# HELP, Aspiration??



## SkittlesnBarty (Nov 22, 2015)

Sorry if this is the wrong thread. 
Please help me, I think this chick may be aspirating, I was handfeeding her and after cleaning her up and she starting making this little sound every time she breathes in, not a squeak but just like..I don't know, maybe a tiny hiccup or click? (still making it). She's breathing but I don't know what to do. Is she going to die? She occasionally chews like there's formula in her mouth.


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## ParrotletsRock (Oct 8, 2013)

If you suspect aspiration then she needs to see a vet.. I am not sure they is much you can do at home to prevent aspiration pneumonia.


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## SkittlesnBarty (Nov 22, 2015)

She seems okay now. Breathing through her nose and was chirping and chewing on my zipper. I spoke to a friend who's raised cockatiels for years and she told me Jeff (the baby) will likely be okay but to keep an eye on her. I'll get her some antibotics though and try to get a vet appt.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

If she aspirated formula (or anything), aspiration pneumonia is fatal if left untreated. Please do get her to the vet ASAP.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Yeah, a vet check is a must when it comes to possible aspiration. While the bird may seem fine now, aspiration pneumonia can be quite a silent illness and you don't realize until it's much too late. She is also at risk of a respiratory infection which can also be fatal if left untreated. An avian vet will be able to check her airways and lungs to make sure they are clear, and prescribe antibiotics if necessary.


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## SkittlesnBarty (Nov 22, 2015)

Took her to the vet yesterday. He said she seems okay and prescribed some medicine just in case


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Excellent  When Zoe was 6 weeks old I took her 2 hours out of town to see an avian vet because I was sure I had aspirated her a couple of weeks prior. She seemed to get better on her own, but I was so worried about it. The vet checked her airways and lungs and said she was clear, did some basic tests (gram stain etc) and said she seemed okay but prescribed some antibiotics anyway just in case.

Even if everything is fine, the piece of mind is worth it haha.


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## adriano (Feb 26, 2016)

*I am pretty well-versed in this one specific issue ... (Part 1 of 2)*

I lost a bird because I suspected problems that the vet disagreed with my prognosis. I turned out to be right but the medication was administered too late. Lost another bird who had chest infection stemming from a little known gut bacterial imbalance resulting from sudden temperature drops. Since then I have taken it upon myself to learn from this. I don't know much about many issues, but I know a lot about this so listen to me. To give you an example, my older female cockatiel who loved to take mist showers fell in the bath, completely submerged, thrashed, breathed in water for a few seconds and she is still alive and well with me to the day.

To begin with, you should have Baytril on hand. There is a website I use (not affiliated) called AllBirdProducts(dotcom) that you can get 10% diluted pharmaceutical grade Baytril. When issues arise, forget the vet. A day or two calling the vet to make an appointment for a day or two down the road could literally make the difference between life and death.

It's not scary as it seems. Go to a vet and ask for "small syringes" the kind that are about the length of a finger and not the ones that are as think as a pen but the ones that are half that diameter. Most places will sell them to you for a few bucks or give them for free.

Order the Baytril. It is hard to overdose, easy on the liver if you do, and despite what they tell you about it needing to be in a large volume banana suspension because the birds don't like the taste, this is complete nonsense. Birds have very different tastes and between small volume of bitter liquid and huge volume of "banana suspension" you will find that it is easier to get the small liquid down.

You will basically draw up to the first line from the tip which should be 0.1mL (the whole thing should be, if it is the thin one, 1mL). Give twice a day. More on that later. Same dosage of colloidal silver also helps, you can get it at Whole foods (shake it will).

The suspensions they give you your bird won't give a crap about, and more likely than not unless it is Amazon parrot or above your bird will most likely aspirate (breathe in) the stuff and that's when the real problem starts because the suspensions have sugar and sugar in lungs = bacteria outbreak.

Also it's pretty stupid if you think of it you're giving an antibiotic in a sugar solution which helps bacteria grow.

This is long term care issue you should be ready before the stuff hits the fan.

In the intermediate, even though the site ships within the week (you can order express but it is costly) you may go to vet but only if you can get the stuff in under 3 days otherwise just order it now from where I mentioned). INSIST ON PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION (10% DILUTED) and not put in a suspension. The suspension doesn't help, adds volume and thickness which makes delivery harder, and can wind up in the lungs and complicate things.

If the pure 10% winds up in the lungs it's not a problem because there is no sugar and will actually work faster.

NOW FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE CONCERN.

Learn this: you know when you get sick and after the sickness passes you have a day or two where you cough up the mucous?

You do this with a muscle called the diaphragm which pushes your lungs up.

BIRDS ... HAVE ... NO ... DIAPHRAGM.

So even if you go to the vet, even if they prescribe you antibiotics, even if it clears, whatever is left whether funky mucous or food particles just stays there and causes problems later.

Do you love your bird enough to not care what others think?

Pay attention.

When your bird aspirates a seed, has mucous, accidentally aspirates water (sudden noise resulting in flight while drinking, for example), it will look up, the eyes will seem sleepy, and the mouth will be open.

THIS IS A VERY WEAK POSITION AND WHAT THEY ARE EXPERIENCING NERVOUS SYSTEM WISE IS the exact thing as when you're borderline catching a cold and a sudden draft comes along and you get the chills and your back feels suddenly very weak and you're about to start sneezing 20 times in a row.

For right now, this is what you do.

1.) Open up a computer. Go to YouTube. Find some long videos. Movies or something. Not 5 minute ones.

2.) When you're ready, open up like 10 of them and play them all one by one so they're all running.

3.) This will put your computer processor on overdrive and you'll hear the fan kick in. Feel around and you'll find a spot or two that suddenly (after a few minutes of all videos running) feels very, very warm.

If you have an iMac it's towards the top of the screen.

Graphic intensive video games or a movie or Netflix will have the same effect.

You now have an emergency instantly heatable but safe to your bird source of heat that can be directly applied to the birds feet.

FORGET WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TOLD ABOUT room temperature, etc. If you keep a bird's feet warm, the birds body temperature will warm up immediately. It will move itself when it feels better and stronger.

Near me we have escaped Amazon green parrots that have survived 3 decades of extreme east coast weather by chilling out on power line cables. Not one ever sneezes.

So back to you.

4.) Think of a baby. Second it is born, it gets held upside down and spanked. Why? Gravity and the burst of pressure of the scream from the spanking expels the fluid in the lungs to that the lungs can switch to breathing oxygen.

You're going to gently copy this like so:

Pick up bird with left hand with head facing "o" part of ok (going in direction of your thumb).

Place in right hand with head facing your thumb but now your right palm is palm up.

Secure right grip around bird (body in your palm with its feet touching your palm and your fingers on its back). Head should be sticking out of your joined thumbs and pointer finger making an "o" ... grip should be enough to secure but loose enough that it can breathe.

Turn bird upside down like you're drinking a soda on a very hot day.

When you've gone over the process in your mind, i.e., when you're clear on all the steps not if you have to reread this for clarity but when you're like, "I got it I know what he means", gently pull either a feather or growing quill or whatever, preferably on back of bird's neck.

Goal is to not so much hurt the bird a lot but hurt it enough that it screams.

Make sure other birds are not in the room as they will fly on you to investigate what you're doing.

The moment the bird is screaming out and exhaling, you will use your left pointer finger to bock the nostrils by simply putting the fingertip over.

In one motion (don't wait to long between steps and practice off the bird until you can do all in 1 smooth motion) your right hand pointer finger tip (remember the bird is in your right palm with feet on your palm so your curled pointer in the right palm should be by the bird's left side of beak) will go in between the beak tip to ensure the bird doesn't close up and clamp up the beak. (They think this is weird).

You will immediately french kiss the bird while pulling your right finger out of its beak and make a seal. This is basically what you do with people or dogs when you do mouth to mouth rescue.


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## adriano (Feb 26, 2016)

*i am pretty well-versed in this one specific issue ... (Part 2 of 2)*

A note of caution.

Your mouth bacteria doesn't mix well with birds.

Don't brush your teeth before hand as this looses up bacteria, but ABSOLUTELY USE LISTERINE for several minutes before doing this so as to not introduce bad bacteria in the bird's gut.

I don't mean Crest or Tom's of Maine, I mean Listerine. And the alcohol kind not the "natural" kind.

So assuming you've rinsed, you will now VERY GENTLY AND VERY SLOWY suck whatever is in your bird's lungs out.

Remember - whatever the vet gives you will not suck the stuff out of the lungs so it's up to you.

Count 1, and 2 and 3 and 4.

You may get an immediate success, you may feel a gurgle as it's loosening and coming out.

If it's almost out, try a second time, just the sucking part (or repeat the feather pulling if the bird is clamped).

After 1-2 times this, but no more than 3, take a breath and repeat the lip seal part but VERY SLOWY AND CAREFULLY (you're not blowing up a ballon), blow air back into the bird.

Don't worry that it's not oxygen.

As you sucked air out, you may have formed a vacuum in the birds lungs and air sacks.

It feels like getting the wind knocked out of you - you can't breath.

What you do is you're opening up that vacuum to get the air pressure inside back to normal.

After 1 "air back in" cycle, you may go again with the 2-3 "air sucked out" cycle (ALWAYS FINISH WTH AN "AIR BACK IN" STEP).

YOUR BIRD IS NOW, WHETHER YOU GOT THE FOOD/WATER/MUCOUS BLOCKAGE out or now, in a very vulnerable state for a moment. 

After you blow air back in (slowly - you'll feel the lungs and then the air sacs fill up - they should be mostly filled but you don't have to fill them up all the way like 80%), IMMEDIATELY YANK A FEATHER OR QUILL TO GET THEM SCREAMING and restart the breathing process and IMMEDIATELY PUT THEIR FEET ON THE WARM BUT SAFE DIRECT HEAT SOURCE like your computer.

They also sell heated bird perches but in a jiffy your computer will do fine.

If it's too young support it but make sure it stays there until it stops that "looking up in the air with eyes half opened and beak opened" thing.

It will then return to normal and "shake its feathers out" and move away from the heat source.

If you do exactly what I described, exactly what I say will happen every time.

I know because I have repeated everything I described literally well over 50 times on over 5 cockatiels for years now. 

I take birds in for other medical issues but as far as respiratory issues I've had many illnesses in the flock but none required vet care to fix.

All the time either seeds, food, water, mucous, one time plastic chewed off, comes up.

Follow up with baytril care.

7-10 days is fine, don't do less because they you leave bacteria.

Don't do more.

Some people think as few days as necessary to clear up is the way to go otherwise you create treatment resisted bacteria.

That you could write a book on.

Also order from same website some avian probiotic powder. Sprinkle lightly on top of food.

2 schools - during antibiotic treatment or after.

I've done both, both work.

You want to make sure you replenish the good bacteria in the gut because that keeps many bad ones in check and your Baytril kills indiscriminately.

Hope I was of some help.

I know I wrote a lot and it may seem scary, but I've been lucky to have come across 2 of the worlds "150 or so" certified avian vet specialists, one never heard or considered such a thing and the other thought about after hearing about parrot cpr.

The likelihood of your general vet doing this for your bird is next to nothing.

You can learn it for yourself, once you get it it's like riding a bike and it will save your birds life many times over if you come across any respiratory distress short of lets say teflon or bleach.

Good luck!


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