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Urgent Urgent Help for a Sick Cockatiel

Anika Erin

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Anika Erin
Hi. I've a female pearl cockatiel Tuki and she's with me for 8years now. She's has never breed or took a mate though there's a lutino male with her. I live in a country where there's no avian vets or avian medicines. Even when I got her, there were no one with adequate knowledge about the diet and other health issues. The person who sold her to me he said only about sunflower seeds and longbean seeds, along with cooked rice. I searched a bit about their diet and gave her seedmix, cooked vegetables, healthy table foods, little amount of cooked chicken, fish and egg.

A month ago, she suddenly stopped using her right leg, tucked it in and it was clear there's something wrong with that leg as she couldn't use it. After 3-4days she started to stand up on her both legs but she limped when she walked. During that time, she also developed some other problems like foot tapping, lying straight with keeping the head down to the surface, loss of appetite etc. As there's no one to ask for help, I again searched in the web but couldn't be sure what's wrong with her.

As she's a very picky eater and doesn't eat any leafy raw vegetables, I suspected she's suffering from calcium deficiency. I ordered Calcivet, Multivet and Soluvet D from Australia and giving them according to the direction written on the bottles. Also I'm trying to feed her steamed calcium enriched veggies as she doesn't eat the raw ones. She's now using both of her legs properly, her foot tapping stopped and she isn't lying straight with head down position anymore.

A week ago, she started losing her feather around the beak and eyes. Again I searched on the net but couldn't be sure if it was scaly face or vitamin A deficiency. To be safe, I'm applying olive oil on her beak and feet and feeding her boiled sweet potato and steamed pumpkin. There's no burrowing sign on her beak, but the feathers around the beak area is falling off and she's itching that area.

As there's no one to help us in this situation, I'm asking for some expert advice from this site. What's actually wrong with her, what supplements or medicines should I give her in what doses, what should I do to keep her alive and give her a healthy life. I'm really desperate here. There's no bird supplements or medicines in my country but I can bring them from abroad if it's needed. Can you guys help me with any valuable suggestions please?
 

Milo

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Can you post some pictures of her? That may be helpful. Please stop applying the olive oil, it could cause issues if she eats it and it won't do her any good for the potential issues she has going on.

It is very likely that she has some sort of deficiency but it's difficult to say what and if that's what is causing the issue right now. You need to be very careful when you're supplementing things in her diet because it is possible to overdose things like calcium and vitamin D. Can you post pictures of the labels on the supplements you're giving her? Including the directions you've been following.

Are you sure that she is actually a she?
 

Milo

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Okay, I did a quick search for the supplements and found the calcivet and the soluvet D. If you are still giving these, stop immediately. Both of these supplements have vitamin D in them, giving them together could be very problematic.
 

Anika Erin

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I haven't started Soluvite D yet. I read somewhere Vitamin D and Vitamin A overdose could be fatal that's why only giving her Calcivet and Multivet. She doesn't eat any calcium enriched raw veggies and after her leg problem it really made me concerned. Right now I'm scared to stop the Calcivet. I don't want to see her limping and tapping her foot whole night again.

I'm giving 5ml Calcivet in 250ml water, and 17 drops of Multivet with it.

She also plucked her feathers from her back, which was stopped after giving her the calcium supplement. Should I increase or decrease the dose of both of Calcivet and Multivet? And how long should I give it to her?

Along with this, should I post a video/picture of her condition when she got sick 1 month ago? Would it be helpful?
 

Milo

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The Calcivet does have vitamin D in it, that's why I was concerned that you were giving both to her. Unfortunately her signs are very vague. It's possible that her issues were caused by a calcium deficiency, and she is likely deficient in vitamin A. I don't think anyone here can tell you what dose to give your bird, unless we have any vets lurking here that I don't know about. The multivet is most likely something that you can continue long term if she's not on a pelleted diet, but I really don't know about the calcivet. Has she ever laid eggs?

I know there are a couple vets here in the US that will do phone consults and potentially try to help if you emailed them pictures for a fee, is that something you can do?
 

SandraK

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Could you please tell us more or less where you are in this very large world of ours? I don't mean an address, but maybe a city, state/province or country would help. It can help us figure out if there is a vet near you who may be able to help or not. It will also help us know what type of bird related products are or may be available to you. I do mean well and I do not mean to invade, in any way, your privacy. I am, in the end, just another bird mom.
 

Anika Erin

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@Milo Her diet consists almost "zero" calcium as she doesn't eat any leafy greens. Actually she doesn't want to eat any leafy veggies. I regularly give her steamed broccoli and steamed spinach but she never take more than a bite. She doesn't even touch the cuttlebone. She has never laid any eggs. And she's not on a pelleted diet. We don't have pellets here.

Can you please tell me the process how can I consult with a vet over phone? Also can you please give me an idea about the cost? I'm not sure if my parents will allow this. I'm allowed for one more international shipping in which I'm planning to bring pellets, vitamin added seedmix (is it okay to feed her vitamin added seedmix), some anti parasites, nutriberries, calcium supplement, vitamin E supplement etc. Please feel free to suggest if I should bring something else along with them. I'll try to convince my parents for over the phone vet consultancy. It'd be better if I could find any vet here. But still, please tell me the process.
 

Anika Erin

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@SandraK I live here in Bangladesh. It's in Asia, right beside India. We have several veterinary hospitals here, also we have plenty of vets. But avian veterinary isn't being taught here, thus we don't have one. People still go to vets with their bird problems, but as they are mostly vets for dogs, cats, cattles, goat, sheep, horse and poultry- proper treatment never happens. Also the non avian vets we have here, they mostly suggest human medicines, and medicines for other animals and poultry because believe me when I tell you this- We don't have any avian medicine available in our country. Birds treated with these types of medicines, actually dies eventually or have some serious side effects. I know someone who went to a famous vet with her bird. He gave her a medicine and the bird died. Turned out, it was a medicine for worm purpose, and it was for horses.

I'm desperate to save my baby but I don't want to kill her in the process. So I'm not doing the same mistake. Though it's really heartbreaking to see her sufferings. I wish we had a single avian vet here in our country who could tell me what's wrong with her and what can I do to make her feel better. You really don't know when your pet becomes your child. Sometimes when she feels really sick, she just come to me, sit on my palm, I scritch her head, she just look at me quietly. That look breaks my heart into pieces.
 

Tiel Feathers

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I'm sorry I have no advice, but I hope your little sweetie will be okay. I will be sending good thoughts her way. She's just precious.:heart:
:hug8:
 

Anika Erin

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Can I feed her yogurt as a calcium source? If so, then how often? Also sweetened one or the unsweetened one? And how about cheese?
 

sunnysmom

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Michelle

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Hi there,
I'm not going to be much help, in terms of answers.
But figured I'd ask, cause maybe someone else can assist.
Does she have any other symptoms, like scratching herself, over preening.
And what colour are her droppings and consistency, i.e. Are they solid, watery. Clear etc.
 

Monica

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Some of the symptoms you are describing could be egg binding, tumor, a stroke, heavy metal poisoning, or???

Unfortunately, without testing, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly could be wrong.


Many medications that are used for humans and other animals are also used for birds. I'm not sure if there are any avian specific medications. That said, it's all about the correct dosing. The smaller the animal, the smaller the dosage.


I hope the link that iamwhoiam can be of help to you! I know there are avian vets in India, although they are few and far between. I don't know of any in Bangladesh specifically, though...
 

Anika Erin

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@sunnysmom She doesn't touch the cuttlebones or mineral blocks. It's still there, but she won't touch it.

She's actually a very picky eater, doesn't like any leafy greens at all. I give her steamed broccoli, steamed spinach, steamed pak choi. She just takes a nibble and that's it.

Most of the vegetables on that list isn't available here. We've spinach, broccoli, pak choi, beetroot (not beet green), spring onions, snap beans, cabbage, celery, sweet potato, lettuce, carrot, turnip from the list. As she doesn't want to eat raw veggies, I steamed them then give it to her. She only accepted spinach, broccoli, sweet potato. She's eating a lot of boiled sweet potatoes nowadays. Will there be any problem because of that?
 

Anika Erin

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@Birdie Onions She's going through molting now. So now she's scratching herself or preening more than regular. But I'm concerned about the feathers she's losing from her beak area. Is it due to molting or something else? I'm posting some pictures of that area please let me know if it's normal during molting or something else. She began to pluck her feathers from the back and made a bald patch there. But after giving her the calcium supplement she stopped plucking.

Her poops are normal in color, solid coiled just what it should be. She's eating lots of boiled sweet potatoes nowadays that's why the poops are a little bit firm than usual.

Please take a look at the pictures and tell me what do think about the feather loss around the beak.
 
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