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My nine-year-old male canary is sick. Fluffed, stringy poop, breathing hard and heavy. Saw him eating and drinking some yesterday and today. No signs of lice or mites. Put a heating pad on top of cage and covered all with a blanket, except for one corner. Put some cooked brown rice sprinkled with probiotic in his seed dish. No bird vet, anywhere near. We put a silver dollar in his water to make "collidal silver", an antibiotic. Water has vitamin drops in it. Scrubbed out his cage and bought new seed and egg treat. Is there anything else I can do for him? I don't want to lose him like this; not after nine years.

He honestly needs a vet. Where are you located, maybe someone around you knows of a vet that will work with birds, or will consult with an avian vet.

On the positive side, 9 years is a good amount of time for a canary. On the negative side, when birds, especially the small ones, start to show severe symptoms of distress, it might already be too late. Keeping the bird as comfortable as possible is probably all you can do right now.