Hi, my cockatiel, Princess may be sick. About 4 days ago, she woke up with dried poop on her vent. I helped loosen it up so she could clean it off herself. It appeared to be a one off event, so I didn’t bother to take her in to the vet. 2 days ago, she started to slow down on her eating and drinking. She was also molting. She appeared lethargic and breathing a bit harder. Yesterday, her eating and drinking picked up. I was beginning to think she was okay. She was more active and eating and drinking well. Today, she seems to be doing okay although she looks a little lethargic now and then. She has recently had two sneezing episodes when she was eating. She made a squeaky noise followed by multiple sneezes. Her breathing has been heavier off and on.

In any case, I can’t get her in to see the vet until Monday morning. Anyone have any advice or ideas on what this could be? Any advice would be helpful. Thank you.

Is her seed quality good hun? Some seed mixes these days are dusty? Does she/will she eat any veggies, grated to be easy to eat? Definitely make that appointment on Monday hun. Is her cage kept really clean to minimise dust? Wishing you both well hun.

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A consultation with your avian vet as soon as possible, even if just by phone, is really important. Hopefully your little one will be okay until she can be seen, but better to call and ask to speak with the vet/request a call back if possible. Explain the situation, and ask questions.

As prey animals, parrots will mask symptoms of illness until they are unable to do so, at which point it's much harder to help them. Time is not your friend when your bird is ill. Please don't think this is meant to scare you. I'm no expert, and I truly hope whatever is going on is minor, but we've too often seen sad things happen quickly. Good on you for making an appointment with your vet as soon as you could.

If nothing else, keep her warm. Maintaining body temperature takes a tremendous amount of energy for them, and she needs to conserve what she can to help fight whatever is ailing her.

Please keep us posted. Sending healing thoughts and prayers for your little one!

Apple sauce or apples may help in hydration and keeping energy up. A bird friendly heater To help her maintain her temperature so she can focus her energy on getting better. . I’d look at Laurasea Cat Bite thread there is a lot of helpful first aid tips in there. My RN had a pretty bad infection in her foot/ankle that went to one of her airsacs. It’s important to get a culture to make sure you are using the correct antibiotics. Wishing you and your birdy well!

The squeaking sound etc makes me nervous, as does the sneezing. I would get an appointment as soon as you can, just because they do hide illness and because you will feel better with confirmation. If she keeps eating and drinking and there is no tail bobbing or hanging out on the cage floor, you could possibly wait until Monday, but the frightening thing is that it can change quickly...Birds are scary in this respect. SaxGuy has given you some very good advice (if you do use heat, make sure it is not some random space-heater, as they can be deadly due to PTFE/PFOA/PFC/Teflon fumes). Applesauce etc can also be good, but you must make sure it isn't fortified, has no sugar added, and has minimal citric acid.

If your emergency vet/weekend vet doesn't know birds that well (or just sees some birds +dogs/cats and has no true avian certification) then you may decide to wait-- in theory-- if you have a better alternative for Mon-Fri and if you don't see any increased sneezing of lethargy, it could work, but it is a gamble. Sometimes a bird needs basic support (in terms of fluids/electrolytes/oxygen) and in some cases, even an exotics vet could be better than nothing if things are getting bad. At the same time, someone who doesn't know enough about birds (even an exotics vet) can make serious mistakes when diagnosing/treating, so it's hard to tell you exactly what to do without knowing who you normally see etc.

It's a tough call because birds are very fragile.

Hi, sorry about your sick one, a soiled vent is never to be taken lightly, nor are the other symptoms. I would try and phone your avain vet specialist right now.
Supporting care by you can make all the difference, warmth is critical. It aids in healing, it helps conserve calories. You can offer yogurt on the tip of your finger, you can touch just the tip of the beak with yogurt and see if she will lick it off, my birds like yogurt. Make sure it has live acidophilus culture, and no artificial sweetners, sugar is ok. This really helps balance the gi flora. You can get emeriade bird feeding formula from pet store, if you fo thst add a little yogurt to the formula .

Also since this is a female, you could have an egg binding situation going on, and that is an emergency. Gently run a finger just above her vent and see if you feel an egg...

Nursing a Sick Bird - The Parrots Helping Hand

https://www.littlecrittersvet.com/sick-birds.pml

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/sickbirdcare.html

http://parrotshelpinghandfund.weebly...%20temperature

I do have tips and info spread out in my thread
Cat bite parakeet Blue Boy

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"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. "Thomas Sowell

Update, my bird died. She went quick. She just collapsed. I was there with her when she died. I biggest fear is that I possibly did something that killed her. I tried to take care of her the best I could. I’m hoping the vet can call tell me what she died from. My mind is filling with a lot of “what if’s” right now. I wish I pushed harder to get her to the vet. Maybe that would’ve made a difference. What if I pushed for some antibiotics until she could have been seen on Monday? Maybe that would’ve helped if she had an infection. It seriously makes me question whether I’m fit to have another bird in the future if I wasn’t able to stop her from dying.

Snowbird I feel your pain, I truly do. Please accept my deepest condolences to the loss of your beloved Princess.

I too lost a precious baby much too soon, and very suddenly. My baby Baci the green cheeked conure was only 5 years young when he died of acute pancreatitis two years ago, and it absolutely shattered me. I don’t think any of us who have lost a beloved baby ever feels like we have done enough, and all the “what ifs” are especially difficult to deal with. I’m so terribly sorry that things turned out this way for you and your Princess, but in sharing your story you may have just helped another. In time I feel you will be ready to take on another birdie, but you will need time and plenty of it to heal from this heartbreak.

Godspeed to the Rainbow Bridge, beautiful Princess, until we all meet again.

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"Words speak us more than we speak them.” Hercule Poirot (He may be fictional, but he’s my favourite “Belgian upstart”!)

You have my sympathy Snowbird. Princess is flying over the Rainbow Bridge, flying high.

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I'm so sorry she lost her fight. You have to fight against going down the what if road. You were trying to do all you could for her. Im so sorry for your loss.

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"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. "Thomas Sowell