# Muffin almost died!!



## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

I had the scare of my life today... I came home from work and checked on the birds first thing like I always do. Muffin was sitting on her sleeping perch inside her cage and just didn't look right. Her wings and tail were drooped and she was breathing heavily. She climbed down to another perch and I reached in to get her, where she usually attacks me for reaching in the cage she didn't have a reaction at all. I picked her up and she was almost lifeless. She laid an egg 2 nights ago and it was soft/translucent so I knew she was egg bound. 

I freaked, called 2 vets and was able to bring her in. They took her in back, gave her fluids, heat, calcium, numbed and lubed her vent, and after 1.5 hours she had not passed it. They sent her home with me with meds and orders to keep quiet and warm. I went and got a heat bulb (and dinner) and brought her home. 

She was perked up when I brought her in the house, wanting to come out of the cage. I set her up in her old cage by herself and put the heat on her. She went to eat right away and then wanted to come out  Of course we had to keep her in. Then Mike asked if we should put the towel in (that I used in her car cage to keep her warm) and when I went to grab it out I noticed smeared yellow... and a shell!    

So at least she passed it. It was still super soft, so her calcium levels are still really low. She is on medicine for a few days and calcium orally pretty much forever. Hopefully this NEVER happens again!! I put a dummy egg in the cage to maybe that will occupy her for a while. I was so upset, I thought we lost our little girl. Hopefully she recovers soon and is back to normal again


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

Wow, I'm sorry, that must have been scary. Hope she feels better soon


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## ollieandme (Mar 25, 2013)

Oh that must've been terrible! I'm so glad she's ok


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## scootergirl762 (Aug 27, 2013)

Sounds so scary! Glad she's ok now!


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## BirdyBuddy (Oct 4, 2013)

Poor thing. Glad she's ok


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## RexiesMuM (Sep 7, 2011)

So scary !! Good and quick thinking on your part  Hope she gets better soon always a scary experience with egg binding


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

The title almost gave me a heart attack  
I hope she gets better 
Did the vet give her calcium shots or something for her calcium?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I'm glad she's OK. It would be best to call the vet and tell them what condition the egg was in when it passed. If the egg was leaking while it was still inside her it could lead to egg yolk peritonitis, and they can tell you whether there's any reason to be concerned or any action that needs to be taken.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Oh my gosh, so glad little Muffin survived. I'm sooo worried about this happening to Honey. It's so good you were there at the right time to save her!


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

Thanks everyone  They gave her a shot of calcium and a shot of baytril. She is on oral doses of metacam (for pain) and baytril (I don't know what that's for) for a few days and calcium pretty much forever. She is going to hate me with these syringes but we've got to do what we've got to do


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

It's better that she hates you than a death! Trust me and tiels are very forgiving and I bet if she knew that this was to safe her life, she would come flying to it


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## Mezza (Feb 19, 2013)

That would have been so scary. Poor bubba.
YAY! That she passed the egg though.  
Scratches and chirps coming Muffins way.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

Wow, how scary!! Is she getting liquid calcium now?
This might be a last resort thing, but I know a couple of people on another forum that get periodic Lupron injections for their chronic laying tiel hens. It doesn't work in all cases, but in many it does. You may want to discuss it with your vet.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Baytril is an antibiotic, and google indicates that antibiotics are sometimes used to treat egg yolk peritonitis. I'm not completely sure about this, but it seems like there are a number of possible treatments and antibiotics are most effective in the very early stages. So maybe your vet prescribed Baytril as a precaution in case there were any problems with internal egg leakage or shell-less eggs. It would be a good idea to talk to the vet about the condition of the egg, and whether the Baytril will be enough to prevent any possible problems with peritonitis.

When the course of antibiotics is finished, it would be good to give her some probiotics to help restore the intestinal flora.


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## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

Poor little Muffin!...I'm so happy she's feeling better


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

Haimovfids said:


> It's better that she hates you than a death! Trust me and tiels are very forgiving and I bet if she knew that this was to safe her life, she would come flying to it


This makes me laugh because she can't fly :rofl: But yes I know what you mean! I always wonder if animals really do know these kinds of things


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## ollieandme (Mar 25, 2013)

it'll be good if Muffin and Puffin can bond and have a few babies. maybe it'll cure Muffin's baby fever


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

> This makes me laugh because she can't fly :rofl: But yes I know what you mean! I always wonder if animals really do know these kinds of things


Oh whoops! LOL :rofl:
Well you get my point, she would basically come to it haha
How old is puffin?

I would try to let them hatch out some babies but I wonder how muffin would react if she has a bird on her? Will she loose balance?


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

I have no idea, I would guess 3-4 months because he still has pinnies in places, like his silly crest  I know birds of any age can have pin feathers, but his behavior also tells me that he is pretty young. We've got a long wait before that can even be a consideration, which is good because she needs to have an extreme calcium boost in the mean time! And now the battle to convert them all to pellets...


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

Omg Muffin!! I'm so glad she's ok. Egg binding is right up there on my worst nightmare list. Poor baby, give her lots of cuddles and millet!


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## bobobubu (Dec 12, 2011)

I just read this, I am so sorry you had to go through this horrible situation, and so glad that she is ok!
My Trilly is laying eggs just now and I am continually checking on her. Egg binding is a big scary monster


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## TexTiel (Mar 17, 2013)

I'm so happy Muffin is okay. Your opening post had be scared there for a while. Baytril is an antibiotic. Not sure why they would prescribe it though.


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## naniandcourtney (Sep 9, 2013)

glad she is ok. ounce I had and egg bound lovebird. she almost didn't make it, but she survived, she laid 2 clutches, I was so scared!


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

Thank you everyone! She has been alright since the incident, no more eggs, I'm hoping this even scared her out of trying to lay, at least for a while  I did have a dream last night that she had 4 eggs in a row!  We are watching her like a hawk for any signs of distress, hopefully we are out of the woods. She is very happy to hear everyone's support


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

I'm glad she's OK! 
Are you giving her meds?


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

She was on metacam for 3 days, still on baytril for a few more days and I am giving her calcium orally daily probably forever


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## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

Why forever? How does she act to it the calcium?
Maybe one day when puffin gets older you can get an egg from them and let her hatch a chick

Thank g-d she stopped lasting eggs
I think you should try to pm Casey meanney (meanneyfids) she is an expert with hormonal reduction since she has munch that is 10 times worse than muffin


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I agree with Tielfan, and reading this post sends up red flags that she could very well have peritonitis. I would monitor her weight daily to see if there is any weight gain. When there is peritonitis fluid will accumulate in the abdomen. The abdomen will appear swollen and feel soft. Aside from antibiotic (preferably Pipercillin) treatment the excess fluids (called ascites) have to be drawn from the abdominal cavity.

In regards to Calcium, this article will be helpful. Since she has passed soft shelled eggs, the problem may have more to do with lack of proper lighting rather than a calcium deficiency. http://www.justcockatiels.net/the-importance-of-calcium.html



tielfan said:


> Baytril is an antibiotic, and google indicates that antibiotics are sometimes used to treat egg yolk peritonitis. I'm not completely sure about this, but it seems like there are a number of possible treatments and antibiotics are most effective in the very early stages. So maybe your vet prescribed Baytril as a precaution in case there were any problems with internal egg leakage or shell-less eggs. It would be a good idea to talk to the vet about the condition of the egg, and whether the Baytril will be enough to prevent any possible problems with peritonitis.
> 
> When the course of antibiotics is finished, it would be good to give her some probiotics to help restore the intestinal flora.


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## BirdCrazyJill (Apr 23, 2013)

well I don't know for sure if she'll need it forever, but she had soft eggs this time and soft eggs in May when we first got her. I have one of those avian sun lamps, but haven't had it on very much because I didn't want the extra light to encourage her to lay. However, I probably should have if it's going to help her calcium absorption. I just ordered soluvite D and calciboost supplements and I am going to start using them right away once they come in. Hopefully those will help


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