Help me cope with my worry !!

[tamfrnz]

INTRO :

Hi Guys new to the forum should've joined a while back ! I aquired my IRN in May 2012 and there have been many up and downs with my little 'Rio'. At first he was so nervous you would walk into the room and he would get to the furthest away place in his home. I worked with Rio throughout the year and just a few months back Rio began accepting food through the bars of his home and a couple months later Rio was happy to Step up onto my arm to collect food which is wonderful !! I keep him in my bedroom where i feel is best as he is able to see me going about my daily tasks which has worked wonders.

ISSUE : I noticed a few weeks back Rio began sneezing but only at night before bedtime it has happened a couple times since again at night. But today he sneezed mid afternoon which was unusual ! the sneezes are dry, no sign of discharge etc and he's been eating drinking and fooling around. I made an appointment with my local vet, who isn't a specialist when it comes to birds (his words not mine). Anyway he had a look at Rio and didn't notice anything unusual after looking into the nostril for any blockages etc listening to his chest also !. He did say it could be the start of something worse and gave me away Metacam to give 1x daily. He also suggested nebulising by placing Rio in his travel cage in the shower room for 10 mins.

So with all that said i get Rio home, put him into the shower room and after 10 minutes return to his Home where he sat outside his cage ! Im worried because he let me touch his beak when we got in without too much fuss when usually he reacts by mouthing my finger straight away ! I just worry Rio has an underlying issue !

Does anyone have any useful advice they could give as i've completely convinced myself Rio is basically dying (i know dramatic but i love him so much and wouldn't want anything to happen to him !

Thanks in Advance

Tam.

[Donovan]

allergies! plain and simple (in my opinion anyway)

Do you smoke by chance?

[InTheAir]

Hi Tam,

I am also a birdy hypochondriac, I am always worrying about our bird having some horrible disease or malnutrition or something.

I don't know if the sneezing is a major concern, I'm not a vet.
It is great you have visited your vet already, though that's a rather gloomy prognosis. I took our bird to a normal vet once that said they treat birds. I was more worried after the visit than before! Our bird was fine, though I was sure he was going to drop dead any minute for about a week!
Our bird does sneeze sometimes too, especially after preening when he's moulting.

I would like to make an educated guess as to why he let you pat his beak though; he would probably a bit stressed and tired from the vet trip and just couldn't be bothered mouthing at you.

If he gets worse I highly recommend going to an avian specialist, even if it is a long drive and expensive. There is a world of difference between a good av and the local vet when it comes to birds.

I hope he makes a full recovery!

Regards,
Claire

[tamfrnz]

allergies! plain and simple (in my opinion anyway)

Do you smoke by chance?

Hi Donovan,

Thanks for the reply. I do not smoke, however others in the household do but they DO NOT smoke in my room lol ! i tell them to smoke elsewhere ! the same goes for deodorant, I only use it in the bathroom clear from Rios Home. I'm paranoid when it comes to my pets !

Thanks

Tam.

[tamfrnz]

Hi Tam,

I am also a birdy hypochondriac, I am always worrying about our bird having some horrible disease or malnutrition or something.

I don't know if the sneezing is a major concern, I'm not a vet.
It is great you have visited your vet already, though that's a rather gloomy prognosis. I took our bird to a normal vet once that said they treat birds. I was more worried after the visit than before! Our bird was fine, though I was sure he was going to drop dead any minute for about a week!
Our bird does sneeze sometimes too, especially after preening when he's moulting.

I would like to make an educated guess as to why he let you pat his beak though; he would probably a bit stressed and tired from the vet trip and just couldn't be bothered mouthing at you.

If he gets worse I highly recommend going to an avian specialist, even if it is a long drive and expensive. There is a world of difference between a good av and the local vet when it comes to birds.

I hope he makes a full recovery!

Regards,
Claire

Hi Claire,

Thanks very much for the reply. I'd like to say first of all Rio is on the mend (if he was even ill) from what i can see back to his chatty, KEEK-A-BOO self ! I actually think the vet trip (although stressful) has made Rio trust me more. I think at first he thought, when he was put in his travel cage, he was being moved house and owner again (which breaks my heart to think) then when we returned home to his 'palace' he knew he could trust me. He's letting me move him room to room which is a massive step forward !.

I totally understand the benefit of seeing an AV if need be but at the time, when i had spoke to my vet he said let me check him over for any major signs of ill health and if need be we can refer you to the specialist.

Thanks

Tam.

[InTheAir]

I'm glad he's back to normal! Added bonus that he's developing more trust in you. That sounds like a great outcome from a scarey experience.

It sounds like you have a sensible vet, the one I went to didn't suggest the possibility of referring me to a specialist. He just told me a story about how another ringneck dropped dead a couple days after a concussion and to leave the cage half covered and keep him calm for a few days. I was a mess for days, thinking the bird would keel over any minute and the bird was extra energetic and jumping around his cage like anything. Lol

All the best with Rio.

[tamfrnz]

I'm glad he's back to normal! Added bonus that he's developing more trust in you. That sounds like a great outcome from a scarey experience.

It sounds like you have a sensible vet, the one I went to didn't suggest the possibility of referring me to a specialist. He just told me a story about how another ringneck dropped dead a couple days after a concussion and to leave the cage half covered and keep him calm for a few days. I was a mess for days, thinking the bird would keel over any minute and the bird was extra energetic and jumping around his cage like anything. Lol

All the best with Rio.

Oh god! does he understand how worried that could gets us hypercondriacs lol !

Thank you very much

[AJPeter]

Do they IRN worry if we fall ill? the other day something l was eating went down the wrong way and l had a fit of coughing. after l had dislodged the food item Billie flew to my shoulder and wanted to see inside my mouth, l think she was really concerned. We make progress together in trust she lets me tickle and stroke under her wing and she allows me to play tug of war with her feet, her cage aggression has subsided but if she thinks her mirror image is watching she feels duty bound to try and bite me. When l came home from church today she made a big display of wing fluttering she was ever so pleased to see me, and she makes a happy cry sound. They do care! And they worry about us too.
AJPeter

[MissK]

I took Rocky to a "regular" vet who advertised that they cared for birds. The vet was reassuring, groomed the bird, and had some nice things to say about him. They had an Amazon in the waiting area. I paid $80 and went home feeling that I had paid for expensive grooming, but at least the bird had no clear sign of illness or respiratory trouble (which was my concern, since he came from a smoking household).

A year later I had him to a "real" avian vet, paid a lot more money, and saw the difference between the vets and the care and services provided.

I feel confident that the regular vet could identify something obviously wrong, but if I think there really is something wrong, you can bet we're going back to the avian vet.

ALSO, the avian vet, when consulted, said sometimes birds just sneeze and there is nothing wrong (just like us). Humidity can be a factor.