Monday, November 28, 2011

Garlic and Yoghurt

No, these are not new budgie names! :)

A week ago, our little Isla got sick for the first time. I noticed she was regurgitating a lot, but soon enough I saw that the "regurgitating" was actually more like "retching fits". At some point, she vomited once, but that was enough for me to go crazy. I started searching through my budgie books: could it be a crop infection? Psittacosis? Simply indigestion?

Image © toucanjam
I called the local veterinary and he came to our place to have a closer look at our bird. Isla doesn't like to be held, so she really bit his finger hard. The vet said that she had a few symptoms of Psittacosis, which made me go "aaaargh" and "noooo" but of course it's way too early to draw any conclusions. He added that it's more likely that Isla has some kind of infection in her crop, which often leads to retching.

So now they've been on antibiotics for a week - that's right, Frodo as well, because he has been taking such good care of Isla that he might be carrying the same disease now - and I can really tell there's a difference. Isla is living up again, she's getting more chatty and active than before. Frodo doesn't seem to be ill at all. He's too busy chasing Isla all the time!
Other than that, the vet gave me some tips that I never heard or read about before. But I can assure you it helps!
  • mix a tiny bit of crushed garlic with the bird seed, and add a coffee spoon of yoghurt to each food tray. Make sure you get a nice, not too thick mix, so your budgies can still peck at the seeds.
As a result, you will get a nice, simple yet very healthy mix for your budgies. My budgies have been eating from it for a week now and they seem to really like it.
  • I already mentioned apple cider vinegar before. The vet also mentioned it to me. A few drops a day in the drinking water should be plenty and it's very good for your budgies!

6 comments:

  1. I hope your budgie gets well soon. It seems she's getting better anyway. Please post more soon, you're very good at writing and I read your blog nearly every day.

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  2. Hope Isla is well again soon. Love your blog, I read every post. Great photos and great information. Thanks for doing it.

    We have 2 budgies, a green yellow female called Butter. And a blue white male called Fred. They are 4 years old.

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  3. i hope your beautiful budgie gets well soon :) theyre such precious creatures, i have 2 named Chauncy an Quinn , i believe they are in love with eachother!

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  4. Thanks, that means a lot to me :)

    It's good to see some other budgie lovers around here, they must be in good hands ;)

    I believe Isla is recovering, she definitely eats a lot of the yoghurt/seed mix! The vet told me she can't have any millet or crackers for a while, because it's too much sweetness and that would only upset her crop more. She's also lucky to have Frodo, her dark blue/violet mate who loves her so much, I think he would do anything to help her get better.

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  5. Sorry to hear that your buddy is ill. Yoghurt is used at some types of poisonings ( only in turkey :L love my nation :D ) and garlic is very helpfull at lots of illness just it gives a bad smell after you ate it :/

    You can try a meal with it between add that mixed garlic/yoghurt on pasta. Its delicious ;)

    Anyway hope your buddy to get on well very fast and mine to stop acting agressive :( Have nice days with your birds.

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  6. Will this also help in over preening.

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