my young Female Lovebird might be sick

[puppies9099]

I got a female lovebird last week she was in a smoke environment she had a brother that died i think she went into depression she had droppings stuck to her butt when i got her she chirps and eats and drinks and she has a mate now but she is always puffy and hunched over and something is wrong with her beak the bottom of her beak is crooked i'll send a picture of her beak but she acts normal can someone please tell me what might be wrong with her

 

[Pyxis]

I think you better take her to a vet. Sitting hunched and fluffed up is a classic sign that a parrot is not feeling well. They also hide signs of illness for as long as they can before they show, so when they do finally show signs the illness can be pretty advanced. It also sounds like maybe she needs her beak trimmed back. A vet visit is the best solution. Either she's sick and they'll help you out or they'll be able to tell you she's fine, in which case no harm done and your mind is at ease.

 

[puppies9099]

thankyou

 

[puppies9099]

I don't trust vets.I do natural remedies

 

[puppies9099]

I don't mean to be rude or anything,it's just that she is a baby and I don't want her to die. We took our cat to the vet because she ate a 1inch long piece on string and they put her down.All of our chickens and ducks that get sick I do natural remedies and more than half of them are still living today.

 

[Pyxis]

Well, you can try, but if she's really sick and has an infection there's not really anything that will work other than antibiotics. Plus, it could be contagious and spread to your other bird too.As a person in vet school, I can tell you we try our hardest to help. If you've had a bad experience before you should find a different vet - I trust my avian vet with all my pets because he is a very good vet. You're not going to be able to find out what's really wrong without some diagnostics, either - a bird just being fluffed and hunched, while a good indicator that it's not feeling well, doesn't really tell you what it's suffering from or how to treat it. Plus if her bottom beak gets bad enough it could stop her from eating, so at the very least you should get that looked at and possibly trimmed if that's the issue. I wouldn't try trimming it yourself either - it is live tissue with nerves and cutting it wrong could mess it up for life, like how chickens are debeaked.

The cat eating the string is sad and I am so sorry for your loss, but they probably made the best choice ( I of course didn't see the cat so I don't know for sure). I'm not sure if they told you why they had to do it, but here's why:

When a cat eats something like that, it gets tangled in their intestines. You can'n pull it out, because that could rip the intestines. You can't leave it in, because it affects their digestion and could potentially cut off a section from blood flow and cause it to die, not to mention it's very painful and can cause tearing as the body tries to move it through. Removing it can take expensive, invasive surgery - if they can even find where it's stuck. Putting her down may have been the best option and stopped her from suffering. No vet likes to put an animal down. It's heartbreaking and done as a last resort.

 

[puppies9099]

She's actually better now running around but I am concerned about her beak later today when she is settled I'll take a picture of her beak so you can see if you've seen any thing like it it's quite interesting

 

[Pyxis]

Sure, I'll definitely check that out for you If she's acting better I would say just keep an eye on her and see if it gets worse. They are very, very good at hiding illness.

 

[puppies9099]

Thank you I am not home right now but I'll get a pic soon

 

[GuineaFowling]

Birds hide illnesses extremely well. Unless you carefully watch for signs(such as absorbing droppings daily, checking nares and eyes, and watching for any odd behavior, becoming knowledgeable on several bird illnesses, etc) you might not know your bird is sick until it starts showing symptoms like fluffing up and acting lethargic. At this point they are really badly sick.

Your bird 'might' have an infection. You can try and treat it holistically but then you dont know what kind of infection it is or if its an infection at all. Only a vet can give you a diagnoses. I would suggest putting some turmeric powder and cinnamon powder into the fresh food or in the water. Only add about a pinch and do this 3-4 times a week. Turmeric and cinnamon are both known for their antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial properties so they should help a bit.


When looking for a vet always check their reviews, whether they are on yelp or some other website. To be honest, the vet should not have put down your cat without consulting you about any other options to save her/him. I had a cat who ingested poison and after the vet determined what was wrong with him they asked if we would like to pursue treatment or put him to sleep. My cat was missing for 2 days and came home vomiting blood on the third day, he lost a ton of blood and was suffering, on top of that the vet said in his condition there was a little to no chance he would survive. So we decided to do what was best and put him out of his suffering.

If you take your bird to the vet make sure the vet is avian certified and also has a lot of experience. Ask them how many bird patients they have. A bird hospital would be most suitable as I find that mixed animal vets dont know very much about avians.