parrotlet wing twitch when sleep and heavy breath after fly- Sad Update Post #17

[miorinsnak]

Hi!

My parrotlet started wing twitch when sleep 2 days ago. He couldn't sleep well at night and gets really sleepy during day time. I also noticed even after a very short distance of flying, like from his cage to my shoulder, I can hear breathing noise which never happened before. The heavy breath will go away after one minute.

I also noticed when he stand on my finger, his feet is weaker than before. He can still keep balance, run around like normal.

Other than that, at this point his poop is ok, not watery; no running nose or cough; and no common sign of cold.

But he wasted more food than before even his favorites and he never did that before. He keep putting food on his back. He usually put some bird pallets on back but will return to normal eating behavior; but since he started wing twitch, he keep placing food on his back.

I don't know what happened to him and is planing to take him to the vet this Friday which is the earliest one I can get.

Thank you so much for any suggestions!!!!!

 

[Hermesbird]

Sounds like a vet check is in order. Other than that I am no help so I will bump your thread so others can hopefully help!!

@fashionfobie

 

[fashionfobie]

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with the above post by @Hermesbird

A vet check sounds like a good idea. Since you caught this early you will have better success at treating the underlying illness. You did a great job paying attention to the minor changes in your bird. It is good that the poop is normal. We can't give you a diagnosis here, but rattling sounds in the chest or wheezing are symptoms to take seriously. I am not sure where you are located but this is a good website to find a certified avian vet. : https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803

Between now and the vet appointment don't over exert your bird allow them to rest. Also make sure you aren't using any candles, diffuser or other air dispersed scents that are dangerous to birds, this includes smoke of all kinds. I hope your appointment goes well.

 

[Trogdora]

Definitely take him to the vet, and make sure you can give the vet as much info as possible about how and what the bird's been doing.

I'm not sure why his wings would be twitching, but sometimes when a bird's breathing heavy their tail will bob up and down and I'm wondering if the wing movement's going along with that.

 

[miorinsnak]

Definitely take him to the vet, and make sure you can give the vet as much info as possible about how and what the bird's been doing.

I'm not sure why his wings would be twitching, but sometimes when a bird's breathing heavy their tail will bob up and down and I'm wondering if the wing movement's going along with that.

thank you so much! His tail is not bob up and down when he breath even during the heavy episode. I am not sure if this is a sign of itchy? And that itchy may somehow related to the breathing issue? I hope tomorrow's vet check can give me some answers!

 

[miorinsnak]

Sounds like a vet check is in order. Other than that I am no help so I will bump your thread so others can hopefully help!!

@fashionfobie

thank you so much for the replay!

 

[miorinsnak]

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with the above post by @Hermesbird

A vet check sounds like a good idea. Since you caught this early you will have better success at treating the underlying illness. You did a great job paying attention to the minor changes in your bird. It is good that the poop is normal. We can't give you a diagnosis here, but rattling sounds in the chest or wheezing are symptoms to take seriously. I am not sure where you are located but this is a good website to find a certified avian vet. : https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803

Between now and the vet appointment don't over exert your bird allow them to rest. Also make sure you aren't using any candles, diffuser or other air dispersed scents that are dangerous to birds, this includes smoke of all kinds. I hope your appointment goes well.

thank you so much for the replay!
And now his poop is still OK which is a big relief for me before the vet check. The breathing issues after fly is still present and I am not sure if the wing twitch is a sign of itchy; and itchy and breathing issue can be somehow interconnected?
And thank you for the website, there is a bird vet in my area and I think that is the person I will meet on Friday. Thanks again for the information

 

[miorinsnak]

The vet told me without any further examination, my bird physical check seems healthy. He gave me some antibiotics for potential respiratory track infection. However, my bird vomited on the way back and slept the whole day. Some how his felt something about his right leg, which to me is defiantly has less strength than the other leg.
For such a little bird, the vet said any more advanced check may cause more damage to him so give him one to two weeks on antibiotics to see any progress.

I am still quite worried about him. All I know is his poop is still normal, he still wants to interact with him and wants to fly around in my room, I really hope he will gets better soon

 

[fashionfobie]

Did he vomit after taking the medication? If so I would call your vet asap.

Also are you sure it was vomit and not regurgitation, if your little guy did the wiggle dance, he could have just been happy to be back with you. If he vomited without the wiggle dance that is proper vomiting, and I would call the vet.

I will also agree with your vet for being cautious with testing. Parrotlets are fragile birds. Your vet made the right choice to be careful about doing too many tests, as an example blood work is much more difficult on small parrots because they weigh so little. The vet is very limited in how much blood can be taken, and unless the vet can run tests on site, there is also a chance the blood won't be viable for accurate tests. This is especially the case for an ill parrotlet, who really needs all his energy to recover. I would call the vet about the vomiting, especially if it continues. Some birds do get car sick, so if it was a one off, it could be your bird was overwhelmed and got additional irritation from the car.

I am sorry you are going through this. It is never easy when someone we love gets ill. Thank you for caring doing all you can. I hope he feels better very soon.

 

[miorinsnak]

Did he vomit after taking the medication? If so I would call your vet asap.

Also are you sure it was vomit and not regurgitation, if your little guy did the wiggle dance, he could have just been happy to be back with you. If he vomited without the wiggle dance that is proper vomiting, and I would call the vet.

I will also agree with your vet for being cautious with testing. Parrotlets are fragile birds. Your vet made the right choice to be careful about doing too many tests, as an example blood work is much more difficult on small parrots because they weigh so little. The vet is very limited in how much blood can be taken, and unless the vet can run tests on site, there is also a chance the blood won't be viable for accurate tests. This is especially the case for an ill parrotlet, who really needs all his energy to recover. I would call the vet about the vomiting, especially if it continues. Some birds do get car sick, so if it was a one off, it could be your bird was overwhelmed and got additional irritation from the car.

I am sorry you are going through this. It is never easy when someone we love gets ill. Thank you for caring doing all you can. I hope he feels better very soon.

I am pretty sure he vomited that stuff. But the good news is he seems better! No more vomiting!
Maybe the antibiotics is working? or maybe he was too nervous during the check? (I was not allowed to enter the hospital due to the COVID police from the hospital, so he was taken in and checked by the vet alone)
He also eats more than yesterday and slightly lesser sleep. Hopefully he is getting better.

And thanks again for the replay!

 

[fashionfobie]

He also eats more than yesterday and slightly lesser sleep. Hopefully he is getting better.

And thanks again for the replay!

Yay! It is good to see improvements!

 

[miorinsnak]

Some updates: he is eating fine and poops also looks ok. He ate many carrots today so maybe that's why the poop is a little watery

However, he still have breathing sound after he fly. I am not sure if his antibiotics is working or not. He also looks so itchy, and keep preening his feathers. I am glad his sickness didn't progress but I am still quite worried about him especially his breathing sound after fly.

Also he lost 2g....... which is 5% of his total weight!

 

[fashionfobie]

Itchiness may be relieved with a bath. My parrotlet Neptune enjoys it in a shallow dish and even likes to be splashed.

2g is a lot of weight loss. I wouldn't make big diet changes during an illness, because you need him to eat and save his energy. You could possibly add a few hemp seeds which may give him a little boost, but only a few portioned for a parrotlet. Do consult your vet if you have questions about the medication. Do not stop antibiotics without following the vet's care plan. Thank you for the updates.

 

[miorinsnak]

Itchiness may be relieved with a bath. My parrotlet Neptune enjoys it in a shallow dish and even likes to be splashed.

2g is a lot of weight loss. I wouldn't make big diet changes during an illness, because you need him to eat and save his energy. You could possibly add a few hemp seeds which may give him a little boost, but only a few portioned for a parrotlet. Do consult your vet if you have questions about the medication. Do not stop antibiotics without following the vet's care plan. Thank you for the updates.

I have a bowl of clean water for him everyday. These days he just refuse to take a bath. I misted him indirectly but seems to work for only 10 mins.
I am currently keeping his bird pellet, but feeding him some of his favorites: raspberries, carrots, cooked rice with nutrient supplements, millet; he is still eating a lot.
But he does sleeping more than before. My vet told me the next step will be a blood test and he will call me back tomorrow to discuss that.
I hope my little bird will be tough enough for that test..... so worried about him, and it is the first time he experienced this kind of health issues

 

[fashionfobie]

@miorinsnak I just read an article in the Parrot Society's magazine that talked about how parrots express pain. Sometimes these tiny changes in behaviour, like your little guys itchiness, may actually be an expression of discomfort. We do not know for certain that he is itchy, or if he is just adjusting himself because he is uncomfortable.

I think it is great that you have a dialogue with your vet and that are are working on a treatment plan. I would also make sure you continue to be an advocate for your bird and only get tests done that seem the most effective to figure out your bird's underlying condition.

Something that is easy for us worried humans to do is give too much attention to our ill parrot. Parrots don't want us to notice they aren't feeling well. They usually try to conceal it. Do your best to keep your routine as normal as possible and try not to stare at or overly observe your bird to the point that they feel more anxious. Some of what seems to be itching may be an appeasement gesture. As example, parrots (and most other social birds) use preening behaviour as a way to show to another bird that they aren't a danger, that they come in peace. If you are anxious and watching your bird more than usual, your bird will pick up on that anxiety, and may be signaling to you in their birdy way "I am ok, I'm not threatening" (an appeasement). Try and pretend preen your own hair around your bird, and break eye contact a lot. You want to appease your bird and let them know everything is peaceful and safe.

 

[miorinsnak]

@miorinsnak I just read an article in the Parrot Society's magazine that talked about how parrots express pain. Sometimes these tiny changes in behaviour, like your little guys itchiness, may actually be an expression of discomfort. We do not know for certain that he is itchy, or if he is just adjusting himself because he is uncomfortable.

I think it is great that you have a dialogue with your vet and that are are working on a treatment plan. I would also make sure you continue to be an advocate for your bird and only get tests done that seem the most effective to figure out your bird's underlying condition.

Something that is easy for us worried humans to do is give too much attention to our ill parrot. Parrots don't want us to notice they aren't feeling well. They usually try to conceal it. Do your best to keep your routine as normal as possible and try not to stare at or overly observe your bird to the point that they feel more anxious. Some of what seems to be itching may be an appeasement gesture. As example, parrots (and most other social birds) use preening behaviour as a way to show to another bird that they aren't a danger, that they come in peace. If you are anxious and watching your bird more than usual, your bird will pick up on that anxiety, and may be signaling to you in their birdy way "I am ok, I'm not threatening" (an appeasement). Try and pretend preen your own hair around your bird, and break eye contact a lot. You want to appease your bird and let them know everything is peaceful and safe.

Thank you for the article. It is hard to put less attention on my bird especially when he looks a little different than normal. He slept on my computer whole night when I was doing my work and he wants me to scratch his head. But he is losing weight and his preening behavior is not normal.
My vet is being honest with me, he did say my bird's symptoms are quite strange. With breathing issues and some strange wing twitch and foot-tapping, he is still eating normal and poop normal.
I want to do the blood test, but on the other hand I am also worried the amount of pressure might be put on my bird

 

[miorinsnak]

Thank you for all the help here
My bird didn't make to the Monday check. He passed away in my hand and I am glad he was not alone the last minute

 

[fashionfobie]

I am very sorry for your loss. I am sending you warm thoughts during this difficult time.

 

[expressmailtome]

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[Theobirb]

I’m so sorry for your loss.