Acting Different...

[Wingnut]

Hey everyone! I am recently getting over a really bad illness. I had fevers, sweats, and now chest congestion that doesn’t seem to end. I’m taking antibiotics, but I think this may have been viral....anyways!
While I’ve been ill, my Lovebird “Kiwi” has stayed pretty much in the same room with me. I know it’s near rare for a bird to contract an illness from a human, but she has been acting differently these past few days.
1) She’s been quieter. Usually she’ll cheep so loud to want to come out and play, but instead she just sits quietly or eats. When I take her out she will play on her hanging bird swing, or chew the toys holding it.
2) I clipped her flight feathers maybe about a week ago...so maybe she’s depressed from that?

It doesn’t seem bad when I type this, but to me something just seems “off”. She has been sneezing a little bit and does seem to be more tired then usual. Any ideas or tips on what I should do?

 

[ChristaNL]

Clipping feathers will always effect a bird anyway (was this her first clip ever?), but maybe she is just not getting enough undisturbed sleep with a coughing, sneezing, tossing and turning human neighbour at all hours of the night?

 

[Laurasea]

Checked , yep you in Florida like me, yep you sick like me too! I hope you get to feeling better , mine is stuck in my chest too... miserable! If your burd is sneezing it could have it's own illness, ( maybe un related to yours) hopefully! Birds with bird flu really aren't Sneezy like us it effects their internal organs and is shed in the GI...(from my limited knowledge)now if you have something bacterial that is more easily shared... Anyway with sneezing and behavior Change it's probably best to confer with a vet. I hope you kick this soon, how long have you been sick? I think I'm still day eight, I did have strep throat st the start and still on the antibiotics, but no more throat lessions, just flu for me. I would try feeding your love bird foods with vit A , and check in with a vet. Hope you all get better!!!

 

[texsize]

Maybe your bird knows your sick and empathizes with you (feels down cuz you feel down).
They can pick up on the mood of their human to an amazing degree.

 

[Wingnut]

Thank you for the quick replies!!! I am going on...day 5 of this junk. I really didn’t have any other symptoms than a fever the first few days. Now it’s kind of turned into this chest infection.

I never thought about keeping her up too late at night with my coughing and dying noises! Haha.
I think to be safe I may just make a checkup appointment with the vet to make sure something else isn’t going on. When I clipped her wings she almost seemed to enjoy it and it went very easily. However, I know many birds will get warm, quiet, and puffy once they find out they can’t fly all too well anymore.

Here’s a quick picture of her right now asleep on her ceiling toy/swing/thing....which I just realized is about to come apart LOL

 

[Laurasea]

Cute hanging toy looks like fun, ya just barely hanging on huh?

 

[EllenD]

I'm sorry that you've been sick, it does sound viral, but if you're not markedly better by the time you finish the antibiotics, then you need to go back to your doctor. because you never know, it could be Pneumonia or something else that the antibiotics weren't effective against, you may need a different one (The Z-Packs aren't working nearly as well as they did a few years ago, if that's what they gave you)...

As for Kiwi, she isn't going to catch any type of illness from you, unless you have a bacterial or fungal infection and you were letting her eat from your mouth or something, otherwise she cannot contract a human virus...I'd say that either Kiwi knows you're sick and is feeling empathy for you, or the wing-clipping has her a bit stressed...

***Just a question for you about the wing-clipping, did they clip BOTH wings, and did they only clip a few of her outermost Primaries? They didn't go into her Secondaries did they? A bad clipping can cause them pain, and if they go crazy and clip into their Secondaries they can't even glide to the floor and they drop like a stone and can severely injure themselves...And if they only clip one wing, this puts tremendous imbalance into their spine and this causes severe pain and over-time permanent damage...So just checking...

Otherwise, I'd say that watch Kiwi, if she starts sleeping all day long, is "puffed-up" constantly all day, if her appetite slows or stops, if she vomits, etc., then these are your sure signs that she is actually ill or in pain and needs to see your Avian Vet ASAP...And if when you get back to normal and your household routine gets back to normal, but still Kiwi is acting oddly to you, then I'd definitely get her to your Avian Vet for a Fecal Culture and Blood-Work...You know that birds hide all outward-signs of illness for as long as they can, which can be for months and months, so any little signs have to be taken seriously. And that's why I said if you and everything else in your home go back to normal but Kiwi does not, then get her to your Avian Vet...

 

[Wingnut]

Thank you for the awesome replies! I did make an appointment with the vet for tomorrow. One thing that the receptionist said is my appointment will have to be outside because Lovebirds carry “Beak and Feather Disease”? I’ve been around birds all my life and have never heard of this. But to have an appointment outside out of fear of spreading the disease....what is this?! I have my Lovebird occasionally play with a cockatiel, should I be concerned? Also it is not a Zoonotic disease as well is it?

 

[Morty]

Thank you for the quick replies!!! I am going on...day 5 of this junk.

5 days? Those are rookie numbers, you gotta pump those up!

Seriously though I never get sick for less than 2 weeks I feel like lol.

 

[Laurasea]

Thank you for the awesome replies! I did make an appointment with the vet for tomorrow. One thing that the receptionist said is my appointment will have to be outside because Lovebirds carry “Beak and Feather Disease”? I’ve been around birds all my life and have never heard of this. But to have an appointment outside out of fear of spreading the disease....what is this?! I have my Lovebird occasionally play with a cockatiel, should I be concerned? Also it is not a Zoonotic disease as well is it?

Any parrot can have beak and feather disease....how did the appointment go? Do you feel better? I'm on day 12 I think.. just have a cough now feeling about 75%
Jeep us posted

 

[EllenD]

This isn't a Certified Avian Vet is it? If it was then that statement wouldn't have been made...ANY species of parrot can carry/have PBFD, not just LoveBirds, and I've not ever once heard of having an appointment outside because a bird might be sick...Not only that, but you probably told them that she's not acting herself, she's sleeping a bit more or a bit more quiet, and they worry about PBFD? Makes no sense at all...

This is a red-flag that you need to find a new Avian Vet, either a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet...If this actually is the office of a CAV that told you this and had your bird's appointment "outside", then you still need to find a new Vet...

 

[Wingnut]

The Vet I went to is Dr. Backos who is known throughout the state of Florida. He was very nice and answered all my questions, but it kind of freaked me out when him and his assistant walked out in hazmat gear to examine my Lovebird. The entire visit was outdoors, but it was very calm and well handled I must say...as for Kiwi....they tested her for Beak and Feather, psitaccossis, and other stuff. Her white blood cell count is double what it should be so he prescribed an oral antibiotic for me to give her twice a day. She’s so traumatized and I had no idea she was sick....I’m kind of worried about her )’:

This is who I went to: http://www.backosbirdclinic.net/

 

[Laurasea]

You did great, you got her to the vet, you noticed the behavior change and sneezing, a lit of people would have blown that off. I'm so glad you had blood work done and are getting her treatment. Just not sure of the whole outside thing, weird. I'm leaning towards psittacosis, which is treatable, but you have to treat for a long time, clean everything very well to not get a relapse which is common. I hope what ever the birdie has she gets better quick!

 

[Wingnut]

If it is psitacossis (parrot fever)....humans can catch that! I’ve always read about it and never really thought about a bird of mine catching it, but it’s kind of freaky. Also with me being a hypochondriac it doesn’t help haha! Whatever it may be I hope she gets better soon as well. ): Thank you for the quick replies Laurasea!

 

[ChristaNL]

Psittacosis is overrated in humans
- I've caught it a couple of times, even as a child- never had much issues with it (slight flue-like symptoms, no meds required, it what we have an immunesystem for). Some people get a really bad pneumonia and have be hospitalized (usually very old or young people and/or with compromised immunesytems).

It is just another bacteria... and can be easily treated if caught early enough.
(birds and humans)


ROFL@hazmatsuits, there are more birds flying around who carry this bacteria with them than ones without-- so I do not understand all the drama.

 

[EllenD]

Psittacosis Chlamydia isn't a huge deal if it's caught early, but a common issue is that they don't prescribe a long-enough course of Doxycycline and it comes back over and over again...I don't know how long a course they gave you, but the minimum antibiotic treatment should be 21-days, and the one that works best is 45-days. No joke, relapses happen all the time because they don't give a long enough course of antibiotics...So keep that in-mind...

 

[Wingnut]

Thank you guys! The vet gave me 21 days of “Baytril with Diflucan” antibiotics. I gave her first dose this morning which she didn’t enjoy very much. Poor thing, I hope she’ll start to feel better.

 

[Laurasea]

Like CristaNL said, we have lots of people and people from around the world who have Parrots very sick with psittacosis , and never do they mention getting sick themselves, and never are vets saying to the owners to get their butts to their own doctor for treatment. Now if you ever have a pet with leptospirosis tell your doctor right away! Your vet tested for this so you should get actual results telling you yes or no on the psittacosis. I hope you are well from flu, me at two weeks now and having a relapse, my mom thinking of cancelling Christmas lol cuz she doesn't want to catch it! Ugh.....

 

[EllenD]

I question giving Baytril (Enrofloxacin) and Diflucan (an anti-fungal???) for Psittacosis...Doxycycline is the standard of treatment, and then some others, but never have I heard of Baytril being given for it, it's a totally different group of antibiotics...And did he test positive for a Yeast infection as well?

 

[noodles123]

Could the illness you had be psittacosis?
I have known people who have gotten it and they said it was like a bad flu--- they had to be on antibiotics for a long time though, so you might mention this to the doctor.