Sick Baby

[sunnysmom]

Poor birdie. I hope she is feeling better. My tiel Sunny almost always lost about 2 grams when he was sick. I let him eat his fill of millet spray during those times to try to his weight back up.

 

[finchly]

Poor birdie. I hope she is feeling better. My tiel Sunny almost always lost about 2 grams when he was sick. I let him eat his fill of millet spray during those times to try to his weight back up.

She’s lost 2 more, down to 81 grams now. The vets office didn’t call with test results.
I offered her warm mash and she ate a little. I’m getting pretty worried.

 

[Sparkles!]

She’s lost 2 more, down to 81 grams now. The vets office didn’t call with test results.
I offered her warm mash and she ate a little. I’m getting pretty worried.

Anything you know she loves? How is her water intake? Will she eat wet veggies?

 

[finchly]

Anything you know she loves? How is her water intake? Will she eat wet veggies?

Water is down quite a bit. Veggies are a good idea, yes she’s a big chop eater. She loves peas.

 

[Sparkles!]

If she likes veggies- whatever you can get inside her is important right now. Water intake can be helped by wetting the greens if she’s accepting the greens. So, soggy peas for her!
If she’s any type of fruit eater, offer that. Applesauce, fruit cocktail in 100% juice, any kind of baby food or fruit purée will give her a bit more caloric intake than veggies but if all she will willingly eat is veggies then veggies are ok too. Some Tiels are not big on fruit. I’d offer pedialyte or fruit juice mixed 50/50 with water via syringe at this point, and stick her in a hospital box. Aim for a temp of 85 degrees, just to take some strain off her body to produce her own heat. Keep offering the warm mash.
And give yourself a hug. Being a birdie nurse is not easy. We’re rooting for *you* and Spirit.

 

[flyzipper]

I’m not sure how I feel about sedation for a cockatiel

Sedation is never without its risks, but for what it's worth, my green cheek conure (68g) was sedated for x-rays in the past and had no issues.

Hoping for the best!

 

[finchly]

If she likes veggies- whatever you can get inside her is important right now. Water intake can be helped by wetting the greens if she’s accepting the greens. So, soggy peas for her!
If she’s any type of fruit eater, offer that. Applesauce, fruit cocktail in 100% juice, any kind of baby food or fruit purée will give her a bit more caloric intake than veggies but if all she will willingly eat is veggies then veggies are ok too. Some Tiels are not big on fruit. I’d offer pedialyte or fruit juice mixed 50/50 with water via syringe at this point, and stick her in a hospital box. Aim for a temp of 85 degrees, just to take some strain off her body to produce her own heat. Keep offering the warm mash.
And give yourself a hug. Being a birdie nurse is not easy. We’re rooting for *you* and Spirit.

Ok .., how can I say this. I’ve been treating it all pretty casually. I mean I’m doing all the things but a hospital cage makes it real.

I lost a beloved tiel after 10 agonizing days of illness .., he got down to 68 grams. This reminds me of that.

Sometimes I don’t want to be a bird mom.

 

[Sparkles99]

 

[iamwhoiam]

Offer her a buffet of food. Have you tried some hand feeding? You might have to do that.
I empathize with you regarding the illness/weight loss. It's a super scary thing. Second time in a few months
that Roswell got ill and had a large drop in weight. He's doing better now (knock on wood) and nothing bad grew on the second culture.
He was on an antifungal and antibiotic for a week, then had a break and was re-cultured.
I hope that Spirit will start feeling better and putting some weight back on.

 

[finchly]

So, wake up the whole bird room to move her? Or wait till morning?

It’s 75 in here so at least 76 in their room. It gets to at least 80 during the day. That’s why I don’t often do the heat/cage thing. But I agree it’s a good idea.

And when you already have 3 hospital cages, what’s one more?

 

[Sparkles!]

Ok .., how can I say this. I’ve been treating it all pretty casually. I mean I’m doing all the things but a hospital cage makes it real.

I lost a beloved tiel after 10 agonizing days of illness .., he got down to 68 grams. This reminds me of that.

Sometimes I don’t want to be a bird mom.

I understand you 100% It sucks. And even though I can wrap my arms around you through the magic of the internet, nothing helps the heart at times like these. Just know Spirit has a lot of good thoughts and prayers and wishes around her. She hasn’t given up yet, and I’m sending all my strength to you. This species are so wonderful. It’s tough that they’re so little. An Amazon or Too loses 4 grams each poo it seems, but these babies just struggle after only a few days of losing weight. It’s awful and not fair.

 

[Sparkles!]

So, wake up the whole bird room to move her? Or wait till morning?

It’s 75 in here so at least 76 in their room. It gets to at least 80 during the day. That’s why I don’t often do the heat/cage thing. But I agree it’s a good idea.

And when you already have 3 hospital cages, what’s one more?

I like action. So, I’d wake her. And get her in a hospital cage. Because I kick myself with the “what ifs”.

 

[finchly]

Offer her a buffet of food. Have you tried some hand feeding? You might have to do that.

I haven’t, only because she ate warm mash out of the bowl... with me holding it up... hey that’s hand feeding right?

I think she needs away from Torrie, too. We separated them at first but they both were so upset, we thought it was too stressful. But tonight Torrie kept biting her.

 

[Sparkles!]

I haven’t, only because she ate warm mash out of the bowl... with me holding it up... hey that’s hand feeding right?
But tonight Torrie kept biting her.

However you can get food in her is a win! No matter if it’s unorthodox!
And yes, then I’d separate. As long as she can see or hear the flock, she’ll be less stressed on her own than getting pecked at.

 

[finchly]

Ok whew. What a lot of work.

She didn’t want to eat. She’s sleeping.

 

[Skum]

So, for several days Spirit Tiel, age 6 has been fluffed and sleeping. Aside from that I haven’t been able to tell what was wrong. I did see seed in the droppings 3 days ago but none after that. She seems to be eating like crazy. Poops are normal. Weight is down 10% as of today.

At this point a lot of people would diagnose her themselves or turn to some avian group, maybe this one, looking for answers. I know a little about diseases and I would have guessed avian gastric yeast. That guess would have been wrong so treatment for that illness would have wasted a lot of valuable time.

But I really wasn’t sure so I called the vet - who said they couldn’t see her until next week! This was on Wednesday! A bunch of frantic calls later we got her in with an avian vet close by for Friday.

The new vet assessed her and came outside (we’re still following covid precautions). He explained that she had indications of infection on her nares, eyes, and in her mouth. I mentioned my suspicions of AGY. He said it was possible.

Then the receptionist came out with the charges for various tests. $300 to $600! I chose which ones to do and rejected X-ray, thinking we can do that later. Plus I’m not sure how I feel about sedation for a cockatiel. I definitely wanted the full blood panel, $136.

He mentioned that if she had insurance they could just breeze through and do it all. Insurance would be very smart to have and would keep you from having to save up so much in the emergency fund!
After initial tests, tHe vet stressed that my guess of AGY was totally wrong. He said there was no sign of yeast at all.

We’re still waiting on test results so I don’t know anything yet. But. I forked over $539. They gave her an antibiotic to take 2x a day. She seems to like it. She adores hubby so he rides her on his shoulder awhile then big Meanie (that’s me) comes along with medication to squirt in her mouth.

She lost 2 grams since yesterday @iamwhoiam is that normal, considering a stressful visit to the vet and a restaurant? He said to hand feed her if she lost any more.

Poor thing. All the best!

 

[finchly]

Sooooo the vet called. You know, I'm used to not getting a clear answer on a finch. I was actually excited that I'd get an answer on Spirit, but I didn't.

He said there is inflammation somewhere in her body, and her albumin is down (down? I think) and consequently calcium is down a little. The chlamydia test isn't back yet but everything was negative and the next thing would be an x-ray.

He's not changing the meds (antibiotic TMZ) or anything until we get that last test back. She's still 81 grams, and she didn't sleep today altho she is napping now (but this is her normal nap time).

 

[Sparkles!]

Yay! If she’s holding her weight that is a very good thing!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed (for your purse and Spirit) that no X-ray needed.

 

[sunnysmom]

Hopefully she will start feeling better soon on the antibiotics. Maybe ask the vet about giving her probiotics too?

 

[Lady Jane]

Vitamin B can be an appetite stimulant for birds. Check with vet for dosage. The old standby when we dont feel good is cooked oatmeal. Blueberries may make it really tasty.