Val27

Thankyou. I thought it was a good idea since alot of people and even new bird parents don't realize just how observant a bird owner should be. If a sign or symptom of a problem goes unnoticed the bird could be in grave danger by the time it is really noticable. There is alot to learn and know about birds. I have been a bird mom for 13years and am still learning new things everyday.

I found this website with some things to consider for a bird sitters manual. proaviculture.com/birdsittermanual

Has anyone put together an manual for their bird sitters? My mom usually cares for my pets when I am away so she knows about how my birds should look and behave. I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but since my cockatiel has been sick I have been looking for photos of sick birds, normal and abnormal droppings and lists of poisonous foods, ER situations, etc. I am making copies of all this info and putting it in a manual as a reference. I always leave instructions and ER phone #s for my sitters but thought maybe I should get a bit more detailed. Can't hurt as long as the manual isn't too lengthy for them to find quick info. I have copied posts from the forum and other websites. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I think I have a lifetime supply of filters too! How often do you change yours? Or what do you think is good for a home w/ 2 purifiers and 1 Grey and 1 Cockatiel? How often do you change your bulbs? I do still use both purifiers and think they probably help, although it seems my house always needs dusting! Imagine that! I only have 2 birds and 2 big dogs. lol

I agree! I ordered from them years ago and he seemed so helpful at 1st. I even 'won' a free purifier in a customer drawing that he enters you in. I knew nothing about it. All I had to do was pay for shipping. JWR would send me filters and light bulbs for the unit on a regular basis and just charge my account. I never had an invoice in any of the shipments so I didn't know how much each item was. I was sent the incorrect bulbs and it took over a year for him to make things right. I kept at it but I'm sure my blood pressure was suffering from the irritation. He wouldn't return my calls so I finally got smart and acted like a new customer interested in his product, he called back right away. I removed myself from his automatic mailing list and have not been bothered since. I did call Bird Talk Magazine and reported him but I don't think anything has ever been done. I trusted the add since I like the magazine. I must have spent a couple thousand dollars at JWR. I know now that I must have 'won' the 2nd purifier just so he could charge me for more filters and bulbs. The filters sometimes looked like something I could make myself. The foam for the external filter wasn't even the same each time. I actually had mistaken some of them for packing material. If you know of a good air purifier please let me know. I am not dealing with him ever again. I think I wrote a complaint/warning on here last year about him too.

Did you try to call Purdue University Vet ER? Here is the #1-866-785-7302. They have been helpful to me the few times I had to use them. If you call they will get your # and have an Exotics Vet call you back within 15min or less. If you don't hear from them in 15 they tell you to call the 866# back. I have always been contacted within minutes when I call. The vet on call is located in Valparaiso IN. I don't know how far you are from there but at least they will answer and ask questions over the phone. They seem to not be all about coming in and spending $. I'm not saying it is cheap just not as $ hungry as the ones you spoke about. It was $180 just to go in then additional charges for anything that needed to be done. Even if it is too far for you to go in an emergency the phone call could be of some help. Sorry I am giving this info so late. I just now read this whole story looking for health problems that may be similar to what my bird is currently going through. I am so glad Betsy is doing good. I know how terrifying a sick bird is. Thank God you knew how to give IV fluids. I also hope the vet you were talking about isn't my vet. I have been treated well there so far. I sure don't want someone practicing on my pets! I hope you have found a reliable vet near you and if not I hope this # helps should an emergency ever arise again.

I think it is love also. My Grey does this sometimes too. I wonder if this is a female behaviour only or if males do it too. I never had my bird sexed but I have always called her a she. Finny started calling herself 'Mr. Finny Foo' so is she trying to tell us we have it all wrong? I'm glad the leg is healing well. How scary that must have been.

I am glad you found out what the problem was. I hope Tule is feeling better soon. I am so anxious for Tuesday to come so I can hopefully find out more about Gracie. Thankyou.

I am so sorry for your loss. I currently have a sick bird with possible cancer or upper GI irritation and am leaving for a vacation soon. I am scared to death to leave Gracie (although she is looking better lately). We have had this vacation planned for a long time too. My mom cares for my pets while we are away so I sure hope nothing bad happens. I hope you do find a Grey that needs your love. They are so wonderful and just as much a member of the family as human family members. Sometimes even more so.

Last Tues night Gracie had to be taken to the ER vet. She is a 13 yr old cockatiel. Gracie had seemed fine all day then about an hour after I took her out of her cage to watch a movie, she flew off her cage and came to me. Her head appeared to be wet but was crunchy feeling. She had something on her feathers. My husband thought maybe she was playing in her water because he saw droplets hanging from the cage bars. When he touched them to show me they were mucousy. At the vet she threw up the same fluid so we then knew what it was. They did a slide and found only normal bacteria. Gracie had also lost approx 10% of her weight since June and the vet said her lungs did sound a little raspy on her back. Gracie was put on an antibiotic and sent home. The next day she had black runny stool so I rushed a sample to check for blood. Sure enough there was blood. Gracie had stopped vomiting, as far as I can tell. No signs of vomit since Tuesday. The vet then changed the antibiotic and gave some Sucralfate. By the time I got home to give the new meds Gracie's poop looked like it was getting back to normal. That was about 8 hrs later. I gave the meds anyway. Since then Gracie has been looking better and no more black stools. I have kept the vet updated about everything and am taking her in for a recheck this coming Tuesday. The vet suspects an upper GI irritation or even a cancer due to her age. I thought 13 wasn't too old for a cockatiel. I do realize cancer knows no age though. I am leaving for vacation in 2 1/2 weeks and am scared to death for Gracie. Blood in bird droppings is called Melena. There is no possibility of lead poisoning either (no new toys and has not come in contact with anything that she hasn't been around all her life). Gracie appears to be feeling better and is eating, drinking and pooping fine (except a few runny stools after I give the antibiotics then it seems to gradually go back to normal). She is not under weight yet but 10% is alot of weight loss (she was not overweight to begin with either). In the thread 'Tule threw up' there is a similar situation. Gracie has been purposely scratching her ear on a chewed perch on her play gym. Not vigorously just a slight rub against. Didn't seem abnormal to me. Her ears look clear (the vet looked at them and saw nothing wrong). I didn't mention the scratching on her perch to the vet since it didn't seem like a problem to me. I will on Tuesday though. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of situation? Any comments, tips, or questions would be very much appreciated. Thankyou.

That is odd because my bird has chewed one of the perches on her play gym and loves to scratch her ear on it (just the left ear it always seems). I wonder if my bird has something wrong with her ear too. The vet did look at her ears when we went in Tues night. She said they looked fine, maybe she needs to look in closer. I think I will call my vet this a.m. too and ask. I do have a recheck appt for next Tues but am stressed about Gracie maybe having something serious. Gracie's recent weight loss is whats really worrying me too. I don't think I can wait. Gracie is also molting right now. Please keep us posted and I hope Tule is OK.

I had a similar scare three days ago. My cockatiel looked like her head was wet and when I felt it, it was crunchy not wet. I rushed to the ER vet at 9:30 at night. We didn't know what was on her at the time. We found a few drops of the clear mucos like stuff on the bars of her cage. The vet looked her over and she did throw up a little more so at least we knew where it was coming from. The vet took a slide of the vomit and tested it. It ended up showing only normal bacteria. Gracie did lose 10% of her weight since her last vet visit though (3-4 months ago). Her breathing did sound a little rasy on her back I was told. Gracie is 13 1/2 yrs old so the vet told me she is getting up there in age. I was sent home with an antibiotic for her. The next day her poop was runny and black with some white in it. Prior to all this her poop always looked normal. I rushed the poop to the vet and had it tested for blood and sure enough it had blood in it. I was then given a different antibiotic for her and some Sucralfate. I was unable to give her the new meds until hours later after I had them filled and got home. Before I even gave her the 1st dose her poop started looking normal again. The vet said she could have an upper GI irritation or possibly even cancer considering her age. Gracie is looking better so I hope it was just an irritation. I will be talking to the vet today to see what she says and to probably take in another stool sample to be tested. I felt a little better when I read your story and heard your bird was fine. I hope Tule is still doing well. I thought Gracie was a goner. We are leaving for vacation soon and I am scared to death to leave her. I hope we are out of the woods and she is given a clean bill of health.

I agree that the vinegar and water is good to clean with. Afterall! I learned that on here from all of you. Thanks for all the safe ideas.

Thankyou for all the advice. I always felt I was keeping my bird "safe" by keeping her wings clipped. Sometimes it is hard to decide which is better when there are pros and cons to both situations. I am so thankful she is better. Singing and doing everything pretty much like her old self. So relieved!