My parrots sick :(

[Bob]

Hello,

About a month ago we got a beautiful African Gray hes six months old. He was amazing talking away always happy, you would of never of thought anything was wrong. 3 days ago he stoped eating, drinking everything. He was being sick and his excerment was just water. We took him to the vet and they checked him over said there was nothing physicaly wrong. We were not happy with this as clearly he is ill we then took him to a avian vet and they checked him over apparently everything was normal and we had to take him home see if he got any better. He didn't we took him again to the avian vet and they gave us a course of antibiotics. That was yesterday, i check on him every so often as he is my mothers bird. I checked on him about 4:30am and he was still awake sitting on his water dish rather than his perch, when i went to check on him he attacked the cage so i left him for a bit as i didnt want to upset him at the early hours. I then checked on him at about 6am he was okay and sleeping. We got up at 10:30 and he was in the bottom corner of his cage. He wont go near me at all but will go near my mum and sister, i think its the female voice. He keeps looking up to the celling and it looks like as if he is seeing things and cowering away like you have never seen before its horrible to watch. Soon as my mum goes over and talks to him he calms down, she has just managed to give him some water and the meds along with Apple and mango squash juice not concentrated. We were also advised to give him baby food, he has just managed to eat a little bit of it. We can't do anything today as the vet is shut but he is booked in for full tests tommorow.

Is there anything you can suggest that we can do, i just don't want to see him like this anymore its horrible to watch such a poorly bird and feel as if there is nothing i can do to help and it would brake my mums heart. Any advise is extremly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Sean

 

[Enjru]

Increase warmth and humidity. At the very least, wrap blankets around his cage. If you have a heater, use it.

Do you know how to handfeed using a syringe?

Did the avian vet do any blood tests, swabs, stool microscopy and cultures?

How did you find this avian vet? Does he/she have a good reputation?

 

[Enjru]

OK, it's good your mom could get the antibiotics, fluids and calories into him.

No need to panic.

I still advise to keep him warm.

 

[Bob]

Okay mums got him sitting on her knee just now to keep him warm. Blood tests are tommorow, yes this vet has a high reputation. The first vet was crap excuse my french. Thank you very much is there anything else you would suggest to try him with?

 

[Enjru]

Please describe his droppings when you say it is "completely water". What have his droppings been like since?

What have you been feeding him? Has there been a change in his diet?

 

[Enjru]

What did he weigh when he was well? What was his weight at the vet? What is his weight now?

Did this avian vet examine his stool? Did he/she take a stool sample for microscopy and culture? Did he do ANY swabs ANYWHERE?

 

[Enjru]

Dude, turn the heater on.

Your parrot's body temperature should be HIGHER than your mom's body temperature, so unless she has a raging high fever ABOVE 40 degrees Celsius, your PARROT is keeping HER warm!

 

[antoinette]

Hope your bird has improved with the med's.
It is very dramatic when there is only so much one can do for their birds, until further tests are done.
Keep the bird warm, give him lots and lots of love
Please keep us updated
Praying he makes a speedy recovery

 

[Bob]

His droppings were compleltly clear before, since taking the antibiotics they have now went back to normal colour. Mixed seed diet, along with fruit and veg. No change in diet. Not sure on the weight when we got him but he got weighted at the vets mum cannot remember as shes so stressed but the vet said he is not underweight but could do with putting on a bit more muscle. The stool sample has been sent away. No swabs but they are doing that tommorow, for full tests. They didnt want to do all the tests on one day as they said it would stress the bird.

Sean

 

[Bob]

Thanks for all the kind comments, they are very much appreciated.

 

[Enjru]

Well, it's good that the stool got sent away, but I would have liked to have seen microscopy on a wet film sample of that stool specimen.

Now that he is already on antibiotics, the results of any swabs taken AFTER the antibiotics would be ambiguous to interpret.

Anyway, it seems like you don't need to worry too much for now. He's probably back on the mend now that his stool is back to normal.

But PLEASE turn the room heater on so that he can use whatever energy he has to fight whatever he's got, rather than use up his energy to maintain his body temperature.

Keep him hydrated with the fruit juice.

You and your mom are doing well!

 

[Bob]

Hes just started to eat some seed for the first time in 3 days im hoping he is on the mend?
We made him some sweet potatoe which he is eating just now.
Right okay so the room needs to be fairy warm?
Yeah i will do thank you Enjru

Heating was on, but turned it up.
Put him into the travel case, with a towel rather than having him in the big cage so he cant hurt himself.

Mum is wondering if you have any idea why occasionaly he will look up into the air as if something is there, and he hides away as if something is going to hurt him?
Sean

 

[Enjru]

Woot! Woot!

Hope he recovers completely soon. Hope the vet visit goes well tomorrow!

It's almost midnight here...I'm off to bed.

Keep us updated!

 

[Bob]

Hopefully fingers crossed, goodnight cheers for the help.
I will do mate cheers!

Sean

 

[roxynoodle]

A good way to keep them warm is to put them in a large, clear plastic storage container and put a heating pad under it. Also put a towel in there for him to sit on.

It's a very good sign that he is eating again and having normal droppings. Since that has happened it does sound like a bacterial infection that is responding to the anti-biotic. He should probably also be on Nystatin for yeast that often develops from anti-biotic use.

As for looking at the ceiling, my conure does it all the time. I think it's shadows from changing light or the TV. Look closely and sometimes you see there's a little insect up there, lol! Greys worry more than a lot of parrots, which might be why he is acting afraid of the shadows. As he gets older he will probably chill out about that.

I hope everything will be ok.

Once he is fully recovered though you should strongly consider getting him on a pelleted diet instead of seeds. Harrison's High Potency is a good one for Greys.

 

[Bob]

Yeah, i know what you mean.
Yeah fingers crossed he gets better hopefully on the mend now!
Ah that makes sense to be honest really does. Its a common thing then?

Me too and thanks its appreciated.

Yeah mum had a look at that, tis' what shes getting him after hes better.

Sean

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, my Grey is blind so shadows and things are not much of a concern for her. She gets more frightened by sounds, especially since she doesn't know what made them or why. My amazon doesn't seem as concerned about things as most birds unless they are new things going into his cage. Although about a week ago he seemed very concerned about something he was seeing out the window. I finally figured out he was looking at a hawk. But, I often see my conure looking at the ceiling over and over, and then I'm looking at it to see what she is looking at. Sometimes I have no idea and I think she is just watching shadows.

 

[mandolynn]

That is very scatter. Since parrots hide their illnesses so well, when it gets to that extreme, its sn emergency. IMO the vet should've made every attempt asap to find out what's going on. Crank up the heat, turn on the humidifier, and cover all but the frontvof his cage. If hes having trouble getting up to his food and water, try setting it on the bottom. If hes not eating or drinking at all, and you aren't able to hand feed him with a syringe, you need to make sure the vet realizes the severity. Id think they would've wanted to keep him for observation at least. Is there anything in your home he couldve been exposed to? I wish i could be of more help, i hope you find a solution and he gets better soon. Let us know what happens.

 

[Bob]

Heys guys just quick update as i had forgotten all about yous! Finbar got alot worse over that night mum woke up at 7am to him taking seizures, we called the avian vet and the top avian vet said to rush him in. We took him in and he started to take another seizure they were consistant. They kept him in over night and believed it may be due to a calcium deficiency. They gave him several injections and gave him valium to keep him calm. The vet thinks he may have had a bug in his stomic. Following this he started to eat more and got slightly better he then took another seizure not as bad as the others. He is staying another night there and they are taking very good care of him, the vet called earlier and said that he has not had another, since the one he had after the injection. Hopefully Finbar is on the mend now fingers crossed. Blood samples arrive tommorow and they will then know alot more apparently, i will keep you all updated.

Many thanks for the comments,

Sean.

 

[roxynoodle]

I feel for you. My Grey has has some seizures as well due to having Bornavirus. It's very frightening. All the best wishes for a complete recovery.

If it is calcium, provide cuttle bones in the cage, a mineral block, and full spectrum lighting.