....my little sick canary

[crimson]

this is one of my baby canaries that I have bred, and she is gorgeous.
It started yesterday, I noticed she was sleeping with her head tucked.
I left the bird room for a moment, then when I came back she was on the bottom of the cage, in the corner. her sibling flew down next to her, sensing something was wrong. she is just 8 weeks old.

then she laid on her side, with one of her feet curling inwards, almost like paralysis.
I gently picked her up, and she just laid still in my hands, looking at me, but not moving.

I placed her in a smaller clean cage, laying on her side. I put a heat lamp on, covered the cage with a beach towel, feeling helpless, wracking my brain what could have brought this on.
I checked on her a few minutes later, and woooosh, all of a sudden she snaps out of it, and flies up to her perch, like nothing happened.

not knowing if this could be caused by bacterial,a fungus, etc....I have some left over meds here, just sitting in my fridge wasting away.
we have absolutely no money right now for a vet visit, and I sensed that if she did not receive immediate treatment her fate would happen sooner than I care to admit....I also know my normal avian vet would not be in until Friday.
It almost resembles a seizure of sorts, but again, not knowing and only guessing is frustrating.
so I took my best guess and prayed it would help her.
I gave her Novo Trimel, and Nystatin Suspension, yesterday, two doses before bed, and some water through an eye dropper. the dosage on the bottle was meant for one of my larger finches that is around the same size and weight....which worked in my favour, cause I wouldn't have a clue, how much to give.

this morning, she was on the bottom of the cage, laying on her side....not good.

I gave her more meds, which she took readily, then I decided I would hand feed her with the Lafebers hand feeding formula, with some electrolytes added.
she took that very well, and she fumbled into the seed cup and has remained there.
she just sits there, with her eyes open, not moving. her foot is still curled, and is unable to use it.
I know mites can cause anemia, and paralysis, but I treat all my birds with Ivermectin regularly, as I have gouldian finches, and they are highly susceptible to them, along with canaries.

she is my little beauty

I've had over 30 babies born here,(from 3 different parents) all healthy, until now...and I am baffled.

EDIT: she was in a cage with 4 other birds, and I could not tell if her poop was poor. being in the single cage, she has more urates that poop, but I am suspecting that is from lack of eating....or hoping it is.

anybody have any thoughts?
here is a picture of her:

IMG_2353_zps72c43ad4.jpg Photo by bmckellar735 | Photobucket

 

[ruffledfeathers]

She is absolutely gorgeous. I'm so sorry she is ill. I have only had 2 canaries and the one who was sickly never had anything like this, so i have nothing to add. Your vet is gone til Friday?? Is there an answering machine/service where you could even get a call in for a question?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Aaawww.....Beth, I'm so sorry. I wish I could help, but I am totally clueless. I truly hope she recovers completely.

HUGS!!!

 

[forbey]

Do you have a spare cage to quarantene her? It would make it easier to observe her, her droppings and make sure if it is something contagious she doesn't share it.

 

[crimson]

She is absolutely gorgeous. I'm so sorry she is ill. I have only had 2 canaries and the one who was sickly never had anything like this, so i have nothing to add. Your vet is gone til Friday?? Is there an answering machine/service where you could even get a call in for a question?

thanks
the vets are open, it's just he's not there, and there isn't another vet available, that knows birds....you know how vets are, you describe the symptoms, and most of them say, we can't assess them over the phone, your best option is to bring them in....ugggg I HATE it when they say that.....
but on a good note, I just went in to feed her again, and she had much more energy this time. she flew around the cage when I went to grab her, but then pooped right out again....but she's taking what I am offering, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.....that's all I can do.

 

[crimson]

Do you have a spare cage to quarantene her? It would make it easier to observe her, her droppings and make sure if it is something contagious she doesn't share it.

Forbey....I placed her in a smaller clean cage, by herself....I mentioned that in my original post.....I guessed you missed it

 

[crimson]

Aaawww.....Beth, I'm so sorry. I wish I could help, but I am totally clueless. I truly hope she recovers completely.

HUGS!!!

thanks wendy, I sure hope so, gee you just don't know when a bird is going to get sick, and by then it's often too late....I just hope I got it in time, what ever it is.
thanks for the hugs

 

[JerseyWendy]

How's your pretty girl doing today, Beth??

 

[crimson]

How's your pretty girl doing today, Beth??

HER LEGS ARE STILL PARALYZED, but she flies a bit better. has a bit more energy. I'm pretty sure it's a neurological issue, I've seen it before, I just don't know what's causing it. Canaries seem to get this, and none of my other birds do. it is brought on by stress.
I'm giving her 1 iron drop right into her feeding formula, did you know if your bird is anemic, it can cause paralysis?
today I'll mix some egg food for protein right into the formula which will help.
the frustrating thing is canaries and extremely difficult to feed, they don't open their beak like parrots do,!....so they don't get much food, and I don't want to hold her for very long in fear of stressing her out too much.
thanks for asking

 

[JerseyWendy]

I truly hope she continues to improve for you. Thanks for the update, and NO, I had NO idea about the iron deficiencey thing.

 

[lotosha]

Hope this little bird will recover soon!!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Any improvement of your pretty girl today, Beth???

 

[MissTaz]

I'm so sorry about your sweet bird!! I hope that it is doing better today! Your sweet feather baby will be in my thoughts...

 

[chippy]

Just saw this and wondered how she is doing?

 

[Mayden]

Thought I should chime in, the foot thing reminds me of my Wonsy. She suffered multiple strokes(?) but was originally 'okay' asides from her feet. Which were (asides from her orientation) the first to suffer. She would clamp them and they'd stay like that. After that he breathing became laboured (her symptoms got better and worse over a few days with the breathing being the last.)

Any word of being able to see the Vet soon? Glad the little lady is holding on! Wish we could have gotten Wonsy to a decent vet when she was like this. x

 

[crimson]

Just saw this and wondered how she is doing?

ALL BETTER!!!, holy cow, like night and day. I've seen it before in canaries, they get fluffed up, not feeling well, then become totally paralyzed, fall to the bottom of the cage, they can't fly, nothing. then their legs become all curled up.

I saw this once before a few years back when I had just a terrible bout with red mites...now that's a story I'm going to have to tell one day.
Anyways, I nursed my canaries back to health, and one of the things I gave them was iron drops. Just one drop in their water per day, which was administered with an eye dropper.
within 4-7 days they are back to normal....it's the freakiest thing I've ever seen.
It just goes to show you how important iron is.
I have a video of her struggling to move around in her hospital cage, but it won't load onto you tube, something is wrong with the file...kind of frustrating.
But she has been fine ever since, I still put 1 drop of iron in their water about once a week now, just to make sure.
whew!!!