Budgie Mystery Weight Loss

Question
Hi,

I have got a blue and white male budgie, he is nearly three years old. Over the last year he has been losing weight quite rapidly, i have taken him to two vets, first one was not an avian one, the second was. The Avian vet gave him medication for a yeast infection in his crop that he thought he might have, this medication did not work and he was then x-rayed which did not show anything and then had a crop wash which the results came back as inconclusive and he said he still thought it may be a yeast infection in his crop and gave him another kind of medication which has not worked. Buddie (thats the birds name)is on an iodine supplement which the vet said i should give him in his water incase it was a thyroid problem. And he has avi-pro plus to try and build him up.
Nothing is working, he sits in his cage all sad and depressed, he doesn't chirp or play any more and sleeps alot. His breast bone really painfully sticks out and he is really frail, last time i weighed him he was 29g. I have no idea what it could be.
Please help if you can.
Thanks.

Answer
Hi, Ceri.  Thanks for posting.

I'm sorry to hear your budgie is ill.  If your avian vet can't find the problem by taking tests, medicating your budgie, etc., there's not much else I can help with.  You might want to try a different avian vet, as avian vets are like human doctors, you might need a second opinion.  I'm assuming the vet has taken mouth, crop, and/or anal swabs and tested them?  If your budgie was handfed and will accept a handfeeding syringe, you can try handfeeding him with parrot handfeeding formula to keep him nourished/gain some weight, but if the crop is the problem, this might not work.

I have 2 cockatiels who had yeast infections many years ago, that was cleared up, but these tiels have never been able to gain the weight they lost back.  They are thin, but healthy.  

The thing that bothers me about your post is where you state the vet prescribed iodine supplement in case it was a thyroid problem.  It doesn't sit well with me that the vet is prescribing meds "in case" your budgie might have a thyroid problem.  It isn't a good practice to medicate for something that MIGHT be a problem.  Either it is or it isn't!  Too many meds can actually have a reverse affect on a parrot, especially if the med isn't effective.

When a bird gets to the point you describe, sometimes they don't survive.  I recommend you either have a talk with the current bird vet or get a second opinion from another avian vet.  You might want to get a vet recommendation(s) from a parrot breeder in your area.  You can look in the local phone book for parrot breeders or try the internet.  Here's a link for trying to find other vets in your area.
http://www.aav.org/

Sorry I can't help more.

Chrys