Urgent Sick GCC

[BirdView]

I need advice on what to do for a sick bird. My 2 year old female GCC looks different and I am suspecting she might be ill. She was fine 3 hours ago but now she is disengaging and acting slowly. I had birds dying on me before and I can recognize the early signs of illness. Her breathing is ok and she can fly. There is a slight discoloration at 7 o'clock around the left eye. All vet offices around me are closed on the weekend (today is Saturday). There is a vet emergency room 2 hours away but I can't reach them on the phone and there is no guarantee I will find someone there. What do you think I should do? watch her for now or just to try to go to the emergency room (4 hours round trip). Should I keep her with her cage mate (a male quaker) or put her in a separate cage. Anything else I can do to help her?

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Can you zoom in on the eye with the discoloration? I myself, would not choose to keep a GCC with a quaker simply because of the size difference in beaks. She would be on the losing end of an argument should it ever happen. Out of cage time would be ok but only with supervision at all times. I would separate the two and watch her behavior. You might leave a detailed message on the vet answering machine ( if they have that option) she normally sees and a return number for them to call you to see when they can fit her in should you feel by Monday she needs to be seen. In the meantime... look for any object that may have caused a slight injury to the soft tissue around her eye. I see the water bottle has link attachments that may pose a problem. How often do you change water and sterilize the water bottle?

 

[Toy]

Many emergency clinics are open in the evening hours. Try again later. FYI: Many do not treat birds or have the ability to do blood work on birds, so ask when you get a hold of them.

 

[rocky'smom]

keep her warm and hydrated, you may have to syringe water into her. Call the vet asap

 

[BirdView]

Thank you all for your help. Lilli is much better this morning. Whatever was in her left eye is almost gone. Yesterday she kept closing her eyes most of the time. I didn't want to stress her by trying to clean it (also didn't know what it was)

Mockinbirdiva I tried onetime to separate her from the quaker but they kept calling to each other and screaming. They are bonded very well. They preen each other, feed, and even mate. Each of them use to have their own cage. Regarding water bottles, I change water every 5-6 days. I don't sterilize the bottle, but I rinse it multiple times before filling it up again.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Thank you all for your help. Lilli is much better this morning. Whatever was in her left eye is almost gone. Yesterday she kept closing her eyes most of the time. I didn't want to stress her by trying to clean it (also didn't know what it was)

Mockinbirdiva I tried onetime to separate her from the quaker but they kept calling to each other and screaming. They are bonded very well. They preen each other, feed, and even mate. Each of them use to have their own cage. Regarding water bottles, I change water every 5-6 days. I don't sterilize the bottle, but I rinse it multiple times before filling it up again.

It sounds like they are truly bonded and actually surprising they mate. Most disturbing for me though is that you only change the water every 5-6 days in the water bottle. The bottle should be thoroughly cleaned inside with the use of a bottle brush daily to prevent the overgrowth of bacteria like Pseudomonas. The nozzle where they drink from should be disinfected daily especially if any food is deposited on the end when they drink from it. All of my birds have bowls I wash daily by hand and rinse thoroughly with hot water. Water bottles are less messy but consider purchasing extra bottles to change out daily while you clean and let one air dry before using again.

 

[BirdView]

It sounds like they are truly bonded and actually surprising they mate. Most disturbing for me though is that you only change the water every 5-6 days in the water bottle. The bottle should be thoroughly cleaned inside with the use of a bottle brush daily to prevent the overgrowth of bacteria like Pseudomonas. The nozzle where they drink from should be disinfected daily especially if any food is deposited on the end when they drink from it. All of my birds have bowls I wash daily by hand and rinse thoroughly with hot water. Water bottles are less messy but consider purchasing extra bottles to change out daily while you clean and let one air dry before using again.

I put all water bottles in the dishwasher and ran it on the heat cycle. I will start doing this more frequently.

 

[rocky'smom]

change their water daily please. water can get moldy, in water bottles