PCV climbs to 17%, and a franker timeline: recovery will take weeks if not months

The Ojai Raptor Center gave a fuller update in its own Friday Facebook post. Jackie's bloodwork still shows anemia, but her packed cell volume, the share of red blood cells in her blood, has improved to 17%, up from 16% earlier in the week, though the vet team wants to see it above 30%. An elevated white cell count shows she is responding to inflammation, stress, or a possible infection. ORC says next steps include frequent blood and white cell monitoring, a specialized test for less common heavy metal toxicosis (results take several weeks), and radiographs to watch her lungs, with another CT scan planned once her PCV is a bit higher. Executive Director Chris Eksteen said, "While we know much more today than what we did a week ago, there are still many unanswered questions in this very complex case," and was direct that recovery will take weeks if not months. ORC's statement was clear: she remains stable, but is still a very sick patient with a long recovery road ahead.