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Hi everyone, my husband said she was fine for a few hours today then she got quiet and "clingy". When I got home there was barely a chirp out of her and she seemed indifferent to me - very unusual.

I just checked on her and she is on her high perch but on 2 feet and tucked in! Could this be something minor or do you think a vet visit is in order tommorrow?

Do you track her weight closely? That's often the first sign of illness. How are her appetite and poops?

Paca

Poops are watery and not very green, weight is stable at 92grams.

I don't know, any change in behavior might indicate a problem. My female gets really quiet and has watery poop when she is getting ready to lay eggs; could this be the case? If in doubt, I would take her to the vet, just to be on the safe side.

She could lay eggs She's just over a year old - I was hoping she wouldn't, I'll call the vet tommorrow

Yes, that's about the age Jessie started laying eggs. I can tell when she's about to, because Jerry Lee acts really cranky a few days before, I think he senses that she won't be giving him much attention for a while, and he doesn't like it.

I took Luna into the vet today because she started dropping feathers and has watery poop. She was also very lathargic last night and didn't eat much.

He did a fecal test (came back negative)and believes this is a premature molt. He said she is also pretty thin since he could feel her keel bone and he wouldlike her to get up to about 100-105gm.

She's 14 months old, molted in may-june, but did not molt in the spring. What do you think?

I think you're wise to have taken her to the vet, but little can be diagnosed without bloodwork. I hope your vet is right. If she were mine and she wasn't looking much better by Monday morning, I'd take her to a better vet fast for bloodwork.

Paca

Do you know what conditions are diagnosed with bloodwork?

She seemed better today, and very "clingy" and cuddly with me most of the night. She did play and eat better. The vet gave me some Lafebers nuti-cakes, supposed to be good for sick birds, and to get her weight up. She dug into it allrigh but I think she picked the seeds out - the little stinker!

I'll just have to see how she is over the next 2 days.

I'm not sure about the molting part. Jessie only molted once, when she was about a year old; she was very lethargic, but all she did was eat. Neither of my birds has molted since, but I think that's because I keep the temperature stable in the apartment and we have about the same number of sunny days year-round.

Losing feathers could be a molt or some other condition. I would definitely keep a close eye on her and have the number of an emergency vet clinic (or the vet, if he takes emergency calls) handy, just in case, with the holidays coming up.

It sounds like your vet knows about birds, but if she does not get better, I would take her in for a second opinion. It really depends how much the vet knows about birds; the vet my friend takes his dogs to told me flat out that he does not have enough experience with birds and that I should check with other vets. Not all vets will be that honest, though.

Good luck! Let us know what happens!

Luna Bella wrote:Do you know what conditions are diagnosed with bloodwork? ...

This article is so very ancient relative to avian veterinary science that it surely contains an inaccuracy or two, but for our purposes here, I hope it will give you a good recap of what bloodwork reveals.

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww10eii.htm

It's much like your own doctor's reliance on bloodwork to tell her what's going on inside your body when you come in for your annual physical. But you can answer her long list of questions about appetite, sleep patterns, aches, and other symptoms. Your bird can't, so bloodwork is what reveals how the various organs are functioning and whether there is an infection brewing.

I'm glad your tiel is feeling better and hope your vet is right about this just being a molt.

Paca

The vet is an avian vet plus other exotics. She still seems a bit quiet and very clingy/cuddly with me - she even went to my husband when I went to the store for a while, and she almost never goes to him on her own.

Thanks for the article about the vet visit. I am going to see how she does for a couple of days.

As young as she is, I'm concerned that she's got a bacterial infection of some sort. If your vet's office reopens tomorrow, I hope you'll call early for an apptmt.

Paca

I agree. This behavior indicates illness.

The other possibility is that she's just recovering from the holidays, like the rest of us. My birds are subdued and quiet at the moment, too.

But ruling out a bacterial infection isn't a bad idea. I don't know what they looked at when they examined the fecal sample, but bacterial infections can be dianosed that way. Some vets only look for giardia or other parasites, so maybe you can ask what they ruled out when they said the fecal was negative.