Parakeet recovering from cold and still scratching head?

booboochicken

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Nov 8, 2017
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Hello my sweet little parakeet BooBoo Chicken recently seemed sick so i took her to the vet. It started suddenly at night when she was rubbing her head on EVERYTHING very obsessively and sneezing like crazy and seemed very uncomfortable. So the next morning i took her to the vet and she did not eat all day and was very tired. They took a look in her nose and cleaned it out but the vet said there was not much there and also looked into her mouth but also nothing. The vet prescribed nose drops for the sneezing, pain meds in case the rubbing of the head was from a headache, and some meds for her liver because i mentioned her droppings seemed a little different. All meds were to be taken for just one week.
She began to eat more and tired to whistle but her whistle was very low sounding at first. A week of doing all the meds and she seemed to recover BEAUTIFULLY ! Even her whistle went back to normal i could not believe how quickly she improved. She still had some sneezed for a while but that has now stopped.
It has been about 2 and a half weeks now and she seems to be back to normal all except for she went back to rubbing her head on her perch a lot. Shes kinda twitchy when she does it going over areas by her eyes cheeks, and top of the head. Sometimes opening her mouth while she does it like a quick yawn a few times in a row. And she seems a little more tired today.
Also sometimes seems a little hunched over more then usual when sleeping. And now is using both feet more when sleeping more then she used to.
She also seemed very interested in showering last night which is very unlike her. She was rubbing her head a lot in the water.

Im am not sure what caused this but in my opinion she loves chewing everything and i caught her chewing on some paint on my front door and i thought she may of had and allergic reaction. Im super worried about the poor thing shes a real sweetpea about 4 or 5 who i got from a previous owner.

Sorry so much info i just didnt want to miss anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated i love my bird very much !!
Thank you so much
-Tia and BooBoo Chicken
 

Anansi

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Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family!

Did the vet do blood tests or gram stains? And is your vet a certified avian vet? If the answer to the first question is no, I strongly urge you to take BooBoo in to another (avian-certified) vet for a second opinion. Prescribing meds for her liver on the strength of you mentioning a difference in her droppings seems a bit haphazard to me. And not taking blood tests or gram stains even while concerned enough to begin a regimen for liver issues is downright concerning.

I'd also wonder about the possibility of mites or an allergic reaction to something in the home.

And paint can cause a heck of a lot more than an allergic reaction, as most paints would be toxic to a parrot. Yes, I definitely think a 2nd opinion is a necessity at this point. The sooner the better.
 

Kentuckienne

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Oct 9, 2016
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Depending on the age of the door...old paint had lead in it, and lead poisoning needs treating right away....that really doesn’t sound like an avian vet. Avian vet doesn’t mean they treat only birds but that they have additional training. Is there a chance budgie has pinfeathers on her head? These are very itchy and the bird can’t reach them to preen off the sheaths..
 

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