Hi, everyone.
I could use some advice, because I'm at a loss, and so is my vet. In early September, all four of my parakeets started sneezing. I took them to the vet many, many times, and we tried many different tests-physicals, good, x-rays, good, bloodwork, good. Eventually, the vet "kicked me out", essentially, saying that it was probably an environmental issue and there was nothing they could do. I've kept the house immaculately clean the past few months, got rid of anything I thought could be irritating them, no luck.
Well, at the start of December, a new symptom emerged. One of my birds started frequently holding his wings out, like he was hot, even though it was pretty chilly in the house. He started having periods of open mouth breathing. He became quiet and started sleeping most of the day, though he had moments where he was still active, and he still ate fine. I brought him back to the vet, they ran all the tests again, they still can't find anything. He's been hospitalized for the past several days, and he seems stable, at least, on oxygen.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this could be? I know only a vet can diagnose my birds, but both of us are honestly baffled.
We're treating for chlamydiosis even though the swab test the vet took came back negative (just in case it was a false negative). I asked the vet about asper and air sac mites as well, but we can't test for asper (would need too much blood, not safe) and air sac mites are hard to detect. The vet is dubious about those diagnoses anyway. I also asked about deficiencies, but the vet doesn't think these are the case, either (vet took bloodwork, but I'm not 100 percent sure if they tested for deficiencies or just did a CBC?).
I don't know. I'm just desperate because my birds have been sick for so long now, and I still have no answers. If anyone can think of things that match up with my birds' symptoms that I can mention to my vet, that would be amazing. Thank you.
I could use some advice, because I'm at a loss, and so is my vet. In early September, all four of my parakeets started sneezing. I took them to the vet many, many times, and we tried many different tests-physicals, good, x-rays, good, bloodwork, good. Eventually, the vet "kicked me out", essentially, saying that it was probably an environmental issue and there was nothing they could do. I've kept the house immaculately clean the past few months, got rid of anything I thought could be irritating them, no luck.
Well, at the start of December, a new symptom emerged. One of my birds started frequently holding his wings out, like he was hot, even though it was pretty chilly in the house. He started having periods of open mouth breathing. He became quiet and started sleeping most of the day, though he had moments where he was still active, and he still ate fine. I brought him back to the vet, they ran all the tests again, they still can't find anything. He's been hospitalized for the past several days, and he seems stable, at least, on oxygen.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this could be? I know only a vet can diagnose my birds, but both of us are honestly baffled.
We're treating for chlamydiosis even though the swab test the vet took came back negative (just in case it was a false negative). I asked the vet about asper and air sac mites as well, but we can't test for asper (would need too much blood, not safe) and air sac mites are hard to detect. The vet is dubious about those diagnoses anyway. I also asked about deficiencies, but the vet doesn't think these are the case, either (vet took bloodwork, but I'm not 100 percent sure if they tested for deficiencies or just did a CBC?).
I don't know. I'm just desperate because my birds have been sick for so long now, and I still have no answers. If anyone can think of things that match up with my birds' symptoms that I can mention to my vet, that would be amazing. Thank you.