15 year old Female intact black-headed caique parrot (Pionites melanocephalus) For approximately 2 days, the patient had only been wanting to eat treats. Her activity levels had decreased. Patient was being syringe fed water and then developed regurgitation (frothy yellow material).
General Appearance: QAR. Beak & Cere: Nares are open and clean, no discharge. Cere color normal. Rhinotheca mildly elongated, properly occluded and aligned.
Oral: Mucous membranes pink and moist. Choana clean with sharp papillae
Eyes: Eyes clear, good vision. Conjunctiva pink.
Cardiovascular: Heart auscults normal. No murmur or arrhythmia noted.
Respiratory: Eupneic, lungs auscultate clear. No air sac noises ausculted. Coelom: Pliable, no palpable masses or organomegaly. No pain elicited on palpation.
Musculoskeletal: BCS: 4/9, ambulatory x 2 with even perching and strong grip. Wings held upright and symmetrical. No palpable fractures or luxations.
Nervous: QAR, no deficits noted. Responsive to stimuli.
Genital/Urinary: Cloaca clean, no discharge, swelling or fecal/urate matting.
Integument: Skin intact, no lesions noted. Primary and secondary feathers intact. Remainder of plumage well preened.
Marked leukocytosis with marked heterophilia on bloodwork
View the three radiographs above, describe the findings, and provide a summary diagnosis
● There is a curvilinear metal opacity within the left caudal coelom; this is the region of the ventriculus. The esophagus is soft tissue attenuating. The proventriculus are normal for size and content. The small intestine is normal for size and content. The colon contains a moderate amount of mixed heterogeneous soft tissue opacity and mineral materials.
● The trachea has a normal luminal diameter. The pulmonary parenchyma is with normal limits. The air sacs are uniformly gas filled with thin linings of the air sac margins.
● The cardiac silhouette is within normal limits. The cardiohepatic waist is unremarkable.
● The renal silhouettes are within normal limits.
● The osseous structures are unremarkable.
Foreign material within the ventriculus may be causing an obstruction at the ventriculus outflow.
CT was performed after the radiographs were made
An upper GI series could evaluate for complete or partial obstruction. A computed tomography was performed to confirm location of the material
The bird underwent surgery. A proximal duodenal foreign body obstruction was identified, and the material was removed. The foreign body appeared to be a piece of charging cord some sort of thin wire with (plastic?) material around it. The patient recovered well from surgery and did well post-operatively.