Hello again, I was looking for some advice regarding my blind cockatiel. His name is Ymir.

He recently got his bloodwork and fecal done. While his bloodwork cleared, his fecal did not fully. He has flagellates and the vet informed me it is permanent. Ultimately, any interaction he has with my current cockatiel, Luna, must be supervised closely so he doesn't infect her.

We introduced them recently but Luna has never had interest in other birds before. Any noise that Luna makes throws Ymir instantly into a panic attack trying desperately to get to her. She flies away from him and it's heartbreaking to watch him try to fly after her. He also can't be allowed up high because he does have a tendency to throw himself off of things. Even the vet was surprised when she witnessed it because he had no indication of it before he did it. He has permanent damage in one of his wings from a previous abusive home as well as his muscles have been atrophied.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. They can never be housed together permanently and Ymir needs another bird to interact with. We can't afford a third cockatiel and even if we did, there would be no guarantee that the third cockatiel would have flagellates as well or that they would like Ymir.

My husband and I love him very much but we aren't sure we're the best home for him anymore.

If you can offer any sort of advice, please. Thank you so much.

I'd also like to add there are lots of things we want to try first. We're going to do anything in our power but I do think this is an option we need to consider.

flagellats sound like Guardia? That is treatable. Any parasites are treatable...is this an avain vet???

https://wagwalking.com/bird/condition/giardiasis

https://www.birdmedicineandsurgery.com/diagnostics.php

https://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/pages...d%20cockatiels.

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This is an avian vet yes.
He has very few flagellates so the vet does not want to treat them bc he's still recovering from previous injuries. They mentioned that it shouldn't affect him unless his health starts to decline bc it's in such a low population. I was told that they don't have much information macrorhabdus in cockatiels since it's more common in budgies. It's not giardia but it was related to his macrorhabdus. He's cleared of macrorhabdus now that it's resulted in his normal stomach condition to be out of whack.


So there is a chance of infection for macrorhabdus although not guaranteed, it's still not something I wish to risk.

This is confusing . If he has protazoa flagellats, at any level, I'd think tgey would treat . It is common to only find a few in sn sn infected burds stool. And depending on what it is very likely to spread to other burd and or you. For sure I'm not a veterinarian , nor do we have the whole health issues to understand what choices are needed.

As far as the other, I don't have experience with. And it seems full understanding of the condition continues to evolve.
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?h...3DdXWOdWjqQ3cJ

But rehoming a blind parrot with multiple health issues, is going to be hard on the burd. As well as hard to find a suitable home, and hard on you folks too. This is a trying situation. Im sorry you all are going through it.

Sometimes a trip to a vet school, for up to the moment advanced ideas, and a second opinion might help....

I had a cat, with a tricky uti, and bladder stones. I sought second opinion at a vet school, found out she was born with only one kidney ( she was pure white, and one kidney seems to be linked with that I found out),
Anyway she had some rare stuff going on, they were able to fix her. After my first vet was going to out her down. She lived 11 more years!!

So sometimes a second opinion helps... it can be expensive, and involve a road trip, so depending on your situation, and all that goes into making those kinds of decisions..

Certainly you have my sympathy, and wishes fir a good outcome

__________________
"A Smooth Sea,
Never Made A Skillfull Sailor "
Franklin Roosevelt

I trust my vet but I will definitely get a second opinion! The whole situation is really complicated so it's hard for me to fully understand honestly. I think there's just a lot of other factors.
The vet mentioned that their understanding of the infection is continuously evolving because it changes every couple of years? At least from my understanding of it.

I don't want to rehome him if we can help it. We have some ideas to maybe build him a pen so he can at least be around other birds without interacting with them. I just don't know if it's selfish for me to keep him with us when I know he would be happier to be housed with another bird.


Finding an appropriate home with an appropriate other bird would be entirely it's own beast.

On the bright side, the vet did say that their cockatiel who also had flagellate issues lived until 25 yr old! He never had any issues until his old age.

It sounds like you have a good vet, and a complex situation. It might possible to pay a consultation fee for your vet to consult with the vet school..... im not sure about that, but I know it is possible in certain situations.

And a second opinion on your own if you do doesn't have to be a judgment on your current vet. Just different eyes, and different ideas.

On management of your burds, I dint have any ideas right now. Maybe others will .

Thank you for all you have already done, in this difficult situation. I will follow your story.

__________________
"A Smooth Sea,
Never Made A Skillfull Sailor "
Franklin Roosevelt