My Cockatiel had a seizure, please help!

Hello I'm brand new to the forums, I wouldn't have joined if I hadn't been for yesterday's event.

Let me start by quickly debriefing you all on little Turlough o'carolan.

He is my mom's bird, and we got him a little over a year ago when he was almost a year, so he's a year and a half, or two years old. We were told he was a 'Cinnamon' but he has red eyes and doesn't have any of the yellow in his head or the red cheeks. We aren't sure if he's albino.. because he's not all white, but he does have the red eyes.. This is him and my twin brother: http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/221931_2081401391659_1143804702_2618757_4344922_n.jpg

He used to get a seed-only diet, but we changed that to pellets and rootie-bush and fruit blend mix along with some sunflower seeds (his favorite) and mixed veggies which consist of: Corn, Carrots, and peas mostly, and a little bit of grape (we have a sun conure as well and those are her favorite.) He comes out every morning to help make his and his elder sister's breakfast, and he usually flies around the house singing away getting his exercise. He comes out at night as well when I'm home from school and my mom is off work and flies around some more.

I'll throw in now that I'm 19 but I have dyslexia, and spelling is not my strong point, if you cant understand what I'm trying to say, sound it out, thanks!

Back to the bird. We've taken him to the vet several times before for regular health checkups and every 6 months (or a little sooner depending) he gets his nails trimmed there as well. He's always been extreamly healthy, perfect weight, nothing amiss with his feathers, practically show-bird quality.

Yesterday he went in for a nail trim. I live in Northern Maryland, and like anyplace built on a swamp, its hot and humid in the summer, and it was like this yesterday. He was scared and the car was hot, so I left the doors open and didn't sit him or his sister inside until we were ready to go, I held them both in their carriers, but I did stay outside. On the way he was nervous, but that's to be expected. When we were there we had to wait a while, and there were dogs and cats and he got more and more nervous. He started to cheep and pace back and forth in his carrier. When it was our turn they took him and his sister back and they stayed back there for a while, things were pretty busy in the early afternoon.

Anyway when we got back into the car and were on our way home he just wouldn't settle down, My mom and I just thought he wanted to get back home and into his safe little cage as quickly as possible, so we tried to put him back in but he got out and flew around frantically and hit a window, but not to terribly hard. we picked him up and put him back inside and tried to get things quiet, but a few minutes later when I was a room over, I heard him squaking frantically and he was starting to twitch, I called my mom and we took him out and she held him and he seemed to calm down, she took him downstairs where she was working (she has an office in our basement so she works in the home) and he started to fly around and do the squawking again. We realized then something was really really wrong, and I googled for information while my mom called the vet. We thought he might be overheating, but then we realized he was having a seizure. We rushed him to the vet, but he continued to seize the entire time. We're not sure exactly how long the seizure had been going on before hand, but we estimate it continued, or came in waves, for a total of 15 minutes.

When we got him to the vet they gave him some Valum to settle him down, and they put him in a incubator thing, but even with that he still had a twitch for about an hour.

Hours later and with the avian vets personal cell phone number he was home, off the Valum and resting in the bottom of his towel covered cage. He had plenty of water and we saw him eating some of his dry food. We left the A/C off and its still not on, because heat was the best thing for a bird, and we left him for the night with his sister in the cage next to him.

This morning he was standing up and was able to hop onto his perch so we raised it a little, he has seeds and his veggies and water, but the towels are still on the bottom of the cage. He's fluffed up, and hasn't really eaten, he's quiet and seems to be resting. The entire house is quiet, our three cats (they don't bother the birds at all) and even his sister are silent. He hasn't fallen off, and can climb on the side of the cage alright.

Anyway after that long rant, for those of you still reading this is my question. We know that it was probably a stressed induced seizure, but what do we do now? The vet cant help him anymore, and we aren't sure how to help make sure he can get to his food and water alright. He's exhausted and pretty weak from what I've observed.. so any tips, advice? Anything would be lovely.

Thank you all for reading this long post, and thank you in advance for any help, or attempt at help, or even just responding.

~Iris.

I suggest just making him as comfortable as possible and treat him to favorite fruits and veggies. If it was stress induced, perhaps there's something in your house that makes him nervous or upset, or maybe when you go to the vet you should keep his carrier covered with a light blanket. keep the food and water close to his favorite perch or closer to the ground of the cage if that's where he is staying at

Next time we go to the vet we definitely will cover him up, and put him in the larger carrior, and make sure everything is nice and cool in the car before we bring him outside. The only thing is, he's been totally fine in our home for the year he's lived with us, we don't think there is anything here that stressed him out, but just the ordeal of going to the vet and having to wait for so long did him in.

My problem now is he's not eating very much because he's still a little unstable and scared. He's in a quiet place with his food near by, he's eaten some corn so we know he's had some liquid because of that, but he's shivering on his perch and seems to be sleeping a lot.

I just want to make sure there isn't anything else wrong with him, is this normal/predictable behavior after a bird has gone through an event such as this?

Am I not being patient enough with him? Should I just give him time and he'll do alright on his own? I mean he HAS eaten, and he has pooped, and the poop looks healthy, but its not a lot of either. I know small birds have high metabolisms so I'm just worried he'll starve if I don't step in. He used up a lot of energy yesterday.

Umm, I'd wait for someone more experienced than me to answer that question... From what your saying I think that it just might be the result of the trauma, give him time to get back to normal but like I said, someone with more experience can answer your question better than I

You can't really get medical advice on a forum. But, I wonder if he is still feeling the effects of the valium. I also wonder if any seisure he may have had may be due to the window smack. If you vet cannot do anything for him, maybe a second opinion for another avian vet is called for.

I'm not seeking medical advice so much as asking if anyone had any similar experiences. Some people have birds that have seizures a few times a year and I want to know how their bird reacts. Its possible he has a mild concussion or is still groggy, but the valium should have worn off by now, maybe it hasn't. I'll look into getting a second opinion, thanks.

I have heard of cockatiels that startled so bad that they beat theirselves to death in the cage. Could that be related? Their are several members who have multiple cockatiels that might be able to help.

Anything is possible, but he hasn't been flying around all crazed today, so I hope its not related. Thanks again for the information though, I may make a similar post in the Cockateil section to see if any of those members can help.

Similar situation have happened to me long ago. Your bird is a Whitefaced Cockatiel and he doesn't have red eyes even though it may appear to be in the photographs. I have found it mainly happen to the whitefaced cockatiels. It might be a genetic defect? I would place the bird in a aquarium with heat lamp and food and water dishes offered in a shallow dish. Mine have recovered that way before. Although side effect may occur and similar situation may happen again!