I think the appointment with our regular vet went well. He examined Napoleon in front of me. Before the vet took Napoleon out of the carrier, he noticed Napoleon was breathing hard. The vet listened to his chest, checked Napoleon's legs, weighed him, and took some samples for a fecal exam. I explained everything to the vet. I told him Napoleon had been 33 grams when he was weighed Oct. 4. The vet said Napoleon was 32 grams, but he wondered if that might be due to a difference in the scales being used. There were several poops on the paper towel I put in the bottom of the carrier, and when I told the vet Napoleon ate more than my other budgies, the vet said he believed Napoleon had to be eating and not playing with or picking at the food, because he said that a bird that wasn't eating wouldn't have pooped that many times in the short while Napoleon had been in the carrier.
He said that, if Napoleon were older, he'd be concerned about tumors, but with a younger bird infections were a more likely problem. He didn't think the wobbliness was neurological or due to a fall. The vet said he pinched Napoleon's toe while examining his feet and Napoleon immediately responded, which was a sign that the nerve there was functioning correctly. The vet said this all could be due to heavy metal toxicity, but he thought that was very unlikely in this case, or that it could be a congenital problem with the brain. The vet seemed mostly to think this was an infection. The vet said that Napoleon did seem to breathing hard when the vet listened to his chest. The vet mentioned the possibility of a viral, bacterial, or fungal infection. He thought an infection might be causing Napoleon to breathe harder. He said to try the Baytril, and if I didn't see any improvement by Tuesday, to call him. He said the clinic would call me later with the results of the fecal exam.
Today was kind of a failure to actually administer the Baytril. I was unsure about my ability to give the Baytril to Napoleon with the dropper in his beak, and even more afriad of the Baytril getting into his lungs, so I put the drop on a small piece of millet. He did eat most of the millet, but I could still see about one seed of the millet shining with Baytril. He immediately seemed to notice a difference and did not want to eat the millet with the Baytril. By the end, he was actively running from the millet, so I'm not happy about stressing him out anyway. I got him to relax a little with a piece of millet without Baytril afterwards, but I don't think it'll work to give him the Baytril on millet tomorrow. I'm still nervous, but I want the best chance of recovery for Napoleon, so I'll try to be calm and focused to give him the Baytril in his beak.
I emailed the vet to ask since I forgot to ask while I was there, but is it okay to continue the probiotic & vitamins while giving Baytril? I did tell the vet about the probiotic and vitamins early in the visit, and the vet said these were fine to give. However, when the vet much later said to give Baytril, I forgot to follow up by asking if I could continue the probiotic and vitamins with the Baytril.
All this while I've been wondering if Napoleon has been molting, whether his being unwell was caused by a particularly bad molt or whether his illness was itself causing a molt. Today I was watching him and he does seem to have some spiky feathers on his head.