Sickly or am I paranoid? (Advice needed)

[Jamisonp]

I recently took Java (my gcc) to the vet because he had a bit of a sneezing fit and I wanted to make sure he was okay. He had a bit of a rough drive there and back but the vet said he looked great and everything seemed normal other than a slight overgrowth of bacteria in his mouth that he now has antibiotics for. They told me to keep an eye out for more sneezing, being puffed up, and acting abnormally. Here's where I need advice, I'm not sure if I'm just being an overbearing dad (I have had issues with this previously and still struggle) but I feel like he is so puffy! My husband and mom disagree and say he looks normal and that I'm too shook up. I just wanted to get some outside perspective on if he looks puffy or sickly in the pictures I'm going to link. I can't figure out how to actually attach a picture on here so I'm gonna link a tweet with the images I wanted to share. https://twitter.com/Jconurepictures/status/1316143933399867392?s=19

 

[Laurasea]

Nothing is more scary then then thinking yiur baby us sick. Great job at getting him to tge vet right away!

Make sure no drafts, keep tge home a little warmer if you can. Warmth really helps burds that are sick.

Make sure you don't add vitamins or anything to the water. And keep the water bowl clean and fresh.

Beautiful GCC. I couldn't tell anything in the picture. You can add thumb nail picture by clicking the go advanced button under tge text box, click tge paperclip upload a pic.

A very good thing to be in the habit of, is weighing your bird every week and writing it down. You can buy a digital kitchen scale that weighs in grams. Often weight loss us the first sign something us up.

I use a radiant heat panel, called the sweeter heater, you can find on Amazon. The smallest suze us more than enough, in fact I hang ut on tge outside off to one side and kind of low,. Dont fully cover cage when used so not to hot. Or you can attach to something so you can set it back a half foot from the cage. This isn't something you have to have. But sure comes in handy when a burd is sick, or chills from drafts in cold weather. I live in Florida, I hsve it because AC can be drafty, or winters as our heat doesn't work great.

Live culture yogurt with no artificial sweetners us safe for birds. A half teaspoon is enough. Since your bird is on antibiotics, I would offer every other day. If you are lucky like me, your bird will lick it off your fingers

 

[Piasa]

Puffed up sleepy behavior/lethargy that is prolonged is the kind of puffed up you'll see from illness. If he's sneezing a lot, or stretching his neck and opening his beak, flicking his head a lot, or rubbing his face - these are all signs of illness -- if he's not eating, or if there's a lot of mucus. If you have a comfortable relation with your vet's office and you are worried, just call and talk to someone there a little. They can give you advice specific to Java.
IMO looking at his photos, he looks alert and happy, but it is so hard to tell over a photo, and birds are good at hiding illness since their lives depend on it. Also remember it takes a couple days of being on an antibiotic to start to feel better.

If Java eats herbs or vegetables, you can give him some extra healthy stuff too. 2 ways to heal illness, you can attack the bad stuff (antibiotics etc) and you can strengthen the good stuff/tonify (feed foods with a little basil or oregano, carrots, leafy greens -- many things help strengthen them).
He will take cues from you, so try to stay calm for him, spend time together. Green cheeks are super tough, and he's got someone who loves him looking out for him

 

[Jamisonp]

Thank you for the kindess and your advice! I'll ask my husband to pick up some yogurt for him on the way home and I'll look into all the other stuff you suggested as well

Nothing is more scary then then thinking yiur baby us sick. Great job at getting him to tge vet right away!

Make sure no drafts, keep tge home a little warmer if you can. Warmth really helps burds that are sick.

Make sure you don't add vitamins or anything to the water. And keep the water bowl clean and fresh.

Beautiful GCC. I couldn't tell anything in the picture. You can add thumb nail picture by clicking the go advanced button under tge text box, click tge paperclip upload a pic.

A very good thing to be in the habit of, is weighing your bird every week and writing it down. You can buy a digital kitchen scale that weighs in grams. Often weight loss us the first sign something us up.

I use a radiant heat panel, called the sweeter heater, you can find on Amazon. The smallest suze us more than enough, in fact I hang ut on tge outside off to one side and kind of low,. Dont fully cover cage when used so not to hot. Or you can attach to something so you can set it back a half foot from the cage. This isn't something you have to have. But sure comes in handy when a burd is sick, or chills from drafts in cold weather. I live in Florida, I hsve it because AC can be drafty, or winters as our heat doesn't work great.

Live culture yogurt with no artificial sweetners us safe for birds. A half teaspoon is enough. Since your bird is on antibiotics, I would offer every other day. If you are lucky like me, your bird will lick it off your fingers

 

[Jamisonp]

He does seem a little extra tired and he was rubbing his face quite a bit earlier but I think it was related to stress from the car ride I'll make sure to keep an eye out for all of those things good news is he's been eating and drinking normally. He usually loves eating fresh fruits but struggles with veggies and herbs but we'll give it a shot again. Thank you for your advice and help!

Puffed up sleepy behavior/lethargy that is prolonged is the kind of puffed up you'll see from illness. If he's sneezing a lot, or stretching his neck and opening his beak, flicking his head a lot, or rubbing his face - these are all signs of illness -- if he's not eating, or if there's a lot of mucus. If you have a comfortable relation with your vet's office and you are worried, just call and talk to someone there a little. They can give you advice specific to Java.
IMO looking at his photos, he looks alert and happy, but it is so hard to tell over a photo, and birds are good at hiding illness since their lives depend on it. Also remember it takes a couple days of being on an antibiotic to start to feel better.

If Java eats herbs or vegetables, you can give him some extra healthy stuff too. 2 ways to heal illness, you can attack the bad stuff (antibiotics etc) and you can strengthen the good stuff/tonify (feed foods with a little basil or oregano, carrots, leafy greens -- many things help strengthen them).
He will take cues from you, so try to stay calm for him, spend time together. Green cheeks are super tough, and he's got someone who loves him looking out for him

 

[Scott]

Java looks great, but birds are masters of disguise as prey animals. Thankfully you were attentive and noticed subtle changes in addition to sneezing. I'd guess the vet prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic, so if properly diagnosed the sneezing should soon stop.

 

[wrench13]

He looks OK to me, but really, as previously stated by some of our most experienced members, that is not how to detect illness in parrots. I would strongly recommend getting a digital kitchen scale, they are relatively cheap on amazon, and some come with a perch that goes on top. Less than $40. Get in the habit of weighing him 2-3X a week or more and record the weight. Parrots can very thier weight a little on a day to day basis, but if you find a weight loss of more than 5% or so or a steady decline, there will be something wrong. Its important to weigh at the same time every day, best is after he has had his big morning poop, but before you give him breakfast. That way you will know his true weight and can spot any change easily.

 

[noodles123]

Did the vet do a gram-stain as well?

How long is your antibiotic course? Mine usually had me bring her back for a re-check. If you weigh daily, you WILL see some fluctuation, so try not to worry too much if you do-- it's important to know how much your usually fluctuates, so you might as your vet (if you have a lot of weights on file)

It is smart of you to be paranoid, because they do hide illness. Ask your vet if you can text pictures

 

[Jamisonp]

Thank you everyone for the advice and for the feedback on the pictures. I know that just looking at a bird really isn't a great way to tell if they're sick or not just I was just so on edge and genuinely thought he looked so raggedy and sick and I just wanted everyone's thoughts. I'm not so high strung about him being sick now my anxiety has come down over the past few days. He's had a sneeze here or there but nothing crazy and no discharge. As far as the vet appointment went I have no clue if they did a gram-stain for him or not, pretty much all I got from the vet was that he looked really healthy, is a healthy weight, and that they did a slide for the bacteria in his mouth and that he had a little too much of one kind and that it might be irritating his nose because of it. He said that he could go 50/50 on if he needed the antibiotics ( it's enrofloxacin btw) or not and that I should give it a day or two and if I was still concerned to go ahead and start them. Today is his third day out of two weeks on them and it's been a bit of a struggle because he's scared of the syringe and doesn't like the taste of the meds. I tried mixing it with some baby food today and he actually liked it and took it so I think we'll continue doing that! Unfortunately I'm not super close with this vet and if I call with questions they get a little annoyed �� also I apologise if this isn't the proper way to respond to everyone, I'm not very good at this whole forum thing

 

[noodles123]

You need a vet that will talk to you...and I mean it....I assume your vet did tests to determine that there was a bacterial infection, but you are owed more than what you have been given...Also, you should make it a point to inquire each time..

 

[Jamisonp]

What he told me he did was take a sample and look at it on a slide, not sure what other kind of testing was done. I would like to find a better vet for him to go to, being able to have an open line of communication would be beneficial for a lot of reasons. It's just a little difficult with the area I live in as there really aren't a lot of good options near me this is the second one I've been to and one doctor there is really kind and has been multiple of my guys but the one that saw Java wasn't nearly as helpful. I do always make a point to ask what was done and what it all means etc, this last vet visit was no different, he just didn't offer much insight or explain it very well.

 

[Scott]

First, your forum decorum is excellent, no worries! Quite often we are collectively presented with a problem and at some point the member stops updating. Or worse, a dire emergency and zero feedback.

A vet ought take the time to fully answer questions either verbally or in writing. I'd encourage you to prepare questions in advance - often the day of visit we become distracted or the vet is just too pushed for time. Most vets score an A+ in "Billing 101" and have no problem fully charging for services rendered. Java's case may be on the fence requiring antibiotics, so you need guidance if presented with a choice.

Java may become bored with baby food, so have a backup or two. Most of my birds love plain cooked oatmeal at room temperature, a perfect conduit for meds. You'll want to mix with smallest possible amount of cereal to ensure full dose. Others report a piece of bread or yam/sweet potato infused with the meds is acceptable.

 

[Laurasea]

Yep bread worked for me when I had to give meds.

If they looked on a slide they did a gram stain, its the only way to tell.

I hope your baby us feeling well. If you start the meds, finish them. As starting and stopping isn't good. For sure its tricky getting them to take them! So great job in finding anything that works

Sometimes diet csn cause a switch in bacteria . I can't remember tour bird diet.
Did your bird take the yogurt?

Thanks for the update. Can't wait for the happy all clear,

 

[Jamisonp]

Awesome recommendations for the other ways to give meds, I'll be sure to try them that way he doesn't suspect anything lol. Also thank you for clarifying the gram-stain thing. We're definitely gonna finish them, we give animals meds at my work and I've seen how bad it is for them to start and stop Java is on fruit blend zupreem with mix of the pure fun zupreem as his main diet he also gets lots of fresh and frozen fruits to try as well as a variety of treats and things. I offer him seeds and fresh and frozen veggies but he never likes them enough to keep eating them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wasn't able to get to the store to pick up the yogurt until yesterday and I was so excited to try the baby food with him so that ended up being our test for the night. We're gonna try the yogurt today and I'll update yall on how it goes!

 

[Laurasea]

ok, all the fruits and sugars in his diet are likely the problem. This is a high sugar diet and that causes bacteria overgrowth, and a shift in the make up of the flora.

You've gotta get more veggies in. You can offer cooked butternut squash, warm up some veggies like carrots, green besns, corn, peas, ect and mince and to fresh vooked rice or pasta. Thus warm mix is often eaten!! And its a great start.

Gotta run, sorry

 

[Jamisonp]

sorry for not updating for so long, had a lot of work stuff and bird stuff going on at once and I got a little overwhelmed. Good news is Java is now done with his meds and seems to be doing better on the sneezing front. He's been very energetic and is playing a lot so I'm really happy with how his antibiotic course went as far as the veggies and fruits thing goes i totally didn't realize it was too much fruit so that has changed! the vets I've talked to about my birds always said that feeding as much fruit as i had been was good and helpful as long as it didnt make up more than about 40% of their diets. As far as veggies goes I've been trying to offer more in different forms and stuff as of late, we're still on a struggle bus with that one though :/ but all we can do is try. The only negative that's come of this has been Java has developed a bit of trust issues bc he hated taking his meds so much hes already doing better now that hes been off them for for a few days though so hopefully he'll get cuddly again soon lol. thanks for all the advice! i was always super scared to join the forum and to post but yall have made me feel a lot better <3

 

[Scott]

Awesome update! I'm sure Java will quickly forget the forced "antibiotic bombs" necessary for his well being.

Some great advice and tips in the Parrot Food, Recipes, and Diet Forum. Two helpful stickies: http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

 

[noodles123]

Awesome recommendations for the other ways to give meds, I'll be sure to try them that way he doesn't suspect anything lol. Also thank you for clarifying the gram-stain thing. We're definitely gonna finish them, we give animals meds at my work and I've seen how bad it is for them to start and stop Java is on fruit blend zupreem with mix of the pure fun zupreem as his main diet he also gets lots of fresh and frozen fruits to try as well as a variety of treats and things. I offer him seeds and fresh and frozen veggies but he never likes them enough to keep eating them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wasn't able to get to the store to pick up the yogurt until yesterday and I was so excited to try the baby food with him so that ended up being our test for the night. We're gonna try the yogurt today and I'll update yall on how it goes!

Wean him off the zupreem fruit blend slowly because it's still better than nothing...It's kind of like the "Lucky Charms" vs "Grape Nuts" lol (only more nutritious to an extent). They aren't the awful, they just aren't the best, but I don't think I would consider them harmful (sure, some added sugar and color...but if your bird will eat it and won't eat the others, you shouldn't cut him off-- try to transition slowly).

Pure Fun is worse (in my opinion) because it has so much fruit etc in it. Just my opinion though.