Yesterday while making large batches of dog food (yes we make our own), Ella our Pacific Parrotlet, started frantically trying to grip her perch with her beak.  Her wings were flapping but she seemed unable to use her feet.  When she finally fell to the bottom of her cage she was having difficulty walking and was pulling herself across the cage with her beak.  My husband was on his way home from work so I called him to ask if we could bring her right away to the vets.  Then I called our vet to see if we could bring her in as soon as we could get there.  In the mean time I moved her from her cage in to a small travel carrier we have for her, put a face cloth inside so she would feel safe and jumped in the truck as soon as Hubby pulled in the driveway.

Upon examining her, there were no noticeable signs of injury.  All her vitals were good, she had pooped on the way over and could move her feet around, she just couldn’t seem to grip anything with them.  She was also her normal, sassy self, hissing and lunging at us when we came near.  The vet recommended we begin with an x-ray to determine if there were any broken bones, if she was egg bound or if it was some kind of metal poisoning.  They were having a very chaotic day and told us to come back in a few hours.

When we came back the vet showed us her x-ray.  Everything seemed normal other than a few spots in her stomach, indicating lead poisoning.  This was terrifying because although we let Ella fly around freely in the kitchen, it’s always under supervision and even now we can’t figure out where she came in to contact with lead.  The vet told us the first step would be to inject her twice a day for five days with Calcium EDTA which would bind to the lead and help it pass through her system.  Since I’m a big sissy with all of this stuff, they brought my husband in to the back room and taught him how to give her the shots properly.

When we came home, Hubby set to work on modifying her cage.  He took the sides off and secured the top of the cage (which is grated so she still gets proper ventilation) to the bottom (which is made of about 8 inches high of plastic).  This way she can’t try to climb to a perch and fall and hurt herself which she was repeatedly doing.  It also stops her from trying to fly up anywhere but then come crashing down because she’s unable to land.  We laid a pillowcase down on the bottom of the cage to soften it for her, then made small nests out of towels so she has somewhere to rest and a place to put her head up.  I spread some seeds in one corner of the cage put a lid of water in there and a piece of apple (one of her favourites) to encourage her to eat.  Before we moved her in there I held a small measuring cup of water up to her and watched her drink.  I also put a piece of apple next to her beak which she took a few bites out of.

She fluttered around a lot last night, I think it was weird for her to sleep on the ground instead of on her mirrored perch.  For a long time after we moved her in, every time she couldn’t see me she would chirp.  I kept talking to her and coming back to the cage until she seemed to have settled down.

This morning she seemed unchanged.  I was glad to see that many of her seeds had been husked so she must have been eating.  Hubby gave her her first shot which went pretty well and she’s settled herself in under a towel with her head poking out.  Right now I’m trying to leave her alone so she can get some well needed rest and later I will try and feed her again and give her fresh blankets to snuggle in.

So for now, we are going to be focusing on the wellness of our bird and not the website.  I hope that in another week or so we will be able to bring you great new toy ideas and that Ella will be back to her normal self.  Unfortunately the vet has warned us that even if the lead exits her body the damage may be long-term.  We are just hoping for the best and doing everything we can to keep her comfortable.

Thank you for your understanding,