HELP please!! Urgent! Emergency at 12am!

My bird looks like he's choking!!!! His vet appointment was for tomorrow because he had anemia (or rather still has it) for a few months and I was going to take him in for major tests.

But now he's stretching his neck up high and breathing heavy and yawning nonstop!!!! He looks like he can't breathe or is choking!

WHAT DO I DO?!?!

Please please please I'm scared and he's getting worse

I think you might be talking about crop adjustment. Sometimes they do strange looking head and neck movements the way you're describing when they're adjusting their crop. They often do it after eating. I'm not sure 'why' they adjust their crop, and it must not be needed too often, because you don't see it real often, but it's a perfectly normal thing that parrots do every now and then. Sometimes it can go on for quite a while.

Look up on you tube - parrot adjusting crop

Thank you for answering!!! Do they throw up too?? He's been doing the movements the past couple days but suddenly now he's breathing heavy and then he spit up a few times

Is this similar to what he's doing?
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56uW6X8IzeE"]Cockatiel cleaning his crop - YouTube[/ame]

If so, as Julie said, it's kind of scary looking, but totally normal

Edit:

Is this the "throwing up" he's doing (some birds do actually spit up some, and some do the pumping motion of their throats slower):
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtFsz-TW46I"]Green Cheek Conure regurgitating out of affection - YouTube[/ame]

Kiwibird said:

Is this similar to what he's doing?
Cockatiel cleaning his crop - YouTube

If so, as Julie said, it's kind of scary looking, but totally normal

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Omg yes it looks like that! But he's been stretching his neck and making regurgitating movements for the past few days. Now he's doing this "crop adjustment" (I hope) but he threw up. Will parrots adjust their crops for a few days??? And is throwing up a part of it?

No they shouldn't also be throwing up. See what the vet has to say about it tomorrow. Keep us posted.

Is he vomiting or regurgitating? Vomiting would be more of a head bowed down, shaking side to side with an open beak and the vomit king of falling out involuntarily. Bird generally appears weak and sick when vomiting, eyes and wings may be droopy too. I couldn't find a parrot vomiting video, because so many people think regurgitation is vomiting. It's not. Regurgitation is a deliberate display of affection or attempt to feed and always includes that throat pumping/head bobbing.

Now, I will say Kiwi does that crop adjusting before regurgitating sometimes. Typically during breeding season when he's *really* trying to be a stud.

Curious if your bird has been experiencing any other more subtle symptoms? How's his appetite? Has he been as active as normal? Sleeping more than normal? Has he been staying close to or on the floor of the cage? Excessively puffy for long period of time? Droopy wings or eyes? Did the vet give any idea why he's anemic?

Yea because he is breathing heavy too even when he doesn't do the neck stretching/regurgitating movements. I'm praying he makes it through the night, although the soonest vet appt isn't until the evening thank you

Kiwibird said:

Is he vomiting or regurgitating? Vomiting would be more of a head bowed down, shaking side to side with an open beak and the vomit king of falling out involuntarily. Bird generally appears weak and sick when vomiting, eyes and wings may be droopy too. I couldn't find a parrot vomiting video, because so many people think regurgitation is vomiting. It's not. Regurgitation is a deliberate display of affection or attempt to feed and always includes that throat pumping/head bobbing.

Now, I will say Kiwi does that crop adjusting before regurgitating sometimes. Typically during breeding season when he's *really* trying to be a stud.

Curious if your bird has been experiencing any other more subtle symptoms? How's his appetite? Has he been as active as normal? Sleeping more than normal? Has he been staying close to or on the floor of the cage? Excessively puffy for long period of time? Droopy wings or eyes? Did the vet give any idea why he's anemic?

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He shook his head and what I believe to be vomit was flying all over. And he's breathing heavy. We don't know what caused the anemia, they thought it was a bacterial infection and he got a little better after medicine and hospitalization for a few days in July. But that's why tomorrow I was going to get chemical panel, etc. Because the last week he's lethargic again and seems low energy. He's been quiet for a long time too. But yea, Started to recover and now bad again so that's why I was going to the vet. Now I'm DEFINITELY going!!!

He's got every possible food you could imagine he has a very proper diet but he's a picky eater. But he sleeps all day, has been puffy and low energy so he stays closer to the bottom perches. Not being his usual self at all, again. The anemia makes him tired, but something else is going on and I need to find out I just hope he doesn't die

Is there a 24 hour emergency vet that sees birds in your area? If not, you need to get him into a sick cage setup ASAP. Crank up the heat or get him under a heat lamp (90 or so degrees is what he needs right now). Warmth can make the difference between making it to the vet and not when a bird is sick! If he's having trouble perching, remove perches and place him on a soft towel on the bottom of the cage. Give him water and pedialyte in a dropper to keep him hydrated. Fruits like grapes, apples and bananas are easy to eat, easy on the tummy and have a lot of sugar to keep his blood sugar up (grapes are also hydrating).

I hope he's ok!

One last thing, try to stay within his sight. Parrots just do better when they know their (perceived) flock or mate hasn't abandoned them when they're sick. He doesn't know you have set up a vet appointment and are scrambling to help, but he does know if you're there with him or have left..

So he made it through the night, I stayed up really late til it seemed like he was calming down. I eventually had to go to bed though I have work 9-5. When I woke up he was sleeping and I woke him for a sec so I could see his breathing and it wasn't heavy. Then he went back to sleep. The appt I had was for 7:30 pm but I begged for sooner and the earliest is 4:45. The avian vet isn't available til 2pm cuz of surgeries or something so that's the earliest I could get. I'm leaving work early today.

He's a fighter I'll give him that cause the anemia has been around since July. He was gettin better but now he's not.

I spoke to a kakariki aviary of 12 years and light eyes have never been seen in the greens or yellows they have blood red eyes forever so that's how I can tell the anemia is still there. His eyes are a convenient indicator thankfully. I'm just glad he is breathing better.

I'll post updates. Thoughts and prayers please. He's holding on so I am too. Gotta fight for him and know that I did try everything I could.

He's just regurgitating food from his crop by the sound of things... nothing to be concerned about.

Anemia is different though. It's fairly common, but you need to determine the underlying cause:

http://avianandexoticvets.com/anemia-in-avian-and-exotic-pets/

I'm glad he made it through the night to be able to see the vet. I sincerely hope it was just some funny bird moves and regurgitation instead of actual vomiting and something serious! And I really hope the vet can give better insight on the underlying cause of the anemia.

Hello everyone, so I am back from the vet now. I asked about the chemical panel but they said that because of what the CBC said, it really wasn't going to pinpoint some miraculous diagnosis that is spot on. Because all his levels (minus the red blood count) were maybe slightly up or down but basically they are okay, like his liver, kidneys, etc. She said his breathing was okay and his crop didn't seem abnormal.

He did throw up again when we got there. He spit out a bunch of seeds it looked like. It was just all a pinkish color like last night. I don't know if that is regurgitation or throw up. Why would he be regurgitating food out of nowhere???

But to no suprise he fell asleep on the table. No interest at all in where he was. Too tired from the anemia...

So he got an iron shot to help boost the red blood count. A fecal sample is going to be tested and I will find out the results hopefully tomorrow. He is prescribed metronidazole 2x a day for 2 weeks. He's just very exhausted and hence, weak. He's had sooo many symptoms like literally everything you can think of, but all those symptoms could be caused from the anemia, which is being caused by something else, but because there's so many symptoms, it's like trial and error with him...

I wrote down all his problems for her. This is what I wrote: lethargic and inactive, sleeping a lot, perching low (cause prob too tired to climb around), sleeping with head bending down instead of tucked back (only sometimes), no vocalization, no longer taking a bath everyday, pale eyes (which was confirmed by a Kakariki breeder to be ABNORMAL and most likely due to the anemia which is how he's been), puffed up a lot, yawning excessively the past few days, threw up? last night and today, had an overgrown beak (which I trimmed and filed back to normal)... The list is just so all over the place.

For example, is he yawning because he is needing oxygen from red blood cells that aren't frequent at the moment, or is it a respiratory infection, or both??? All the symptoms can be caused by so many things it's just too confusing

All in all a lot of his symptoms are due to just being exhausted from the anemia, so it's hard to tell what's what I'm hoping the iron will kick start him again and the medicine will help and I guess I'll see what the stool sample results say.

Pinkish color?! What has he been eating? And how old is he again? Has the vet screened for PBFD

And he may just be feeling gooey from the anemia and medications...

Kiwibird said:

Pinkish color?! What has he been eating? And how old is he again? Has the vet screened for PBFD

And he may just be feeling gooey from the anemia and medications...

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Yea it was like a peachy pale pinkish color I think because he had some of his lafebers pellets that have the reddish fruit on it and he had these little tiny treats that were reddish pink color on the ride over to the vet just so he wouldn't be freaking out. I wonder why he spit up though...

He is over a year old, maybe about a year and a half.

No he was not screened for PBFD, but he has lots of fluffy feathers from his recent molt, I think maybe the slightly overgrown beak was maybe from his diet?? Then again his weight did go back up. I wonder if it overgrew because he has been less active too. I am not sure.

Poor little birdie! You are an excellent owner for being so diligent in trying to keep your bird healthy. I hope good news comes soon and wish you both the very best. XX

He's doing okay at the moment, like the vet said, he is "stable." He's been eating his pellets and sitting with me while I work. Just gave him his medicine by the syringe. Cooperative as usual for the most part. He is alert right now. Even though he is not as active much lately, he is decently energized when he is. He's rubbing his beak against the bars a lot. Probably because I just gave him the medicine. I have the heater on to keep him warm too.

I feel bad for animals with prolonged suffering and illness. I look at him and think "how could I ever put down such a great bird?!" He's still my love and I will care for him as best I can.

Quick question. Does anemia ever just... Go away on its own? Ever? I am well aware in his case that there could very well be an underlying cause that he may have just been born with disease or something and it won't go away without at least treatment. But are there cases where anemia can just go away after a lot of time? I wonder...I guess it depends on the degree of the anemia.

Betrisher said:

Poor little birdie! You are an excellent owner for being so diligent in trying to keep your bird healthy. I hope good news comes soon and wish you both the very best. XX

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Thank you so much, everyone has been really supportive and it's helping me keep sane and it helps me help Tiki. I am glad about that because many people do not understand or take it seriously. Bird lovers are die hard! Lol