Gander losing weight, pale beak

[Goosebaby]

Thank you @Miss Lydia & @Iain Utah for your advice and help.

 

[Goosebaby]

Another update, Parsnip’s beak is still yellow, some days I think there’s a bit more of an orange blush coming back, other days I think I’m just imagining it, over all his bill and legs are still very yellow and pale.

He’s regained most of his weight, his pom poms “lobes I think is the technical term” have returned, no fluid retention, he’s fairly active and happy. He doesn’t seem to be in pain from what I can tell, “no sunken eyes and depressed behavior.”


At the end of last week I managed to get him to eat his new feed finally, turns out all I had to do was get it wet and it’ll be gone in two hours.

I still haven’t gotten a blood test, I want his liver and kidneys checked but now the vet I took his brother too is playing games and so far won’t give me any kind of answer as to an estimate for that. I guess they’re fine with having me put a stressed bird through a four hour drive just to have to go home with nothing because I can’t afford the magic number.

Anyone else been treated like this or is this just a Californian thing?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@casportpony lives in CA maybe she can help find a vet who cares more about the bird than the money. Happy to hear he is doing better.

 

[casportpony]

Where in California are you?

 

[Goosebaby]

Oh that would be so wonderful!

 

[Goosebaby]

@casportpony Northern California, near Chico.

 

[casportpony]

Perhaps your vet is uncomfortable giving you a quote without seeing the goose first. Other than UC Davis, which is about a two hour drive, I don't know of any vets in your area. Have you considered taking your goose there? Here, at any of the vets I use, I suspect a blood test that tests liver and kidney function would be about $200

 

[Goosebaby]

@casportpony $200 sounds about right, the one that saw him and checked him for parasites wanted $400 for the blood test.
I haven’t thought about going to UC Davis but I guess I’ll consider it.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Goosebaby]

Update: Parsnip is doing fine, his beak color hasn’t really changed.

Last week he went downhill and refused to eat anything besides his beloved blueberries. His beak faded to a pale yellow that day and I could tell by the way he was standing he had a stomach ache. I fed him some more blueberries because I figured he might as well have them as at least he was eating something. Around noon that day it occurred to me that he’d been eating a lot of blueberries lately and that an overdose of them might cause him some discomfort so I stopped giving them to him and he felt a little better the next day and loads better a day after.
His beak has regained it’s pale tangerine color though he is still much to pale.

I discovered an amazing vet in Carmichael, yesterday was his appointment. She gave him a full exam, she found him to be thin but not anorexic, his overall condition was good and she said it’s good that he is up, bright eyed and active, she noticed that his abdomen has a little fluid buildup, similar to what a female goose feels like which is abnormal for him being that he is a gander.

She did a CBC and chemistry test which came back today.
Normal white blood cell count, liver and kidney function are normal, but really high pancreatic enzymes.
She strongly thinks that he doesn’t have pancreatic cancer due to his young age but it’s still a possibility, so she thinks he may have chronic pancreatitis or zinc poisoning.
We were at her out patient clinic yesterday so radiology wasn’t an option, she’s having some medication sent to me to treat pancreatitis and advised me to try to get him to eat high fiber food to flush out any metal he may have swallowed if it’s zinc toxicity.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I sure hope the meds get him feeling good again. Did the vet give you an idea about the high fiber food your suppose to feed him?