Egg Binding/Sam

Question
QUESTION: Hi Revrend Abbott,
I'm not sure if you received the picture I sent you of Sam, but I hope you did. Sam is going in for surgery tommorrow to flush her abdomen and remove her uterus. I brought her to the Vet yesterday b/c she kept regurgitating and looked very swollen in her abdomen to me. The Vet took a liguid out of Sam in her abdomen and what she feared may have happened is she has peritonitis.
So I will be bringing her to Colorado State University tommorrow for the surgery. The Vet is the best to do the surgeries in Colorado. My Vet said she didn't feel comfortable doing the surgery on Sam because she has only done 8 in her career. The infection has pushed Sam's organs up. They told me this is her only chance for survival, if I do nothing she'll be gone inside of 2 months. At least with the surgery she has a chance and I know I will have done everything I possibly could have  to help her. I'll let you know after the surgery how Sam is doing.

Thanks, Rose

ANSWER: Hi Rose, I have that pic of Sam in our Gallery at the website www.4AnimalCare.org
She's sooo beautiful. If you take a look at our girl Sadie you'll see that macaws may look alike to non-bird people, but we can tell the difference with a glance. Sam is very 'feminine' looking, truly beautiful.

I'm sorry you have to go through this with her, but hopefully she'll pull through without any complications and perfect for countless years to come.

Please let me know how it goes ok? I sincerely care and want to hear some good news.

 I'll send all my prayers.

God bless,


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QUESTION: Hi Revrend Abbott,

Thank you! for the good wishes and prayers. Sam did not have the surgery she went through a battery of tests and had a vile and 1/2 of liguid removed from her abdomen which was tested and was not peritonitis. They did an Ultrasound because it she had a Mass and also aspirated the mass to see if it was Cancer? It turned out to be Oophoritis(infection/inflammation of ovarian follicles) and Salpingitis(infection/inflammation of oviduct/uterus) she was put on Fortaz 200 mg/ml in (0.5ml) shots 2 x's daily for 21 days. Sam will go back on February 15th to see how well it has cleared up and to see if her white cell count has gone down. The Doctor is Guarderling Optomistic. I was told this is a very rare condition in parrots, and the treatment for it is not straight forward. If the antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are not effective surgery will be necessary the following week and then they will go ahead and remove the uterus, too.

Thanks for posting Sam's photo on your web site, your right they all look different they have so much character she looks different than Sadie but they are all such beautiful creatures and give us such joy it's hard to imagine anyone abusing or mistreating them.
God Bless you for the moral support you have given me through all this and I'll let you know the outcome of Sam's next visit.

Sincerely,
Rose

ANSWER: Sam is a much more "feminine" looking macaw, very pretty. The movie star type ;)
 She does have a very uncommon condition, but it appears you're getting top care.  You have no idea how much I'm with you on this and awaiting good news.
 All my prayers are added

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QUESTION: Hi Reverend Abbott,

Well, it's me again! We brought Sam back to CSU Vet Hospital on Friday, they ran another ultrasound and the inflammation did not go down. So, Sam will be having surgery tommorrow to hopefully remove the infection and also her uterus. Our Vet says she has a good chance for survivial if he can get  at least 75% of infection out. She will have a team of doctors and her case will be documented because of the rarity of it. So, my sweet baby will undergo the fight of her life tommorrow and I hope she's strong enough to do it! I hope I'm not being to much of a pain always writting you, but I guess I ljust need moral support.

Sincerely, Rose

Answer
Oh Rose, you are far from bothersome in writing to me.  I have been thinking about you and Sam every time I see her pic in the gallery on my site.  You have no idea how much you both have my prayers for this surgery.  With a team of specialists like this, let's believe there's a reason.  They have all the expertise necessary to make a difference and they will succeed.

 Please be sure to let me know - I'll be so anxious to hear from you tomorrow.  Do you have people there with you? Don't hesitate to ask someone to be with you.  Sam is a life and how you feel about her is no different and no less significant from any other life, human or bird.  A heart only knows how deeply it loves, not what it loves.