Alex 38 days old, suffering from FLU

my Heero is suffering from FLU.................
what to do?

You need to bring him to an avian vet as soon as possible. This is not something a regular person can solve. It is extremely unlikely he can recover without an avian vet's help - he will probably need medicine. Without medical intervention, he will continue to suffer and may die.

I don't know all the resources in Pakistan, but I looked at https://www.aav.org/search/newsearch.asp and found this vet:

Dr. Junaid Naseer
Veterinarian from Developing Nation
Personal Information
Rawalpindi
46200 Pakistan
+923223950039 (Phone)
+923149563686 (Mobile)
Professional Information
JunniVet's
Shop # 1 & 2, Maskeen Plaza, New Gulzar-e-Quaid
Near Army Check Post, Karal Chowk
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
46200 Pakistan
[ Map ] +923223950039 (Phone)
Visit Website »
Avian Species Contact: Birds of prey: Strigiformes, Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, Fowl: Galliformes, Parrots: Psittaciformes, Pigeons, doves: Columbiformes, Waterfowl: Anseriformes
Degrees: DVM
Public Email: [email protected]
Region: International (Non-US/Canada)
Year of graduation: 2011

yes , i have already spoken to a vet doctor, he is close to my house and well known, will be visiting him in an hour or so

Great work in finding a vet, Intisar! I hope they can help your Heero with good medicine, insh.

Please, please let us know what the vet says. We're all sending prayers and hope that Heero gets better.

How do you know it's flu? Did you have him tested? There are very few varieties of flu that birds can get.

If he is showing flu-like symptoms, it is likely some other viral, bacterial or fungal issue and all will require different treatments. Get him to a CAV asap and if a CAV isn't an option, an exotics vet is going to be better than nothing at this point.

I took him to the doctor , famous pets doctor ,
He examined the Heero and declared he is all right ,

What types of tests did the doctor run?

He did not take any tests.
He checked the parrot himself and got satisfied, he also mentioned that parrot is ok n in good health

Intisar said:

He did not take any tests.
He checked the parrot himself and got satisfied, he also mentioned that parrot is ok n in good health

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I would be very cautious about trusting anything any vet says based on looks alone. At the very least, a gram-stain should have been performed. I understand not wanting to test blood on a baby, but testing the poop and swabbing the mouth are easy enough (even exotics vets can do this). One of them doesn't even require the bird to be there...

Intisar has *a* vet available to him. He has a choice. He can either trust the (presumably trained, qualified) doctor to know what he's doing, or he can simply go home and treat the bird himself. There may be another vet within travelling distance, or there may not. It all depends on the level of animal care which is, or can be, practicsed in Intisar's part of the world. Perhaps we should ask first, before telling him what to expect?

Intisar, I'm glad the vet has said Heero is OK. It's probably a good idea to watch him carefully for a while. Babies can get sick very suddenly and need care immediately. I hope the vet was able to give you some good advice about feeding him? He's a cute little fellow and I hope he does well for you.

May I ask what the symptoms were that caused you to suspect illness?

While I understand some people do not have access to the same level of specialized avian medicine a lot of members on this forum do, I would at least check with the vet to see if it’s possible to do a crop swab and/or fecal test, depending on symptoms to be on the safe side. My bird almost died last year and his only symptom was an itchy butt (seriously). My husband thought I had gone nuts taking him to the vet, I kind of felt silly even scheduling an appointment for it, but my gut said something was wrong- and it was big time. Had my vet not done a fecal swab, she wouldn’t have known he had a life threatening infection. Had I not also pushed her to also do an X-ray that day (she wanted to postpone because it’s a costly procedure and he didn’t outwardly seem that sick, and this is an experienced avian vet examining him), we wouldn’t have found out his kidney was so severely inflamed from the infection that it was pressing into and demineralizing (eating away at) his spine. Now, I understand if there isn’t any further testing that can be done where you live, then that’s that. But if basic and non invasive tests for infection are available, I strongly urge you to have them done, even if you have to push the vet to do so. Trust your gut and do what is within your power given your situation.

Betrisher said:

Intisar has *a* vet available to him. He has a choice. He can either trust the (presumably trained, qualified) doctor to know what he's doing, or he can simply go home and treat the bird himself. There may be another vet within travelling distance, or there may not. It all depends on the level of animal care which is, or can be, practicsed in Intisar's part of the world. Perhaps we should ask first, before telling him what to expect?

Intisar, I'm glad the vet has said Heero is OK. It's probably a good idea to watch him carefully for a while. Babies can get sick very suddenly and need care immediately. I hope the vet was able to give you some good advice about feeding him? He's a cute little fellow and I hope he does well for you.

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Regardless of how it makes anyone feel, without testing, I would not trust that vet (I have had one too many "qualified" vets nearly allow my bird to die (I had to INSIST on blood-work and it was very telling when we got the

I really understand band appreciate your advices and concerns.
Let me share a couple of thoughts with u all dear and respected fellows,
We are 6 people at home , we the husband wife and our 4 kids , and now we count the family of 8 members, including Heero and Tweety.
The whole family is concerned about both and specially Heero, treating him as an infant.
My elder sons call home and ask about his feed and temperature (of room)many times in a day,
I watch him a lot of times from office through a video call. Abdur Rahman the master of heeero controls every one , no shouting no loudness of tv
Etc.
And above all, before bringing the Heero and Tweety we had a long meeting with Abdur Rahman and his siblings about the rights of animals and specially the parrots and our responsibilities of taking care if them.
We all are in love of Tweety and heero , but more than that we try to take care of them well because they are creativity of Allah and we can't afford to make Allah angry with us, we are answerable if we do not care of the parrots very well.
Our Prophet Muhammad PBUH has given clear cut instructions about the rights of animals , we are even not allowed to disturb any animal while sleeping.
U just pray that Allah give us strength to take care of his creation and fulfill our responsibility about these sweet lovely parrots.

Intisar, I don't think anyone here thinks that you don't care about Heero and Tweety. The fact that you're are posting here means that you care, and everyone cares about their parrots here in many different ways. We all understand everyone on this forum comes from different places, cultures, backgrounds, etc. I'm in Asia, others are in Europe, India, Australia, North America, and many more.


I think what the others are trying to say is:

Vets for dogs and cats and other pets are probably good vets for those types of animals, but birds are very different. And vets who work with birds sometimes aren't well-trained (not their own fault) or sometimes lack the tools and equipment to do certain tests.

It is very difficult - almost impossible - to diagnose what might be a hidden, unseen sickness in birds. Birds hide their symptoms as long as they can. If a vet just diagnoses a bird just by looking at the bird when the bird is showing breathing issues or stomach issues, then the vet either doesn't have the tools and equipment to test properly and therefore is just guessing. If he is guessing, then you do not know for sure what is wrong.

Birds are not like humans or other mammals. And even with humans, we need to do proper tests to find out what is really wrong. Just looking at a bird will not tell anyone what is wrong with it, not even a vet.

So if your vet has a microscope, then he can do some basic tests to confirm his guesses. That is all the above people are suggesting.

I know, where I am, it was very difficult for me to get an x-ray done for my bird. But we're not asking for the vet to do an x-ray even. At least the vet looking at things under a microscope can definitively tell you if Heero is unwell or if he is healthy. And hopefully those tests will help guide Heero to grow up strong and healthy.

Intisar, thank you for sharing your thoughts about Heero and Tweety! Clearly, they are very well loved and given good care. I really like the way you explained to your children that parrots are a big responsibility and must be cared for because they are part of creation. I wish you well with your birds and look forward to hearing many stories about them. Please give my best wishes to Abdur Rahman - he's doing a great job!

Can you plze keep religion out of this?


It is about the birds, not your preferred deity of choice.

ChristaNL said:

Can you plze keep religion out of this?


It is about the birds, not your preferred deity of choice.

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He isn't trying to push religion on anyone.

He said what he said, because, in Islam, the Quoran emphasizes the importance of husbandry for animals and children. He was just trying to explain that it is his duty to make sure he cares for his birds (not just because he cares about them, but because his beliefs specifically dictate that he do so- and failing to do so would be a big deal). Basically, he has many reasons to be personally invested in the well-being of his animals- not just because they are his pets.

There are many extremely common but religious phrases built into the Arabic language-- people say them all the time throughout the day (exp: "Insha' Allah"= God willing in English, but there are many others as well: Masha' Allah, Bismila, Alhamdulilah...heck, even the names Abdul and Abdela are common names that mean God's servant).

These "religious" phrases are used all of the time in conversation (among Arabic speaking individuals and among Muslims all over the word) simply because the Quoran is written in Arabic. It's a cultural difference--English doesn't really have equivalent phrases (other than "Thank God, or God willing") and they aren't used in the same way. In non-Muslim or non-Arab circles, it might seem strange for someone to say "thank God" or "God willing" every time someone talks about the future or something good happens, but many Arabic-speakers and/or Muslims do (it's a tradition/etiquette/language/cultural difference that is hard to translate)...That is just one example.

In the US, the cultural phenomenon of saying, "bless you" when someone sneezes is the only thing that comes close to the way these phrases are used in Arabic-speaking countries and among Muslims. Like "bless-you", everyone says them, they are polite things to say, they are part of a ritual of sorts, and sometimes, more than one person in a room will say the same phrase in response to an action or statement.

I hope I am making sense--- I don't think it was said to be preachy...It is the same as when someone says, "say a prayer for me", "send positive thoughts my way", "keep me in your thoughts", "wish me luck" etc.

Thank you Noodles123
for expressing me in a very correct way, I am not here for any kind of debate,
i am here to learn only, from u all sincere and experienced wise people and to become able to take more good care of my 2 new family members.

we are going to take a second opinion tonight to another doctor, and tried to investigate and found this one much experienced specially about parrots

I'm so glad you managed to fit a vet who is familiar with parrots. Hope all goes well!

I know with some vets you really have to push them to do testing, so please don't be afraid to push them to test Heero With my vet, sometimes she pushes me to test and sometimes I push her to test. And in the end, she did save my bird's life.

Do let us know how it goes with Heero - we'll be thinking about you two.

I am glad you’ve found a vet experienced with parrots. Hopefully both your birds will be given a clean bill of health by the more experienced vet. With birds, getting them the best care available is very important if illness is suspected. I’m not sure that anyone explained why it’s so important either. Since parrots are preyed upon by other animals in nature, showing outward signs of illness could signal a predator they are an easy target. That means they instinctually hide illness, even from us as our pets. So many times when you see an outward symptom like runny nose or lethargy, it means they are much sicker than they appear.