Is Frankie sick?

Today Frankie has been sitting on his perch all fluffed up. I don't think he's eaten anything. How do I tell if he's sick? What should I do?

Is he losing weight? What are his droppings like?


If he's just not acting normal at all, he's likely sick and needs to see a vet.

Droppings look ok but I'll take him to the vet in the morning.

Welcome. I'm glad you're reaching out.

I don't know a lot about medical issues, but I can offe you this.
If you decide to pursue professional veterinary help...

Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet, although exceptions do exist!
Sometimes, it helps just to Google "avian veterinarian - [YOUR LOCATION]"

And a link concerning COVID issues...
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/85090-covid-19-veterinary-care.html

I took Frankie to the vet this morning. He has a bacterial infection. He is to receive Baytril each day for the next 13 days. Sounds easy enough but he doesn't like being handled. The vet couldn't show me how it's done because of the rule that no one is allowed into the vet's office. They take your pet and you wait in the car. Stupid but all vets here are doing this. I'm very concerned that I won't be able to restrain him enough to give the med. I have a small soft washcloth but this morning when I transferred him to the carrying cage he got loose and went flying around the house. Any suggestions?

Bumble got her Baytril on a tiny crust of bread. She gobbled it down like the carb-loving piggy she is. Easy peasy.


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He isn't interested in food at all. He did eat some millet which I don't always give him but otherwise he's not eating.

He's likely stressed out. You might want to consider a kitchen towel or something of that size. You can always ask the vet if you can mix the meds in with any food to make it more appealing as well.

I'll try to give it orally. Everyone say a prayer for me that it goes ok.

Frankie has never been hand trained and getting hold of him is really a challenge. I'm afraid I'll hurt him. Any suggestions? I've never let him out of the cage, which is huge, because I always have lots of animals in the house. I foster dogs and some cats. Not a good place for a tiny bird.

Wrap bird up like a little burrito. If necessary, quickly toss towel over bird and then wrap up.

You can teach him to take meds without being handled, however it can take time which you may not have.

I have been able to hide antibiotics in food, but you MUST track how much you put in, and not put too much into a large batch of food, as they must eat it all. In the past, Nilla wafer minis have served me well (and yes-- they are not healthy...but it was a matter of NEEDING to get the meds in and I didn't have a second set of hands, so that was what I did.).Note: This method is subject to waste, so you will need to ask your vet ahead of time in case they will be unwilling to provide you with added meds (in the event that yours gets tossed to the cage floor). It is essential that you know how much you have given your bird in order to complete the antibiotic course.
Never mix meds in with more food than they will eat, as it will make it impossible for you to know what they consumed and there will be so much waste. I found that giving the doses gradually (across a few different, small but novel ) foods, made it easier to ensure that it was all consumed and it allowed me to monitor dosing better as well. Plain oatmeal mixed with mashed bananas is another possibility for hiding meds, but remember, the medicine does have a flavor, and so hiding that will be the difference between success and failure. Sweet potatoes (cooked and mashed) can also hide things well, but again, keep the amount of food small so that you can track how much medication was actually ingested.

Toweling is the other option. If I could do that as a single person, I would because it is nice to get it over with, but it also stresses me out to think I might shove the syringe in the wrong part of her mouth...so I am pretty passive but meticulous when giving meds.

The only thing he'll eat now is millet. He hasn't touched his seed, veggies and fruit. I took out the millet last night thinking he would get hungry and eat his regular food but no he hasn't. It took me 5 minutes to catch him today to give his med. I'm so afraid I'll hurt him because once he did cry out. I know he's terribly stressed and so am I. I'm not even sure he taking all the antibiotic. He doesn't want to open his mouth for the syringe. I am so upset by all of this. I'm calling the vet tomorrow and seeing if there in possibly an injection instead of the oral. I just cannot do it. I'm sorry. I've been crying ever since I tried to catch him at noon. I love him and don't want to hurt him. I just don't know what to do. I tried tossing a face cloth over him but he's so fast it just doesn't work.