Lennie unwell again

On Wednesday, the 20th October, Lennie was showing similar signs to two months back – a loss of appetite & very green poops.

Lennie unwell, with Moriarty & Perry

Lennie ate some spinach

Moriarty & Lennie interacting

I rang the vet but the earliest home visit appointment I could get was for the Monday but because I was concerned, they said the vet would ring me back.  When we got to speak the following morning, she had already arranged to fit in a home visit later that day, the 21st.

Unlike last time, this time Lennie had a high temperature.  The vet gave him an anti-inflammatory injection & a course of antibiotics.  She said it may take 48 hours before there were any signs of improvement.  That would take us to Saturday, where if need be I could take him to her clinic in the morning.  The vet also pointed out that she could feel a strange mass under his fat in the belly area, that she suspected may be a hernia.  Whether this was causing his current problems or was unrelated, we do not know.

By the Saturday morning he really was not any better.  At best he had a brief preen, but he still was not eating.  Unfortunately, I could not get transport arranged in time to go to the clinic.  I had feeding formula left from the last time Lennie was ill so I attempted to feed him some but I got more around his beak & on my jumper than inside him.  That evening he ate about 6 seeds which was a monumental effort from him.

On the Sunday (24th) he had a good glug of his antibiotics both in the morning & the evening so he was definitely well hydrated.  During the day, he ate a few seeds & a few tiny bites of celery.  He also chirped a little.  These were all encouraging signs.  However, he was still playing with his food a lot & not actually eating it, & was sitting hunched up.  Poops were still an awful mess of green.  He made another effort in the evening to eat more seeds.

We made it to the Monday.  Lennie was still barely eating, though he managed a tiny bit of apple.  He had been ignoring the baby corn & was chewing the stalk of the millet rather than eating the seeds.

Fortunately, the vet could confirm his temperature was back to normal.  As expected, he had lost weight, about 7g from her previous visit.  She gave him a crop feed for a boost.  We booked another visit for the Thursday.

Over the next few days he gradually started eating more & was better in himself, & interacting with Perry & Moriarty.  He even managed a bath, so by the time Thursday (28th) came, I felt confident enough to cancel the vet visit.

So, we are back to normal again.  It is difficult to manage health problems when it is not clear what the cause is.  We can only do our best with the information we have.

Lennie eating baby corn after a bath

 

Obligatory poop pictures:

Lennie’s poop 20/10

Lennie’s poop 21/10

Lennie’s poop 26/10

Lennie’s poop 27/10

Lennie’s poop 28/10