Top Ten Signs of Sickness

You Must Watch For In Your Pet Bird

You are responsible for the health of your pet bird or parrot. Birds are notorious for hiding or masking any illness or sickness for fear of being singled out as a weak member of the flock. It's often difficult to tell if your bird is sick or ill so you must continuously be on the lookout for subtle signs of sickness or health problems. Some of these signs of sickness require an immediate trip to the veterinarian while some of them require careful observation and consultation on your part before making the trip to the vet. If you are ever unsure about whether a trip to the vet is warranted, please error on the cautious side and take the trip. One thing is for sure -- if you wait too long then it could be too late for your vet to help you.

Here are the top ten reasons signs that your pet bird or parrot might be sick.

1. Skin Problems - Skin problems can be a sign of sickness. Common signs include excessive swelling, visible sores, redness, flakiness or a change in color of any areas of exposed skin.
2. Eyes, Ears, "Nose" and Mouth - Watch for unusual discharges from the eyes, ears, nares or mouth. This may be obvious discharges or obstructions but may also be subtle color changes in their feathers around their eyes, ears, nares or mouth. A couple other common signs of sickness are changes in the clarity of the eyes and swelling or redness around the eyes.
3. Physical - Physical problems are often the easiest signs of sickness to see. These signs may include an inability to perch, equilibrium problems, balance problems, limping, not bearing weight on a leg, or lameness in a leg.
4. Appearance - Often one of the easiest changes to observe is a change in appearance. This may be obvious changes such as an odd posture, tail pointing down, drooping wings, bent wings, unexplained loss of feathers or fluffed out feathers. Other signs might be color changes (redness) or texture changes (scaly) in skin around the eyes and legs. Though usually an indicator of long term problems, changes in feather color or texture can also be a sign of sickness. Also watch for dirty or unkempt feathers which may be a sign of lack of preening.
5. Mannerisms and Personality - Watch for drastic or sometimes subtle changes in mannerisms or personality. Some very obvious indicators are long periods of inactivity, staying at the bottom of the cage, unusually aggressive behavior, lack of playfulness, or little or no vocalizations. Unfortunately the signs aren't always so obvious. Any changes in their normal routine could also be a sign of sickness. These can include excessive sleeping, decreased preening, or not enthusiastically greeting you at a time of day when they normally would.
6. Breathing - Problems breathing after little or no activity can be a sign of sickness or respiratory problems. Watch for open mouthed breathing, noisy breathing or tail bobbing while breathing. This is an indication of labored breathing. Also watch for long term persistent sneezing. The sneezing should not be confused with infrequent or occasional sneezing which is common for some species (Greys & Toos).
7. Eating Habits - Much like humans, appetite is often an obvious sign of sickness but it is often more subtle in birds than it is in humans, cats or dogs. This can be as obvious as not eating or drinking anything at all to a reduced appetite or thirst. A lot of bird food ends up on the cage floor so it's often difficult to judge exactly what is being eaten and what is being discarded. A couple things to watch for are untouched food in the feeding dish, refusing a favorite treat or a loss in weight. It is recommended that you periodically weigh your bird so you know and understand its weight and its normal weight fluctuations. Also watch for a sudden increase in appetite or thirst as these can also be signs of sickness.
8. Droppings - Observing your bird's normal droppings and understanding what is normal is critical before being able to recognize abnormal droppings. There are much more detailed articles on the web than this Top Ten list but basically bird droppings are made up of three parts; fecal part, white urate part and liquid urine part. Any change in consistency or color of any of these three parts could be a sign of sickness. Also watch for a change in the quantity of droppings, undigested food in the droppings or blood in the droppings. Always consider the recent diet when evaluating droppings. Some foods can change the appearance of droppings but this will only be a temporary change.
9. Bleeding - This should be obvious but what isn't always obvious is that birds can bleed to death very quickly. It is important to stop the bleeding and seek help immediately. Most cases of avian bleeding should be considered an emergency and should be treated with the utmost urgency.
10. Vomiting - Vomiting or regurgitation are obvious signs of sickness. You should be able to distinguish the difference between regurgitation for a loved one and regurgitation as a sign of sickness.

One final requirement is to use sound judgment when considering these signs of sickness. The key to noticing signs of illness is observing your pet bird on a regular basis so you can notice any unexplained changes. The word "unexplained" is important. For example, if you feed your pet bird raspberries then you can expect a change in their droppings and shouldn't be alarmed. However, if you haven't changed their diet in any way and there is a change in their dropping then there is reason for concern.

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This article was originally published on www.InfoSuperFlyway.com. The InfoSuperFlyway website is dedicated to Kibibi the talking African Grey Parrot (Congo African Grey) with sights, sounds, audio, videos, articles, top ten lists, parrot jokes, parrot humor, and Clicker training info! Original Article Source: Ten Reasons Signs of Sickness

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