GCC Coughing?

[Fuujoshii]

Hello, I am a proud birdmom to several birds, but as of two weeks ago, I am a first time Conure mom!

Our little Motochika was a rescue. He is roughly four months old and has a clean bill of health... Hopefully.

Last night, my partner woke to him coughing, which startled us quite a bit. It sounded a little wet, and he would make a squeaking noise to go with it. We quickly went to check on him, and also noted he would wheeze for a few seconds after doing so. He was also shaking, but we were unsure of the cause.

As a precaution, we took him to our local avian vet (Burge Bird Service) and had him checked. She did a swab of his mouth and checked his droppings under the microscope and found nothing of suspect. Aside from being a bit on the skinny side, he was dubbed healthy. Since he showed no signs of discharge and his lungs sounded clear, we decided for the "wait and see" approach as opposed to getting medicine right away.

We thought it was a one-time thing, but as I was working on the computer he was perched asleep on my chest, and I heard him have another coughing fit. It seems to only effect him while asleep, which is bothering me. Does anyone have any advice on this? Does anyone else have a bird with a similar issue?

 

[Frumpydumple]

My mother's Sun Conure was coughing a few months ago. He needed Baytril to treat him.

Its probably some type of infection. I don't see how it could clear up on its own.

Are his nares red?

Does he cough when he eats?

 

[Fuujoshii]

My mother's Sun Conure was coughing a few months ago. He needed Baytril to treat him.

Its probably some type of infection. I don't see how it could clear up on its own.

Are his nares red?

Does he cough when he eats?

Thanks for the fast reply, Emily!

His nares are not red. We checked that first to see if it was obstructed in some way. There's also no sign of discharge.

He doesn't have any trouble eating either. The only time I hear him coughing is at night. It's not consistent either; sometimes he'll go several hours without and cough twice.

I may be just paranoid... But I lost a finch to mites a couple years back and it happened so fast that I got scared for our new baby. He's not making any clicking noises when he breathes, however. We do have some mite treatment in drop form. Should I put them in his water?

 

[Frumpydumple]

I wouldn't treat him with anything without knowing what he has. You could get a second opinion at another Avian vet and see what they say. Coughing in a bird is never a good sign, I think you should at least take him to the vet you went to before again.

With my mother's Sun the vet checked him over and gave us some Baytril to give him for a few days. It worked.

 

[Fuujoshii]

I wouldn't treat him with anything without knowing what he has. You could get a second opinion at another Avian vet and see what they say. Coughing in a bird is never a good sign, I think you should at least take him to the vet you went to before again.

With my mother's Sun the vet checked him over and gave us some Baytril to give him for a few days. It worked.

Thanks Emily, I will call Dr Burge up again in the morning and see if she can go ahead and send some antibiotics. Better safe than sorry!

 

[Frumpydumple]

I agree. That is probably the best thing to do right now.

 

[MikeyTN]

Only have him treated IF there's something wrong, don't just dose meds for no apparent reason! I understand your reasoning due to what he's been doing. Birds don't cough but they can wheeze. You should have some blood work done to check for something else.

 

[Fuujoshii]

Only have him treated IF there's something wrong, don't just dose meds for no apparent reason! I understand your reasoning due to what he's been doing. Birds don't cough but they can wheeze. You should have some blood work done to check for something else.

That will probably be the next option. He's been asleep in my partner's lap for a couple hours now, and every now and then he'll make a single wet sounding cough, almost like he's clearing his throat. I tried looking around on youtube to see if I could hear something similar, but no such luck. Could it be that he's actually clearing his throat?

 

[MikeyTN]

Check his nostrils! Check for any blockage. They need to be clear with no obstruction. They will do that at times if there's any sort of blockage. They will do that from dust as well. You understand on what to use and what not to use around birds right?

 

[Fuujoshii]

Check his nostrils! Check for any blockage. They need to be clear with no obstruction. They will do that at times if there's any sort of blockage. They will do that from dust as well. You understand on what to use and what not to use around birds right?

Hm... Now that you mention it, he has one of those cuddle huts that he snuggles against while he sleeps. Just now, he had buried his head in my partner's hat, and a short time later he did the sound again! Maybe it getting too close to his nose?

Yes, since my partner is sensitive to a lot of chemicals, we only use non-aerosol, organic cleaners, but never near the birds. A lot of times we just end up mixing hot water with white vinegar for big messes. We also do not use any teflon or similarly coated pans in the house, and don't use incense or candles either. We do our best to make sure all the stuff we bring into our home is bird-safe.

EDIT: Scratch that, he was eating a seed and did it three times. Could it still be a throat clearing thing?