I see. Hopefully, I get the call today to take her in. I'm at work and my mom is watching her. She's still eating and drank a bit. I see a lot of videos where a sick bird is placed in a box or cage with a towel at the bottom. Would it help if I removed the base with the bars and replaced it with a towel? What benefits does it have?

No, keep her in her cage...She's still eating and drinking on her own, she's still able to move around in her cage on her own, and that is her "safe space", it's what she's used to and feels safest and most secure in...

I have no idea why people do that except to say that sometimes those videos are taken when people have just taken or are going to take their birds to the Vet office and they put them in a cardboard box to do so...Or the bird is either injured or so sick that they can no-longer get around their cages or even perch, so they have to be kept on a flat surface instead of perches and grated floors...And then there are the people who yes, keep their birds in cardboard boxes all the time, that's actually where their birds live...Sad but true.

As long as your bird is able to perch and get around her cage properly then she will be best to stay inside it, same as not being admitted to an animal hospital unless it's absolutely necessary because she needs to be in an oxygenated cage or a heated incubator. It's not a myth that birds die from tremendous stress, they really do, but typically that happens when they are already sick or in pain and then exposed to other external stress on top of it...But it does happen. So you want as little stress for her as possible.

As far as the "towel" on the bottom of the cage/box goes, I think when it's in a box they just put it there because they feel they should have some kind of blanket to keep them warm; if it's on the bottom of a cage, again, this is done when a bird can no longer perch and has to sit on the bottom of the cage, or if the bird is having seizures or something that is causing them to fall off of their perches suddenly, so they don't hurt themselves...Again, at this point your bird doesn't need this as long as she is perching with no issues, and is able to get to her food and water bowls on her own without any issues...If she gets to the point that she can no longer get around her cage or perch, then you'll need to move everything down to the bottom for her and set it up nicely for her, but not until..Hopefully it doesn't come to that...

The only thing I would do is to maybe cover 3 sides of her cage with a blanket, leaving the front open, as this will lock-in heat for her to stay warm, and it will also help to keep her feeling relaxed and secure, and help her rest. You don't want to cover the entire cage unless it's bedtime, so always keep the front open so she can see you and what is going on outside of her cage...

__________________
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".

I've made it a habit to keep three sides of the cage covered. I'm using 3 thin cloths, but since she got sick I added the blanket I use to cover it at bedtime. She seems to appreciate it. She stays close to the covered sides. Of course, I remove what I must during the summer months. I called the vet today and got an answer from the assistant. They got the bloodwork back and that came back clean. So white cell count was fine, organs functionality was fine, etc. What they're waiting on is the sample of mucus that she had somewhere on the roof of her beak. I'll probably get a call tomorrow on that, but I'm more likely to call them. I was told it's possible they'll get it Saturday. But I had those samples taken early on Monday, so I'm fairly confident They'll get it by the time I leave work tomorrow. I asked about the nebulizer treatment and was told that a vaporizer would also work. I could use a saline solution or water. I'm hesitant to try that since it's not the actual medicine that she'll be breathing. What if the water or saline solution make matters worse? Coco had the energy to say good night tonight and she got a wee bit vocal; it's comforting to hear her.

As far as the towel I have done this with both my amazons when they were "on there way out"
If your bird is perching and able to move safely (without stumbling/falling) it's best to let it be.

Only when it may injure itself by trying to do more that it can or if it's unable to move around and you need to keep it warm a towel can I think be a comfort.

__________________
cockatiel family :
Lucky (M pied)
Baby (M pied)
Pinky (F lutino)
Sunny mother (cinnamon)
Cheeky father (whitface)
Angel (eldest lutino F)
Mango (middle pearl F)
Popeye (male grey M)

Makes sense. Thank you. And sorry to hear about your birds. May they rest in peace.

I would wait until you get the culture result and see if she needs to take a medication, and what the med they prescribe is, because there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between a Nebulizer treatment and just a vaporizer/humidifier...The Nebulizer is meant to get her breathing the medication into her lung and respiratory system tissue directly, while a humidifier is meant to simply add humidity to the environment...

As far as whether humidity helps an Upper Respiratory Infection, the answer is a resounding YES, even though it seems counterproductive...Most people automatically think that making the environment more humid would make the URI worse, but it's just the opposite. So they were right about that...However, in your bird's case, she is going to be put on a medication, looks like an anti-fungal most likely, so it's best to just wait until you get the meds and then do the treatments for her, although if you want to you could try a quick "session" where she's breathing-in some vapor/humidity for 10-15 minutes (from sterile saline or distilled water only) and see if that makes her breathing/respiratory symptoms better...If it does then great, if it doesn't then hold-off for the diagnosis and meds...

I've got to say that I'm absolutely shocked that her WBC's were normal based on how sick you are describing her acting...sleeping all day long, respiratory/breathing symptoms, etc. And it's been for a long time...What I worry about with that is that the very long round(s) of Doxycycline that she was on, even though it didn't make her better or improve her symptoms at all, still reduced her WBC's, as her blood was taken directly after she finished the Doxy...If that's the case then the infection she has is localized to her Upper Respiratory System and/or lungs/sinuses/throat, and is not at all systemic, which is very good...I just want to see some improvement in "her"...

Were there any abnormalities that they found in her blood work?
Keep us posted when you get the culture results back, I'm guessing on a Fungal/Yeast infection, but at this point she's a mystery..

__________________
"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".

I'm glad she is hanging in there! I hope you get answers!

__________________
May your joy be as deep as the ocean, and your sorrows as light as the foam.

I got confused. What do you mean her WBC count is abnormal? I understand the meds would lower that. I guess I'm a little confused on the chronology of the explanation. Also, I didn't even think to ask about abnormalities and I wasn't even told of any. I suppose it's a silver lining that the problem is localized. Right now, my mom is watching her and she says that she has eaten twice. I appreciate all the help and I'm certain Coco does as well.

Thank you. She's a fighter. She's not giving in and neither am I.

Should you have cause to go through this process again (and I hope not, for all the best possible reasons), see if you can request to have the results faxed or e-mailed to you (or pick them up if possible). Then you can read through them and start to learn about what the numbers mean and their context. It's always good policy to be exhaustive in your questioning - you are paying for professionals' time so it does you (nor Coco) no disservice to be bothersome with even seemingly perfunctory questions. Never hesitate to simply ask, "What does this mean?" when you're in front of someone who can give a clear and expert answer.


All that said, have you yet been able to obtain a nebulizer? It something that a cursory search suggests is available at chain-drugstores like Walgreens.