# Bloody stool?...



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

This morning when I went to get out Rocko, he woudn't poop. I have him potty trained to poop when I ask, but he wouldn't this morning for about 40 minutes.

It took me a little while, but I finally figured out that he was out of food. He ran out faster than he usually does, usually I give him more food every 8 days or so. There's no way he was very hungry, because he'd eaten bird bread last night. But I filled up his bowls, gave him some more bird bread, and some millet.

I had to leave and get some school supplies, and he was still acting lethargic before I left. I just got back and he's acting completely normal again, but I noticed four of these spots in his liner...










I changed his liner just before I left so I know they happened sometime when I was gone. The only thing he's eaten that's new to him is bird bread, which he's had multiple times in the past few days with no trouble. He hasn't had millet in a long time, though, and this was some that I had leftover from what the breeder gave me when I got Rocko in December. I've kept it in a brown bag rolled up and sealed with a clip.

I'm scared. Any insight? :/


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

It looks like blood and undigested seeds...all I can say is that he's gonna need a vet. It could be any number of things (although I doubt its the millet.)


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Ugh.. we don't even HAVE a bird vet around here. I'm trying to get him to poop again and see what that looks like. There are a few normal poop spots too, as well as these red ones.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I just got him to poop and it looked normal.

If he doesn't have bloody poop again, should I not worry? Or is there definitely something wrong since he had it at all?


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

does he have coloured pellets or coloured food in his diet? some seeds are dyed colours in some seed mixes. it doesnt look quite like blood to me, it looks more like coloured poop. also, what veggies did you put in your birdie bread? any orange or red fruits or veggies lately?

dally's poops look like that after she's stuffed herself with all the red and orange pellets lol






i'll see if i can dig up a photo of dally's orange pellet poop lol



but the undigested seeds are worrying. :/


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

He does have colored pellets (Zupreem Fruit Blend) but he's eaten them since day one and never had poop like this.

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1 eggshell, crushed finely
1/2 cup of milk
1 apple, chopped (I used Granny Smith)
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/4 cup fruit pellets

That was what I used in the birdy bread.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Just had another normal poop.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Oh, Rocko! I hope it's nothing serious.


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i think it is more likely the pellets causing the colour. sometimes dallys are bright orange like that, and sometimes not. just depends on how much of them she eats. he may be eating more of the orange/red ones than normal. i wouldnt be too concerned over the colour i dont think. but keep an eye on the seeds. if they happen again, i'd look for a vet if you can. in the mean time, you can try some probiotics?


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

There were only a few seeds in the other red poops, the one in the picture I posted was the worst of the four. He's had two normal poops since I got home, and maybe those other normal poop spots came after the red ones.

And I'd love to, but... what are probiotics and where do I get them?


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Probiotics are used to balance the gut bacteria. I can't remember the name of the bird one, but for humans acidillophous (sp?) is a probiotic.

The undigested seeds worry me. If he ate a lot of orange/red pellets it could be what caused the color. I would monitor him for now. A regular dog/cat vet can see him too. A lot of vets just don't pay the extra money to get the bird license.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

He's had three normal poops since I got home, but he's acting lethargic again like he was before I left. He's eating and drinking normally.

I read a post about apple cider vinegar? Is that a probiotic?


----------



## ~SarahJayne~ (Oct 14, 2012)

Just a side note, but I'd ditch the milk and possibly the muffin mix from birdy bread in future.
Here's a good range of birdy bread recipes for you. I've tried quite a few and they are great.
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=6958
I hope Rocko is okay


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I think he might be vomiting too... 

I didn't realize what was happening until now, but he's been sitting on the top of his cage and biting at the bars, and then he'll shake his head and stuff will fly everywhere. A bit of it got caught on his cage bars so I could take a picture...










He's done this three or four times.


I got some probiotics at the store, here's what they look like. For this size tablet, about how much water should I dissolve it in?


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

He just pooped for the first time in about an hour... he's been pigging out so I don't know why he wouldn't have pooped until now. It was also rather small...

He hasn't thrown up in about half an hour, and he hasn't had a bloody stool since the original four.

He's still acting a little bit lethargic, although that comes and goes in waves. He won't chirp or sing unless I put him in front of the mirror, which is unusual for him since he loves singing.

Any advice on the probiotics?? I don't know how much water to dissolve a tablet in.


----------



## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

It really sounds like you need to find a vet who can see him, even if it isn't someone specializing in birds. These are very serious symptoms often seen in birds that are critically ill.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

We're going to call an avian vet tomorrow (they're an hour away) and see if we can have an appointment scheduled for Monday. That's the soonest that a vet will be able to see him.

Hopefully he can hang on until then :/


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I've been emailing Meanney about this, and she thinks it could be a yeast infection.

I've gotten some apple cider vinegar to put in his water, hopefully that'll help him a bit.

No more bloody stools since the original ones, and he hasn't thrown up any more. He seems active and as strong as he usually is, since he's climbing all over his cage and even playing with his toys. However, he hasn't sang at all or even chirped, which is very strange for him.

He's still eating a lot and drinking.


----------



## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

It could be, but it could also be any number of other things, unfortunately. I hope the acv helps until he can see a vet.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Rocko and I are heading to bed.

He's decided to sleep on the floor, which he hasn't done in a few months. I guess that's how I know he really is sick. :/

Here's to hoping he makes it through the night. I'm traumatized from my last bird having a stroke in the middle of the night and me waking up to her dead the next morning... so I'm terrified I'll wake up to him dead like I did with her...

Goodnight everyone.


----------



## Haimovfids (Sep 19, 2012)

Sending hope...good night


----------



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Oh no!







So glad you are taking him to the vet, hope everything will be okay, keeping you both in my thoughts.


----------



## ~SarahJayne~ (Oct 14, 2012)

Sending lots of scritches and love for Rocko. I hope he makes a speedy recovery. We're thinking of you.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Thank you, everyone. 

Rocko seems like he feels all the way better this morning, although maybe he just got better at hiding his symptoms. He did take two giant gulps of his water treated with ACV right before bed though so maybe that helped overnight? Either way, I'm pleased to see him act normally again!

My mom is saying "well if he's even better tomorrow, maybe we won't need to take him to the vet after all?" but I'm not letting her pull that one. Money is a bit tight, but it's not worth risking his life over.

He hasn't had any more weird poops or undigested seeds, no more vomit. And yesterday he seemed very cuddly and now he's biting at my fingers like usual 

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers and advice. I appreciate it so much.



[EDIT] You know, now that I think of it... could cinnamon poweder cause that red coloring of his poop? He's had cinnamon powder before. Back when he was doing that panting (which he still does, but only occasionally. I think it was a hormonal thing) I used cinnamon powder, ginger powder, and garlic powder on top of his food. There was never any weird coloring then, but anything can happen. I gave him some yesterday before I left my house, came home to that poop, took out the food with powders on it, and he didn't have those poops again.

It doesn't explain the seeds, but still.


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

when you go to the vet, bring up the panting.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I will. He only does it like once a week now, as opposed to several times a day before. My friend Zeki asked her friend about it, since he's really good with parrots, and he said it was likely a hormonal thing... more like, trying to seduce me... lol. But now that hormone season has calmed down, he doesn't do it nearly as often.

But I'll ask anyway just to make sure  Thanks for reminding me.


----------



## Blue_Bear (Jul 30, 2013)

Why did I open this thread while eating my breakfast?!?!

Any who, is there a possibility that he has flicked the seeds into his poop? That might explain it.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

I don't think so, since they were only in the red poops and not in the normal ones.

I have a vet's appointment scheduled for him tomorrow. They told us to come at 9 AM but they don't officially have an appointment open, so they'll have to "work us in". Better than nothing, I guess.

Rocko is currently walking around on my keyboard and singing his heart out and making it difficult for me to type  At least he's acting normal.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

No I don't think cinnamon powder would do that. I have regularly added cinnamon powder to my bird's food and it has never had that affect on my birds. Hopefully they can figure out what's wrong.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Does he prefer the red pellets? I think the red stuff in the droppings and the vomit looks more like undigested pellets than like actual poop, and since there's undigested seed in it too it's possible that he simply isn't digesting anything.

Probiotics consist of live bacteria cultures and I've never seen them in pill form before. It isn't something you can overdose on so I don't think that the amount of water is important. You don't actually have to dissolve it in water at all - you could crush the pill into powder and sprinkle it into some kind of moist food that he likes. If you want to dissolve it in water, crushing it into powder first ought to make the process go faster.

An easy way to get probiotics is to mix a little bit of yogurt into his food or water. There is disagreement over whether bird-specific probiotics are more effective than giving them human probiotics; but I've had good luck using yogurt when I needed something quick and couldn't get Benebac. Most people think that only certain expensive brands of yogurt have live cultures in them; but I've made yogurt many times using the cheapest, crummiest brand on the shelves for the starter culture, so obviously they must contain some live cultures too. 

If possible, take the abnormal droppings and vomit to the vet so they can see what's been going on. They might be able to run lab tests on these samples.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

When I fed him the cockatiel size pellets, which were all spherical except for the yellow ones which were banana shaped, he preferred the yellow ones. But since I switched to budgie size, he seems to prefer the red and orange ones.

I feel like you're right tielfan, I hadn't thought about those being undigested pellets. I still have the red poops (added new papers overtop of the old ones in his cage) but I tossed the vomit. However l can go trash can diving and get it back lol.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If the old poop is still a bright red color it isn't blood, because blood turns to a brownish color when it dries. But it's still obvious that something is wrong so you need a vet visit.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

It's more orange-y than red, but as a girl, I can confirm that it is definitely not brown :lol:


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Heh, I know what you're talking about. In my inexpert opinion it is definitely not blood, although you obviously want to get the vet's opinion on that too. That's the good news. The bad news is that he apparently isn't digesting his pellets, which seem like they ought to be super easy to digest because they're so soft. I'm sure that the artificial colorings and such would make it a little harder to digest, but still... 

The things you're doing are helping to improve his digestion but he might need antibiotics (or something) to really conquer this problem. So don't let your mother talk you out of the vet visit, and I hope the situation turns out well!


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

We're definitely going, she wouldn't force me to not go. If he died she would never forgive herself, even though she hates birds.

But the weird thing is, he's digesting them fine now. There hasn't been any poop like that in more than 24 hours. Not to mention there were only four poops like that. I wonder what caused it to happen, and then just stop?..


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It might have been a temporary problem that has now been resolved. I'm glad that you're going to go to the vet anyway because it doesn't pay to take chances.

Priscilla once passed undigested seeds for 3 days. She started it on Friday night of a holiday weekend. I couldn't get into the regular vet until Tuesday and the situation didn't seem urgent enough to go to the emergency vet, who I don't particularly trust - the avian vet is better. So I ran out and bought some Benebac for birds and I gave her that and pedialyte and maybe ACV too (I don't remember) and she got better right before the vet appointment. They tested one of her fresh poops and said the bacteria level was fine and there were no other problems. I think it's likely that she'd been having a bacterial imbalance, probably due to stress, and she resolved it herself with a little help from me. 

I hope the situation turns out the same way for you. Hearing the vet say "Problem solved, there's nothing you need to do" is a lot better than hearing "He has an infection and now you have to try and shove this medicine down his throat 3 times a day for the next week and a half".


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

That's what I told my mom. He may very well be fine, but if we wake up the day after tomorrow and he's dead, we're gonna kick ourselves for it forever. Better safe than sorry.

Although he did sleep on the floor of the cage last night, and today when he was dozing. He hasn't done that in months and that makes me think something is wrong. I'll see what he does tonight.

The thing that bothers me is the vet bill. They're an hour away, so we have to pay for the gasoline, plus however much they charge us for examining him. I wouldn't care if it was my own money, but it's not.

At least there's a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in that town... we can get some freshly baked doughnuts while we're there


----------



## WhiteCarnation (Jul 14, 2013)

Amz said:


> At least there's a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in that town... we can get some freshly baked doughnuts while we're there


Always looking at the bright side 

I hope you come back with a good update from the vet about a healthy bird


----------



## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Well, it's also much more expensive to get into a situation where you have to pay for lots of emergency lab tests, care, and equipment, trust me. I hope the vet can give you some answers tomorrow.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Just got back from the vet. 

Basically he said that he thinks Rocko is fine, but he went ahead and filled out prescriptions for two medicines in case he doesn't get over his lethargy or if he has more weird poops or something.

The crop was empty, his keel bone felt fine, and all that jazz.

He told me to give Rocko some yogurt every day for 7-10 days though, so he can get his digestive system balanced again. If that doesn't help, he told me to get the medicine.


----------



## ~SarahJayne~ (Oct 14, 2012)

Good to hear all is well


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Thanks, me too! earl:


----------



## WhiteCarnation (Jul 14, 2013)

Congrats on the good news, it's good to hear!


----------

