Sick Amazon

My vet is on holiday. Cybil an Orange-winged Amazon is 5 years old and untame. She has been here 2 months. She is a re-homed bird and has come with negative test for psittacosis, beak and feather disease, etc but had previously tested positive twice. She fell ill shortly after arrival, and ill for six weeks. Hardly eating and spending 23.5 hours in nest box. A visit to the veterinarian diagnosed liver disease from her swollen stomach He started Baytril immediately, .03 twice a day. To it wE added one teaspoon nCtrical care in Manduka water. The swelling is less. The bird is thinner and has a prominent keel bone which is protruding. In the ten days since antibiotic syringe of Batri she has come out of the nest box three quarters of the time. She barely eats and today I had given her a teasoon of Recovery with a spoon. She took this by lunging at the spoon. She looks very thin and weak but her eyes are still bright. The veterinarian considered we should treat her for psittacosis for 7 weeks. Her bonded partner appears healthy and protective of her. I am adding a few drops live yogurt to the Recovery. It seems to me I am merely keeping her alive. I have no experience of a sick Amazon parrot. She is in a 15 foot flight. Any ideas about putting on weight in a less intrusive way than syringes. I do not mind how much time I spend with her but she dos not relish any human contract.

Your bird is very ill and needs veterinary attention as soon as possible - if it is still alive. If your primary attending veterinarian is on holidays, you should ask their office to whom they would refer you to in order to see to the needs of your bird’s health care. As I see it, there is a dramatic need for hospitalization, supportive care including parenteral fluids, warmth and tube feeding, accurate diagnosis and treatment here. “Liver disease” may be present, or may not - but regardless, the specific cause of liver disease needs to be diagnosed in order to enable appropriate treatment, and supportive care also will be indicated. Although Baytril is a popular broad spectrum antibiotic, there are many, many, many infectious and non-infectious diseases that could be present that this drug simply will not help your bird with. I wish you the best of luck in obtaining the appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic attention that your bird needs,

About Brian Speer, DVM

Avian veterinarian Dr. Brian Speer was raised in a small town on California’s coast. He received his BS in Biology from California Polytechnic State University in 1978, and his DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 1983.

An active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Dr. Speer is a much sought after guest speaker and has presented at numerous conferences in the avicultural and zoological communities both within the United States and abroad. He is well published in the AAV annual proceedings, has served as guest editor for the journal Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine, the Veterinary Clinics of North America, and authored chapters in several recent veterinary medical texts on pet bird, avicultural and ratite medical topics. In 1995 he co-authored the extensive avicultural reference, The Large Macaws, and helped to co-author Birds for Dummies in 1999.

Since 1989, Dr, Speer has run a “bird’s only” practice in the San Francisco Bay area and is the President and Director of The Medical Center for Birds. He is a consultant for The Veterinary Information Network (Avian Medical Boards) and the Maui Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Lafeber award for excellence in private practice of avian medicine and surgery and in 2006, was named Speaker of the Year for the North American Veterinary Conference.