Jul2005 Scooter

Scooter's Story

Scooter, my handsome dude, is a B&G macaw. I adopted him nine years ago when he was five from a couple who had recently had a baby and didn’t have time for him anymore. He is a typical macaw in every way, right down to being strong-willed.

In October of 2003 (photograph at left), Scooter started vomiting. At first I wasn’t concerned, because he always regurgitated to me. But then I noticed he was vomiting when I wasn’t in the room ... and he was losing weight. And the vomit was not food, but rather a clear, thick, slimy substance that sometimes would stick in his throat and make him gag.

Over the subsequent months I took Scooter to three different avian vets, during which he was put through a battery of tests. He had a four-hour barium swallow which he tolerated like a trooper, though I didn’t fare so well as I sat in the waiting room listening to his distress calls.

The diagnosis made by the vet who did the barium swallow was avian serositis virus, for which there is no treatment and no cure. The other two vets made the diagnosis of PDD. The barium swallow was inconclusive for PDD, as the barium passed through his system appropriately and his proventriculus and ventriculus were not dilated. Scooter was placed on a hand-feeding formula which he received in small amounts throughout the day and taken off of regular parrot food.

Scooter’s health waxed and waned. He would do well for a period of time, and then for unknown reasons would take a nosedive and vomit the slime and not be able to eat or drink for days at a time. All of the weight that he had gained would be lost, and we would have to start over again. When he was put on metronidazole to try to get the food to pass through his system, he just huddled on the bottom of his cage and moaned in pain. Metacam and Celebrex (two PDD treatments) caused black stools and vomiting of blood.

Several times over the months Scooter was put on Baytril and other antibiotic injections which were given in his chest for bacterial infections. He was also placed on liquid Diflucan for a fungal infection, although the exact type of fungus could not be determined.

Through all of this, Scooter remained determined to live. There were nights when I held him in bed and prayed for God to take him to end his suffering. I did consider euthanasia and Scooter’s vets suggested it, but somehow I couldn’t do it. This wonderful bird had such a strong will to live and would keep trying to eat over and over again. He wouldn’t give up and I felt I couldn’t let him down.

It was in the summer of 2004 that I happened upon a macaw chat room. I told Scooter’s story and received an e-mail from someone in Florida whose B&G had the same symptoms, though not as severe. She had taken her B&G to an avian vet and would email me the vet's observations. Through these communications, I learned that the Baytril injections to his chest probably caused irreparable damage to his chest muscles and that they will most likely never recover.

The vet also felt that the symptoms were indicative of a digestive disorder, though not necessarily PDD, and recommended Tums for acid reflux and/or Prilosec for a stomach ulcer. I first tried Tums in the late summer of 2004 and Scooter improved tremendously. The vet also suggested that the macaws might have an allergy to corn, so I switched Scooter’s hand-feeding formula to one that was rice-based.

I then started him on Prilosec. He improved so much that I was able to gradually begin introducing regular parrot food back into his diet. Since January of 2005, Scooter’s weight has remained in the low to mid 900s. This in a parrot whose previous weight, even before getting sick, never topped 850! He is able to eat whatever he wants, though I do still supplement him with hand-feeding occasionally, and he has had no vomiting of slime. His chest muscles have not recovered, but he does have plenty of muscle and flesh on his wings, back, and legs.

We did have one setback when Scooter was unable to eat for five days and his weight dropped to 800 grams. Looking back, I realize that he ate a few sunflower seed shells and I believe that irritated his digestive system. But he had enough in reserve (having weighed 935 grams) so that we avoided a crisis situation. He is now up to 890 grams and still gaining.

I don’t know what the future has in store for Scooter, but I feel much more optimistic than I once did. It is now one year and eight months since Scooter’s diagnoses of PDD/avian serositis virus were made, and he is doing better than ever. He refused to accept his death sentence, and, therefore, so did I. He has fought a magnificent fight and shown me the meaning of courage.

Scooter definitely has a digestive problem. Whether it is PDD or not, I don’t know. Sometimes what looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and acts like a duck, isn’t necessarily a duck. I only wish avian vets weren’t so quick to jump to the PDD conclusion. There are an untold number of avian diseases that present with similar, if not identical, symptoms.

I still pray for Scooter, but now it is prayers of gratitude to the powers that be that watch over the birds of this world for giving him such an invincible spirit and allowing him to have the quality of life he deserves.

Scooter is looking pretty sassy in this photo taken in June, 2006 and with the odds against us, Scooter isn't giving up ... nor am I!

Julie

(Editor's note: I was reluctant to share this emotional saga with you but it has reinforced to me that we must be open minded, seek second or third PROFESSIONAL opinions wherever possible and ask as many questions as you can. There are still so many unanswered questions in avian medicine ... so I'm publishing it in hopes that Scooter's tale will help others! If you want more specifics on this situation, please email us and we will forward your email to Julie.)

We'll be doing a follow-up on Scooter in July, 2006 ... he's doing great!
The photo to the right was taken on April 10, 2006!
Way to go Scooter ... you just keep smiling, you handsome dude!!

This page was last updated on 08/09/2008

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