Things look good for Charlie :D !
Charlie went to the avian vet this morning for a recheck. She has been home from the hospital for two weeks and was receiving oral antibiotics and eye ointment twice daily.
A mouth smear and white blood cell count were done, and they showed that the infection is well on its way to being cleared up. The vet switched her to a different antibiotic at a lower dosage and to eyedrops instead of the ointment. Details in MORE... if you are interested.
One thing I really like about this vet practice's procedures is that clients automatically receive a full copy of all test results (not just "positive" or "negative" or "normal") along with the receipt and patient care instructions when checking out; and if the pet was hospitalized, copies of all of the doctor's and technician's notes from the hospital stay are given to you as well.
Don't get me wrong, though; it's not that my primary vet has ever given me any problems about giving me copies of any information that I've asked for. But I do have to ask for it. It was just very cool to have complete copies of all records given to me as a routine normal checkout procedure.
Charlie will go back for another recheck in two weeks; it's expected she'll be able to discontinue the antibiotics at that time. She's looking darn good for a 20-year-old bird and I'm happy she's recovering so well for her illness.
Mouth smear
Cells: lt mucus & epi
Bacteria: lt bac & cocci gram +
White blood cell count
WBC estimate: 3-4/800 RBCS
Heterophils: 60%
Lymphocytes: 40%
Thrombocytes: ok
Reticulocytes: ok
Parasites: none
Medications
Eyedrops: Tobramycin 0.3% (1 drop each eye twice daily)
Oral antibiotic: Enrofloxacin 50mg/ml (0.02cc twice daily)
We used to take Harley up to Purdue University for all his Opthalmology appointments and they were very bad about giving us copies of the results and in fact woudln't even print us an itemized bill saying what tests they performed unless we asked...he now goes to a specialist that teaches classes at Purdue and his office is much more professional and they always give us copies~ Harley's eyes are really going fast these last few weeks but its amazing how happy he still is!
Ohh thats a good idea, giving out copies of the test results to clients. I'll have to mention that to my boss :) Im glad to hear that Charlie is doing well! *hugs*
good for Charlie, I am glad she is feeling better :)
Glad to hear the Charlie's on the mend, Kathi! :)