So, it has been a little bit since my last post. Spike is completely fine. She is going through a full body shed, which is taking so far, about a week and a half to 2 weeks, and she still isn't quite done. Her eating has slowed a little, but not a lot. I just chalk it up to her shedding. Otherwise, she is perfectly healthy and active. Also, it has officially been 6 months since Spike has been a part of our family. ^-^ I wouldn't have it any other way.
In other news,
My son has a dog that has been at my parents house since we got her... we couldn't have pets in the apartment we lived in when we got her, so my parents agreed to keep her since we were working all the time and my son practically lived there anyway because of it. So, long story short, she is an outside dog. She HATES being in the house. She tolerates it, but then wants right back outside after about 20 minutes. She is a Chihuahua/Beagle mix, her name is Emmie, she is now 5. She also has her own babies outside and no, I do not mean puppies. She is spayed. My son, 2 years ago, swindled my parents into purchasing him 2 ducks for Easter. When he got them, they were solid, bright yellow so he named them Macaroni and Cheese. Mac is the male and Cheese is the female and both are now solid white. They had an outside pin, until they grew out of it. Now, they have free reign of the yard, around the house, the creek, but never stray too far. Once we released them from the pin, Emmie was quite interested. However, my Mom told her that they were babies and that she needed to be easy with them. That is the same thing she was told when my youngest son was born. Needless to say, Emmie 'mothers' the ducks, still to this day. She loves them and they love her. Its an odd relationship, but they do it.
Anyhow, I could not get Emmie's fleas under control and the ducks were constantly picking them off of her. (Now that it is just my step dad, since my mom passed, he doesn't have the income to care for her, vet vise. That is on me, and honestly, I do not mind.) Emmie was also due for her shots to be updated. Well, since she is an outside dog, I had her tested for heartworms just in case. That came back negative, but it also came back positive for Lyme. So, I dropped $300 for her vet bill. Her flea medicine had to be changed because Frontline was not working for her. She has a pill to take every day with food for 2 weeks for the Lyme (to be tested again in 6 months as long as she isn't showing symptoms), a steroid/antibiotic shot that the vet gave to help with her itching and what not. She also got more heartworm medicine and dewormer, too. AND she was still unable to get her shots updated due to everything else going on with her. So, she has a trip next week since she is feeling better and back to her spunky self to finally get those shots updated.
Now, today, was Tweety's turn for the vet trip. For about 2 weeks, his behavior has been off. It was like one day he was fine and then a switch just flipped and he because mean, aggressive when you approached his cage, he bit me several times from just trying to change out his food and water. I thought, well, maybe it is just a hormonal phase he was going through, or the fact that he is molting. I read that both can make them cranky.
Well, this morning I was watching him and he sneezed twice, and then ruffled his feathers, but left them that way and he looked to be shaking. I kept watching, waiting to see if his feathers went back to normal and they didn't. Instead, he let out a big pile of diarrhea. I thought, welp, I guess it is your turn for the vet.
Unfortunately, the Avian vet near me couldn't get him in until next Thursday. Considering I know they hide their illness like dragons, I thought that might be too late. Luckily, my vet, the same one my dogs and Emmie seen, agreed to look at Tweety. She is not an avian vet, but it meant a lot to me that she was still willing to try and help me and Tweety. He was still fluffed up and just had this general look of discomfort when we got there. His breathing wasn't labored and he wasn't in distress, but still. The vet managed to get his weight, which was good, but after that, Tweety just wasn't having it and the vet didn't want to stress him out anymore. She did call the Avian vet for some advice since the tests that would normally be run, couldn't be, and now he is on broad spectrum antibiotics that are mixed in with his water. I did get him scheduled with the Avian vet, but in case, but again, it isn't for another week. Tweety went from loving and cuddly, to omfg don't touch me or I will bite your fingers off! So, since he can't be handled right now to administer his antibiotics to him, they are mixed in with his water.
It has only been a few hours, but he does seem to feel some better. He is climbing around in his cage again, he is head first in the food dish, he is
drinking his water/antibiotics AND he didn't become aggressive towards me when I checked on him. He actually nibbled my finger, gently, and put one foot on my finger as well, just like he would before getting sick. However, the diarrhea is still present. I am hoping that after a few days our little guy is feeling better and can go back his to natural loving little self. There is no actual diagnosis other an "infection" because he wouldn't cooperate and the vet wasn't actually an Avian vet, so, for now it is just broad spectrum antibiotics and making sure he stays nice and warm.
Yep, that is my past week or so. Haha.