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My Bird is Sick, What’ll
I do?
“Buffy does not
look good.” He’s sitting quietly in the corner of his cage instead
of bouncing from perch to perch like he usually does. His feathers
are all fluffed up and he hasn’t chirped all day. He keeps nodding
his head and his eyes are listless, dull and keep closing. What do
you do?
Step One-
Establish a hospital cage. Place a lamp with a bare 40-watt light
bulb at one side of the cage. The bulb should be between 2 to 6
inches away from the cage and placed so that it sits at the end of
a perch. Use a bath towel or cloth to cover the three opposing
sides and the top of the cage. This arrangement will raise the
temperature in the cage, calming the bird and relieving the stress
associated with being ill. Placing the lamp at the end of the perch
allows the bird to move closer to the bulb for greater warmth, or
move away to cool down.
Step Two-
Carefully examine the recent droppings. Look for excessively wet or
dry and crusty droppings. Remember that a bird’s droppings contain
both urine (the white matter) and feces (the dark matter). A loose
dropping that is mostly white is excessive urine perhaps caused by
excessive drinking or wet food intake. A dropping where the dark
matter is the loose portion may indicate diarrhea or some sort of
intestinal or digestive disorder.
Step Three-
Examine the bird carefully. Look for staining around the vent and
above the nostrils. A stained vent can be caused by diarrhea. Those
above the nostrils indicate sneezing and a possible respiratory
problem. Check for wounds and possible traumatic injuries such as
broken wings or legs. Determine if the bird’s weight seems normal.
Feel the keel (down the center of the breast) to see if it is
protruding. If it is feel the breast muscles on either side to see
if there is significant tissue loss. Look for lumps and swollen
tissue particularly in the abdomen.
Step four- Contact
your veterinarian. Use the results of the examination outlined in
steps 2 and 3 above to describe your bird’s condition to the vet.
This information will assist the vet to determine the best course
of action; bring the bird in to the office, phone in a prescription
to a local pharmacy, use of a humidifier or whatever.
Step Five- Follow
the veterinarian’s advice. This may appear to be a rather foolish
statement but it really isn’t. Time and time again we’ve heard of
bird owners ignoring professional advice and resorting to home
remedies that they read about on the internet or heard from old
time breeders. Many of these home remedies were developed decades
ago when proper veterinary care wasn’t available for birds. These
remedies were desperate attempts by bird breeders to save sick
birds at a time before sound medical research on avian disease was
available. This is no longer the case. Please follow your
veterinarian’s advice.
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