Sick parrot

[SpotsandSally]

so my little baby will be staying home
I picked him up to go to bed when I noticed he was breathing funny, and he has lost a fair bit of weight. I'm so used to big birds... I thought he was normal but.... His keel bone is sharp.
I'm going to make a vet appointment, but I'm worried he may have inhaled some water I had to give him a forced bath since he got himself covered in sap, and I'm afraid he may have inhaled water.
Oh I hope my baby's ok. I want to just feed him fat until he's nice and round, how a bird should be. Maybe he had something, always had something, and will be a real bird when he's fixed.
I mean... He's never played with toys... What if he was sick the entire time? And it just caught up?
I'm worried will keep updated.

 

[SpotsandSally]

It sounds like his nose is stuffed up, but it also sounds like he's making noises with his mouth,


Ugh.

 

[MikeyTN]

Let us know what the vet says....good luck!

 

[goalerjones]

Hahnzel had a similar type problem. The vet kept him overnight making sure he was fed if he wouldn't free-eat. Put him on some antibiotics jic he aspirated. He was being a stinker after the first day there and wouldn't free-eat until i showed up on my lunch-break. Then he ate like a champ. He is fine now.

 

[SpotsandSally]

Well today he was looking awful in the morning. Panting, snorting, etc. I put him in a different room and turned on a fan so he got fresh air. He ate some seed, though didnt seem too interested. I got him to eat an apple, and right now he's eating some more. He's doing a lot better now - I was tears, I didn't think he'd make it.
Vet opens on Monday !

 

[Merlee]

Most vets have an answering service in case of an emergency. Do you think the parrot can wait until Monday? I would at least dial the number and maybe the vet will return your call and give advice. It's worth a shot.

 

[SpotsandSally]

He's doing pretty good now. Ill be sleeping with him right near me so that I can hear him.
We may be able to go there tomorrow, I don't know if their open on Sundays.
If it comes down to it, we can go to the expensive vet. I trust the other one, but one is a lot more expensive.

 

[SpotsandSally]

*sigh* so appearantly I called a place in Ohio to make an appointment and I live in Alaska.
I'm a retard.

Parrots doing OK, but this has become a game of 'avoid the expensive vet'. They charged $80 to talk on a phone just to say something that I already knew, and could have googled. Well, they also seem to be the ONLY place who has an avian specialist (ya know, besides the Ohio place)

*sigh* lets see what it'll cost... Hopefully not too much, I was hoping to go the this other vet clinic that was cheaper but they don't see parrots (we take our dogs there all the time)

 

[SpotsandSally]

Ok, so went to the expensive vet. Cost 290$. But, the vet was VERY VERY nice, very knowledgeable and VERY helpful. We have to give her medicine for 10 days, than do a follow-up appointment. The vet says that he isn't sure now what her prognosis will be, & if she'll be ok, but he says it looks good. He said 'guarded to good'. So if I didn't explain that well enough then at least you know what he said and if you understand that, LOL.
We are going to try to do a diet switch once she feels better, and we WERE going to (once she feels better) anesthize her to get rid of her leg band, but when I came home, my mom said 'Well why don't you just slip it off her foot?!'. I didnt bother with why they don't come off the foot, or when they do it, etc, so I just said 'Well they are meant to stay on' and (me being bright *sarcasm*) decided to try to take it off from her foot. Thinking now, I could've done serious damage (which is why it was a stupid idea, lol) but I ended up able to slip it off her foot! The vet said it was large but not THAT large! Well now she doesn't have a band, yay

She's also doing great now that she has a heat lamp. I think she'll turn out fine

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm glad she's doing better....surprisingly she let you get the band off??? It must of been big enough for you to get it off easily like that. What medicine did he give her??? I suppose I should go back to school to be a avian bet and work in Alaska and charge an arm and a leg....lol

 

[MonicaMc]

Sounds like all good news!!!!

Did the vet say what was wrong with her? That is, what infection she has?

 

[SpotsandSally]

LOL. Everything is an arm & a leg here xD
Yes, she's a sweetheart when she chooses. The vet loved her. Kept saying how sweet she was, and if she was gonna be a brat when she heals. Haha. She really is great when it comes to being handled - once you get her put of the cage otherwise she is lunging and taking off skin!
He was also quite surprised to see an IRN - petco doesn't supply them much I guess, and it sounds like tiels, budgies & conures were the most common. & I suppose conures can be fussy

Yes, it came off pretty easily. I didnt require oil or anything - just a bit of pressure!
He gave her doxycycline pills ground up. She takes 0.2 ML per 12 hours, and if we get at least half in than we're good. She's pretty good about it - almost bit the syringe, which I guess makes it easy.
Oh and he thinks she has coccidiosis - might've came from my other birds, or from petco. I guess petco only sends in 1 swab, so if one bird doesn't have PB&FD than all of them don't. So he said to take it with a grain of salt. If one doesn't have coccidiosis, than all dont according to them.

 

[MonicaMc]

Sounds like a great visit!

I wonder why he thinks she has coccidiosis? Had to look that one up, and it is apparently parasites in the intestines... usually, when a bird is infected with parasites, you treat them for a parasitic infection, not with antibiotics.... but I really don't know much about it!!!!

I just don't like a vet that prescribes medications first without knowing what they are dealing with, and you being in Alaska, your veterinary options are rather limited!


If it helps her though, then it would be an improvement! If not, he seriously needs to do some testing before prescribing meds.

 

[SpotsandSally]

He is doing testing, but it takes 10 days. Not sure what doxycycline is, but I might just help her feel better.
Coccidiosis, far as I know (in chickens & such), is blood in poop, & something ALL birds have, but when stressed, it takes over. This goes for sheep, cows, birds, etc. it may not have been coccidiosis - just the way he was pronouncing it I assumed he said coccidiosis. Haha.
Yes, they are very limited, and I just have to see what happens. He is the main avian specialist in this town (Fairbanks), so I'm assuming he's a pretty good vet.

LOL, our cat found out where the heat lamp was.. XD

 

[MonicaMc]

Ah... they have to send the tests out rather than being able to do them there. Makes sense.

Doxycycline is a very good (IMO) antibiotic. I think I can understand why he prescribed it if he thinks it's those parasites, as they could cause an infection, thus resulting in the symptoms she has. I've just never had any vets tell me my birds were sick with coccidiosis before and it's not really something that comes up in parrots, hence my confusion!

And that would definitely be my cat in that photo! LOL Cute! I guess your cat and Kiwi kind of get along?

 

[SpotsandSally]

Quick google lead to this :

Treats bacterial infections and prevents malaria. Also treats pimples or bumps on the face caused by a condition called rosacea. Also used to treat anthrax infection after possible exposure. This medicine is a tetracycline antibiotic.

So if its an upper respiratory infection, than it seems doxycycline will help. If its coccidiosis, then I don't know how it will help. But the heat lamp is helping, and im sure the doxycycline will help.
Honestly, I had to reschedule the appointment to sooner since I was afraid how much longer she'd last.
He ended up drawing blood, giving fluids, & doing a body check. She weighs 103 grams, and he said (based on her keel bone - he doesn't see enough IRNs to know the exact healthy weight) that she should probably weigh 130. So she has lost a lot of weight.


Just saw you posted xP so you know doxycycline. Yes, a lot of testing has to be sent out - either across the state or across the country. But, of course, sending out stuff across this state is like sending stuff out across of the country, lol.

It's pretty common when you have bottle baby animals, or baby chicks, so nothing new for me. It's common in young birds (and Kiwi is), so I didn't think of anything odd. But of course, if you just have older pet animals then coccidiosis isn't that common.

Yes, they do for the most part, Kiwi doesn't mind Fat Cat (he doesn't actually have a name... LOL, we just call him the fat cat) and Fat Cat doesn't mind Kiwi, but if they are out together Fat Cat sees Kiwi as food.
But Fat Cat is lazy and prefers laziness over hunting, so in this case, they get along. LOL. Our other cat, however, is a doll with all of our birds, but commonly brings voles & small birds to our footsteps! Yet in 5 years of bird owning - from chickens, to geese, to turkeys and now parrot - she has killed 1 baby chicken - EVER. She's declawed, too, (FC is but we got him that way) otherwise she lost so much weight from getting outside and hunting - and she goes crazy living as an indoor cat.
We have interesting cats.

 

[MonicaMc]

I hope she's able to put on some weight! And that sounds like an ok price you paid for all those tests! Hope you get the results quickly!

And yes, the doxy is pretty good!

 

[SpotsandSally]

Yep - hopefully. She's going to head to a Harrison's diet after she feels better, poor baby, I can imagine her now flinging all the pellets out frantic to find seeds
Thanks!
She says thanks,as well

 

[MonicaMc]

Haha!!!! Well, it would be hard for her to flick the pellets out if you ground them up and added some water (or organic fruit juice) to make a thick paste with it and then mixed seeds in!


Hope she makes a fast recovery!

 

[SpotsandSally]

Ooh, good idea! I never thought of that. May have to try it some time.