A rescue friend of ours came upon Bo closed up in a unheated storage room earlier this month. He had a huge hole in his chest from him mutilating. He had a runny nose and his head was hung down low. She spoke with the store owners to see if the bird was receiving medical help. They said he didn't need medical help so she offered to take the bird at her expense to get the help he needed. After about a week she and a couple others came up with a solution where they could get the bird out of there without rewarding the store's negligence.
Bo was immediately taken to the vet where he was found to have a raging infection in his chest wound. On top of that he was infested with mites, lice and parasites. He was hospitalized immediately and would need surgery the very next day. He was treated with vitamin shots, pain medication and other medically necessary treatments to help stablize him for surgery. The following morning he still was not stable enough for surgery so it was postphoned until later that afternoon. IV solution had to be dripped into him slowly to rehydrate him while a vet tech held him close to keep him calm and comfortable.
The vet bills reached to be far more than anyone expected. Bo will still have weekly visits to have more tests performed and receive ongoing medical treatment for an indefinite period of time. The damage to his chest far exceded what the vet had anticipated therefore more corrective surgery on his chest is a possibility.

11/24/05 - Bo's surgery was performed on Tuesday, November 22nd. It took 1 1/2 hours to remove the toxic absess and infected tissue. He came home on Wednesday all bandaged up. He is being monitored very closely for any chewing of his bandages. If he begins to chew he will need to be collared.

11/26/05 - Bo had another vet visit to check on his progress. Bo's preen gland that was putting out nothing but blood and puss is now dry but is still not producing oil. He has gained 17 grams already. He has to put weight on slowly because his skin is pulled so tight from having surgery. When he was operated on the infection/abscess/tumor went back to the abdominal wall. The wall showed some infection but the Dr. did not want to cut into it. If it does not clear he may have to have another surgery. The good news is his preen gland is clearing up and that he is putting on weight. He is still on meds for his giardia. He will need to be rewormed and will re-x-ray next month. The vet could not find a single good bacteria in his stains. He is on Bene-Bac to help re-establish a healthy system. His lice and mites are cleared up!

Bo was exhausted and napped laying down for a half hour.

11/30/05 - Bo's checkup went well today. He has gained 100 grams already! He was extremely underweight due to the parasite infestation which has been treated. Tests came back showing ecoli as well. However, he's already on antibiotics to fight off another bacterial infection he has and it's not working on the ecoli. The vet says to fight off one infection at a time as his good bacteria is so low he can't stand to lose that. His next checkup is next Friday, December 9th and he can begin treatment for ecoli. His surgery area is healing up very well and his stitches will be removed at this next appointment. He's gaining strength and is starting to finally feel good! He's playing with his toys, a favorite in particular is a baby rattle. He flings it across the room at his caretaker to get her to play catch!!

11/30/05 - Tonight Bo realized he could pick at his bandages. His caretaker made a sweater for him in hopes to deter him from picking at his stitches. Here he is checking his fanmail.

12/04/05 - In the middle of the night, Bo ripped through his sweater, pulled up his bandages and opened up a small section of his stitches. He now has to wear the collar. This was kept on hand as a last resort. After his caretaker/rescuer got his collar on, Bo cuddled into her chest as if to say he was sorry. He is such a good natured and sweet boy. It's heartbreaking to see him go through all this.