Urgent ( Sad Update) How do you decide what is the right thing to do.

[zoo mom]

First some history. Monty is a Cockatiel of unknown age. I have had him for 6 or 7 years. He is completely untamed. He rocks, puffs and hisses if you get too close to his cage. He never got to the point where he would take treats from my hand even millet on the end of a spray. I would open his cage door daily and he might come out once every 1.5 to 2 weeks for a fly about. He would then have to be netted about 30% of the time to get him back into his cage.

Now for what is going on. He is sitting on the cage floor in the back corner, all puffed up. He might be trying to incubate a toy ball ( there is one in the corner with him) or he might be sick.

Normally I would say take him to the vet ASAP. However he hisses, spreads his wings and lunges if you get too close. He would have to be caught in a towel. And if he needed medication he would have to be toweled for each dose. All this would cause him a HUGE amount of stress. I did move his food and water bowls to the floor of the cage and thought he was going to have a coronary. He also lunged and then ran to the other side of the cage. After I moved away he went back to the original corner.

How do I decide if it is more merciful to let him be and see what happens or to take him to the vet. Part of me says take him in and part of me feels he would rather die than be handled like that. And no matter which decision I make I am going to feel bad for the fella.

 

[parrotluv]

I would take him to the vet to determine what is wrong. Sometimes meds can be placed in their water. You would be surprised though if you did need to towel him each time that it might go better than you think. As a breeder many of my birds are not tame and at times have had to catch them up to medicate. I did find putting them temporarily in a smaller cage or hospital setup made it much easier to towel rather than having them flap around in a larger cage while I try to catch them. This way it is in, towel, medicate and return in very little time and in a smaller setup it was easier to provide a heating pad underneath for warmth.

 

[Karen]

You've received excellent advice from parrotluv.

IMO no bird would rather die. Take him to the vet. Most birds need to be toweled to be medicated, treated and examined.

 

[CeciliaZ]

I would take him to the vet. I would also bring along his toy ball in his carrier. I have a tiel who is also not very tame that I take to the vet for regular check-ups and when I feel something is "off"
It may be a simple fix - some antibiotics maybe and he'll be fine...but you won't know unless you take him in.

 

[zoo mom]

You've received excellent advice from parrotluv.

IMO no bird would rather die. Take him to the vet. Most birds need to be toweled to be medicated, treated and examined.

True about the toweling. But my other 5 parrots are tame and would tolerate it even if they hated it. Monty hates hands, towels, and people too close to him.

Tomorrow I will see about getting him in to the vet. The ER vet doesn't have bird experience and I am not going to add extra stress and take him to someone who can't help. I put paper towels over the grate and put his ball on them and now he is climbing all over the cage.

 

[Lady Jane]

Best to you. Hope it works out. Sometimes we must stress our birds for medical reasons.

 

[Birdiemarie]

One thing to keep in mind is that since Monty will be stressed no matter when you take him to the vet, taking him now before he gets weaker (if he is sick) is the better situation since he has more resilience now to handle the stress.

 

[Princessbella]

I agree with everyone else. Birds hide their illnesses until it is too late. Just because he is not tame shouldn't be the reason for him not to go to the vet. The vet can also give him a shot of antibiotics and if you need to give them, you can ask for them to be concentrated so they only have to be given once a day. I hope all goes well.

 

[SandraK]

Elaine, you're in one of those God-awful catch 22's. You know you have to try to help him but at the same time trying to help might kill him. If you don't try though, you'll never know if he could be saved by something as silly as one injection @ the vet's office. If I know you at all from AA, you'll beat yourself up over not doing anything should he unfortunately go downhill. What does your gut tell you to do?

 

[Clueless]

I agree with Sandra. If you don't take him to the vet - you're going to beat yourself up.

I understand that you don't want to add to his stress load. I go through this every time Secret has to go into her travel cage. I can no longer hold the handle because the bird tries to eat me through the top of the cage. Thank goodness I have a t-perch I can hook under the handle to get the cage up in the air enough to get my hand under it.

It's a necessary thing to take Secret to the basement during tornado warnings, etc. (when my ACL was first torn that was another fiasco in itself - step at a time, on my rump, with a hissing ticked off amazon). The parrot may be able to fly even with clipped wings but I'm not leaving her on the main level of the house during a tornado. I opt for stressing the parrot rather than stressing me for not doing everything I possibly can.

I'm sorry for the stress you are going through - you will be in my thoughts . . . .I hope Monty rebounds quickly. He's with someone that loves him and cares for him, that will help.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Sending positive thoughts for Monty. Even if he is stressed by the towel it is probably better to get him checked out so that he can get the help he needs. Some of my birds hate toweling and get very stressed but when they need to get to the vet I just have to be as calm as possible, catch them up and take them.
Hoping things work out for you and Monty.

 

[Monica]

Half wondering if he's trying to incubate that ball of his, so he's just being hormonal?


Can you tell if he's sick or if he's actually normally hormonal?

 

[CheekyBeaks]

My recommendation is to take him to the vet, I have Aviary birds that are basically wild and need to be netted and towelled and even though it is hard on them it is worth the stress to know what is going on and deal with it and medicating doesn't have to be a dreadful ordeal. I have an parent raised IRN with a broken beak early this year (no idea how it happened) and she was very wild and needed to be medicated twice a day with anti-inflammatories she wasn't impressed with it all be we got through it.

I would also recommend you remove the ball to see if he is trying to incubate or not, if he returns to normal behaviours etc... it may have been just a hormonal phase, if not you know there is something more serious going on.

 

[zoo mom]

Thanks everyone for your comments. He may just be hormonal but I don't know. I have never seen him behave like this. He was showing more hostility than usual. He usually hisses then flees. But I have never seen him go to the bottom of the cage and I have never seen him look so pissed at me. When I left for work he was perched on his usual night night perch but he was fluffed more than usual. When I get home in the morning I will check on him and re - evaluate.

 

[BeakFace]

With a sick bird there is no time to wait.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Is he eating, drinking pooping? Could he be cold? fluffed up is a bad sign. If he is not eating or drinking as usual, he needs a vet. If the vet tells you he is very sick and will need extensive care, then you can decide to euthanize if you wish. Don't just leave him to suffer with his illness until he dies.

 

[Wasabisaurus]

This may be terribly obvious, but remember to keep him covered when you are traveling to the vet, but do let a bit of light peak in. Less visual stimuli equals fewer things that might stress him. I hope you do take him in. Even just as a precaution. Be sure to begin the process of capturing him well ahead of your appointment. It could take awhile.

Has he been to the vet before? Good luck.

 

[zoo mom]

Monty did not make it through the night. Sometimes it sucks living in the middle of nowhere. Neither of the Emergency Vets with in a reasonable drive of me (1.5 hours one way) had a vet on duty who would see birds. And since I had to go to work I couldn't go farther away.

On top of that my bird vet isn't in until Wednesday. Now I have to call around (they gave me some numbers) and see if I can find one to do a necropsy.

 

[Clueless]

I'm so sorry Elaine. I once lived in a small town and know the issues.

 

[SandraK]

I'm sorry for your loss, Elaine.