful but I’m so so very worried about Miss Tooni

thoughts and a prayer are greatly appreciated and if anyone has any ideas?
I saw milk thistle suggested, for liver support, and aloe detox… anyone tried these?

diet changes? Should I give them more fresh food? We don’t have much time yo give them chop and they don’t really touch it, don’t like birdie bread… we give them dried veggies and bird salad, egg food, bee pollen, and another mix of white seeds, with a mix that’s similar to chirp central budgies. But they probably mostly pick out the white seeds.
They also like lettuce and greens.
thank you!!!

 

[Love My Linnie]

 

[Love My Linnie]

How is little Petunia doing?

 

[Shivali]

Thank you so much for asking... i was wondering if i should make a new thread because i have updates and lots of issues to discuss with whomever has the inclination... i could really use some advice from my friends here! 




 

[Shivali]

we brought her in, tried antibiotics, they didnt work- the vet says she has liver disease or even cancer, and obviously its progessed as she is visibly ill…nothing we can do at the moment, So we are taking it a day at a time, and trying all the natural remedies we can for her, in the hopes it at least eases her just a bit.


In the meantime, I have been pondering Puffy’s future, certainly he will be devastated to lose his companion. He has already lost his brother, and his human mom. Poor little guy. I honestly dont know how I feel about trying to get him another bird, only because, I am just not convinced that his elderly owner should have any pets, especially birds- I dont feel like it’s fair to a pet to have their owner not be the one that cares for them and interacts with them.
Im going through something similar with my aging dad and his cat The owner is not bonded with the birds at all, and over time, ive come to realize that I dont really think he cares whether they are there or not?
Maybe im totally wrong, but I had the thought to maybe just find Puffy a loving home and flock. He’s such a sweet boy, and not really tame yet, but has a lot of potential, and does like scritches.
I also had the fleeting thought of taking him in…with my girls. As you may remember, I have a budgie, Lotus, and a Linnie named Neeloo. Lotus is about two, and Neeloo is around 1 year old.


Now, I would probably DNA test Lotus before I do that… I have been getting comments from other bird owners that they think she is a male (we are keeping her preferred pronouns LOL), and its possible, as her cere hasn’t turned brown, and she does display male traits. So her gender might not be an issue.




The pros of bringing Puffy in are that
a)Puffy would be way less maintenance than a baby, of course! So thats a plus
b)Puffy is not bonded to us but he knows us and it would be less of a shock to him
c)Who knows? He could be the perfect fit for all of us, and make Lotus happy
d)we know that Puffy would have a great quality of life with us because we are ridiculous with our birds
e)the poor thing has been through alot, and this would be a gentle transition in many ways





What would be an issue for me is
a) I just got Neeloo (my Linnie) last January, and Lotsi the year before that…it feels like we are just starting to settle in, Neeloo just started to fly. and getting a new bird, is an exhausting process…im assuming puffy would still require quarantine. Its a huge responsibility. I also dont know if im ready for a new bird as ive recently started taking care of my aging dad.
b) I am the one who physically takes care of these guys and is with them all day, so it has to work for me, and
c)my primary concern is my bird children ,they have to be ok with it. If lotus gets more stressed out, or if puffy bullies her, that would be a dealbreaker. He is also very different. He grew up, parent raised, untamed, with another male sibling, they fought all the time, and he can be loud and a bit aggressive, nothing crazy, but I would just hate to see him get weird with Lotus. Or throw off the balance of the flock…
d)I had sort of hoped my next bird would be a cockatiel, or a baby budgie that I can train and integrate seamlessly into the flock- we are very close knit and spend all day together, so personalities are important. Lotus and Neeloo have perfect dispositions. Puffy can be kind of annoying, and he might irritate them. And me But then again, they could mellow him out!
e) If we even do a trial period, and puffy doesnt work out (aka Lotus is miserable), then rehoming him will also be another transition for him to have to go through...




 

[Shivali]

My husband has been harassing me (lol) to get a budgie for Lotus, for years. Its annoying because it makes me feel like he thinks she’s not happy. He is convinced that even though I spend all day with her, and she is obsessed with me, that her life and happiness won’t be complete unless she has a budgie friend to do budgie things with, someone on her wavelength.
Maybe he is right! But my main thing is I want her to be happy, and from all the research I’ve done and bird people/breeders ive talked to…getting another budgie is not foolproof plan. She could become more agitated or jealous of attention to the new bird, I mean, so many things could happen. I just think its a risk, and I think now that we have Neeloo, she has someone to hang out with if I have to leave the house for a couple hours, and they do get along really well. Not the way that a budgie bonded pair would, but they do have fun, and Lotus never has to be alone.
Im not worried about losing my bond with Lotus, because she’s so intensely bonded with me. But I do worry that a new budgie wouldn’t necessarily make her happy and just might stress her out, as well as adding to my extra work (which is less important that her being happy, but if it doesn’t make her happy and is also more work for me, it doesnt make sense) But if I knew 100%, that having a little budgie buddy completed her and made her happy, I would do it in a second.
Neeloo is such a chill baby (everyone calls her Buddha bird), that i think she'd be ok with almost anything. Lotus can be demanding, finicky, and kind of a diva. 



So now that there is the potential of rehoming Puffy, my husband is insisting that we take him in. I told him that ultimately the decision has to be mine because I’m the one who actually does all the the dirty work
Do you think its a good idea? I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it. Would I have to quarantine him? Separate cages obviously, but forever? What about the age difference, would he bully her? Lotus was bullied as a baby by the other non-albino budgies, they would chew on her feathers and she even had poop on her wing when I got her 🥲 ive heard of albino budgies getting bullied or picked on in general. I see Puffy being sweet to Petunia and feeding her, but sometimes he pecks her really hard between her wings! My husband says he’s just “beaking” her and not pecking.

 

[Shivali]

The other thing my husband wants to do is to bring Puffy and Petunia over to our home. Since poor Miss Tuni is most likely on her way to cross over the rainbow bridge, there are some things about this that make alot of sense. I wouldn’t have to drive over to there once or twice a day, and spend alot of time taking care of them. My husband and I are literally the only people who even glance at them or interact with them, so they would be with us and they might like it. I could set up a separate room for them as a Bird room, with play stands etc, so that they could be together and have out of cage time for long periods of time, or even all day if they wanted. I would be able to offer them more fresh food, etc, etc. and check in on them more, even if its just to say hi. At their current home, people are around but ignoring them.
I dont know which is better…but the idea would be to give them a better quality of life with more attention, fresh food, and lots of out of cage time. But would the move actually stress out Petunia even more? She seems so very fragile and like she’s just hanging in there…. But she’s a trooper and getting used to me catching her to give her antibiotics, and now supplements (aloe, milk thistle, and red palm oil) Puffy has lived in that house since he was weaned…would it be awful for him? Is it better to just leave them be?
My main concern about this would be stressing out my birds. If they hear me in there talking to other birds…and they will definitely hear each other! Lotus would probably go nuts and scream. Or she might really want to go into the room. I dont know how they’d react. I also dont know whether or not we'd have to observe quarantine rules and wash and change clothes after we leave the room…


My husband wants to have them here, to give them a better quality of life at least until Petunia passes, and then merge Puffy with the flock. Or at least do a trial period and see if he is a good fit.
I’m open to it..i'm more open to bringing them here and keeping them in a separate room, because I dont know that it would impact my birds as much. But all of it is a big project and responsibility, and I want to make sure we give it alot of thought before doing anything, if we do at all.


I am praying for guidance and asking all of my bird ‘mentors’… I’d so so appreciate your thoughts and opinions.



 

[Shivali]

i also have a vet tech who is known as the parakeet whisperer, she is who everyone goes to for budgie advice at the vet, and even the vets themselves defer to her. Ive met her and worked with her for along time so i do trust her, she is a great bird owner, and knows my babies pretty well. also is very familiar with puffy and petunia and their situation, all the birds go to the same tiny hospital.
So i wanted to share what she said bc of course i want to consider it.
She says, that she is against bringing Puff and Tuni in at all... because petunia really is in quite a fragile state, She thinks that changing the house they live in, and the move itself, could just be too much stimulus and stress for her. She even encouraged me to not do an overhaul on their diet, change the cage around too much, etc. for birds, status quo is usually the least stressful option. She did say that creating a bird room at the owners house, might be nice. We have an extra room there that can be set up for them, with playstands, many cages, its on the second floor so better view (i dont know if all birds are sensitive to it but at least my budgie prefers the second and third floors of our home), it would be quiet, and we could put on some nice music for them, and i could go over and spend time if i wish. If i do this, i could try to spend a little more time with them everyday, and my husband is over there three times a day so he can check in on them... and they can have out of cage or at least cage door open time... but she did say keep them in the cage at first to gradually get them used to the room if we do it. It's my idea, (ive been wanting to do it for a year but my husband wouldnt let me, hes the primary caregiver for our friend) so she didnt come up with it, but she did give it the ok.

there were alot of other things she said, but it was a really long conversation.
As far as integrating Puffy, she was not in favor of that either. She knows Lotus and Puffy, and she thinks because of his age and temperment, it wouldnt be a good match and would be stressful for everyone. She also is concerned that often when a birds mate dies, it will lash out at other birds or reject them, so introducing them too soon is not always beneficial. She thinks that if we want to get lotus a budgie friend, we should get a baby that we can raise the same way and will grow up with her.
The way i raised Lotus, spending every waking moment with her during quarantine, shes developed a very human way of being and expressing herself. she is very human centered. My vet tech friend thinks Puffy will throw off the balance of the flock, and knowing how precious Lotus is to me, (shes my soulmate lol) and she is such a gentle soul, would hate to see her get bullied or hurt in a fight. similarly, keeping puffy around but at an arms distance could still be really stressful for her, and an added stress and work for me. She wants me to think of Lotus first, since thats my 'child', and also myself, because as the caregiver and 'bird mom', i have to be able to deal with everything properly, and if im a mess or its too much for me, thats a problem, too.
I do have so much going on in my life, my best friend has cancer and we are driving her to the hospital all the time, my aging dad is taking up all my time and mental bandwidth, and of course my bird babies i am babysitting all day, Puffy and Petunia, our elderly friend who we take care of and manage his care, and i have a traditional husband to take care of as well. I barely have time for myself these days especially with the extra time im spending on sweet little Petunia. we also are still in boxes from moving and there is the extra time i need to spend working on the house. which i dont have of course, but ...

I'm just so torn because i dont know that im ready to take on more birds/ a new bird. At the same time, others have said that it would be the happiest thing for Puffy, and i agree, in an ideal world where he fits seamlessly into the flock. And I want to try it...but i had so many concerns already, that talking to my vet tech friend is really making me think twice. She knows all of us and the birds, and i would feel silly ignoring her advice. she was very firm in her opinion.

I just so desperately want to do the right thing... but i want it to be right for everyone! For Petunia, for Puffy, for my husband, for the birds owner (we havent even asked him yet but i cant imagine he would say no), and honestly mostly for Lotus, because she is my everything, and i won't compromise what she wants. But how do i know what she would want/ prefer?
And even though i dont want to take my own needs into account, i kind of have to. because im only one person, and i already have people and animals depending on me, that i can't let down. So i can't let myself burn out.

any further thoughts in response to this?

 

[Shivali]

Also! forgot to address one thing, Lotus has been confirmed on this forum and in one other, by the creators, as a bio male.
When she was a baby everyone thought she was female... and we went with that. Since she speaks English fluently and in context, she has always used she/her pronouns, and so have we... so we are keeping her pronouns she/her because it just makes more sense rather than suddenly changing them- shes so smart that im sure she would adapt, but we are keeping it this way. "Good Girl" is one of her favorite sayings. And she loves to fly over to me and Neelu and say " HI SWEET GIRLSSS " ... its so cute. It also really suits her to be honest, although it might be because we treated her like a little princess heehee.
so im assuming at this point Lotus is a biological male, and sorry if its confusing that i refer to him as "she"...! but i realize it makes a big difference.
We have not had 'her' DNA tested ...

 

[Eddie's Aviary]

I am sorry I am late to the thread. Ok, so.... there is a lot here. Lets start with the sick budgie: what did the vet diagnose, and what was the medication and dose prescribed. Sex, and age? Alone? Have a pic?

Lets answer that and then we can move on, but one last easy one possibly.... you are talking about needing to DNA the budgie you have? Post a pic of the cere please, natural light, no flash, and a couple different angles. Budgies at adulthood can be easily visually sexed. Some mutations like recessive pied for example aren't the norm. But should be easy to also sex in adulthood. Out of condition hens can confuse some as the cere can be a whitish blue when out of breeding condition.

Those two answers, and I can respond. Those are the low hanging fruit. One thing I will add though, if you are considering taking in a budgie or two to your flock, be sure to test for PBFD with Animal Genetics Inc (the bird division is Avian Biotech) - it is only 24.50 to ensure your current birds stay safe. Psitticosis can sometimes pop out in a box store most commonly, but the bird would most likely be symptomatic over a long period of ownership, so I think that risk is low.

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

Can I ask what is the problem with bird? SOrry, I was reading your post, but soon I got lost in that. I do not know if the budgies are at your place, or at a neighbour, if you bought the new budgie to alone budgie, or the neighbour did... For me it was very chaotic, sorry. I did not understand almost nothing. What problem does which bird have? I would like to advise, but....

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

You could let the vet to do a bacterial cultivation from the poops. Put the clear print paper under budgies and check if the urine has some signs of slight yellow color. You could get some hepacur or silymarine for your / your neighbour s bird. I wish him strongy soon and total recovery.