Parsnip was seen by his vet on Thursday, she tested him for zinc and lead, “those haven’t come back yet but I’m 99% positive he’ll come back positive for zinc.” She sent blood in for another CBC also.
That came in yesterday, completly normal. White and red blood cell count are normal, normal amylase too.
I had assumed that he had anemia in December, she explained his pale coloration isn’t caused by anemia or jaundice, which he didn’t have then or now. The color is caused by food pigments, which is odd because he’s been eating the same food the other geese have had all along and they all have persimmon orange bills.
The only difference is he was eating a lot less when he was under stress after losing his brother.
His sister once had a bout of illness where she refused to eat completly and I had to hand feed her and she never turned yellow though so I’m very confused.
Parsnip’s beak the last few months has begun turning orange again, hopefully it shows his health was normalizing prior to eating zinc paint.
Parsnip’s physical exam was good, he put up a fight, he’s underweight again but not emaciated, he still has very mild fluid retention like he did in December which is a symptom of liver disease she said, but she couldn’t feel that his liver or any other organs were pushed out of place.
I wanted to test his liver function but couldn’t afford it because if he comes up positive for zinc overdose his treatments will cost $70 for a two week dose, “hoping it doesn’t cost more.”
I’m now afraid for the health of his liver and knowing that the EDTA treatment for metal toxicity is really rough on the liver and kidneys isn’t helping. I’m really hoping he pulls through.
As a side note I read about stress lines in the feathers of sick parrots and I noticed similar lines in Parsnip’s feathers. None of my other geese have these.
