My Bird Is Vomiting!!

[Scott]

I would not recommend giving unknown substances without vet approval. Bottle may contain a mixture of helpful and possibly dangerous ingredients.

There are "remote" avian vets able to give guidance by phone or Skype/Face Time. Not the best course, but possibly better than no vet guidance.

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

I can only say that I wound never give my birds something I was not sure of.
You said your bird was doing a little better, is it eating/drinking on it's own?
If so I would not give it some unknown substance.

short of that maybe you could find out just what the stuff is and CALL a vet and ask if it's appropriate for a bird.

Thank you for the reply!

Yes, I think she's doing better. She does eat a little every now and then but not enough, so I still give her baby formula. I asked my uncle what it was but he kept on saying that it's multi vitamins. I still have it, but I have not done anything with it.

I am unable to call a vet for some reasons. The main one being, I don't know any numbers for a vet...also, there are no CAVs in my country​

 

[charmedbyekkie]

I can only say that I wound never give my birds something I was not sure of.
You said your bird was doing a little better, is it eating/drinking on it's own?
If so I would not give it some unknown substance.

short of that maybe you could find out just what the stuff is and CALL a vet and ask if it's appropriate for a bird.

Thank you for the reply!

Yes, I think she's doing better. She does eat a little every now and then but not enough, so I still give her baby formula. I asked my uncle what it was but he kept on saying that it's multi vitamins. I still have it, but I have not done anything with it.

I am unable to call a vet for some reasons. The main one being, I don't know any numbers for a vet...also, there are no CAVs in my country​

Based on Scott's link, try this:
The hotline number for the Center is 7448286

 

[EllenD]

Okay, first of all NO VITAMINS or anything else besides the baby bird formula, water, and an Electrolyte drink like Pedialyte if you have it available to you. A Vitamin supplement won't help Cookie, she has some type of infection most-likely, whether in her Gastrointestinal Tract, her Upper Respiratory Tract, etc., either way Vitamins won't do anything but make her worse. This could be a Bacterial Infection, it could be a Fungal/Yeast Infection, but if she still isnt' eating or drinking on her own then it's not good..She is probably feeling better because the formula has re-hydrated her and brought her blood-sugar up, her blood-pressure up, etc., but the problem is that if she does in-fact have an Infection of some sort, it's not just going to go away on it's own, and she'll start to go down-hill again without the proper Antibiotic or Anti-Fungal medication...

****Very, Very, Very Important!!! DO NOT EVER "PUSH/FORCE THE FORMULA DOWN YOUR BIRD'S THROAT" WITH AN EYE-DROPPER OR SYRINGE!!!!! When I read that you did that my heart skipped a beat, because you're going to cause her to develop another totally different infection in her Upper Respiratory System/Lungs!!! You absolutely cannot force formula, water, or anything else down her throat, UNLESS YOU HAVE A SPECIAL "CROP-NEEDLE" THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY STICK WAY DOWN INTO HER CROP THROUGH THE OPENING ON HER RIGHT SIDE-BACK OF HER THROAT....There's no way that you can get either an Eye-Dropper or an Oral Syringe down into the opening of Crop at the back of the right side of her throat, it's too deep, you need something much longer and shaped correctly to actually "Crop-Feed" or "Tube-Feed" her...So if you're actually shoving an Eye-Dropper or an Oral Syringe down the back of her throat and forcing the formula into the back of her throat, AND THEN SHE VOMITED AFTER YOU DID IT, unfortunately chances are that you forced the formula right down into her lungs!!!

***The first thing that typically happens when you aspirate any liquid or food into a bird's lungs/Trachea instead of their Crop is they gag and then vomit, because their body's reflex/automatic response is to try to push the liquid/food out of their lungs...The problem is that once you aspirate formula or water into her lungs, a Bacterial Infection is going to form inside of her lungs in a matter of a few days (Pneumonia)...So I'm hoping that this didn't happen, but the fact that you've been forcing food into the back of her throat with an Eye-Dropper and she already vomited as a result of it at least once is not a good sign at all...

You need to keep an extremely close eye on her Breathing...If her breathing becomes heavy or labored, if she starts breathing with her mouth open, or if she starts coughing, then she's got Aspiration-Pneumonia, and she needs the correct antibiotic...We'll cross that bridge if we get to it, hopefully we don't, BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP FORCING THE FORMULA DOWN THE BACK OF HER THROAT WITH AN EYE-DROPPER OR SYRINGE IMMEDIATELY!!! Because if you haven't already aspirated her, you eventually will...

If she has no feeding-response at all, then you simply must take your time, and very, very slowly use the eye-dropper or better is an oral-syringe because it's not glass, or a plastic pipette, etc., and you just have to gradually and slowly insert the tip of whatever you're using to feed her into the left-side of her beak (if you are facing her then you're inserting the tip into your right-side looking at her, opposite the side that her Crop-opening is on), and then you're going to angle the tip from the left-side of her beak (her left side if you're facing her, you're right side) OVER her tongue and towards her right-side of the back of her throat (towards your left side if you're facing her), and then you're going to drop little tiny drops of the formual on top of her tongue and towards the back of the right side of her throat (your left side facing her), and let her lick the little drops of formula up, then give her another one, etc., until you see that her crop is filling-up by using your finger to lightly feel it through the skin on her chest...

I know this is pain and it's going to take a lot longer than the way you've been feeding the formula to her, but you don't have a choice if she isn't giving you any feeding response, and even if she is giving you a feeding response you still can't shove an eye-dropper, oral syringe, or anything else down the back of her throat!!! I'm really hoping she hasn't aspirated yet, but chances are that she has, and if you keep forcing formula down into the back of her throat you absolutley will aspirate her...

When you actually "Crop-Feed" or "Tube-Feed" a bird, you actually insert a very long, specially-angled Crop-Needle down into the entrance-hole of her Crop on the back of the right side of her throat, and then way down into the bottom of their Crop, until you can move the Crop-Needle around and actually see it/feel it moving around way down inside their Crop, under the skin on their Chest. This is the ONLY way to ensure that all of the formula is injected/pushed into the Crop and not down into her lungs. And if you don't have a Crop-Needle you can't do this, as an eye-dropper, oral syringe, etc. aren't nearly long enough, you wouldn't even be able to bet the tip of an eye-dropper into the Crop-hole at the back of the throat...So you just need to make sure you're going extremely slowly and not putting anything into the back of her throat, no water, no formual, not anything...

***Can you open her beak up and smell her mouth, and tell me what her mouth/breath smells like? This sometimes help to diagnose the type of infection the bird has Bacterial, Fungal, or both), and also whether it's in their GI Tract/Crop or in their Upper Respiratory Tract, etc....So it might smell like rotten/rotting food, it might smell like very "sour", etc. Or it might not smell like anything, which typically puts the infection lower in the GI Tract than the Crop, or not in the GI Tract at all...

***Also, what have her droppings looked like throughout this, specifically what were they like when you first noticed that she was sick and had vomited? What color (green, yellow, brown, black, etc.), are they loose or really runny, have they had any bubbles in them, etc.

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Okay, first of all NO VITAMINS or anything else besides the baby bird formula, water, and an Electrolyte drink like Pedialyte if you have it available to you. A Vitamin supplement won't help Cookie, she has some type of infection most-likely, whether in her Gastrointestinal Tract, her Upper Respiratory Tract, etc., either way Vitamins won't do anything but make her worse. This could be a Bacterial Infection, it could be a Fungal/Yeast Infection, but if she still isnt' eating or drinking on her own then it's not good..She is probably feeling better because the formula has re-hydrated her and brought her blood-sugar up, her blood-pressure up, etc., but the problem is that if she does in-fact have an Infection of some sort, it's not just going to go away on it's own, and she'll start to go down-hill again without the proper Antibiotic or Anti-Fungal medication...

****Very, Very, Very Important!!! DO NOT EVER "PUSH/FORCE THE FORMULA DOWN YOUR BIRD'S THROAT" WITH AN EYE-DROPPER OR SYRINGE!!!!! When I read that you did that my heart skipped a beat, because you're going to cause her to develop another totally different infection in her Upper Respiratory System/Lungs!!! You absolutely cannot force formula, water, or anything else down her throat, UNLESS YOU HAVE A SPECIAL "CROP-NEEDLE" THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY STICK WAY DOWN INTO HER CROP THROUGH THE OPENING ON HER RIGHT SIDE-BACK OF HER THROAT....There's no way that you can get either an Eye-Dropper or an Oral Syringe down into the opening of Crop at the back of the right side of her throat, it's too deep, you need something much longer and shaped correctly to actually "Crop-Feed" or "Tube-Feed" her...So if you're actually shoving an Eye-Dropper or an Oral Syringe down the back of her throat and forcing the formula into the back of her throat, AND THEN SHE VOMITED AFTER YOU DID IT, unfortunately chances are that you forced the formula right down into her lungs!!!

***The first thing that typically happens when you aspirate any liquid or food into a bird's lungs/Trachea instead of their Crop is they gag and then vomit, because their body's reflex/automatic response is to try to push the liquid/food out of their lungs...The problem is that once you aspirate formula or water into her lungs, a Bacterial Infection is going to form inside of her lungs in a matter of a few days (Pneumonia)...So I'm hoping that this didn't happen, but the fact that you've been forcing food into the back of her throat with an Eye-Dropper and she already vomited as a result of it at least once is not a good sign at all...

You need to keep an extremely close eye on her Breathing...If her breathing becomes heavy or labored, if she starts breathing with her mouth open, or if she starts coughing, then she's got Aspiration-Pneumonia, and she needs the correct antibiotic...We'll cross that bridge if we get to it, hopefully we don't, BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP FORCING THE FORMULA DOWN THE BACK OF HER THROAT WITH AN EYE-DROPPER OR SYRINGE IMMEDIATELY!!! Because if you haven't already aspirated her, you eventually will...

If she has no feeding-response at all, then you simply must take your time, and very, very slowly use the eye-dropper or better is an oral-syringe because it's not glass, or a plastic pipette, etc., and you just have to gradually and slowly insert the tip of whatever you're using to feed her into the left-side of her beak (if you are facing her then you're inserting the tip into your right-side looking at her, opposite the side that her Crop-opening is on), and then you're going to angle the tip from the left-side of her beak (her left side if you're facing her, you're right side) OVER her tongue and towards her right-side of the back of her throat (towards your left side if you're facing her), and then you're going to drop little tiny drops of the formual on top of her tongue and towards the back of the right side of her throat (your left side facing her), and let her lick the little drops of formula up, then give her another one, etc., until you see that her crop is filling-up by using your finger to lightly feel it through the skin on her chest...

I know this is pain and it's going to take a lot longer than the way you've been feeding the formula to her, but you don't have a choice if she isn't giving you any feeding response, and even if she is giving you a feeding response you still can't shove an eye-dropper, oral syringe, or anything else down the back of her throat!!! I'm really hoping she hasn't aspirated yet, but chances are that she has, and if you keep forcing formula down into the back of her throat you absolutley will aspirate her...

When you actually "Crop-Feed" or "Tube-Feed" a bird, you actually insert a very long, specially-angled Crop-Needle down into the entrance-hole of her Crop on the back of the right side of her throat, and then way down into the bottom of their Crop, until you can move the Crop-Needle around and actually see it/feel it moving around way down inside their Crop, under the skin on their Chest. This is the ONLY way to ensure that all of the formula is injected/pushed into the Crop and not down into her lungs. And if you don't have a Crop-Needle you can't do this, as an eye-dropper, oral syringe, etc. aren't nearly long enough, you wouldn't even be able to bet the tip of an eye-dropper into the Crop-hole at the back of the throat...So you just need to make sure you're going extremely slowly and not putting anything into the back of her throat, no water, no formual, not anything...

***Can you open her beak up and smell her mouth, and tell me what her mouth/breath smells like? This sometimes help to diagnose the type of infection the bird has Bacterial, Fungal, or both), and also whether it's in their GI Tract/Crop or in their Upper Respiratory Tract, etc....So it might smell like rotten/rotting food, it might smell like very "sour", etc. Or it might not smell like anything, which typically puts the infection lower in the GI Tract than the Crop, or not in the GI Tract at all...

***Also, what have her droppings looked like throughout this, specifically what were they like when you first noticed that she was sick and had vomited? What color (green, yellow, brown, black, etc.), are they loose or really runny, have they had any bubbles in them, etc.

Thank you so much for the advice!!

Her breathing is still normal amd she isn't coughing.

Her beak doesn't have a rotten/rootting or sour smell or anything like that.. Her dropping are on light green and very watery and sometimes there are bubbles.

Cookie still sleeps whenever she gets a chance...

Again, thank you for your help Ellen​

 

[EllenD]

Okay, it's good that she's not coughing or having any labored-breathing/open-mouth breathing, but you need to watch that very carefully, because you don't know if she aspirated any formula down into her lungs, or how much...So the first sign of any open-mouth or labored breathing, coughing, wheezing, etc., that's when you know she's got an Upper Respiratory Infection and/or Pneumonia...

***If she's still lethargic/sleeping a lot and her droppings are watery and have bubbles, then at least we know what the main issue is; she's got a Gastrointestinal Infection of some kind, and usually when there are bubbles in the droppings it's a Fungal/Yeast infection, but it could also be a Bacterial infection too, you just don't know without an Avian Vet doing a Fecal Smear/Microscopy...

Do you have access to any types of Probiotics, either for birds/animals, or for people? Acidophilus would be an example, or better is a Probiotic supplement that contains different strains of Probiotics...It won't get rid of any current Fungal/Yeast infection she already has, but it will replenish the beneficial/normal Bacteria that is supposed to be living throughout her GI Tract, from her Crop down through her intestines, which are what typically keep Fungi/Yeast away...It will also settle her stomach and make her droppings normalize, and that's very important because it will also get her eating solid food on her own again...

Let me know what Probiotics you might have access to, and what form they are in (tablet, capsule, powder, gel/paste, etc.) and I can help you with how to give them to her...Usually baby bird formula contain some Probiotics, depending on what brand you're feeding her, but not nearly enough for a bird that has a active Yeast/Fungal infection...She needs to start eating on her own again and get off the formula, and that probably won't happen until her stomach/intestines feel better, and that's what the Probiotics will help with...Also, you can give her Soy Yogurt, Almond Milk Yogurt, and any other type of Non-Daily/Lactose Yogurt, (birds cannot digest or process dairy, and it would likely make her worse), as long as the container says that the Soy/Almond Yogurt contains "Live and Active Cultures", but an actual Probiotics-Supplement or Acidophilus Supplement is going to work best...

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Okay, it's good that she's not coughing or having any labored-breathing/open-mouth breathing, but you need to watch that very carefully, because you don't know if she aspirated any formula down into her lungs, or how much...So the first sign of any open-mouth or labored breathing, coughing, wheezing, etc., that's when you know she's got an Upper Respiratory Infection and/or Pneumonia...

***If she's still lethargic/sleeping a lot and her droppings are watery and have bubbles, then at least we know what the main issue is; she's got a Gastrointestinal Infection of some kind, and usually when there are bubbles in the droppings it's a Fungal/Yeast infection, but it could also be a Bacterial infection too, you just don't know without an Avian Vet doing a Fecal Smear/Microscopy...

Do you have access to any types of Probiotics, either for birds/animals, or for people? Acidophilus would be an example, or better is a Probiotic supplement that contains different strains of Probiotics...It won't get rid of any current Fungal/Yeast infection she already has, but it will replenish the beneficial/normal Bacteria that is supposed to be living throughout her GI Tract, from her Crop down through her intestines, which are what typically keep Fungi/Yeast away...It will also settle her stomach and make her droppings normalize, and that's very important because it will also get her eating solid food on her own again...

Let me know what Probiotics you might have access to, and what form they are in (tablet, capsule, powder, gel/paste, etc.) and I can help you with how to give them to her...Usually baby bird formula contain some Probiotics, depending on what brand you're feeding her, but not nearly enough for a bird that has a active Yeast/Fungal infection...She needs to start eating on her own again and get off the formula, and that probably won't happen until her stomach/intestines feel better, and that's what the Probiotics will help with...Also, you can give her Soy Yogurt, Almond Milk Yogurt, and any other type of Non-Daily/Lactose Yogurt, (birds cannot digest or process dairy, and it would likely make her worse), as long as the container says that the Soy/Almond Yogurt contains "Live and Active Cultures", but an actual Probiotics-Supplement or Acidophilus Supplement is going to work best...

I don't have access to any Probiotics and also no Soy/Almond milk yogurt. Also Cookie's droppings seem a little bit more normal now (A darker green than before and less watery).

Cookie's also eating and drinking on her own now. Though she isn't eating as much as she should, but she's trying! She's more vocal too! Screaming at me to let her out of her cage..but vocal. She isn't sleeping as much and a lot more active. She isn't fully better yet but there's improvement!





​

 

[Scott]

So nice to see progress!! Is it possible to mail-order probiotics?

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

So nice to see progress!! Is it possible to mail-order probiotics?

I don't think I could. I searched online but I couldn't find one that shipped to Maldives..​

 

[noodles123]

You might consider this a package forwarder. That is a work-around if companies (such as Amazon) won't ship to your location.

https://www.parcl.com/

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

You might consider this a package forwarder. That is a work-around if companies (such as Amazon) won't ship to your location.

https://www.parcl.com/

Thanks for the link! It'll prove to be very useful in future orders as well​

 

[noodles123]

I don't know how pricing works, and that is not the only company who does this, but depending on the item, even if you had to pay double, it could be worth it. I am glad that such a thing exists! I would be frustrating to know that you had no way of getting items that you needed!

 

[HEEDLESS]

This is sad that there are few countries are very RARE when it comes to vet, and can't order things because they do not ship those countries.


I will never be able to have a pet if I am still living in my country, and will not be able to have everything I have now. VERY SAD.... because I'm a poor girl and abandoned by my parents.


​

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

This is sad that there are few countries are very RARE when it comes to vet, and can't order things because they do not ship those countries.


I will never be able to have a pet if I am still living in my country, and will not be able to have everything I have now. VERY SAD.... because I'm a poor girl and abandoned by my parents.


​

I certainly agree with you. Having a pet in this country is hard, especially when they are sick.

Some people are just not as lucky when it comes to life. But, if our birds are alive and well, then we really are living a great life ​

 

[noodles123]

Plus, the Maldives look BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am pretty jealous of your location (not the lack of shipping...but my goodness-- it's like an island paradise haha!)

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Plus, the Maldives look BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am pretty jealous of your location (not the lack of shipping...but my goodness-- it's like an island paradise haha!)

Agreed! but I'm beginning to get bored of the hot weather.. It's so hot for most of the year.

Except for Hulhangu (South West) Monsoon. It's very windy/rainy then and my favorite time of the year!​

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Cookie Update

Cookie seems to be doing a little better now. She's eating (or trying to) eat more than she did before. She's also drinking more water. We're still gonna give her the baby formula, until she begins eating enough. She's looking much more healthier as well!

Here're a few recent pics!​

 

[Scott]

Cookie looks alert, hope she continues to improve!

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Cookie's been doing a lot better!
She doesn't seem to be vomiting anymore and she's eating and drinking as much as she used to.

Oh, and here's a little thing that's a little bit unrelated..
Before we found out Cookie was sick, my brother used to call her fat because she's bigger than Crippi ( my brother's bird ). Then after we found out Cookie was sick, my brother said that she's thin. And then after I told my brother that Cookie was eating again, He commented "She's fat"
He of course said all that as a joke.




​

 

[Scott]

On a related note, do you have, or can you get a scale accurate in grams? Cookie's weight is one of the best indicators of health. It will vary a bit on daily basis, but significant and steady changes are cause for alarm.