 Home Lancelot Available Birds My Pairs My Pets About Us Care Info Books Join AFA Wild Baby Birds Links Contact Us |
Two days later I was really
starting to worry. My little Lancelot was not gaining any weight. I took her to Capri
Plaza Pet Clinic and had her checked out by Dr. Weiss. After examining her, he put
her on Baytril and Nystatin (and I still had no word from the other breeder). The splotch was an abscess, and he could not remove it. I told him about the senegals, and asked if he had seen them. Well, he had; both babies had died from Pseudomonas Bacteria (and still no word from the breeder). Obviously Lancelot had it too. Dr. Rupiper discussed the options with me, and being a person who likes to see animals live, we went ahead with trying to cure the problem. He gave me Ticarcillin, which I had to inject into her tiny little body every eight hours for ten days. Well, I took the duties of
Lancelot's medications quite seriously. Exactly every eight hours I gave her a shot,
which meant I was waking up in the middle of the night not only to feed her, but
to medicate her as well. I was also doing other things for Lancelot. I wanted to
be sure I was doing everything I could to save my baby. I was giving her Super Blue-Green
Algae (not spirulina), Acidophillus, Bifidus, and Enzymes (all by Cell Tech). The
algae is very high in all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids (it also
has more beta-carotene than spirulina). I gave her the Acidophillus, Bifidus, and
enzymes to take some work off her digestive system, since the medications would be
killing off the beneficial bacteria also. After each shot I would also put my little
"pincushion" under a ceramic (infrared) heating element (Pearlco, by Ram
Network) for twenty to thirty minutes. I did this because I was once told that it
helps heal bruises. Let me tell you, her little legs could only take so many pokes
before they started bruising (she didn't have much to inject into on her frail little
chest). The Pearlco worked wonders. I would alternate legs, and by the time the one
leg was being injected again, the bruise was already gone! And of course, I prayed
for a miracle. Lance did fairly well over
the next few weeks. Her left eye had some difficulty opening, so I would put a small
amount of Terramycin on it to help "keep it lubed." It seemed to help.
I took her in to see Dr. Rupiper quite a few times because I was always so worried.
On one of the visits, I told him the abscess had moved. He took Lancelot into the
back, and when he brought her back, there was no more abscess! Lance is blind on
the left side and has a small, sunken-in looking eye, but it doesn't seem to bother
her. She never has seen out of that eye, so I suspect she doesn't know she should.
She had several toe constricture surgeries (she had two affected toes). We managed
to save one, but even after the most valiant efforts, one ended up being removed.
Because she was so sick, my cockatoo is also smaller than what is normal for her
species. Lance has been vaccinated for pacheco's and polyoma virus. She has had I never thought something like this could happen to me. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson the hard way. Almost two weeks before Lancelot's first birthday I accidentally ran into the senegal breeder. She told me that the problem came from her incubator. She blames the incubator (which was brand new). Since Pseudomonas lives in water, my guess would be that the problem was the water she added to the incubator for humidity, not the incubator itself. All the birds she hatched with it died. I briefly told her what happened to Lancelot, and either she was not listening, or she just blew it off. Either way, I just wish she would accept some responsibility and apologize. Q: What is white, has a banana
on its head, seven toes and walks to the right? Thank you Dr. Rupiper, for saving my Little Lady Lancelot's life... you are the best!
Be
sure to tell him Jill & Lancelot said hi!!
You can also visit Lancers at Feathered Fun |
![[baby Lancelot]](lancebaby.jpg)
My baby cockatoo,
Lancelot, is a very lucky bird. Lucky, because even though the odds of her living
were not good, she is still here. She hatched on May 28, 1996 at 3:45 PM, in the
back room of Newhall Pet Center, in Valencia. She was a very strong little baby.
That same day I got two baby senegal parrots who were only a day old. I had made
an arrangement with another breeder to feed these birds until they were two weeks
old. I placed them in Lance's brooder. They were kept in separate containers, but
shared the same humid air supply. The two baby Senegal parrots came from someone
who I assumed was reputable. Well, unfortunately, my good faith in her almost cost
my eleanora cockatoo her life (however I do take responsibility for my bad judgment
in placing her birds with mine).![[baby Lancelot]](lancers2.jpg)
Five days later, now the seventh day of Lancelot's life, I noticed something
seriously wrong. That night, her left eye was practically bulging out of its tiny
little socket. She had gained some weight, but not as much as she should have. I
took her in to Capri Pet Clinic the next morning. This time Lancelot saw Dr. Dave
Rupiper (he is my regular vet there and I trust him). He was obviously not happy
with what he saw. Lance had still not gained much weight. Her huge eye was now closer
to normal size, but it had a small off-white splotch under the still-closed lid that
was clearly not supposed to be there.![[Lance and feather]](lancefthr.jpg)
Even though I was religious with Lance's medications, by the eighth day
I knew it was not over yet. She had grown quite a bit, but she still just was not
all there. She still had the abscess on her left eye, but at least it was not getting
worse. Dr. Rupiper took Lancelot in the back again and checked out her eye. He told
me that it looked like the abscess was attached to the cornea, and that he couldn't
take it out. She still might loose the eye, she still might get another abscess,
and blind babies don't wean. It was looking pretty bad. He switched my little cockatoo
over to Pipercillin for ten days, still every eight hours. My poor little pincushion!![[Lady Lancelot]](Lancers.jpg)
more
tests, medications, and problems than I can remember. She has passed undigested food
ever since she started eating on her own (Pseudomonas affects the digestive system).
I put her on Lafeber's pellets and lots of fresh foods. Dr. Rupiper had me put Lance
on a high carbohydrate diet because some tests indicated she has a bad pancreas.
She has also had X-rays, which indicated she might have something wrong with her
liver too. We still don't know exactly what is wrong with Lancelot. The only thing
left to do is biopsies of her organs (except her pancreas because its too risky).
When the time comes I will have the biopsies done, but I don't feel the risk justifies
it yet. For now I'm going to enjoy Lance for what she is. I love my little cockatoo...
even though she is small and missing a few parts. Lance is the miracle bird. She
is very special, not only because she lived when life was against her, but because
she is so different from my other birds. She even lays down on my chest with her
legs stretched back and head down while we watch TV.
