# Help urgent cockatiel might be dying



## Zaichev (May 22, 2009)

My cockatiel, Lady, has taken a turn for the worst.

I have no idea how old she is because she was found walking by the side of the road and I took her in.

I live in rural Nebraska and there is no avian vet nearby.

She's been having trouble balancing on the perch for about half a year. She ended up falling and breaking most of her tail feathers, so we moved the perches to an inch above the ground and she's been improving. That's really the only sign of illness: eating fine, really chatty, really bossy to the other birds. 

Today I found her at the bottom of the cage. She can't seem to support her weight/stand on her own. If I place her on my finger and hold her steady she trembles. She trembles if I touch her feet. She doesn't bite me but I think she's in pain. Her feet are like little claws-- they don't grip the ground like the other birds.

I am so terrified of losing her. I suspect this might be arthritis but hate seeing her in pain. I coaxed her into eating some millet but she was literally falling a sleep while resting her little neck on the millet. She is exhausted. I put her in a little pet carrier with a water pad and blanket and she's sleeping while leaning against the side. 

What do I do. Help.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

You need to find an avian vet and get her to them, fast. There's got to be one in the city. Good luck, my thoughts are with you and Lady.


----------



## Zaichev (May 22, 2009)

There's not. The nearest avian vet is 200 miles away. I think she's too weak to make that journey. I'm not even sure she's going to make it until morning while in a carrying cage in the warmest room in the house.


----------



## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

Then the best you can do is to comfort her and keep her as comfortable as you can while nature takes it's course. If she enjoys being held and cuddled then do so, feed her anything she loves that she will eat and offer her water. Tell her how much you have loved having her companionship and that it is ok to go rest at the rainbow bridge, I'm sorry your going thru this.

P.S. It does not have to be a certified avian vet either, many exotic vets also take birds. My vet is an exotic vet but very knowledgable in birds also.


----------



## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

Is there a regular vet near by that you can take her to or any way you could maybe get the normal vet to consult with an avian one by phone. Other than that I think I'd have to agree with ParrotletsRock and just be with her and comfort her, it's what I do when I don't think they would make the hour and a half long trip to my avian vet, sometimes the best we can do is just be there for them. 

I'm really sorry that you are going through this, I really hope she improves, keep us posted.


----------



## Zaichev (May 22, 2009)

PLEASE HELP.

Here's a video of today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w3dR7LsOZM

She is going to a vet tomorrow, 45 minutes away. Deals with reptile and larger parrots and she said he will take a look at her. He said basically not to bother if she can't stand on her own because he said at that point she's too far gone to treat in his experience. 

Here is a video of her several months ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9zcgYSqGtc

She can stand today, but walks very wobbly. She's eaten a few bites of seed and taken three sips of water. I tried to force feed her but she choked and I thought she was going to die. She is wheezing on and off because of this. She tends to be active when we first take her out (flapping wings, etc) but then after a few minutes literally falls asleep standing up.


----------



## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

How has she been? The first thing I'm thinking of is *heavy metal poisoning*. It develops over time and gets progressively worse if they have a lot of access to the object that is poisoning them. She has some of the symptoms for it like Weakness; unable to walk, stand or fly straight, lethargy, and reduced appetite.
How do her droppings look? Is there any red in them at all if you can see? You might see blood either in the droppings or she could have red in her urine. The common signs of heavy metal poisoning are increased thirst, vomiting in larger birds, sudden depression, not eating and a dark green diarrhea.

Are there any metal parts on her toys? Are you 100% sure those metal parts are stainless steel? If not they are most likely galvanized metal with means there is zinc in them. There is also zinc in things like bread twist ties, cage wires that have had the paint chipped off them. I had this problem with my parrot with galvanized metal wire from a toy, I saw her chewing on it one day and she became very weak over the course of however many days she had chewed on it. I had only noticed when I saw a powder on her beak from the chewing. She was walking a bit like that (much less extreme) and had some diarrhea. Zinc poisoning is reversible with a special kind of calcium that they have at hospitals and hopefully vet clinics. If the amount is small the body can rid itself of the zinc unlike with lead. But you have to get rid of the cause of it or it will just come back, find the toy or what may be doing that and remove it along with treating her. With her levels she needs a vet if she has this. And if it is lead poisoning from maybe chewing on paint, wires, metals with lead in them... lead stays in the body and you need an oral medications to flush it out. Also find and remove what caused the lead poisoning. Read this full list of things that may have lead or zinc in them: http://www.beautyofbirds.com/heavymetalpoisoningbirds.html

The second thing I'm thinking of is that she may have *very very low calcium levels or Hypocalcemia.* I've read about this in African grey cases because they need a lot more calcium than other parrots in their diet. They get very weak, can have seizures, fall off their perches, they also become very tired. Usually around the time they start becoming very tired is when they start having seizures because the calcium levels are at their lowest point. Does she have access to a cuttlebone or other sources of calcium like a supplement or veggies with high levels of calcium in them? If not try to get her to eat some right away if you can. Some calcium powder dissolved in a drop of water would be ok to give to her if she is weak. Only if she doesn't eat her calcium that is.
http://www.beautyofbirds.com/calciumforbirds.html
http://exoticpetvet.net/avian/hypocalcemia.html
http://pets.thenest.com/calcium-foods-african-grey-parrots-10670.html

The third thing I can think of is she is *egg binding*. Has she ever laid an egg before? If she doesn't have enough calcium in her body this is a big concern of mine since she is walking like that. But I'm more worried that she might have an egg on top of everything else than her just having egg binding. Since she has been like this for so long I don't think it is the cause of what you have been seeing for the past half a year. But it could be the cause of why things have gotten worse so suddenly.

The fourth thing it could be is some kind of *tumor* like a fatty tumor or cancerous tumor in between her legs. This tumor could be pressing on the nerves and causing her to lose her balance. You could try to treat it with anti-cancerous herbs and spices like turmeric it can be treated that way. If they find she has this I can provide a full list of information I have gathered for killing cancer and tumors in parrots, but right now it would take a while to find that so... 

I would bring those concerns up with the vet. I hope she is doing better right now. Well there is something I have been researching called 'corpse reviver' that you might be interested in. It's real name is *Carbo Vegetabilis*, but it got the name corpse reviver from it's ability to bring back people from the brink of death when they ingested it. You can find Carbo Vegetabilis at pretty much any health foods store or whole foods store, it's about $8. It's basically carbon which has the ability to detoxify the body, think of people who have overdosed at hospitals they get a type of carbon to take the toxins out of their body. There are emergency supplements like Guardian Angel from The Birdcare Company, but they take weeks to be delivered and carbo vegetabilis you can find everywhere. If you see them getting a lot worse all of a sudden or they have suddenly collapsed... take 1 pill of carbo vegetabilis and dissolve it in 5cc of spring water. You give them 1 drop by mouth, once every 10 minutes until they are back to normal or revived. You can also find that at the bottom of this link, it was posted by a very talented cockatiel breeder. Maybe it could take out some of the toxins that may have stored up in the body, especially in the liver area, but I would give very very little of it. Maybe just a drop or two a day at first and if she improves then move it to every other day.
http://www.justcockatiels.net/sour-and-slow-crop-remedies.html

This is for if she stops drinking a lot. It is a rehydrating solution that you orally give her: http://talkcockatiels.com/showpost.php?p=148303&postcount=2

Foods that can make her gain weight and are also easy to eat: millet sprigs, ground up pellets (Harrison's high potency mash is what vets feed birds that are sick), seeds high in fat, bread. I have also used something called AviGain with my 'tiel when she wouldn't eat after an injury. It packs on the grams! But it takes a few days to order it through... http://www.avitec.com/AviGain-8-oz-p/ag-8.htm You might want to see if Winged Victory's can mail order it faster to you if you are interested. They usually will send it through first class mail if you order one item so it might get there faster than with USPS or UPS that avitech uses http://www.wingedvictorys.com/store/avitech-avigain-weight-additive-supplement-8oz.html

Some other herbs that can detoxify the body are burdock root, lemon peel, milk thistle seed. Those are the more powerful ones. Also Echinacea Angustifolia that helps boost the immune system (not to be given for more than 1 month or it could start to affect the immune system negatively). There are extracts for parrots like these that you give orally that have the amount measured out for parrots. I have both of these and have used them with my parrot. This place also has an arthritis extract. The detox would help cleanse the body (not a replacement for medication to get rid of zinc and lead) and the immune booster would help get rid of anything like a virus, bacterial infection, tumor. I doesn't treat it, but it helps the body naturally fight it off: http://www.avitec.com/System-Detox-p/hbsd-1.htm
http://www.avitec.com/category-s/45.htm


----------



## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

She's a beautiful girl. I think she was definately getting her nails caught on the towel and that's part of her falling over because I've had that happen with mine to but I do see what you mean by her not being well. 
I'm really sorry I can't help you more it's clear that you love her heaps and it looks like she's a little fighter. The vet visit is good but I'd just like to say that I do have some trust issues with vets so if he suggests an option that none of us want to hear (I think you know what that is) don't do it unless you absolutely feel that it's right, we've had it suggested for a lot of our pets and had them live for many years afterwards but you'll know if the time comes anyway. Also blood tests can be quite stressful for them I've leant from Autumn not to get one done unless it is really necessary. If it's possible have someone go with you so that some one can be comforting her on the way while the other drives if that's how you are getting there.

But until the vets all I can think of is basically what you are already doing, keep her warm, make sure all her dishes and perches are low and I find when mine aren't well they like to eat the smaller seeds or millet more than anything else. When my Autumn was ill and not eating much/losing weight, the vet said her glucose level was low and when I asked if there was anything that could boost her appetite she suggested feeding her some sweet stuff like honey if that helps.

I'll be sending good thoughts your way and hoping your little girl gets better.


----------

