lethargic Quaker breathing hard

[Jcas]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum and new to owning a quaker. JJ the Quaker parrot came to me after his owner suffered a medical emergency and could no longer care for him. As far as I know, he is about 15-20 years old and I've had him about 2 months. He shares the room with my two budgies who are healthy. This morning, JJ seemed totally fine, hollering, whistling, playing with his toys, but by afternoon he got quieter and quieter, and now, about 6pm, he's sitting in the bottom of his cage, generally lethargic and breathing a little heavy. He has still been moving around some and preening. I can't hear a rasp in his breath, but when he squawks or talks he sounds a bit hoarse and raspy. He's not fluffed up, actually his feathers are sort of slicked down. His droppings seem fairly normal and he was eating as of this afternoon but not now. He occasionally rubs his beak on the bars and scratches his neck/ throat area with his foot, but he doesn't seem to be choking. I don't see any discharge coming from his nostrils, but I'm wondering if he could have some kind of sinus/respiratory issue? The only other thing I can think is that he had a "night fright" last night. Could he have injured himself? Again, he seemed quite happy and energetic this morning. Any advice is greatly appreciated; we are way out in the country and there are no avian vets within many hours drive of us, which makes this difficult.

 

[Kentuckienne]

There’s no way to diagnose the problem without a visit to an avian vet. Second best option is a vet who has some experience treating sick birds. The problem is that birds are very good at concealing any illness, so by the time the bird looks sick it is often too late.

The best thing you can do without a vet is to give your bird supportive care and keep him away from your other birds. If you search these forums you will find directions for building a “hospital cage” for him. This is basically a small box, with food and water bowls on the floor - easy to reach and hard to tip over - with a towel to lie on, and some kind of heat source. Like a heating pad underneath - and it must just be barely warm, not hot. The idea is to keep the bird warm, comfortable, and confined where they can feel safe and hopefully recover.

But if there is an infection, without a test at the vet there is no way to know what antibiotics or antifungals are needed. So just in case it’s something bad and contagious, keep the sick bird far away from your other birds and wash hands - maybe even change clothes - before going from handling the sick bird to your other ones.

 

[Laurasea]

I would consider this a sick burd emergency and get him into veterinarian tomorrow!

You often don't have much time . When a burd is in the bottom of a cage and especially with breathing changes it Avian veterinarian emergency. Im not a regular vet emergency girl. But I'd be waiting at the Avian veterinarian in the morning with my bird.

 

[HeatherG]

I agree. Bird needs to be checked out by the vet. He’s getting older and who knows what’s going on? Keep him warm and quiet and give his favorite foods to keep him eating.

I hope things go well for you.

 

[Jcas]

Hello,
thank you so much for your kind words and replies. JJ slowly improved over last night and was up on his normal nighttime roost by bedtime. This morning he is MUCH better; he is no longer breathing hard, he's climbing around, preening, and eating like crazy. He's even been playing with his toys a little and talking to me (he has a pretty big vocabulary). On close inspection, I did find a tiny mark by his right eye that looks like a little bruise. At this point, I'm thinking that he did somehow injure himself and his reaction last night was to pain and not illness. Whatever it was, he seems to be feeling pretty good this morning! I will continue to monitor him closely, but hopefully last night was just a crazy one time deal. My uncle was a small animal and bird specialist and I would always call him when things like this came up. He always knew what to do. He passed away last year and I miss him dearly all the time but more than ever when things like this happen. Thank you again for your responses!

 

[texsize]

I don’t know if quaker parrots are subject to “night fright “.
But if you’re little guy got spooked, flapped around in the cage injuring himself then the difficulty breathing could have been related to exertion or fright.
And it would have eased over time.
Don”t know if that’s what happened but it could be.

 

[Laurasea]

If he had a night fright but then was fine all day until the end if the day when he became lethargic on bottom of cage and breathing hard. Then no I don't think the 2 are related.
It could possibly be an air born toxin like the non stick Teflon chemicals... I would think on and investigate . What were you cooking dinner with?
Im glad he seems fine now . Sure hope that this was a one time thing!
Birds will hide being sick until they can't. Anything like this and I would seek Avian veterinarian advice. Most all of us have to travel an hour or more to see our Avian veterinarian.

 

[HeatherG]

You were so concerned about your bird, and I was, too. if you can manage it I would still have him checked by an avian vet. By that I mean if you can possibly afford it. I just think it would be wise.

But I HOPE you are right; that he panicked and hurt himself, and that he will be fine.

Please keep an eye on him!!