# Lemon gets a check up



## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

On Monday, Lemon laid an egg. She's not laid one since last February when I had her birth control put in, so I'm assuming it's finally worn off. Today we went to the vet as she was due for her annual exam anyway and we discussed her options. Right now, other than her belly being a bit big, she's in excellent health; the vet didn't feel any more eggs in her though. So today Lemon is getting her very first set of x-rays. This will help see if she's just got a fat belly or if her uterus is enlarged from that egg or if she's developing another egg. She's also getting blood work done to check on her liver due to her chronic fatness. 
Speaking of which, we are all baffled. 
Over the holidays both budgies were boarded for two weeks. It was great because they managed to get them converted to 100% Harrison's pellets (as well as fruit and veg) and they lost no weight at all. They are now and have been for a while at a steady 44-45g each, even with a strict vet controlled program. They are both very muscular though as they fly a LOT, which is good.

Anyway, here's Lemon throwing as much disappointment as she can at me: 
IMG_20190118_092813095 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr

You can see how round her butt is in this picture. My husband calls it her 'egg butt'. I pick them up in about an hour to get the results. I left Sweetie at the vet with Lemon as a comforting presence.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'll be interested to hear what the X-rays show and what the blood tests determined. 
Wishing all the best for little Lemon!*


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

Waiting impatiently to hear the news . Lemon is so cute!


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

Update the first:

I won't get the blood results until Monday, which I was expecting. They aren't sure they got enough blood to run a full panel as Lemon is a known bruiser (they give her a vitamin K shot every time beforehand to help with this). They'll run the liver panels first but try to get in everything else. If it doesn't work, I bring her in to get more blood taken (for free, at my vet they don't charge for subsequent visits to complete a task).

As for the x-rays, she appears to have a slightly swollen uterus in keeping with a hen that laid an egg recently. They did a regular x-ray, and a barium x-ray and both show she's got a good strong skeleton, and her thigh bones are full of lots of calcium, ready for another egg should Lemon want one. She also has a lot of muscle under her fat, which is nice to confirm. I didn't have the birth control put in this visit for a couple of reasons:

-Lemon was stressed enough. She'd already been poked and prodded and just wanted to go home. 
-If they need more blood for the panel, they could knock her out and do the implant and the blood at the same time
-She's not laid a clutch of eggs, just the one. Birds are funny sometimes and because this was just after picking them up from a two-week stay at the vet, she could have just been so happy to be home she laid about it. If she does lay again though, she's getting the implant. 
-Surgery on such a tiny bird isn't to be taken lightly, even if it went perfect last time.

Once I get the blood work results I'll update again.

Here's a bonus pic: 
IMG_20190112_120933952 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Thanks for the update, Moira.
I love the pic of Sweetie and Lemon on your foot.  My birds love feet too!*


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

Hahaha what is it with birds and feet? Everyone I know with birds, no matter what kind, says their birds love to play with their feet


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

I love the pic Moira . Sounds like Lemon will be just fine. Besides, she is in good hands!


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## Birdmanca (Jan 24, 2008)

You take very good care of your bird. Birth control for a bird is a new one for me.


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

*Good news *

Update #3

The blood results came back and Lemon's liver is almost perfect. She's been on a liver support mix for a while (it's a powder I sprinkle over her food) and the vet said to just keep it up and she should be perfect soon. Her hormone levels are right up there with a hen wanting to be a mama and considering her x-rays show her bones are right and ready for egg making we go back on Friday to get the implant put in. She'll not be happy but so be it.

Pics from this morning: 
IMG_20190122_083745166 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr

IMG_20190122_083756136 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr

Sweetie really wanted his picture taken 
IMG_20190122_083519114 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm so glad to hear Lemon's liver is almost perfect now! :thumbup: 
Would you share the name of the liver support powder and let us know if it is available only through a prescription from the vet?

The new pics of Lemon and Sweetie are great.  Sweetie looks like he enjoys hamming it up for the camera.*


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

Sure!

The liver support powder is called 'Hepato Support' by a company called RX Vitamins. I get it via prescription from my avian vet, but you might be able to ask for it. It's meant for other types of animals too, like dogs, and comes in a gel, capsule pill you pull apart for the powder. It's literally just a sprinkle to coat their pellets once a day. 
Here's a link I found: https://www.pureformulas.com/hepato-support-90-caps-by-rx-vitamins.html

Someone said they were surprised about birth control for budgies so I'll share that info too. It's an implant the size of a grain of rice they put just under the skin between her wings. It's called Deslorelin 4.7mg size. Only an avian vet can get this for you. It can be good between 6 to 18 months depending on the size and hormone strength of the bird (for Lemon it worked for almost a year). For us, this is a much better option than the bimonthly hormone shot that's also an option.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Thanks for sharing that information, Moira!

I will begin recommending members whose budgies have liver problems ask their Avian vet to prescribe it for them. :urock:*


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

Sounds great Moira!  I’m so glad to hear Lemon’s liver is almost better from the liver supplement! Great news. Good luck with Lemon’s birth control too. Sounds like you have an excellent avian vet.


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

Lemon got her birth control put in and everything went perfectly. She's been a bit quiet and a touch puffy but it's to be expected while her wound heals. She was the same last time. She's very chatty though and sweet to me and Sweetie. I can't recommend the implant enough for those with hormonal hens!


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

Great to hear all went smoothly for Lemon . Glad the implant is working out so well too. It sounds like so many female pet birds can benefit from this. I don’t think all avian vets know about it or are experienced with using it instead of Lupron injection.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm so glad to hear the implant procedure went well and Lemon is continuing to be her sweet self as the wound heals!*


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

*Back to the vet *

I came home from school today to find Lemon fussing with her implant. Luckily the vet had an opening today to see her so we went off for them to make sure it's healing and she's not pulled it out.

It's swollen and she made a small hole in her incision. I caught her just in time!! They used some surgical glue to close it up and showed me everything. They've also given me some Meloxicam to treat the swelling and help with any pain she might have. I've to give it to her orally every 12 hours for 5 days so that's going to be less than fun.

She's a follow up in a week to check her progress. If she can't stop picking she'll have to get a cone of shame. On the plus side, my vet is awesome and follow up visits are included in treatment so I only had to pay for the medicine.

Here's a picture of her naughty adorable face

IMG_20190205_152624926 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr


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## Blingy (Feb 26, 2018)

She’s so sweet. I hope she will now heal nicely and stop picking at her implant/incision. My vets also don’t charge for subsequent visits. It’s a huge weight lifted to know you don’t need to fork out for multiple visits. Good luck with everything little Lemon and take your medicine like a good girl.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm glad you caught Lemon before she did more damage to the area of the implant and hope it heals up without needing to resort to the cone of shame!

She is such a cutie and looks SO innocent in that picture. 

You are very fortunate your vet does not charge for subsequent visits. 
I've never been lucky enough to have an Avian Vet that abides by that practice. *


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Poor Lemon, good thing you caught that, have Sweetie feed her a little treat of millet.


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## Goldenwing (Oct 4, 2017)

Moira,

Lemon is so cute in her pictures! She sounds a bit like my Lemon Drop, sweet with a bit of naughty. Hope she heals up well. She is lucky to have such a good budgie mama


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## Birdmanca (Jan 24, 2008)

You take good care of Lemon. A exam today and x-ray next day. Keep her in top shape.od.


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

*And back to the vet we go*

Last night while playing with the budgies I noticed this weird thing on Lemon's back. Naturally, I took a picture and sent it to my vet asking their opinion.

IMG_20190221_152918863 by Moira Aoibheane Parker, on Flickr

They called me later in the evening saying they weren't sure what that was but to bring her in this morning to check it out.

We got to the avian vet and she examined her and couldn't find anything... but also couldn't find the lump where her implant should be. She got the other avian vet for a second opinion........

LEMON PULLED HER IMPLANT OUT

A month later, fully healed, and she friggin' pulled it out!!!!!! There was a tiny hole where her implant was supposed to be; they had to water her down quite a bit to see her skin in the area. No bleeding. Not weird behaviour. She just pop! pulled it out.

The vet said she has never seen anything like this with any bird; pulling out an implant the day after surgery happens but not a month later. So I was given two options: put in a new implant today or wait and see what happens. The vet was skeptical of putting in a new one considering what's happened in this case. Why bother if we would have to do this again and again every month?

I am beyond frustrated. Lemon is upset. Sweetie is upset because Lemon is upset. I chose to wait it out and just be extra careful for the time being and reassess the situation when my school semester is over in May.

What the butts Lemon.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Oh no, naughty girl, I guess that's her way of saying" If I want to lay eggs I will."  On a more serious note, can they give her injections rather than the implant? I think I would wait it out also, no sense stressing her out for another implant right now.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Oh, Lemon!! :nono:

Moira, I definitely think your plan to wait it out at this time is best.*


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## justmoira (Aug 29, 2014)

Cody said:


> Oh no, naughty girl, I guess that's her way of saying" If I want to lay eggs I will."  On a more serious note, can they give her injections rather than the implant? I think I would wait it out also, no sense stressing her out for another implant right now.


I could get her the injection but the whole point was to avoid bimonthly appointments and costs for them. Also right now we are not sure how much of the hormones from the implant are in her system and doing injections on top of that might do weird things to her poor little body. So for now, we wait.


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