# Cockatiel Poop Smelling...



## mellowyellow

Hello everyone,
Looking for some advice, i was quite concerned about my 15 year old cockatiel, a few minutes ago she did a poo and it smelt absolutely terrible...
From what id read it could either be shes getting ready to lay an egg (we only just got a new bird, not sure on gender that has been jumping on her...) or she has a yeast infection.
Her poo was runny, and a mustered color, she seams herself a bit fatter than usual, but happy enough.
Any suggestions?

Thanks!


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## enigma731

Has she been doing any other hormonal behaviors? And has she ever laid eggs before? I'm just now learning about having a female 'tiel, but from what I understand, it would be odd for her to just spontaneously lay an egg without showing other signs first.

What is she being fed? The color sounds suspicious also.


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## morla

Maybe you can just change the bedding out more that usual.


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## enigma731

morla said:


> Maybe you can just change the bedding out more that usual.


It's usually a sign of illness when cockatiel droppings smell, so you would want to do more than just clean.


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## mellowyellow

enigma731 said:


> Has she been doing any other hormonal behaviors? And has she ever laid eggs before? I'm just now learning about having a female 'tiel, but from what I understand, it would be odd for her to just spontaneously lay an egg without showing other signs first.
> 
> What is she being fed? The color sounds suspicious also.


Yes, she has laid eggs many times before, she has also been sitting in the food and water bowls singing, well a female version (we all know what that is im pretty sure), and shes been very grumpy. Also her poop is getting bigger, which when they carrying eggs the poops become huge. 
She has been eating pellets, corn, greens, wholemeal bread. Nothing out of the ordinary, shes been eating these things for ages, we havnt changed anything in her diet.
I spoke to the breeder and he thought maybe having a new baby male in the house could get her clucky. She definitely doesnt look sick.

In response to Morla, we had only just changed her paper, and she was out at the time of the first poop, we smelt it right away, picked it up on the tissue and smelt it to make sure it was actually the poop.


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## MeanneyFids

the mustard coloured droppings is concerning me

you say shes on pellets? no seed? a bird on a mainly pellet diet is getting too much nutrients such as protein and it can damage the kidneys and liver, which in droppings come out as yellow....

pellets have how much nutrients and vitamins. adding veggies its over supplementing even more.

tiels should be on a mainly seed diet with only 20% pellets, supplemented with veggies and grains such as cooked rice and cooked pastas

high amounts of pellets in the diet can cause health issues


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## mellowyellow

DallyTsuka said:


> the mustard coloured droppings is concerning me
> 
> you say shes on pellets? no seed? a bird on a mainly seed diet is getting too much nutrients such as protein and it can damage the kidneys and liver, which in droppings come out as yellow....
> 
> pellets have how much nutrients and vitamins. adding veggies its over supplementing even more.
> 
> tiels should be on a mainly seed diet with only 20% pellets, supplemented with veggies and grains such as cooked rice and cooked pastas
> 
> high amounts of pellets in the diet can cause health issues


Shes on a mainly pellets diet because shes obese, we cant give her treats of pasta and rice because she gains to much weight. We cant get her weight down, but we can maintain it if shes on pellets.
So what would you recommend for her?
The vet was the one who told us to convert her to all pellets.


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## enigma731

mellowyellow said:


> Shes on a mainly pellets diet because shes obese, we cant give her treats of pasta and rice because she gains to much weight. We cant get her weight down, but we can maintain it if shes on pellets.
> So what would you recommend for her?
> The vet was the one who told us to convert her to all pellets.


Has she had normal droppings since then, or have they continued to be smelly and oddly colored? I would recommend a vet visit with a fecal exam. It could be diet, but it could also be yeast or bacterial infection. If it's either of those, then diet and weight management are secondary concerns.


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## MeanneyFids

vets are paid to endorse the pellets so the more the pellets are used, the more money they make...

we have weight problems with tsuka too
yes avoid the grains if shes overweight 

what we did with tsuka is have him fly more (he was clipped but hes growing his flights in so can fly now) and since flighted and given more time to fly hes lost weight

but dont stress her out as theres health issues going on here. she needs to see the vet for the smelly poops. yeast infections are not fun and are serious. we almost lost our female lovie to a yeast infection.

but vets do push pellets too much.


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## mellowyellow

enigma731 said:


> Has she had normal droppings since then, or have they continued to be smelly and oddly colored? I would recommend a vet visit with a fecal exam. It could be diet, but it could also be yeast or bacterial infection. If it's either of those, then diet and weight management are secondary concerns.


I just asked her to do a poo, she did, at the moment the color, size and liquidness is back to normal, but the smell is still very much there...

The breeder we go too is so dead against vets, its made it really hard to know what to do if she has an infection... We have been told so many different things from "experts" regarding vets, health, behavior, weight, diet ect.

She really doesn't look unwell, shes eating like crazy!
Ill take her to the vet this afternoon if the odd poop continues...


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## enigma731

It can be really important to get treatment before they look unwell. Usually with birds, by the time they look sick, they are critically ill and may be beyond the point of responding to medication. It can be hard knowing who to trust with the health of your bird, but in this case, I think the symptoms definitely merit an exam done by a vet. If there is an infection, you will likely need prescription medication to treat it. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you and your bird.


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## MeanneyFids

giardia can make stinky poops too.

i'd still see the vets about the stinky poop

but i think you should eventually cut back some of the pellets from her diet once shes healthy again


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## mellowyellow

enigma731 said:


> It can be really important to get treatment before they look unwell. Usually with birds, by the time they look sick, they are critically ill and may be beyond the point of responding to medication. It can be hard knowing who to trust with the health of your bird, but in this case, I think the symptoms definitely merit an exam done by a vet. If there is an infection, you will likely need prescription medication to treat it. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you and your bird.


It is hard to know which advice to trust, especially when it's a loved one who cannot say what their going through.
But I agree with your advice, I'll be taking her to the vet, she has had infections in the past and the medication the vet has given always worked wonders, I'll be taking her to the vet asap. Before she actually looks sick.
Thank you for your help!


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## mellowyellow

DallyTsuka said:


> giardia can make stinky poops too.
> 
> i'd still see the vets about the stinky poop
> 
> but i think you should eventually cut back some of the pellets from her diet once shes healthy again


Okay, I'll ask the vet about her diet too.
One vet had said all pellets and veggies she's obese, the other said both pellets, seed, egg white, plain pasta and veggies she's a little bit fat but generally a bigger built bird.
I think I'll see the second one... As you seem to indicate the same sort of wide variety diet as she did.
Thanks for the help, really appreciate it!


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## enigma731

mellowyellow said:


> It is hard to know which advice to trust, especially when it's a loved one who cannot say what their going through.
> But I agree with your advice, I'll be taking her to the vet, she has had infections in the past and the medication the vet has given always worked wonders, I'll be taking her to the vet asap. Before she actually looks sick.
> Thank you for your help!


Hopefully, with a symptom like this, it should be relatively straightforward to diagnose and treat. But I agree, there is nothing worse than when they are sick and can't tell us how to help. Please keep us updated.


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## MeanneyFids

please do and good luck. variety in any diet is best. an all seed diet is bad and an all pellet diet is bad. they need as good of a balance as you can provide 

hope her poops are just stinky and nothing wrong!!


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## mellowyellow

Thanks guys, I will keep you updated!


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