My Beloved GCC sick... Please help!

Hello,
I would like to start by saying I brought my GCC to the vet yesterday and we are waiting for blood work to come back before treatment. I'm posting to see if anyone has had a bird w similar symptoms I'm so scared for the safety of my companion.
He is lethargic, he makes a weezing noise like his nose is stuffed. Not when he's taking regular breaths just occasionally. He sneezes a lot and has runny nares after he sneezes.
The vet listened to his breathing and stated that its not a respiratory issue. The vet seemed to not be to concerned about a sudden decline in health because my parrot is keeping his weight up. So he is willing to wait 7-10 days for the blood work to get before starting treatment.
The vet seems to think it is, I believe he said, sinus infection. Has anyone had experience with a sinus infection with their parrot. I took a video of his wheezing sound if I can figure out how to upload it I will.
Thanks for any help or advice!

Was this an avian vet that he went to?

Edit: Can you describe exactly how he's been acting in the last 2 hours? Is he fluffed up? Can he perch?

I can't be of much help, as I have not experienced a sinus infection in my birds. However I have used ornacyn plus powder to clear up early symptoms of respiratory infections in my finches, but I would stick with what the vet tells you. If you need emotional support, I'm happy to lend an ear. I have gone through my fair share of emergency vet visits and may be able to lend some comfort. Best of luck! You and your bird are in my thoughts and prayers~

Thank you for the support and encouragment ann!

The vet was an avian vet who my parrot has been seeing for the past couple years, my parrot can perch and he is eating and drinking still. He's still playful and curious, but gets worn out much quicker then when he's feeling 100%... He's sleeps "roosts" for the night an extra hr or so as we'll... The weezing sounds like he's got a clogged nose and is trying to clear it. Like I said its not with his breath just every so often.
I will try and get a video of the noise up on YouTube and creat a link. I'm in no way computer savvy but will try.

It's good that he's perching and still playful. Hopefully someone with more experience will come along and give you a bit more perspective.

Wow, your vet testing takes that long???? Years ago when my birds got sick, the vet I went to check the test right in their own lab area and showed me what was going on and given me medication right away for treatment. That's what saved my birds right away.

For the time being if you want to just wait for the testing, keep him warm!!!!! Get a clamp on lamp and use a 60w bulb, cover the back and the sides with a towel or a blanket. You can cover the front too at night during sleep time. Otherwise rush your vet for a faster response or seek a second opinion.

Yeah, when my birds had a sinus infection they were placed on Baytril right away. But my vet didn't run a culture.

Thanks for the replies. There are only two avian vets in my area and they both work together at that clinic. I do live in the middle of nowhere Alaska and they have to send their samples out to a lab they don't have one on site I guess. I kind of wanted to put my parrot on antibiotics but the vet seemed to think it would be best to wait and get blood wrk back first. In the mean time I'm freaking out!!!

@ faeryphoebe1 did your parrots symptoms sound similar to the symptoms of mine when they had the sinus infection?

-Thanks for the concern and replies

My Sun started sneezing one day and had clear nasal discharge. However, Sunny kept eating, drinking and playing. He wasn't tired nor was he fluffed up.

Trixie (GCC) had only begun sneezing. Otherwise, she was acting normal.

Blood work will tell you that your conure is sick but it wont tell you what your conure is sick with.....

The sinuses are a part of the respiratory system. How it can't be an issue with the respiratory system but it can be a sinus infection is beyond me!!!!!!



The vet should have done a sinus flush and tested the end result that came out for infection.



I've been dealing with my bourke parakeet that has had sinus issues for 6 or so months now. Her symptoms included swelling around her right eye, swelling of the right nostril, and fluid in the right nostril. No discharge, no sneezing. Nothing wrong with the left side of her. When it first started, I took her to my a-vet. She did a sinus flush (no bloodwork) and couldn't find any infection, so she sent me home with a bag of saline, some syringes and needles. I proceeded to do the saline flushes and over time, her right nare did get better... to the point that I didn't have to do sinus flushes regularly. More as needed or just a few times a month. Swelling and fluid in her right nare had gone down but there was still swelling around the eye.

Then for nearly a month we had smoke from fires in another state. Two "joined" cities literally disappeared underneath a cloud of smoke. The air quality was horrible! And then her sinuses got worse. No amount of flushing seemed to help and I had to keep picking her nostril open every morning.


I took her to another avian vet that I've never seen before. Considering her age and weight (she was 18% underweight and has been for a long time), this a-vet didn't feel like doing any testing or anything that might be harmful to her.... so he just prescribed Baytril to her. (I'm not a fan of Baytril, have had a bad experience with it in the past, but thought, what the heck, I'll give it another chance). I can say that she is indeed doing better now (sweling is down but not gone, nare no longer swelling closed), however she is now 20% underweight (the difference of 1 gram) and I can't figure out how to make her gain weight. Diet changes, supplements.... nothing I've tried so far has helped.


Chances are, she'll have sinus problems for the rest of her life, however long that might be. She is past her expected lifespan, but I have no clue what her potential lifespan is. She's ~17 years old and could live for another 7+ years. Surgery could potential help to alleviate her sinus problems (it is assumed she has a partial blocked sinus passage), but likewise, it could kill her. She's already been through surgery once for a different issue, and I didn't think she'd make it that first night home.

Thank you so much for you insight and help. The vet said "it's not a lower respiratory issue, which is a good thing" I was the one who was unaware there was a difference in other words i didnt realize that there was upper too, which sounds silly now that i do, so I didn't include that in my original post.
I think the blood work is to rule out any other issues with the organs. But I really wish I had something to help my buddy feel better right now.
I will keep you all posted.
@MonicaMc thank for sharing your story and experience with this. I wish you and your parrot the best!

Ok a few things that will help while waiting.
Do keep her warm
Also you can bring her into a steamy bathroom to help with nasal passages being clogged.

Is the discharge from her nares clear or coloured(white,green etc.)?

Blood work will only tell you about the organs, I assume he took cultures too?

Gotchya!


I hope your little conure is able to get over his infection, whatever it is! It could be bacterial or fungal in nature.

Quick update on my boy. He is still sneezing and making weird noise he was put on antibiotics and has been on them for four days now with no results. He had his nose flushed and a culture done. So I'm waiting for that to come back now and hope to have a definitive answere in a few days. -thanks

Hows your little ear biter doing?