(Update!! 6/15) Jheri has a hernia

[Catherinedana]

We went to the vet today and it turns out that I made a very good choice for my budgie girl. My vet is avian certified and I have been going to him since I had birds living with me and I trust him implicitly. He said that it is a hernia and that there is probably some fluid in her abdomen as well. Fortunately, it appears that the hernia opening is quite large so her innards slide around quite easily rather than constrict dangerously through a very small opening (I know both sound horrible, but one is really worse than the other). He says that she is in very good shape otherwise and did not think that she is in pain or suffering in any way. Her quality of life is good and he believes that she can live with this condition for some time. We just need to keep an eye on her quality of life and how she is moving around and eating and take it from there.

So my little budgie girl is home and with some tender loving care an a little "Pawsitive Thinking" she will be a part of my flock for a while to come!! I'm so relieved! I really needed to know that I was making the right choices for her.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Woohoo! that is great news

[Karen]

Yes, good news that she's not in pain or anything! What big worries one little bird can cause, amazing isn't it?

[Catherinedana]

Well, Jheri is going strong with her little bubble butt! This weekend she actually flew out of the bird room into the living room for the first time in a couple of months. Last time she did that, she crashed and had to be picked up off the floor. This time, she flew in strong and beautiful and landed on the curtain rod (her usual spot). Teacake, the lovebird, flew out after her and yelled at her for a while, then they both flew back into the bird room. She is eating well and trying the new foods that I am providing (lentils, beans, a special birdie mash) and not just seeds. Trying to get them all as healthy as possible. Edla, my male lovebird, turned out to be a fat boy when we went to the vet for a skin problem he is having so everyone's diet changed (not my own, unfortunately!)

Jheri is truly a trooper!!