Runny nose - can it wait until Monday?

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

We noticed tonight that our catalina has a bit of a runny nose. He's been a bit more agitated today, but other than that is acting fine. Our vet doesn't open again until Monday. The only other option would be to bring him to U Penn Vet Center ($$$$$$). Can he wait to be seen until Monday?

Spiritbird · Feb 17, 2012

How much do you love your bird?? Just be aware they can go down quickly from any illness. You are lucky to live near such a wonderful vet care facility. I would not wait.

suncon97 · Feb 17, 2012

I would play it safe and take him to the vet.Hes a lifelong buddy.As Spiritbird mentioned it can all go downhill quickly.We always keep back around a thousand dollars in case anything like that would happen...

roxynoodle · Feb 17, 2012

If you vet isn't willing to meet you for an emergency, I would take him to the vet center. Once they show symptoms they are usually loaded with bacteria I'm sorry to say. I wouldn't wait. The day I knew Merlin was sick we were having near blizzard conditions and the vet didn't want me to wait even until the next morning. So I carted her 45 miles with semis crashing in front of us all the way up the interstate.

Don't wait, really. But, call your own vet first as I bet he/she may be willing to meet you there. My bird vet and dog/cat vet and horse vet all do emergencies. My poor dog/cat vet has had to do surgery on my dog in the middle of the night on Christmas!

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

Ok! Called UPenn - they said their avian vets aren't staffed on weekends or for emergencies (really???) so Rio would most likely be boarded overnight until a specialty vet could be called in. There is one other avian emergency vet in our area (about 45 minutes away) that's a bit more expensive but they're willing to see him tonight. His nose isn't runny anymore but his face looks flushed??????? So I'm just going to bring him in. My husband asked me if maybe he had just drank some water and that's why his nose was wet, but I doubt it (it was only his nostrils and not his face), plus with the flushing I'm worried he has a temp. I'm just waiting for my mom to drive here to stay with the kids so I can take him down. I will post when we get back. I also emailed the breeder to let him know we've got an issue (there's only a 15 day guarantee on him). I will keep you posted!

suncon97 · Feb 17, 2012

Glad you found a vet!Hope all goes well keep us updated.

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

Will do! Thanks guys!

Safira · Feb 17, 2012

A Macaw's face can get REALLY REALLY RED.. when they are excited. Mine just gets a faint hint of pink. I found this picture online

roxynoodle · Feb 17, 2012

Yep, I'm glad you found a vet, too. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Unfortunately the stress of moving into a new home is often when they do get sick!

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

WOW! His face is definitely NOT that red, but it's pink. I've never seen it like that before. Good to know it doesn't always mean he's got something wrong with him!

roxynoodle · Feb 17, 2012

Yes, macaws and some cockatoos are easy to see "blush". It's the runny nose that's more of a concern I think. I suspect all parrots blush, but you can't see it on the others since they don't have the facial patch or white feathers.

Pedro · Feb 17, 2012

I have found with my parrots that sometimes they will have wet noses that dry up quickly. I don't usually worry if it does dry up as the cause is most likely some dust irritation. However if there is a discharge with sneezing that doesn't dry up then it's time to visit your Vet.

mygirl · Feb 17, 2012

also around molting time they can get a bit of a runny nose, our vet told us exactly what pedro said in his post as long as theres no discharge or unusual sneezing and it dries up quick i wouldn't worry, sometimes mylah dunks her beak into her water bowl and if you didn't see her do this you would think she has a runny nose but its just the water,

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

Well crap! His nose hasn't been runny since, and the blushing is normal, but my mom got dressed and is (finally) on the way to watch the kids so now I feel obligated to bring him in, otherwise I'd love to wait until the morning! Now I have to wake up my sleeping macaw and haul him to the vet and spend hundreds of dollars on an emergency visit, and the vet's gonna look at his nose and see it dry, and wonder why I'm there.....grrrrrr.

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

Maybe they'll do his check up then at least? And sex him? At midnight (hehe)?

mygirl · Feb 17, 2012

i wouldn't worry about it really, if you stress he is going to sense that, if it was just a one of thing and it hasn't happened again don't worry, he may have got some dust in his nose and upset it or some seed or something, if theres no discharge and hes not constantly sneezing don't stress xx

skylavaulter · Feb 17, 2012

Ok! Called the vet's office. They think he can wait until the morning so he has an appt at 10:30am. Meanwhile, my mom showed up, so I guess we'll just have a cup of coffee and call it a night! We did get a good trial run in getting Rio into his carrier, and still no runny nose so I'm thinking it was a fluke!

lene1949 · Feb 18, 2012

That's good news... I reckon it's easy to panic... Hope the vet visit in the morning goes well...

Now, I'm wondering if anyone ever check their bird's temperature?

mnkeastman · Feb 18, 2012

Glad he seems ok for now, looking forward to the update

roxynoodle · Feb 18, 2012

Yeah, well, everyone thought I was being paranoid when I thought Merlin took too long of a nap Thursday afternoon and I took her back to the vet yesterday. Well, she still has bacteria, and the vet said it's a really bad, dangerous bacteria. She's back on meds, and for her Bornavirus as well.

I hope everything goes ok today. And yes, you might as well have a full wellness check done while you are there and since they will draw blood for the blood panel, have them do the DNA test, too.

Runny nose - can it wait until Monday?

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Update on "Baby", our adopted GW.

Weird dream about a baby macaw!

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