Hello, all. I'm sorry if this is a really long post but I've found myself in a difficult predicament with my pet bird and was wondering if anyone here could give me some advice, as I have nowhere else to turn.
I have a 12 year old cockatiel named Snowy who for the last 4 weeks or so has been having respiratory issues. It started with some squeaky sneezing, open mouth breathing and a little voice hoarseness. We took him to the vet and they diagnosed him with a sinus infection and prescribed Baytril and Metacam for 2 weeks.
Well, he didn't improve on the meds, so we took him back and had a nasal flush done. This seemed to fix things. His voice sounded clearer and his energy levels were up. He was acting more like his normal self. After about a week, though, his symptoms gradually started coming back. He started sneezing and mouth-breathing once again. We asked the vet if we could get another nasal flush done, thinking something was re-irritating his nose. This we did, but there was no improvement and after a day or two he took a turn for the worst. He started really struggling to breathe, and in the mornings especially he would make a squeaking sound as he tried to draw breath. He also became lethargic and started eating less, and his voice got worse and worse, to the point where he could hardly make a sound.
We took him back to his primary vet, only this time we saw an avian specialist. He decided to try another antibiotic, SMP TMZ, and Metacam for another 2-4 weeks. He also gave Snowy a shot of vitamin A just to be safe, although he has been on a diet of Harrisons Bird Pellets most of his life.
After a couple of days on the antibiotic he continued to get worse. Finally, at the suggestion of a family member, we took him to a highly reputed emergency vet about 45 minutes away from us that is supposed to have great avian doctors. They did x-rays and a blood draw. This was the first time anyone did any actual diagnostic testing on him. Before this, the vets would just examine him and listen to his heart, lungs, etc.
Anyway, they said his blood work was mostly normal, but there was some opacity on his x-ray in the upper "cranial area of his chest". The vet said she didn't know what this meant, that it could either be a pneumonia, a fungal infection, or possibly a tumor. She recommended we stay on the antibiotic and Metacam for 2 more weeks and come back in for a recheck.
We continued with the meds, but still nothing was changing. Out of desperation, I took him back to his primary vet (the avian specialist). By this time this vet had seen the x-rays and said they didn't look good, that there was abnormal tissue in the airways, down by the trachea and syrinx. He said Snowy probably has cancer and that there was nothing anybody could do. He said it would be too dangerous to biopsy the area because of Snowy's size and the location of the tissue. I asked about the possibility of it being aspergillus, because that was a fear I had from the very beginning. He said if I wanted we could try Itraconazole and see if it worked, but that the x-rays findings weren't consistent with what a fungal infection would look like.
I've ordered the Itraconazole, but it won't be here for a few days because it had to come from a compounding pharmacy. Meanwhile poor Snowy is still gasping from breath and struggling. He'll still eat, but only little bits at a time, and he is still sneezing quite a bit. He also acts like his beak/nose is bothering him, and tries to rub it on everything. My questions now are 1) is it worth it to still try the antifungal in the event it is aspergillus? And 2) if it is cancer and nothing else can be done, is there any way I can ease his pain and improve his quality of life until the end comes?
I dearly love this bird and want to do whatever I can for him. It's breaking my heart to see him this way. If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your time and input. Thank you.
I have a 12 year old cockatiel named Snowy who for the last 4 weeks or so has been having respiratory issues. It started with some squeaky sneezing, open mouth breathing and a little voice hoarseness. We took him to the vet and they diagnosed him with a sinus infection and prescribed Baytril and Metacam for 2 weeks.
Well, he didn't improve on the meds, so we took him back and had a nasal flush done. This seemed to fix things. His voice sounded clearer and his energy levels were up. He was acting more like his normal self. After about a week, though, his symptoms gradually started coming back. He started sneezing and mouth-breathing once again. We asked the vet if we could get another nasal flush done, thinking something was re-irritating his nose. This we did, but there was no improvement and after a day or two he took a turn for the worst. He started really struggling to breathe, and in the mornings especially he would make a squeaking sound as he tried to draw breath. He also became lethargic and started eating less, and his voice got worse and worse, to the point where he could hardly make a sound.
We took him back to his primary vet, only this time we saw an avian specialist. He decided to try another antibiotic, SMP TMZ, and Metacam for another 2-4 weeks. He also gave Snowy a shot of vitamin A just to be safe, although he has been on a diet of Harrisons Bird Pellets most of his life.
After a couple of days on the antibiotic he continued to get worse. Finally, at the suggestion of a family member, we took him to a highly reputed emergency vet about 45 minutes away from us that is supposed to have great avian doctors. They did x-rays and a blood draw. This was the first time anyone did any actual diagnostic testing on him. Before this, the vets would just examine him and listen to his heart, lungs, etc.
Anyway, they said his blood work was mostly normal, but there was some opacity on his x-ray in the upper "cranial area of his chest". The vet said she didn't know what this meant, that it could either be a pneumonia, a fungal infection, or possibly a tumor. She recommended we stay on the antibiotic and Metacam for 2 more weeks and come back in for a recheck.
We continued with the meds, but still nothing was changing. Out of desperation, I took him back to his primary vet (the avian specialist). By this time this vet had seen the x-rays and said they didn't look good, that there was abnormal tissue in the airways, down by the trachea and syrinx. He said Snowy probably has cancer and that there was nothing anybody could do. He said it would be too dangerous to biopsy the area because of Snowy's size and the location of the tissue. I asked about the possibility of it being aspergillus, because that was a fear I had from the very beginning. He said if I wanted we could try Itraconazole and see if it worked, but that the x-rays findings weren't consistent with what a fungal infection would look like.
I've ordered the Itraconazole, but it won't be here for a few days because it had to come from a compounding pharmacy. Meanwhile poor Snowy is still gasping from breath and struggling. He'll still eat, but only little bits at a time, and he is still sneezing quite a bit. He also acts like his beak/nose is bothering him, and tries to rub it on everything. My questions now are 1) is it worth it to still try the antifungal in the event it is aspergillus? And 2) if it is cancer and nothing else can be done, is there any way I can ease his pain and improve his quality of life until the end comes?
I dearly love this bird and want to do whatever I can for him. It's breaking my heart to see him this way. If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your time and input. Thank you.
