Hello,
Sorry for the long post but I want to get all of the detail out there.
We have a brown-headed parrot named Jimmy which we adopted from a refuge a few months ago. His history, as we were told, is that his previous owner was an older woman who kept buying birds until she had too many, and gave him up. No mistreatment that we know of.
Since we got him he's had a sneezing problem -- all day long he sneezes, sometimes two or three times in a row. Additionally, one of his eyes seems to constantly be a little droopy (both of which sound like allergies or a upper respiratory infection).
We've taken him to the vet many, many times. They've done swabs and blood work, weighed him on every visit, and most recently (at our insistence) are testing him for aspergillosis.
First the vet said it was a respiratory infection and put him on an antibiotic. When that didn't change anything, they put him on a stronger course of antiobiotics. Now, after almost a month of antibiotics and a week off of them, he is still sneezing and more lethargic than ever. For the past week he hasn't been vocal and his droppings are smaller in size and more liquid than solid.
On our last trip to the vet we saw that he'd gained weight, and the doctor says he has a healthy body and is responsive. Regarding the lethargy, she said maybe the diet we have him on (organic pellets supplemented with fruits (strawberries mostly) and vegetables (carrots, walnuts)) is too potent for him, and that we should try some "junk food" (cheaper grade pellets). We're weening him onto that right now but in the meantime we're concerned that his health is declining for reasons that have nothing to do with his diet, and we don't know what to do.
If anyone has any suggestions of what this may be, what to have them check for, or things to try, we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Mark
Sorry for the long post but I want to get all of the detail out there.
We have a brown-headed parrot named Jimmy which we adopted from a refuge a few months ago. His history, as we were told, is that his previous owner was an older woman who kept buying birds until she had too many, and gave him up. No mistreatment that we know of.
Since we got him he's had a sneezing problem -- all day long he sneezes, sometimes two or three times in a row. Additionally, one of his eyes seems to constantly be a little droopy (both of which sound like allergies or a upper respiratory infection).
We've taken him to the vet many, many times. They've done swabs and blood work, weighed him on every visit, and most recently (at our insistence) are testing him for aspergillosis.
First the vet said it was a respiratory infection and put him on an antibiotic. When that didn't change anything, they put him on a stronger course of antiobiotics. Now, after almost a month of antibiotics and a week off of them, he is still sneezing and more lethargic than ever. For the past week he hasn't been vocal and his droppings are smaller in size and more liquid than solid.
On our last trip to the vet we saw that he'd gained weight, and the doctor says he has a healthy body and is responsive. Regarding the lethargy, she said maybe the diet we have him on (organic pellets supplemented with fruits (strawberries mostly) and vegetables (carrots, walnuts)) is too potent for him, and that we should try some "junk food" (cheaper grade pellets). We're weening him onto that right now but in the meantime we're concerned that his health is declining for reasons that have nothing to do with his diet, and we don't know what to do.
If anyone has any suggestions of what this may be, what to have them check for, or things to try, we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Mark
