# Random regurgitation?



## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

Hello it's been a while, hope you're all doing well. since flint woke up today he has been randomly throughout the day
(i think its been about 4~ times so far and its 2pm as of the time i am writing this) 
been shaking his head and regurgitating some seeds up. i know its not vomit because they're solid seeds.
after it he sits puffed up and quiet for about 10 seconds, and then just goes back to playing with his toys or acting like nothings happened. 
he even once went to go pick back up the seeds he spat out. problem is i cant easily get to a vet for a diagnosis since my vet is last time i checked, only taking emergencies. 
i'm going to keep an eye on it for now but what do you people think it could be? seed just got stuck in his crop? 
i dont know if its related but ive noticed there also the white thing (urate i think?) is lower in his poop than normal. but again hes been acting completely normal aside from this, and its only been happening today.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

It sounds like he is vomiting, budgies do vomit up whole seeds. When a bird vomits they will often shake their head from side to side and the vomit just sort of flings out of the mouth. Regurgitation is a much more controlled process and is usually directed at another bird or object. If it continues you will have to call the vet and inform him/her of the issue as continued vomiting in a bird is a cause for concern. Could be a crop infection or GI tract infection of some sort. My avian vet considers vomiting an emergency and would want to see the bird asap.


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

thanks for the heads up. it was hard to find that online it always kept coming up with "the difference between vomit and regurgitation" and confused me. he hasnt done it since this afternoon(at least from what i've seen) when i wrote the original post. hes been sleeping alot and his poop still seems very inconsistant. hes had a few with no feces in it. a few with alot. etc. hes playing with his toys and preening himself. hes occasionally eating small amounts and drinking. i ended up trying to call my vet and they said unless its an emergency they cant see me until at LEAST monday for a checkup. so if he seems better tomorrow i might chance it and wait for the regular checkup. but if he doesnt improve im just gonna take him for the emergency visit.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Illness in birds can progress quickly so I would not wait if the vomiting continues, keep us posted. Keep him warm and quiet until you can see the vet.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I agree with Cody 100% and am glad to hear you plan to take him into the vet immediately if the vomiting continues. 
Looking forward to your update.
Best wishes*


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

A little update for everyone. little flint is currently in the vets. hes been there overnight since yesterday. they did a crop flush and found nothing. they tested his poop and the results came back negative, they called me about an hour ago to get my go ahead to put him under anesthetic for a blood test and stuff now. hopefully he comes out fine. hes not showing any signs of improvement but has of when they called me hes also not showing signs of getting worse by much, hes still trying to eat but not eating enough. so they're tube feeding him. hes still vomiting but managing to keep most of it down. and hes still "pretty active" just now waiting for a call to tell me how the anesthetic went.

hoping for the best as ive been worried sick myself for these past couple of days.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Good that he is getting the care he needs, if he is nauseous there is a medication for that, my vet here in the US uses Metoclopramide, I have given it at home and I think there is also a form that can be given by injection. It has helped to stop the vomiting and prevent vomiting of oral meds, hope all turns out good for Flint, please keep us posted.


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

Another update : vet called, the Xray they did showed traces of what they believe to be metal in his stomach. after thinking about it he is obsessed with his bell toys that i bought him and now im worried some of those might be made out of non-safe metals. so now whilst they're treating him for it. i am doing a thorough cleaning of his room. i am throwing out any of his toys that contain metal. i am looking at a list of safe-materials to make his own toys out of myself. apparently hes being fiesty and slipping out / flying around the room whenever the vets try to handle him, so hes clearly still in high spirits. which is a huge relief for me for now. i will post again tomorrow when i get further news.


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

Cody said:


> Good that he is getting the care he needs, if he is nauseous there is a medication for that, my vet here in the US uses Metoclopramide, I have given it at home and I think there is also a form that can be given by injection. It has helped to stop the vomiting and prevent vomiting of oral meds, hope all turns out good for Flint, please keep us posted.


Yes i do recall them saying they was giving him an anti-nausea medication and that was helping him keep most of his food down, aside from the tube feeding hes been occasionally eating seeds but usually regurgitating some of them.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

It has been my experience that anytime I have had a bird in the hospital they have not eaten well, it is so stressful, I think that has a lot to do with it also. A couple of months ago I had a bird in the hospital for a week and he was also being tube fed, generally my vet does not like to release a bird if they are not eating enough to maintain their weight. I finally said let me try him at home and see if he eats, and sure enough he began eating at home. Of course if he had not begun to eat I would have taken him back to the hospital.


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

Cody said:


> It has been my experience that anytime I have had a bird in the hospital they have not eaten well, it is so stressful, I think that has a lot to do with it also. A couple of months ago I had a bird in the hospital for a week and he was also being tube fed, generally my vet does not like to release a bird if they are not eating enough to maintain their weight. I finally said let me try him at home and see if he eats, and sure enough he began eating at home. Of course if he had not begun to eat I would have taken him back to the hospital.


Yeah understandable. but in this case from what i gather he is trying to eat but he ends up regurgitating most of it back up. its only tube feeding hes apparently "keeping down" they said hes quite active and chirpy aside from the vomiting. ive threw out most of his toys. only two i kept are hard plastic which should be safe. i also stripped some of the toys and took safe materials such as rattan, untreated uncoloured wooden beads. etc. off to keep for making my own toys. bought a stainless steel bell, some sisal twine, willow branches, some popsicle sticks (which i assume are fine). some stainless steel washers and screws for the walls to mount toys on. and im going to make some new toys for him with those and these other parts. ive removed a ladder i had in the room which is the only other metal object aside from his cage. and ive checked the maker of his cage to make sure its not a zinc coating (it's apparently thermosetting powdered epoxy). im going to also be extra safe and tightly wrap twine around the metal section of the one light he likes to perch on alot. that should eliminate most of the chance of this ever happening to him again.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Sorry I missed your post about the metal, zinc or lead toxicosis can be treated with a chelating agent, hope he feels better soon.


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

another update for now for everyone. vet called me yesterday, said he hasnt vomited in nearly 24 hours. hes eating millet by himself now but not "enough" for them to be content. so they're still giving him a tube feeding every now and then, they're giving him a medication thats going to remove the toxicity from what they ASSUME is metal in his stomach. and then he should be able to just pass it. im supposed to get a call within the next 2-3 hours for another update. which i will post again then. and at the earliest i might have him home tomorrow or tuesday if all things go well!


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

i would also like to add i took some pliers to his toys and broke any that had bells/metal strips in the middle because i have no clue what the metal is made of. all the safe materials such as the wood beads, hard plastics. chewables. etc have all been saved in a box alongside some materials i've ordered, with some new toys from a trusted source. i will be making him a bunch of new safer toys.

as for the assumed metal in his system. i found a rust spot on my old iron ladder that was kept in the room for getting him down from the lights at night if he was refusing to go to bed. which i kept in here for convenience. there is a part of the coating on it missing and a spot of rust. a few days prior to him getting sick he DID go over there on the ladder at one point whilst exploring about. so its possible he might of copped a mouthful of rust or something. i did get him off it pretty quickly though. that ladder will no longer be kept in the room. ive checked his cage for any issues, found none. i've replaced all the washers on the perches with stainless steel ones because some had some discolouration on them. 

a quick list of things i have for his new toys
willow branches
unpainted wooden beads.
hard plastic beads
popsicle sticks (large)
sisal twine (untreated)
wood glue (will only be used in spots he physically wont have access to)
stainless steel washers & screws to mount his new stuff to walls
various little wood shapes and cutouts (all unpainted)

all in all hopefully this is enough to prevent this ever happening again


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

Another update : the vets told me hes eating normally again, hasnt vomited in quite a while. lost about 1g of weight but he should put it back on by tomorrow they think. and tomorrow after assessing him if they deem fine, they might let me bring him home. provided twice a day i gotta put a syringe in his mouth and administer his medicine. which i have no clue how to do but im sure i can manage. if he comes home tomorrow i will post a picture to let everyone know how he is!


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

That's good news, sounds like he'll be home soon. :fingerx:


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## PippyM (Sep 29, 2019)

Last update for now, He's home! hes being a bit picky but still eating his food at a what feels at least to me reasonable amount. hes active. happy. hes CRAVING my attention. the second he saw me as they brought him out he started getting very excited in the little carrier. he kept pushing his face against the bar to get me to stroke his cheek. i gotta give him two 0.05ml doses of his medicine per day which has been kinda painful so far (sodium calcium edta) for anyone who wanted to know what hes on. takes me about 10 minutes to give him it because of how much of a struggle he puts up. hes drinking quite frequently, hes scratching himself alot (and using the perches to rub his head) and hes also showing more interest in his mineral block. so hopefully for now hes doing fine!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm glad to hear he's back home and seems to be doing well.

Flint is an adorable little fellow!

I hope he will have a full and speedy recovery. 
Please keep us updated on his progress. :hug:*


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

I'm sure he is thrilled to be home. I have a medication tip if you want to try it, it works well for me. I medicate in the morning while the room is still dark, I have on only a small nightlight. I uncover the cage and slowly reach in and cup my hands around the bird and remove from the cage, pop in the medication and return to the cage, I do not turn on the lights right away after medicating, I let the bird relax for a bit. Same thing is repeated at night when you need to medicate twice a day.


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