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Urgent Mouth full of mucus

PetFoster

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Julie
This morning, I did a big naughty no-no and let my Hahn's macaw have a piece of bagel that I had broken off before I ate the rest (it was about the size of my pinky finger, down to the second knuckle). She had been served her breakfast, and picked at it a bit, but started begging for mine. :o: Usually she takes a couple of nibbles and drops the rest, but today she snarfed down the whole thing before I could get it away from her. Shortly after she finished, I noticed she was opening her beak pretty wide and pushing her tongue around, so I picked her up to make sure she wasn't choking. She was breathing, but soon her tongue started pushing a bunch of mucus to where it was visible. I grabbed a few qtips (from a closed box I keep just for her), and started pulling it out, so she wouldn't swallow it down again.

I quick called an avian vet who has worked with her in the past, and I have an appointment in a couple of hours, but the tech said to just come in right away if she starts struggling to breathe again (once I cleared her mouth, and she forgave me for the invasion, she seems back to her regular self) -- so I will be getting her seen today -- but I wondered if anyone else has had this happen with their bird? I know breads and things with a lot of gluten can cause excess mucus in the human body, so could that be part of the problem for her? She was just cleared on Thursday of a bacterial infection diagnosed by another vet (who did not do a very thorough check up, and could only provide me with a few handwritten notes on her findings, rather than any lab reports or additional details), but the vet we are visiting today seemed to have more of a comprehensive plan for her -- which makes me feel a lot better.
 

Toy

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My CAG & U2 both did this when they ate a piece of hard pretzel. They no longer get any. Any product made from flour can cause them to get it stuck a bit, especially those that are on the dry side, so if they eat too much at one time they can gag/choke on it a bit.
 

Tyrion

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Hope all is well with your baby :cool:
 

sunnysmom

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rocky'smom

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Sending positive thoughts
 

PetFoster

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Oh, thank you all so much! I was pleasantly surprised when I took Lucy this afternoon to see this vet. First, we have the avian flu virus showing up in our local area, so staff brought shoe covers out to my car, and the tech and the vet were in full PPE. I am pretty sure that extra care was given to us, though, because this particular veterinarian was brought in to the shelter where Lucy came from and was familiar with sad state of health of these birds. Lucy came from a small home in my city where she was being kept along with 600+ other birds, reptiles, and small mammals -- local authorities raided the home and confiscated all of the animals in December. As a volunteer for the shelter, I was eventually allowed to come in to help clean cages and give fresh food and water daily, and I knew that some of the birds had been diagnosed with and were being treated for chlamydia. Because there were about 500 live birds that were confiscated, they did not do tests on every one, but rather just a sampling. This is what the vet I saw today is suspecting with my Lucy, but he said her lower chest and heart sounded good, that there was just a little rattling in her upper airway. He pulled samples for tests and in the meantime is working with me to get her medicated as a precaution. We also discussed some other concerns that we will address in the future, including her beak (overgrowth) and a tiny sore that is starting to emerge on one of her feet, and he gave me some advice on what I can start doing in the meantime.

At any rate, I think we are on the right path and have a good doctor that knows what he is doing. :sm:
 
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