Breathing sounds but no apparent physical cause

[AKBirdNerd]

I'm really hoping that somebody can help me here. Maybe somebody has a bird with a similar problem or an idea what the issue could be.

My 30 year old yellow-crested cockatoo George started to make sounds when breathing. Obviously we first suspected aspergillosis or something similar but my avian vet did all the tests: bloodworks, x-rays and an endoscopy and they all came back fine. He said that leaves allergies, his heart or his brain but he also said I'm supposed to stop with diagnostics now because I've been taking him to the vet a lot and we've done all the testing possible. Anything heart or neurological would be pretty much impossible to diagnose. He said he's not worried about it but he also said there's always a risk. I already lost my female cockatoo completely unexpectedly the beginning of the year and I'm terrified I'm gonna lose him too.

The sounds he makes when breathing are difficult to describe and there are a bunch of different ones. Most of the time he just sounds like when a human breathes a little louder, sometimes it seems a little like a human with a stuffy nose, sometimes there's some weird kind of lip-smacking sound. I only notice them when he's resting. He doesn't appear to make them when he's active.

I have an air purifier, a humidifier and I use a nebulizer with him once a day just for his general well-being. I can't think of any new foods or other things that I introduced so I'm not sure how likely an allergy would be. It doesn't seem to matter if the windows are open or closed so I don't think it's anything related to outside. Does anybody have a bird with a similar issue or maybe any ideas? I'm not sure what else I can do. Ignoring it and just hoping it's something harmless seems way too risky.

 

[Shezbug]

Almost sounds like a deliberate choice to make the sound from your description as breathing issues and allergies don’t appear when relaxing and then disappear when busy- is it possible your bird is simply entertaining himself with sounds?
Sharing footage (can post a link to this site from another site) might be helpful if you have any.

Both my macaw and my SC2 make some interesting random sounds when resting, I hope this is all your guy is doing too.

 

[AKBirdNerd]

Almost sounds like a deliberate choice to make the sound from your description as breathing issues and allergies don’t appear when relaxing and then disappear when busy- is it possible your bird is simply entertaining himself with sounds?
Sharing footage (can post a link to this site from another site) might be helpful if you have any.

Both my macaw and my SC2 make some interesting random sounds when resting, I hope this is all your guy is doing too.

I am really hoping that it's just him being his random cockatoo self but the noises all seem to be breathing related. Most of the time when he's asleep, it sounds like gentle snoring with what sounds like a sharp intake of breath every now and then. All I've ever heard or read is that birds are not supposed to make any sounds when they breathe.