# My cockatiel is losing balance and seems quite sick.



## Karrloosha

My cockatiel's been feeling sick since Monday (2 days ago), please help me if you can. These are the symptoms:

*Losing balance, he leans over one side. He cannot walk, eat or drink properly because as soon as he tries, he starts to lose balance and flaps his wings as if he is having a seizure.

*He hasn't been eating much, he seems to WANT to eat, but thinks he is falling over when he starts.

*His tongue has had a bluish colour for the past two days. Also part of the joint on his leg is turning blue and seems to have swollen a little bit, but it is not getting worse. Strangely enough, he seems to be leaning over on the side on that leg.

*He seems to be having diarrhoea, so I have tried to give him chammomile tea, but he cannot drink because he seems to be feeling dizzy/losing balance.

I cannot understand what is wrong with him, I cannot take him to the vet because it is very expensive, but i want to try as much as I can to help my bird.


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## bjknight93

He needs to see a vet or you're going to lose this little guy. There's no way around it. I'm not sure what's wrong with him but all of those symptoms will lead to his death, especially with him being unable to eat. As for the blue-ness; does he have a blue toy or perch in his cage? If not, then maybe this could be loss of blood circulation which if it is (I'm not sure how it looks in tiels), then it probably means he has a tumor. Someone else can help me out here and answer but your guy is obviously suffering so if you can't do anything to treat him I would have to recommend you put him down.


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## Karrloosha

I have talked to the vet and the lady said that if he has heavy metal poisoning, ear infection or even a broken leg then all up it could cost around AUD$500 or AUD$600, but I cannot afford so much. I checked the leg whether something is wrapped around the leg, and there is nothing there, but it could be a bruise, maybe his leg got caught somewhere, i'm not sure. I have noticed him losing balance about a month ago, but it was very slightly, that I had to ask for opinions, and then it wasnt noticeable about the balance, particularly when he started flying and landing clumsily. So, I'm wondering, what if he had an ear infection since that time, and over 1 month it developed into something serious like this? But this happened over one day, and I thought he would die that night, that's how quickly it happened. But if its just a broken leg, do you think that it can get better, or will I need to put him down? He's eating very very slowly and little bit. And there is nothing blue in the cage, its definately his skin, but it's only part of the skin, where the knee-joint is. And only on one of them. He seems to be leaning over that side.  How quickly do tumors develop?And are there any other symptons for the tumors?


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## Dekey

I'm sorry no offense here but that's so irresponsible . You have an animal ( YOUR animal) that's knocking on deaths door and you wont take him to vet and get the appropriate treatment , yes you may have some difficult circumstances perhaps but that being said if you don't have the money to care for him then why have him ? Seriously people like this really wind me up this poor tiel is suffering and I bet you are too having to see him like this sorry to sound forward and mean but it's the truth .


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## MeanneyFids

do you have any idea of how to handfeed? you may want to handfeed him because he is unable to eat. you will want to learn how, because if done improperly, you can kill him with aspiration. 

i would find another vet, and just bring him in for an exam to figure out what might be wrong with him and go from there. there is a LOT of illnesses out there and it can be many of them.


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## srtiels

Blue tongue is what is called cyanic and it means there is not enough oxygen circulating in the bloodstream. This can be a result of a systemic infection, or enlarged organs putting pressure on other organs. The swollen ankle could be uric acid cyrstals built up in the joint from a kidney problem or infection. In either situation the bird need fluids to increase the blood volume in the body. A vet can do this with Sub-Q fluids, and also treat other problems. *IF* he does have a heavy metal problem *he must be fully hydrated first* before treatments. And if a systemic infection also treated ASAP with injectable antibiotics.

*Go to a vet*.....,it is unfair and irresponcible to your bird to go to a forum asking for help, when you can seek a qualified vet, and work out a payment plan to get him the help he needs.


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## morla

Aw! Poor cockatiel! Its either the vet bills or a birds life!


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## enigma731

If there is absolutely no way to have him treated, then please have him humanely euthanized. He is starving to death, and allowing it to continue is cruel.


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## meaggiedear

I hope you will go to the vet and work out a payment plan. Its not fair to your bird who is suffering. Imagine if your roles were reversed. You could hope that bird would love you enough to take you to receive care. Im sure you can find a vet who will work with you.


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## Dekey

Meaggiedear is right . You have to get this bird treated it's basically cruelty .


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## Karrloosha

Thank you very much for your comments. Thankyou to those who have tried to help me and gave me advice on what to do. There is something that I want to say; some of the above comments have made me feel like a bad owner, i am already crying so much that he is sick. But now that all the blame is on me is not fair. The poor bird got sick and i wasn’t able to treat it because they are too expensive. Please, you do not know what it’s like for me, i have had this bird since i was 10 and i got it as a gift from my parents. I wouldn’t have been able to spend $500 on his treatment. The vet said that birds hide their sickness very well, so he must have been sick for quite some time, and that’s very upsetting for me.Ever since i got himi have taken good care of him, i loved him so much and i know he loved me too. 
Last night he was having seizures, I know i had to let him go, i accepted that, and the last thing i wanted was for my bird to be suffering. I wanted him to die in his sleep, so i tried to make it all calm at night. I stayed up all night, holding him in my arms when he has seizures so I could calm him down, for hope that he would go to sleep . Unfortunately by the morning he did not seem any better, So i took him to the vet as soon as i could in the morning to euthanize him. It was better to euthanize him to stop him from suffering. And i did not want him to die from seizures as the vet said it is a long and painful death to die by seizures. I had to put him down, and it was very said for me to see him go. I know that he is better off. I will miss him so much, he was a great friend for those years I’ve had him. R.I.P. Karrloosha, passed away on the 29th December 2011.


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## Dekey

Im terribly sorry for your loss, it's a sad thing I apologize for my comments , my condolences to you :/


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## Codyandme1

I'm so sorry for your loss, but the vet was right, it would have been a slow and painful way to die, so you did the right thing,it was what was best for him.


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## lperry82

Im so sorry for your loss


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## resalat_hasan

So sorry for your loss.....I feel very very sad....my condolences


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## bjknight93

I am very sorry for your loss. I did not say you were a bad owner, nor did i think that. Some people judge too quickly on the forum because they don't know the rest of the story; i also think we are all driven because we all care for the species so much and hate for any tiel to suffer the way it sounded this one did. I'm glad you did the right thing for Karrloosha, he had a good owner to help him through the night.


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## sunnysmom

I'm so sorry. You made the right decision. I'm sure it was very hard for you. RIP Karrloosha.


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## stevechurch2222

Sorry for your loss,you did the right thing.RIP Karrloosha.


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## Karrloosha

Thankyou for being there for me, everyone. You know its hard because you all have cockatiels and know that they are such gorgeous birds, so take care of your little ones!
One thing i have noticed when Karrloosha was just before I had to take him to the vet, is that his blue tongue turned to normal, it was pink again! So I'm thinking it wasn't any metal poisoning to him, was there?since he got better? And how do ear infections occur?Because it really sounded like it was ear infection because of his balance loss. Although I am glad that he doesn't have to suffer anymore, I am still curious to WHAT it could have been. My little cockatiel book has some good descriptions of some diseases of tiels but it doesnt list all, of course. But this is just out of curiousity now, so you don't have to answer.


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## MeanneyFids

metal poisoning affects the nervous system, which would cause seizures and imbalance. i say this may be your biggest possibility. did he have access to any types of metal? what kind of cage was he in? was there any rust? what kinds of toys do you have? any metal toys that you are unsure of being stainless steel? 

any painted objects? some old paint contains lead... especially in antiques. does he chew walls? flooring? anything out of the ordinary? 

is there any metal hes had access to that may not have been stainless steel? 

lead and zinc are your biggest concern for metal poisoning, though copper is supposedly just as deadly too. to birds anyways.


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## enigma731

It could also have been a brain tumor, or a series of small strokes.


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## Codyandme1

Other sources of lead poisoning include bird toys weighted with lead,old costume jewelry, lead chalking in stained-glass windows, fishing weights, curtain weights, and some types of screens and wires cause the majority of lead poisoning in pet birds,
He could of also had 'cockatiel thrashing syndrome' most commonly the frightened bird is bruised to various degrees on the wing tips, feet, chest and abdomen, this may explain some of the discoloration,
These seizers are caused by other underlying problems, one of them being lead poisoning,
SINGS OF CONVULSIONS(fits/seizers)
-Apprehension and restlessness,
-Muscle trembling, jerking or entire body in violent muscle spasms(twitching leg, flapping wing, 'wandering' head or entire body in un-controlled shaking and flopping)
-loss of balance(may fall off perch or appear very unsteady)
-loss of consciousness 

If you peice it all together and put it in order it should make sense lol,
Well, I hope that helped


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## marylou

so so sorry for your loss  hope everyone can help piece together what could have caused it. i lost a lizard suddenly and had no idea what had caused it..its so confusing and heartbreaking


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## northernfog

I am so sorry for your loss. This brought tears to my eyes!


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## mellowyellow

I'm ever so sorry to hear about your loss, it would have been very hard for you. I can somewhat understand what you had gone through, my eldest, Zac who's 16 had her first seizure not so long ago, I'm really scared of what may come of it but the vet has told me to keep an eye out as theirs nothing to do at this time, she's been normal ever since. 
I have a feeling she won't stay this way.

So sorry for your loss! I know how expensive Australian vets are, when I took Zac it costed over AUD$600 but my price of mind and her comfort make the expense essential. You did the right thing getting him put down as he was suffering.

Rest in peace, fly free little one.
If he has a last memory of his life it will be you being there for him and making it all okay, he left you in comfort and is now in peace. 
Keep your head up high and soldier on, he'll be looking down on you.


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## northernfog

I am worried about my cockatiel as well. This is what happened about a year ago: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=16976 
Is this similar with your Zac, MellowYellow? Because I had no idea what was going on with my bird until someone said it was a stress seizure?


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## DyArianna

I am sorry for your loss.  A decision I hope I have never to make. But they are right, you did what was best for him.

You have me wondering about something though. You said his tongue turned pink just before he died (after being blue). Well if a blue tongue can be a symptom of bad circulation, perhaps there was a mass of some sort somewhere.. that burst and for a short time allowed a rush of blood flow and then perhaps being related to a vital organ.. brought on his end. Just rambling thoughts..


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## mellowyellow

northernfog said:


> I am worried about my cockatiel as well. This is what happened about a year ago: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=16976
> Is this similar with your Zac, MellowYellow? Because I had no idea what was going on with my bird until someone said it was a stress seizure?


That's definitely quite similar to what happened to Zac! I know she was under a huge amount of stress at the time as we had visitors that are a bit full on.
I hope that's all it was, if so I know how to prevent it from happening again, your thread really helped! Thank you


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## Bernard

Dekey said:


> I'm sorry no offense here but that's so irresponsible . You have an animal ( YOUR animal) that's knocking on deaths door and you wont take him to vet and get the appropriate treatment , yes you may have some difficult circumstances perhaps but that being said if you don't have the money to care for him then why have him ? Seriously people like this really wind me up this poor tiel is suffering and I bet you are too having to see him like this sorry to sound forward and mean but it's the truth .


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