Hello, I am a first time poster so I apologize if I have messed anything up! Feedback is totally welcome.
My beloved cockatiel sparky is about 4 years old and has been ill. Initially about 6 months ago i took him to the vet because i noticed his left nostril filling up with fluid. He had a slightly elevated bacterial count so we did two weeks of oral antibiotics (smz/tmp solution) and it seemingly cleared it up. He showed no signs of illness except his left nostril continued to fill up with fluid. At his recheck two weeks later, the vet said that everything is great, and it’s likely just a chronic rhinitis issue due to him being more sensitive to things like dry air. Lungs, muscle strength, weight, and everything else she checked was great. He also behaved totally normally through all of it.
Fast forward to about a month and a half ago, i came home to his left eye being completely covered in discharge, and the feathers all around being matted. He was also tucking his upper beak into his lower beak and had slightly audible breathing. No tail bobbing. I immediately took him to our vet for an emergency appointment, during the 20 minute drive the eye had stopped actively watering. The vet said based on the cytology of his mouth and eye swab, there was definitely a bacterial infection.
We again treated with two weeks of oral antibiotic (smz/tmp solution) as well as a topical antibiotic drop (tobramycin) into nostrils and eyes. We also started doing a steamy shower session for about 15 minutes every other day, which really seemed to help.
During the two weeks of meds, his eye never watered/discharged again, and the feathers around his eye were not matting at all. At his recheck, the vet said things were looking great, bacterial level was almost zero in mouth swab. Three days later his eye was discharging again. I booked an appointment for the next morning. She decided to hospitalize him for the day to do a nasal flush and a nebulizer treatment. His bacteria levels in mouth were slightly higher than normal, and she said his eye had a heightened level of inflammatory white blood cells (pus). We continued the smz/tmp solution at a higher dose for another two weeks, and had the same story. At the recheck he was great, a couple days off the antibiotic and it was in full force. We decided to do a (very expensive) fungal culture and psittacosis test. She said in order to do this he needs to be off meds for a few days. We bought a nebulizer for home use and continued spray/misg baths as well as steamy shower sessions to manage symptoms while he was off meds. He made it about three days off meds before he appeared so sick it worried me again. We did the tests after three days off antibiotics but they take quite a bit of time to yield results. He is now on a different antibiotic (Baytril, he was on this once when he was younger) as well as the tobramycin drop in nostrils and left eye.
I do really trust my vet. She seems great and has a long history treating parrots. I love this bird so so so much i can’t help but worry. My biggest anxiety is that the bacterial infections are just a secondary infection to something else. From what i’m reading, if it’s a fungal infection it sounds quite likely he could pass away. Is it possible that this is just an extremely persistent bacterial infection? I severely doubt he has psittacosis because he is never in contact with other birds than my conure who we have had for three years. Even then they do not interact as my conure has aggression issues and can’t be trusted around my cockatiel yet. Only other possibility would be from a new toy? But i don’t think that is possible. I have no idea where he would get a fungal infection. We also discussed doing a referral for a CT Scan at a teaching university about 3 hours away.
Some other info is that his diet is almost all Tops natural pellets, and he gets offered fresh chop in the morning when he is most hungry, although he is very picky with his veggies. I’m extremely careful and we don’t use anything that would be toxic to him in the air like nonstick cookware or perfumes and whatnot. Another question i have is how come it is ENTIRELY on his left side. Extremely rarely his right nostril will fill with some fluid that he sneezes out. His right eye has never once had any sort of discharge.
Has anyone ever dealt with anything similar? Makes me so scared, I want to do what is best and i’m already $2k in on vet bills. I’m happy to answer any clarifying questions. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!
My beloved cockatiel sparky is about 4 years old and has been ill. Initially about 6 months ago i took him to the vet because i noticed his left nostril filling up with fluid. He had a slightly elevated bacterial count so we did two weeks of oral antibiotics (smz/tmp solution) and it seemingly cleared it up. He showed no signs of illness except his left nostril continued to fill up with fluid. At his recheck two weeks later, the vet said that everything is great, and it’s likely just a chronic rhinitis issue due to him being more sensitive to things like dry air. Lungs, muscle strength, weight, and everything else she checked was great. He also behaved totally normally through all of it.
Fast forward to about a month and a half ago, i came home to his left eye being completely covered in discharge, and the feathers all around being matted. He was also tucking his upper beak into his lower beak and had slightly audible breathing. No tail bobbing. I immediately took him to our vet for an emergency appointment, during the 20 minute drive the eye had stopped actively watering. The vet said based on the cytology of his mouth and eye swab, there was definitely a bacterial infection.
We again treated with two weeks of oral antibiotic (smz/tmp solution) as well as a topical antibiotic drop (tobramycin) into nostrils and eyes. We also started doing a steamy shower session for about 15 minutes every other day, which really seemed to help.
During the two weeks of meds, his eye never watered/discharged again, and the feathers around his eye were not matting at all. At his recheck, the vet said things were looking great, bacterial level was almost zero in mouth swab. Three days later his eye was discharging again. I booked an appointment for the next morning. She decided to hospitalize him for the day to do a nasal flush and a nebulizer treatment. His bacteria levels in mouth were slightly higher than normal, and she said his eye had a heightened level of inflammatory white blood cells (pus). We continued the smz/tmp solution at a higher dose for another two weeks, and had the same story. At the recheck he was great, a couple days off the antibiotic and it was in full force. We decided to do a (very expensive) fungal culture and psittacosis test. She said in order to do this he needs to be off meds for a few days. We bought a nebulizer for home use and continued spray/misg baths as well as steamy shower sessions to manage symptoms while he was off meds. He made it about three days off meds before he appeared so sick it worried me again. We did the tests after three days off antibiotics but they take quite a bit of time to yield results. He is now on a different antibiotic (Baytril, he was on this once when he was younger) as well as the tobramycin drop in nostrils and left eye.
I do really trust my vet. She seems great and has a long history treating parrots. I love this bird so so so much i can’t help but worry. My biggest anxiety is that the bacterial infections are just a secondary infection to something else. From what i’m reading, if it’s a fungal infection it sounds quite likely he could pass away. Is it possible that this is just an extremely persistent bacterial infection? I severely doubt he has psittacosis because he is never in contact with other birds than my conure who we have had for three years. Even then they do not interact as my conure has aggression issues and can’t be trusted around my cockatiel yet. Only other possibility would be from a new toy? But i don’t think that is possible. I have no idea where he would get a fungal infection. We also discussed doing a referral for a CT Scan at a teaching university about 3 hours away.
Some other info is that his diet is almost all Tops natural pellets, and he gets offered fresh chop in the morning when he is most hungry, although he is very picky with his veggies. I’m extremely careful and we don’t use anything that would be toxic to him in the air like nonstick cookware or perfumes and whatnot. Another question i have is how come it is ENTIRELY on his left side. Extremely rarely his right nostril will fill with some fluid that he sneezes out. His right eye has never once had any sort of discharge.
Has anyone ever dealt with anything similar? Makes me so scared, I want to do what is best and i’m already $2k in on vet bills. I’m happy to answer any clarifying questions. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!
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