Please HELP!

[Bird_lover72]

Hey everyone!

I recently addopted a cockatoo umbrella, i noticed he is unable to breath properly sometimes through out the day and opens his mouth to breath properly (its loud)

I took him to a general vet, he said hes suspecting he might have some sort of cold or infection and gave me antibiotics. We do not have avian vets in my country. I am very worried as the vet is “suspecting” and hasnt ran any tests on my bird.

I do not know what to do.

1- my bird has messy feathers
2- my bird sleeps a lot throughout the day
3- my bird sleeps and stands on 1 leg most of the time
4- my bird loudly breathes through his mouth sometimes (for example, he breathes normally for a couple of hours, and breathes using his mouth loudly for a couple of hours.
5- he does seem to be eating and drinking normally.
6- his droppings look pretty normal and I cant find any trace of any parasites or such.
7- he is quite inactive, not sure if it is because he’s not used to his new home or due to illness

Im very worried, any help would be truly appreciated as I have no idea what to do

 

[Terry57]

Do you have any vets in your area who specialize in birds even if they aren't avian vets? I'm really worried about the difficulty breathing and lethargy.

Here is a link to our Avian Vet Resources, I hope you can find a vet close to you so he can be checked out, the general vet doesn't sound very knowledgeable if he hasn't even run any tests.

I'm so sorry that you and he are going through this. Can you speak to the people you adopted him from to see if he has had anything like this before?
I hope he gets better soon, it's terrifying when our babies don't feel well.

 

[Bird_lover72]

Do you have any vets in your area who specialize in birds even if they aren't avian vets? I'm really worried about the difficulty breathing and lethargy.

Here is a link to our Avian Vet Resources, I hope you can find a vet close to you so he can be checked out, the general vet doesn't sound very knowledgeable if he hasn't even run any tests.

I'm so sorry that you and he are going through this. Can you speak to the people you adopted him from to see if he has had anything like this before?
I hope he gets better soon, it's terrifying when our babies don't feel well.

Hey thanks for the reply

Unfortunately all vets in my country are purely specialized in cats and dogs, and no bird vets are in my country what so ever.

I spoke to his previous owners, they said it was the first time theyd see him breath like that, but I highly doubt they even payed any attention to him when they owned him. Im so confused on what to do, he clearly lacks energy (if i set him on the ground he does not walk around just stands in place), still dances and eats and such but he is clearly ill and there is nothing I can do about it.

I started to take notes of his weight starting today and he weighed within the normal boundaries 521 grams, im going to make sure to take note of his weight on a daily basis and just hope he gets better.

 

[Terry57]

Hey thanks for the reply

Unfortunately all vets in my country are purely specialized in cats and dogs, and no bird vets are in my country what so ever.

We have many countries listed with vets who see birds, perhaps there is one you may have missed?
I hope so, it would be awful to not have anyone to help when a bird is ill.
Do you have a zoo in your area? It may help to reach out to them for help.
It wouldn't hurt to call around the general vets to see if any have experience specifically in treating birds.

I spoke to his previous owners, they said it was the first time theyd see him breath like that, but I highly doubt they even payed any attention to him when they owned him. Im so confused on what to do, he clearly lacks energy (if i set him on the ground he does not walk around just stands in place), still dances and eats and such but he is clearly ill and there is nothing I can do about it.

I started to take notes of his weight starting today and he weighed within the normal boundaries 521 grams, im going to make sure to take note of his weight on a daily basis and just hope he gets better.

Keeping track of his weight is a great idea. What is his diet like?

 

[Bird_lover72]

We have many countries listed with vets who see birds, perhaps there is one you may have missed?
I hope so, it would be awful to not have anyone to help when a bird is ill.
Do you have a zoo in your area? It may help to reach out to them for help.
It wouldn't hurt to call around the general vets to see if any have experience specifically in treating birds.

Keeping track of his weight is a great idea. What is his diet like?

Thanks for the reply once again!

Unfortunately on the list you provided, my country is not listed . Sadly we dont have any zoos, I tried contacting many vets and they all threw the “could be a cold give him antibiotics” phrase without testing him for anything.

his current diet is providing him with roudybush’s california blend. I am trying to add fruits to his diet, but he seems uninterested.

 

[Terry57]

Thanks for the reply once again!

Unfortunately on the list you provided, my country is not listed . Sadly we dont have any zoos, I tried contacting many vets and they all threw the “could be a cold give him antibiotics” phrase without testing him for anything.

his current diet is providing him with roudybush’s california blend. I am trying to add fruits to his diet, but he seems uninterested.

Oh no, I was hoping that one could be found there

Have you tried to feed him chop? There are a lot of great recipes in the Parrot Food, Recipes and Diet forum and you may find something he likes. My cockatoo loves carrots and broccoli most, but he will eat almost any veggies or fruits. Sometimes it's just a matter of keeping trying different things until he realizes that it is pretty good after all. That may help him have more energy. I'm glad he is on pellets, that will help him with his health as well.

 

[Bird_lover72]

Oh no, I was hoping that one could be found there

Have you tried to feed him chop? There are a lot of great recipes in the Parrot Food, Recipes and Diet forum and you may find something he likes. My cockatoo loves carrots and broccoli most, but he will eat almost any veggies or fruits. Sometimes it's just a matter of keeping trying different things until he realizes that it is pretty good after all. That may help him have more energy. I'm glad he is on pellets, that will help him with his health as well.

I bought him a new stand to stay on so he could fit in the house better and feel more comfortable and he absolutely loves it, dancing with his crest up (first time hes done this) and being very vocal whilst on his stand. Glad hes happy! Hope I can find a solution to his breathing issue.

 

[Terry57]

I bought him a new stand to stay on so he could fit in the house better and feel more comfortable and he absolutely loves it, dancing with his crest up (first time hes done this) and being very vocal whilst on his stand. Glad hes happy! Hope I can find a solution to his breathing issue.

I hope so, too! How long have you had him? I wonder if the breathing issues could be caused at least partly by the stress of being in a new place?
He may also feel better if he has a bath, do you have a mister bottle that you could use to try giving him a mist bath?

 

[Bird_lover72]

I hope so, too! How long have you had him? I wonder if the breathing issues could be caused at least partly by the stress of being in a new place?
He may also feel better if he has a bath, do you have a mister bottle that you could use to try giving him a mist bath?

Hes only been at his new house (with me) for three days. I was lucky that he is a social and nice little guy! He got along with me fairly quickly, i do have a mister bottle and ill make sure I give that a try! I am highly suspectibe though that his previous owners smoked a lot of ciggerettes infront of him, cause I saw it myself.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

Thank you for rescuing him.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hes only been at his new house (with me) for three days. I was lucky that he is a social and nice little guy! He got along with me fairly quickly, i do have a mister bottle and ill make sure I give that a try! I am highly suspectibe though that his previous owners smoked a lot of ciggerettes infront of him, cause I saw it myself.

Maybe he will get better on the antibiotics. Try to make sure he gets his medicine as prescribed for the full length of time.

I’ve noticed that even healthy large cockatoos tend to keep their mouths open most of the time. Perhaps he isnt really very sick.

We would love to see more pictures!

 

[Bird_lover72]

Thank you for rescuing him.

That is our duty as human beings 🙏🏻

 

[Bird_lover72]

Maybe he will get better on the antibiotics. Try to make sure he gets his medicine as prescribed for the full length of time.

I’ve noticed that even healthy large cockatoos tend to keep their mouths open most of the time. Perhaps he isnt really very sick.

We would love to see more pictures!

I might eventually have to give the antibiotics, antibiotics could cause resistance issues and more damage than good if prescribed wrongfully, but I might give it a try.

Im pretty sure hes sick, if you watch the video you could clearly hear his odd breathing issues, Im not sure if the video i attached is working on here or not.

Thanks for the help!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I might eventually have to give the antibiotics, antibiotics could cause resistance issues and more damage than good if prescribed wrongfully, but I might give it a try.

Im pretty sure hes sick, if you watch the video you could clearly hear his odd breathing issues, Im not sure if the video i attached is working on here or not.

Thanks for the help!

The vet prescribed the antibiotics so you should give them to him. I know he's not an avian vet but several PF members recently had birds sick with respiratory infections and their birds got better from the antibiotics. I'm very aware of resistance issues but your bird may not survive if you don't give him the full course of antibiotics. Not finishing the full course is one of the things that causes resistance problems.

 

[Bird_lover72]

The vet prescribed the antibiotics so you should give them to him. I know he's not an avian vet but several PF members recently had birds sick with respiratory infections and their birds got better from the antibiotics. I'm very aware of resistance issues but your bird may not survive if you don't give him the full course of antibiotics. Not finishing the full course is one of the things that causes resistance problems.

Ill give it to him right away. Once again, the only thing that made me hesistant about giving him the antibiotics was that the vet performed 0 tests to determine if it was an infection or what type of infection it is. It kind of felt like the vet was playing a guessing game, but I guess hes a lot more experienced than me. Thank you for the advice!