# blindness ? can anything be done to help ?



## crazydickcheney (Sep 15, 2012)

my cockatiel ,casper is 22 yrs old i rescued him from a lady who had him in a dark room for 5 yrs .he seems to be blind .at first he was always on the bottom of his cage,since i"ve had him he goes outside every day and loves it .hes singing and happy .even though Im pretty sure hes going blind. both eyes a little cloudy. help please.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Has he been assessed by a vet? Unfortunately, since we aren't vets and can't examine your bird, about the only recommendation we can make at this point is to have him seen by a professional. It definitely sounds like he may have serious health problems that need treatment. Thank you for rescuing him.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If his eyes are cloudy he might have cataracts. This is apparently treatable sometimes, see http://www.avianweb.com/cataractsinbirds.html

I agree with the need for a vet assessment. A 22 year old bird that was neglected for at least 5 years may have other health issues that could be improved.


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## crazydickcheney (Sep 15, 2012)

*thank you so much*

when i get some extra money hes getting a checkup forsure 


tielfan said:


> If his eyes are cloudy he might have cataracts. This is apparently treatable sometimes, see http://www.avianweb.com/cataractsinbirds.html
> 
> I agree with the need for a vet assessment. A 22 year old bird that was neglected for at least 5 years may have other health issues that could be improved.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

In the meantime, you can work on improving his diet if his current diet isn't ideal. There's info on diet at http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=27479 and info on encouraging birds to eat new foods at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/info/nutrition-conversion.html

If he hasn't had pellets before, you might want to start him on Nutriberries (Cockatiel Classic) instead of pellets. They're nutritionally equivalent to pellets but it's usually a lot easier to convince cockatiels to eat them.


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