SkyDancer
Meeting neighbors
We have a YNA who came home on July 14th, 2023. She was born on April 1st, 2023. She seemed healthy when we picked her up. The breeder didn't speak much English and she was packed in a car (small sedan) with 60-75 other birds he was bringing to a convention. He said she was still getting handfed 2x day and starting to pick at some seeds. I used to be an Avian & Exotic Vet Tech and handfed many baby birds back in the day but it's been 5-6 years. She would make begging noises constantly but didn't really have a strong feeding response. She more just licked a bit off the end of the syringe. She was showing more of an interest in solids.
On Sunday (July 16th), we noticed she had a little bit of clear discharge on one side of her nares (right side). No other real symptoms. Just some clear liquid. I called my veterinarian Monday morning and made an appointment for Tuesday just to get her looked at. They said she was around 252 grams and did her DNA test (how we now know she is a female). He said it might be a sinus infection since it's just on one side and he heard a little bit of raspy noises when she breathed (but he listened to her with a stethoscope and her lungs and air sacs sounded clear). That was on July 18th. He said to increase heat around her cage and keep her confined to a smaller area. He prescribed Cipro but told us to hold off on giving it to her and to see if it cleared up on its own with an increase in temperature. He also flushed the one nare that was getting clogged.
He didn't want to start strong antibiotics on a baby before it was needed. It seemed like it was getting better. The discharge cleared up. She seemed OK. We also stopped syringe feeding per his recommendation and just started offering her formula out of a shallow dish 2x a day instead (with lots of solids in between)!
She usually sleeps in a 24" kennel every evening, covered, with a couple of perches, her pellets/seeds, water, and a toy! I put her to bed the night of July 25th, she was fine. The morning of July 26th we woke up and I brought her from her little kennel out to her bigger cage in our living room (32" x 32" corner cage). I gave her the formula in the dish and noticed within 5 minutes of her eating it, she was making a weird sneezing noise/seemed like she was trying to regurgitate. She was breathing with her mouth open, pretty heavily. Of course, our vet is closed on Wednesdays. This is the first she acted sicker.
I gave her a dose of the Cipro that morning and night and brought her in to our vet the next day (27th). He said her back air sacs sounded clear but front air sacs/lungs definitely sounded raspy. There was no nasal discharge really that day. She was around 335-338 grams but he said with her moving around on the scale, it's hard to get an exact weight and today's weight (or last check's weight) could have been inaccurate. I've been getting 335-338 grams at home.
She's been on Cipro morning and night since (he suggested stopping again and doing heat with short 15-20 minute periods of humidity in between), but I don't really want to pull her off antibiotics. Her poops look good and she's pooping quite a bit so I'm pretty sure she's eating enough. She's picking at seeds and occasionally other foods. I'm offering a dish of formula 3-4x a day while she is sick, as it's her favorite. Today her nare looked clogged again. She still sounds super raspy. She gets out of breath so easily if she's out of her cage.
I just wanted to post a comprehensive timeline of what's been going on as I've only posted snippets. The vet suggested holding off on radiographs as it wouldn't change treatment. He said if she DID have pneumonia it would be 21 days on Cipro. I'm thinking I should just treat her the 21 days just in case. He did say it's unlikely aspiration with her drinking out of a shallow dish. He thinks maybe a respiratory infection or a weird birth defect? Does anyone else have any other ideas? Our experienced avian veterinarians are limited.
She is not worse, but she also doesn't seem like she's getting better. Thoughts?
On Sunday (July 16th), we noticed she had a little bit of clear discharge on one side of her nares (right side). No other real symptoms. Just some clear liquid. I called my veterinarian Monday morning and made an appointment for Tuesday just to get her looked at. They said she was around 252 grams and did her DNA test (how we now know she is a female). He said it might be a sinus infection since it's just on one side and he heard a little bit of raspy noises when she breathed (but he listened to her with a stethoscope and her lungs and air sacs sounded clear). That was on July 18th. He said to increase heat around her cage and keep her confined to a smaller area. He prescribed Cipro but told us to hold off on giving it to her and to see if it cleared up on its own with an increase in temperature. He also flushed the one nare that was getting clogged.
He didn't want to start strong antibiotics on a baby before it was needed. It seemed like it was getting better. The discharge cleared up. She seemed OK. We also stopped syringe feeding per his recommendation and just started offering her formula out of a shallow dish 2x a day instead (with lots of solids in between)!
She usually sleeps in a 24" kennel every evening, covered, with a couple of perches, her pellets/seeds, water, and a toy! I put her to bed the night of July 25th, she was fine. The morning of July 26th we woke up and I brought her from her little kennel out to her bigger cage in our living room (32" x 32" corner cage). I gave her the formula in the dish and noticed within 5 minutes of her eating it, she was making a weird sneezing noise/seemed like she was trying to regurgitate. She was breathing with her mouth open, pretty heavily. Of course, our vet is closed on Wednesdays. This is the first she acted sicker.
I gave her a dose of the Cipro that morning and night and brought her in to our vet the next day (27th). He said her back air sacs sounded clear but front air sacs/lungs definitely sounded raspy. There was no nasal discharge really that day. She was around 335-338 grams but he said with her moving around on the scale, it's hard to get an exact weight and today's weight (or last check's weight) could have been inaccurate. I've been getting 335-338 grams at home.
She's been on Cipro morning and night since (he suggested stopping again and doing heat with short 15-20 minute periods of humidity in between), but I don't really want to pull her off antibiotics. Her poops look good and she's pooping quite a bit so I'm pretty sure she's eating enough. She's picking at seeds and occasionally other foods. I'm offering a dish of formula 3-4x a day while she is sick, as it's her favorite. Today her nare looked clogged again. She still sounds super raspy. She gets out of breath so easily if she's out of her cage.
I just wanted to post a comprehensive timeline of what's been going on as I've only posted snippets. The vet suggested holding off on radiographs as it wouldn't change treatment. He said if she DID have pneumonia it would be 21 days on Cipro. I'm thinking I should just treat her the 21 days just in case. He did say it's unlikely aspiration with her drinking out of a shallow dish. He thinks maybe a respiratory infection or a weird birth defect? Does anyone else have any other ideas? Our experienced avian veterinarians are limited.
She is not worse, but she also doesn't seem like she's getting better. Thoughts?
