# Dirty vent!



## moonchild

I just noticed Moon's bum is looking a little gross at the moment.










Could he be sick?? He is acting normally, eating, drinking, playing and being his sweet social self. The only potentially stressful thing I can think of that happened to him is that he was out of the cage for a while unsupervised yesterday, and I found him on the floor after work. I'm pretty sure he could have flown back up to the cage by himself despite his clipped wings (he's done it before), but maybe not. When I put him back he dove into the food dish.


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## enigma731

That looks like diarrhea. What do his droppings look like? Is there any chance he could have ingested something he shouldn't have while he was out yesterday? 

I would definitely be getting a vet check for that.


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## moonchild

As far as I can tell, his droppings look normal. I can't think of anything harmful he could have ingested -- and he's such a picky eater he wouldn't put most things in his beak anyway. He did recently start eating pellets, which are new to him...could that cause diarrhea? Unfortunately I noticed this just as I was getting ready for work, where I'll be the rest of the day. So I can't bring him to the vet right away.  I called and made an appointment for Monday morning at 8 am, and they said if he seems better I can leave a message tomorrow to cancel. I'm very low on cash right now, and would rather not put him through the stress of a visit if not necessary. Of course I will if it comes down to it, though. I'm going to clean off his vent tonight and see if it stays clean tomorrow.


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## enigma731

That sounds like a good plan, if he's still acting okay and his droppings look normal. It's possible that this may be a minor upset, but it also could be a sign of illness, so watch him carefully. Maybe on your way home from work, you could pick up some probiotics for him. That might help get his digestive system back on track.

Here's some info on Care Credit, just in case you do end up taking him to the vet and would like an alternative way to pay: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32918


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## moonchild

I get out of work at 9 pm when everything is closed, unfortunately. Would I get the probiotics at a pet shop or a regular supermarket? Winco might be open, and PetSmart closes at 9 so it's possible I could leave work a little early and go there.

I wish I still had my CareCredit account (it had a $5,000 limit). Unfortunately I filed for bankruptcy a couple of months ago, so yeah, not an option. :\ If Moon is truly sick, though, I'll gladly live off ramen noodles and oatmeal for a week to pay for his appointment. I had a small vet savings but it was all spent on taking care of my rescue budgie with the broken leg.


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## enigma731

Bird-specific probiotics would be purchased at a pet store. Benebac is a good brand that's usually available at chain stores. You'd want the kind that's for birds, not the cat/dog one.

There's some debate about whether human probiotics work equally well in birds as bird-specific ones, but I'd say human ones are probably better than nothing if that's all you can get for now. You can buy human acidophilus, or even some unflavored organic yogurt, if Moon will eat it.


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## enigma731

How is Moon doing tonight?


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## moonchild

Honestly, he seems fine! I was worried sick about him all day, especially since I couldn't get off work early to go get the probiotics. But when I got home he was looking completely normal. It seems like he cleaned his butt up a little by himself, and the "gift" he deposited on my hand wasn't runny at all. I think he must have just gotten an upset stomach from trying a new food (pellets). Or maybe he didn't eat or drink enough yesterday, if he was indeed stranded on the floor.

I'll keep an eye on him (and his poops) all tomorrow, but as of right now I'm leaning toward canceling the vet appointment. Thank you for all the help.


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## tielfan

It's possible that he ate some kind of weird crud while he was stranded on the floor and it upset his digestion. Cockatiels are ground feeders in the wild so eating dirt off the floor comes naturally to them.


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## moonchild

It's possible...unfortunately it's impossible for me to vacuum underneath my bed, even though I try to keep the floor relatively clean.

The weird thing is, this bird will usually not eat ANYTHING out of his comfort zone (he even turns his beak up at the crackers, birdie egg biscuits, etc that Juju goes nuts for). If it isn't small and resembling a millet seed, it scares him.


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## tielfan

Unfortunately there's a lot of floor crud that's small and resembles a millet seed lol.


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## moonchild

True, haha.


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## moonchild

Dammit, his vent looks worse this morning! After I canceled the appointment yesterday too.  Looks like I'm rescheduling.


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## sunnysmom

Oh no. Do his droppings still look normal? Keep us posted.


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## moonchild

His droppings still look okay, there are just a lot of them stuck to his butt. The earliest appointment I can get is Wed. morning now, though I can try to rush him in as a stand-by tomorrow if he takes a turn for the worse.


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## roxy culver

In the meantime you could try to give him some probiotics to see if that helps. Benebac is the bird one that is sold is pet stores. If you can't find that, some plain yogurt would be good to give him. It could be that his intesitinal flora is a little off.


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## moonchild

I'll pick some up some on my way home -- hopefully PetSmart sells it.


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## tielfan

Not all pet stores have Benebac for birds so it pays to call in advance. Where I live, Petsmart doesn't have it but Petco does.


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## moonchild

They don't have it.  Plain yogurt it is, though I'll probably have to force feed it to him. I *could* theoretically go out to the bird shop before work tomorrow (I'm sure they have Benebac).


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## tielfan

If there's some kind of moist food that he likes you might be able to slip a little yogurt into it. Is he into mashed potatoes maybe?


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## moonchild

Well, now this is the strangest thing! I get home, expecting to have to clean a gross bird butt, and he looks sooo much better again. I'm really confused. I guess it'll be a good idea to get the vet's input anyway, and pick up the probiotics.


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## enigma731

Since it's been going on for a few days now, I would definitely get it checked out. I realize it's not the best timing for you, but if there is an issue, it will be better (and ultimately cheaper) to find out and treat it now. Plus, it will give you peace of mind and I think that's worth quite a bit as well.


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## Lizy

So I know this was like, 10 years ago, which is MIND BLOWING, but is he alive? My cockatiel is having issues too with the poop getting stuck to his bum.


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## sabailyask

Lizy said:


> So I know this was like, 10 years ago, which is MIND BLOWING, but is he alive? My cockatiel is having issues too with the poop getting stuck to his bum.


 Update? Because I'm having the same issue 😭


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