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When our bird starting acting strange, we were lucky enough to know very quickly that we could be dealing with lead toxicity. This knowledge helped us realize that we needed to get him to the vet right away. That said, I kept trying to find out more after the diagnosis, and I had a hard time finding an owner who had shared their story. So, I'm going to share our story, and I really hope it helps you if this is something you're dealing with as well. (read more)
The Video
As always, I have made a video talking about what's in this blog post. If you'd like to watch it, here you go:
Cockatiel Lead Poisoning - Our Story
Tuko is our one year old, male cockatiel. We have had him since August or September of 2018. He came to us from a local breeder who hand fed all of his birds, making Tuko an extremely sweet, affectionate, and personable bird.
Basically, Tuko has a routine each day. He gets up, we feed him, we bring his cage out into the living room, open the cage door, and he flies around the house doing whatever he wants. Mostly he wants to be with a human, on our shoulder, getting neck scritches, occasionally singing to a mirror or pecking at us until we whistle his favorite songs, etc. What he doesn't do is sleep. Pretty much he's up for the day from about 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.. He might slow down and stare out a window or perch quietly on your leg or computer, but he always has energy and is always looking around, making sure you're not doing something without him. Here's Tuko singing some of his favorite songs. This is normal behavior. CHECK OUT OUR MINECRAFT THEMED BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Around noon on Thursday I was packing up my purse and getting ready to go to the grocery store. My oldest was playing on his computer, my youngest was watching TV, and Tuko was sitting on a perch at the open door of his cage.
He was fluffy and in a squat position, one that I have only seen him do when he's about to go to sleep at night. His eyes were half open, and basically he looked exhausted. This was not normal behavior. I asked my son if he'd noticed Tuko doing anything odd, or if he'd eaten anything out of the ordinary. It was at this time that my son told me he'd noticed Tuko chewing on one of his pellet gun pellets a few days ago, but that he'd taken it away and thrown it in the trash. All of my alarm bells started ringing. Tuko is our first bird, but I did a lot of research before getting him. I knew that metal was bad for birds. I didn't know what the pellets were made of, but I had a sinking suspicion they were made of lead, which is extremely poisonous. CHECK OUT OUR ROBLOX THEMED BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS 
We'd purchased the pellets on Amazon a couple of years ago when we got him a pellet gun for Christmas. He and my husband like to go outside and "plink". We live on a lot of acreage, so it's a fun thing to do while knowing you're not going to inadvertently hit someone with a pellet.
Lead shot is illegal, but apparently lead pellets, even those intended for hunting small game, is still freely sold. I didn't know for sure the pellets were lead until I was standing in the vet's office trying to show her what Tuko had been chewing on. Now that I know they're lead, we've tossed them out. The last thing I want to do is bear the responsibility of having a bird come pick a pellet off the ground of our back acreage. Once we realized what he'd been chewing on, we packed him up in his travel carrier and drove to our nearest Avian Vet. If you are looking for a good cage for vet visits, I recommend this one. It's small enough to pack up quickly, and gives you a clear view of your bird. If your bird is frightened, you can easily place a small towel over the top to make him less anxious in new surroundings. WE'RE REVAMPING OUR KIDS' ALLOWANCE WITH THE GREENLIGHT DEBIT CARD FOR KIDS 
We live in a very small town outside Houston, TX. We had to go to another county for treatment, and the Avian Vet we saw was the only one in the entire county.
Still, she could not treat Tuko. She was able to examine him and tell us what would have to happen for diagnosis, but since we felt so strongly that this was indeed lead toxicity, she recommended we make the drive to Houston to see a vet who could perform the tests and begin treatment right away. We agreed, and so we got back in the car and headed to Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston where we met with Dr. Chen. Dr. Chen was wonderful, very knowledgeable, and was able to get Tuko into Chelation treatment right away. If you don't know what Chelation is, it's basically a method where Chelate is either injected into the bird, or given orally (if the bird isn't too weak to eat). The Chelate binds the heavy metal, keeping it from absorbing into the organs and allowing it to be excreted. What the Chelate does not do is destroy the heavy metal already present in the bird. An X-Ray showed us that Tuko had a gizzard full of metal. If you'll look for the bright white on the X-Ray in the lower right, you'll see the metal. Our hope was that maybe, just maybe, Tuko had eaten some other metal, something that wasn't so bad for him, or maybe he'd picked up some rocks or dirt the kids had tracked into the house. We wouldn't know for sure until we got his blood panel back. UNIVERSAL YUMS IS OUR FAVORITE SNACK SUBSCRIPTION BOX 
Thursday Night Thru Monday Afternoon
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Wednesday, July 3, 2019 - Regurgitation
Tuesday was uneventful. Tuko was much quieter than normal, no tweeting, a lot of sleeping with periods of wakefulness, but mostly he's very quiet. It was hard to wrap my head around since he is normally such an active and chirpy bird.
We wanted to make sure he was eating, so we put all of his favorite treats in his cage; millet spray, Avi-cakes, etc.
Tuko ate these with gusto, and then on Wednesday he vomited, twice.
I was really worried since this was one of the symptoms we'd been cautioned to watch for.
I called Dr. Chen, and Dr. Scott and told them what was happening, what we'd been feeding him, etc. They agreed that Tuko had just eaten too much of his favorite foods, and needed to slow down.
Remember that his gizzard is full of metal. He doesn't have a lot of space for other things, so eating and drinking is going to be small meals for a while yet.
We took the millet and seed cakes out of his cage and allowed only his normal dietary items, the Zupreem pellet mix, and a once daily teaspoon of his favorite seed mix.
He did not regurgitate again.
THESE ARE MY TOP TEN FAVORITE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FAN FICTION NOVELS
We wanted to make sure he was eating, so we put all of his favorite treats in his cage; millet spray, Avi-cakes, etc.
Tuko ate these with gusto, and then on Wednesday he vomited, twice.
I was really worried since this was one of the symptoms we'd been cautioned to watch for.
I called Dr. Chen, and Dr. Scott and told them what was happening, what we'd been feeding him, etc. They agreed that Tuko had just eaten too much of his favorite foods, and needed to slow down.
Remember that his gizzard is full of metal. He doesn't have a lot of space for other things, so eating and drinking is going to be small meals for a while yet.
We took the millet and seed cakes out of his cage and allowed only his normal dietary items, the Zupreem pellet mix, and a once daily teaspoon of his favorite seed mix.
He did not regurgitate again.
THESE ARE MY TOP TEN FAVORITE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE FAN FICTION NOVELS
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Saturday, July 6, 2019
As of today I would say Tuko has been making progress each day. He is still not singing or chirping much, but the wing twitching seems to have remedied itself.
We finished our first round of Chelation yesterday evening and are now under instruction to leave him off the treatment for three days. This is necessary because his kidneys need a chance to cleanse themselves of the Chelate, and his body needs to replenish the minerals he does need, but that the Chelate is also binding and excreting.
The downside is that the lead will not be bound while he is off the treatment, but this is the best we can do for now. We are hopeful that three days will not be long enough to get him really sick again, and we can pick up on Tuesday with another seven day round of treatment.
We will see our vet on Monday as well. She will take another blood panel from Tuko and compare it to the results of last Thursday.
We did get the results from the first blood panel.
WE GOT TO TAKE A FULL DAY VIP TOUR AT DISNEY, HERE'S HOW IT WENT
We finished our first round of Chelation yesterday evening and are now under instruction to leave him off the treatment for three days. This is necessary because his kidneys need a chance to cleanse themselves of the Chelate, and his body needs to replenish the minerals he does need, but that the Chelate is also binding and excreting.
The downside is that the lead will not be bound while he is off the treatment, but this is the best we can do for now. We are hopeful that three days will not be long enough to get him really sick again, and we can pick up on Tuesday with another seven day round of treatment.
We will see our vet on Monday as well. She will take another blood panel from Tuko and compare it to the results of last Thursday.
We did get the results from the first blood panel.
WE GOT TO TAKE A FULL DAY VIP TOUR AT DISNEY, HERE'S HOW IT WENT
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Blood Panel One (Thursday, June 27)
Results
Normal lead levels in a bird would ideally be 0.0 ppm.
Anything over 0.2 ppm would be considered heavy metal toxicity. Symptoms typically start to show at 0.3 ppm.
Tuko's blood panel from Thursday was 2.5 ppm, more than ten times that of the value for lead toxicity.
The bad news is that he has a lot of lead in his blood. The good news is that we caught it early.
I want you to catch it early, too. Here's what you need to look for:
* LETHARGY - If your bird seems tired, eyes half open, not acting normal.
* FLUFFY - If your bird is sitting in his cage all fluffed up, and it's not bed time.
* NEON GREEN POOP - If your bird's poop is a bright, vibrant green, this is not normal and is an indicator of heavy metal toxicity.
* RED/BLACK POOP - Red poop or urine is the breakdown of blood by the lead. Black poop is old blood. Both are bad, very bad. If you see these things, an immediate trip to the vet is necessary.
As the poisoning progresses, there will be other symptoms. We did not see these, thank goodness, but they can include things like drooping wings, drooping head, twitching, seizing, inability to balance, drunken flying, etc.
Basically, if you think something is wrong with your bird, follow your gut and take him or her to the vet. You know how your bird should be, so please don't wait and convince yourself that the bird just isn't feeling well that day or whatever.
Birds aren't people, don't try to compare them to us. Any odd behavior like this warrants a checkup at the vet ASAP.
Anything over 0.2 ppm would be considered heavy metal toxicity. Symptoms typically start to show at 0.3 ppm.
Tuko's blood panel from Thursday was 2.5 ppm, more than ten times that of the value for lead toxicity.
The bad news is that he has a lot of lead in his blood. The good news is that we caught it early.
I want you to catch it early, too. Here's what you need to look for:
* LETHARGY - If your bird seems tired, eyes half open, not acting normal.
* FLUFFY - If your bird is sitting in his cage all fluffed up, and it's not bed time.
* NEON GREEN POOP - If your bird's poop is a bright, vibrant green, this is not normal and is an indicator of heavy metal toxicity.
* RED/BLACK POOP - Red poop or urine is the breakdown of blood by the lead. Black poop is old blood. Both are bad, very bad. If you see these things, an immediate trip to the vet is necessary.
As the poisoning progresses, there will be other symptoms. We did not see these, thank goodness, but they can include things like drooping wings, drooping head, twitching, seizing, inability to balance, drunken flying, etc.
Basically, if you think something is wrong with your bird, follow your gut and take him or her to the vet. You know how your bird should be, so please don't wait and convince yourself that the bird just isn't feeling well that day or whatever.
Birds aren't people, don't try to compare them to us. Any odd behavior like this warrants a checkup at the vet ASAP.
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TESTING FOR LEAD AT HOME
After reading the extensive list of all the items that could potentially hurt Tuko, I decided to get proactive and figure out a way to test things he comes into contact with on a regular basis. One of these tests will work, the other...I'm not sure.
First, the lead test. Just swab the swab in white vinegar, swab it across the item you want to test, and get a result as to whether or not the item contains lead, and if so, how much.
First, the lead test. Just swab the swab in white vinegar, swab it across the item you want to test, and get a result as to whether or not the item contains lead, and if so, how much.
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TESTING FOR ZINC AT HOME
This Zinc test is the one I am less sure of. I did test the water at my house just to make sure it wasn't our drinking water (which comes from a well) that might be also making Tuko sick.
We have no Zinc, according to the test.
I think the best way to test this would be to dip the strip in water, rub it on the item you want to test, then read the result. I'll need to try it out and see how it goes.
We have no Zinc, according to the test.
I think the best way to test this would be to dip the strip in water, rub it on the item you want to test, then read the result. I'll need to try it out and see how it goes.
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Vet Followup #1 - Monday, July 8, 2019
Day Three Without Chelate
Today was our first followup with our local Avian Vet, Dr. Scott over at Dickinson Animal Hospital. This was also our third day off of the Chelation treatment.
I was very worried about taking Tuko off of the Chelate, but I knew it was necessary. Each day I'd study him, looking for signs of lethargy coming back, but thankfully it didn't happen. If anything he seemed to be more alert each day.
Dr. Scott was pleased with his progress. He had gained two grams, so she asked us to put him entirely on seed (his favorite food) so he could gain even more weight. Just in case he decides to feel bad again, he'll have a little reserve to keep him going.
Tuko is happy with this decision. :)
I was very worried about taking Tuko off of the Chelate, but I knew it was necessary. Each day I'd study him, looking for signs of lethargy coming back, but thankfully it didn't happen. If anything he seemed to be more alert each day.
Dr. Scott was pleased with his progress. He had gained two grams, so she asked us to put him entirely on seed (his favorite food) so he could gain even more weight. Just in case he decides to feel bad again, he'll have a little reserve to keep him going.
Tuko is happy with this decision. :)
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Morning Tweets
One of the first things that stopped happening when Tuko got sick was that he stopped singing.
He used to spend hours each day whistling and tweeting to his heart's content. He'd chirp in your ear, sing to his reflection in the toaster, and always wake us up with a sharp "Ca-Caw!" which was his way of saying, "Take off this cage cover and let me out of here!"
He hadn't made that noise in two weeks, but today he did!
Each day he whistles and sings a bit more, and while I won't say he's back to normal, I will say he's "almost" back to normal. This is all very good news because we were extremely concerned about any permanent neurological damage the lead might have caused.
He used to spend hours each day whistling and tweeting to his heart's content. He'd chirp in your ear, sing to his reflection in the toaster, and always wake us up with a sharp "Ca-Caw!" which was his way of saying, "Take off this cage cover and let me out of here!"
He hadn't made that noise in two weeks, but today he did!
Each day he whistles and sings a bit more, and while I won't say he's back to normal, I will say he's "almost" back to normal. This is all very good news because we were extremely concerned about any permanent neurological damage the lead might have caused.
Monday, July 22
A Light At The End Of The Tunnel?
It's been almost a month since Tuko first got sick. We're now into our third round of Chelate, and everything seems like it's going well.
We haven't seen our vet in two weeks and we were really hoping today we'd get some news that might indicate this really long journey might be nearing its end.
We're not done yet, but things are looking good! Tuko flies without trouble, has no problem stepping up, and has good grip with both feet. He also gave the vet a run for her money while she was trying to examine him, much to everyone's delight.
I know that sounds odd, but we're just all so happy to see him being energetic.
Today she told us that she'd like to re-run the x-rays on the 19th of August. IF (and only if) the x-rays show NO metal in his GI Tract, she'll do the blood level panel as well.
If there is still metal in his GI Tract, then we'll continue with the Chelate for the foreseeable future.
So, we have no end date, but at least we have something, a date where we'll know more.
I'll update this post in a month, hopefully with the news that we're all done with treatment!
For those of you who have been emailing asking when the next book comes out, I'm sorry to say that I don't know. My mind isn't in the right place for children's mysteries right now, and I don't want to give your kids anything less than my best. Hopefully, in a few weeks, things will be back to normal and the saga of The World Keepers and The Guild Crafters can continue.
We haven't seen our vet in two weeks and we were really hoping today we'd get some news that might indicate this really long journey might be nearing its end.
We're not done yet, but things are looking good! Tuko flies without trouble, has no problem stepping up, and has good grip with both feet. He also gave the vet a run for her money while she was trying to examine him, much to everyone's delight.
I know that sounds odd, but we're just all so happy to see him being energetic.
Today she told us that she'd like to re-run the x-rays on the 19th of August. IF (and only if) the x-rays show NO metal in his GI Tract, she'll do the blood level panel as well.
If there is still metal in his GI Tract, then we'll continue with the Chelate for the foreseeable future.
So, we have no end date, but at least we have something, a date where we'll know more.
I'll update this post in a month, hopefully with the news that we're all done with treatment!
For those of you who have been emailing asking when the next book comes out, I'm sorry to say that I don't know. My mind isn't in the right place for children's mysteries right now, and I don't want to give your kids anything less than my best. Hopefully, in a few weeks, things will be back to normal and the saga of The World Keepers and The Guild Crafters can continue.
Monday, August 19, 2019
The plan today was to drop Tuko off at our local Avian Vet so she could take another x-ray. If the x-ray showed no metal in his gizzard, we were going to stop the Chelation therapy.
Unfortunately, the x-ray still did show quite a bit of metal. However, since we'd done five Chelation treatments already, the vet thought it might be worth it to do a blood draw and test his lead levels again, just in case the metal in his gizzard was inert.
For example: it might be binding material from the bb he ate initially, inert material that was in the grit we gave him for weeks after we realized he'd eaten lead, etc.
I'll tell you the results of that in a moment, but for now, here's the latest x-ray. It is head on instead of profile, but you can see there is still a significant amount of metal.
Unfortunately, the x-ray still did show quite a bit of metal. However, since we'd done five Chelation treatments already, the vet thought it might be worth it to do a blood draw and test his lead levels again, just in case the metal in his gizzard was inert.
For example: it might be binding material from the bb he ate initially, inert material that was in the grit we gave him for weeks after we realized he'd eaten lead, etc.
I'll tell you the results of that in a moment, but for now, here's the latest x-ray. It is head on instead of profile, but you can see there is still a significant amount of metal.
She did the blood draw, and that took about a week to come in.
As a reminder for you here, lead toxicity in cockatiels tends to start to show signs (become clinical) at around 0.3 ppm.
Tuko's first blood draw was 2.5 ppm, almost 10 times the clinical amount.
His second blood draw showed only .11 ppm! That's fantastic news!
Had he not eaten so much lead, we likely would have discontinued the Chelation therapy, but since the lead definitely leached into his bones during the initial stages of toxicity, the vet is sure it will leach out again. We need to keep treating to make sure we've gone long enough to allow the lead to leach out of his bones, get bound up by the Chelate, and then passed.
So, we've got another four treatments of seven days on, three days off, and then we'll do another blood draw.
I'll update once we've passed that next hurdle, but for now, we're thinking happy thoughts!
I'm also happy to report that the fourth book in The Guild Crafters series is almost finished! We're also updating the covers for The World Keepers series and The Guild Crafters series, so we're excited to have all of those up and ready on Amazon in a few weeks time!
As a reminder for you here, lead toxicity in cockatiels tends to start to show signs (become clinical) at around 0.3 ppm.
Tuko's first blood draw was 2.5 ppm, almost 10 times the clinical amount.
His second blood draw showed only .11 ppm! That's fantastic news!
Had he not eaten so much lead, we likely would have discontinued the Chelation therapy, but since the lead definitely leached into his bones during the initial stages of toxicity, the vet is sure it will leach out again. We need to keep treating to make sure we've gone long enough to allow the lead to leach out of his bones, get bound up by the Chelate, and then passed.
So, we've got another four treatments of seven days on, three days off, and then we'll do another blood draw.
I'll update once we've passed that next hurdle, but for now, we're thinking happy thoughts!
I'm also happy to report that the fourth book in The Guild Crafters series is almost finished! We're also updating the covers for The World Keepers series and The Guild Crafters series, so we're excited to have all of those up and ready on Amazon in a few weeks time!
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MONDAY - OCTOBER 14, 2019
Last week, Monday the 7th of October, we took Tuko back in to the vet for another blood draw. We'd completed four more rounds of Chelate, and the vet and I decided not to do another x-ray since so much material was still showing in Tuko's gizzard and we could not be sure that it wasn't the grit we give him with his food.
She called this morning to give us the blood test results, and we could not be happier!
Tuko's lead level is down to .06 ppm!
To recap, anything over .3 ppm is when they start to see toxicity levels. The previous blood draw was .11 ppm, and his highest draw was 2.5 ppm.
The Doctor left us with instructions to keep an eye on him, just to make sure nothing in his gizzard starts to dissolve and present issues. She said that in female birds, the lead leeching from the bones is an issue as they start to metabolize bone to lay eggs, but hopefully we won't have to worry about any of this with Tuko, unless something happens where he needs to metabolize bone for calcium.
We've got the Chelate still, and we're going to start using it immediately if we start to notice anything like sluggishness, not eating, regurgitation, etc.
Hopefully, we never have to use it again!!
If I have anymore updates, I'll post them here, but I REALLY hope to have no more updates!
She called this morning to give us the blood test results, and we could not be happier!
Tuko's lead level is down to .06 ppm!
To recap, anything over .3 ppm is when they start to see toxicity levels. The previous blood draw was .11 ppm, and his highest draw was 2.5 ppm.
The Doctor left us with instructions to keep an eye on him, just to make sure nothing in his gizzard starts to dissolve and present issues. She said that in female birds, the lead leeching from the bones is an issue as they start to metabolize bone to lay eggs, but hopefully we won't have to worry about any of this with Tuko, unless something happens where he needs to metabolize bone for calcium.
We've got the Chelate still, and we're going to start using it immediately if we start to notice anything like sluggishness, not eating, regurgitation, etc.
Hopefully, we never have to use it again!!
If I have anymore updates, I'll post them here, but I REALLY hope to have no more updates!
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I sincerely hope this article has helped you, and I hope that if you are reading this and wondering if your bird might have heavy metal toxicity that you finish up, pack up your bird, and get them seen right away.
The faster you get them in, the better chance you have of a good outcome.
I am going to try to promise to update this as we know more. If Tuko does not survive, I cannot guarantee I will update the post. You are welcome to comment below if you have a question and I will do my best to get back to you.
If you'd like to see our list of everything we think you need when you bring your new Cockatiel home, just click that button below.
Ty
The faster you get them in, the better chance you have of a good outcome.
I am going to try to promise to update this as we know more. If Tuko does not survive, I cannot guarantee I will update the post. You are welcome to comment below if you have a question and I will do my best to get back to you.
If you'd like to see our list of everything we think you need when you bring your new Cockatiel home, just click that button below.
Ty
2 Comments
9/3/2019 11:35:26 pm
Having birds as your pets may be stressful, but they will give you the different kind of joy that you need! I know how it feels to take care of birds and facing Cockatiel Lead Poisoning is a huge problem! You don't need to do immediate action if you don't know what steps to take. Perhaps, bringing them to veterinarian would be the best option because they know better than us. If you are not confident with what you will do. it will be good if you will bring them to the experts as soon as possible.
Sheila (Ty The Hunter)
9/4/2019 05:55:10 am
Absolutely! I am certain our little Tuko wouldn't have survived if we hadn't dropped everything and gotten him to an avian vet. If you think something is wrong, go to the vet right away.
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I'm a mom, wife, dog parent, bird parent, homeschooler, author, quilter, travel lover, and blogger. It's very nice to meet you!
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