Joined
·
12 Posts
Some info about the bird:
My budgie (who is a female, but I originally thought was a male, so I still refer to the bird as HIM--but be clear, the bird is a female) is turning 11 years old in a couple of weeks, and he has had his fair share of ailments. He suffered from bumblefoot for most of his life and is quite fat (probably has some kind of fatty tumor in his stomach area as well). His right foot is completely paralyzed and his left foot has lost a lot of dexterity. To make it worse, his talons are not growing in correctly so it makes it hard for him to grasp onto things correctly. Even when both his talons had dexterity, he often had a hard time balancing on his perch...it seemed like his back was a little weak. For example, after a bath, he would wobble a lot because his tailfeather was wet. This might have been due to him being overweight. Another thing: 3 or 4 years ago, many of his chest feathers were quite overgrown a lot. He looked like a fuzzball because these feathers were quite stringy. He was unable to fly for a while, but we started taking much better care of him, took him out a lot more often, and he regained his flight to the point where he was flying almost frighteningly fast. I know everyone will say the same about their budgie, but he really is a tough bird. I do give him fruits and veggies (oranges, iceburg lettuce, carrots, apple, grape), and an occasional treat like a few sesame seeds, bread, and even boiled chicken breast, all of which he has enjoyed for many years. But he has mainly been on a seed diet. He's lived in rather cold climates for years. My mum likes to leave windows open even during the winter months, and she doesn't use the heat very often. It's been like this since the day we got him 11 years ago. Combined with his sicknesses, limited to no use of his talons, and high weight, he's always found a way to cope.
I've seen an avian vet before, but not much could be done about his bumblefoot. His high body fat has clearly inhibited him but I've done what I can and it seems we've all just learned to live with it.
My current problem:
Recently (the past three days or so), his feathers are always fluffed, and his flying is very weak. On top of that, he is constantly napping, far more than usual. This all started a few days ago, when these symptoms were probably at their worst. He wasn't responding to much--I could poke at him and make noise around him and he would barely even open his eyes. I gave him some sugar water, hand fed him some seed, carrots, etc. He was unable to fly; he could only fly downward to break his fall and he could not go upwards. Over the next few days I took him out occasionally and played with him, and now he doesn't appear to be sick, but still acting strange. He smells like his usual self, he is eating like his usual self, getting enough water, his droppings seem normal, and at times he is quite chipper and active. But his flying is strenuous at best (sometimes he can fly upwards, sometimes not), he is still fluffed all of the time, he doesn't chirp as often or as loudly, and he is napping a lot more often (and during said naps, he doesn't get distracted as easily as he did before--he doesn't care if i get up close to him, talk loudly, etc.). Just last week he was able to fly amazingly fast for an overweight, 11 year old bird, and was quite loud while doing so. Now he is barely flying, fluffy, and rather quiet.
Other things:
For as long as I can remember, he always shivers his wings once in a while. He has this bad habit of eating off his floor, sometimes used oat groats, sometimes his own crap! Just today, when I put him back into the cage, he literally ran to get to the bottom of the cage to eat stuff off the floor, and he did this over and over after picking him up each time. Recently (past two weeks) i have given him half of a honey nut cheerio, which he has enjoyed. That's the only thing I've done differently the past little while. And I know you will all be critical of me, but I haven't given him a cuttlebone in years. I know it's something I should start doing, but he's been fine for so long without it, so I wouldn't directly attribute his strange behavior to the lack of a cuttlebone.
The bottom line:
He's been sleeping a lot more often, fluffed up all the time, can't fly very well, and he's quieter than usual. Having seen him sick before, I don't think he's actually sick. Is this simply old age? Is he perhaps physically injured (broken/sprained wing)? Is it something else?
Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible as my budgie has a lot of health issues that he has lived with for a very long time, and I wanted to make note of them. Thanks so much in advance!
Addendum: about 4 or 5 months ago, he started having night terrors frequently throughout the night. He would fly wildly around the cage, and I'd have to turn the light on to put him back up to his spot. Minutes after turning the lights back off, he would again fly around in his cage. This, combined with the fact that he has trouble balancing, means that he now sleeps with the light on at all times (he never sees complete darkness).
My budgie (who is a female, but I originally thought was a male, so I still refer to the bird as HIM--but be clear, the bird is a female) is turning 11 years old in a couple of weeks, and he has had his fair share of ailments. He suffered from bumblefoot for most of his life and is quite fat (probably has some kind of fatty tumor in his stomach area as well). His right foot is completely paralyzed and his left foot has lost a lot of dexterity. To make it worse, his talons are not growing in correctly so it makes it hard for him to grasp onto things correctly. Even when both his talons had dexterity, he often had a hard time balancing on his perch...it seemed like his back was a little weak. For example, after a bath, he would wobble a lot because his tailfeather was wet. This might have been due to him being overweight. Another thing: 3 or 4 years ago, many of his chest feathers were quite overgrown a lot. He looked like a fuzzball because these feathers were quite stringy. He was unable to fly for a while, but we started taking much better care of him, took him out a lot more often, and he regained his flight to the point where he was flying almost frighteningly fast. I know everyone will say the same about their budgie, but he really is a tough bird. I do give him fruits and veggies (oranges, iceburg lettuce, carrots, apple, grape), and an occasional treat like a few sesame seeds, bread, and even boiled chicken breast, all of which he has enjoyed for many years. But he has mainly been on a seed diet. He's lived in rather cold climates for years. My mum likes to leave windows open even during the winter months, and she doesn't use the heat very often. It's been like this since the day we got him 11 years ago. Combined with his sicknesses, limited to no use of his talons, and high weight, he's always found a way to cope.
I've seen an avian vet before, but not much could be done about his bumblefoot. His high body fat has clearly inhibited him but I've done what I can and it seems we've all just learned to live with it.
My current problem:
Recently (the past three days or so), his feathers are always fluffed, and his flying is very weak. On top of that, he is constantly napping, far more than usual. This all started a few days ago, when these symptoms were probably at their worst. He wasn't responding to much--I could poke at him and make noise around him and he would barely even open his eyes. I gave him some sugar water, hand fed him some seed, carrots, etc. He was unable to fly; he could only fly downward to break his fall and he could not go upwards. Over the next few days I took him out occasionally and played with him, and now he doesn't appear to be sick, but still acting strange. He smells like his usual self, he is eating like his usual self, getting enough water, his droppings seem normal, and at times he is quite chipper and active. But his flying is strenuous at best (sometimes he can fly upwards, sometimes not), he is still fluffed all of the time, he doesn't chirp as often or as loudly, and he is napping a lot more often (and during said naps, he doesn't get distracted as easily as he did before--he doesn't care if i get up close to him, talk loudly, etc.). Just last week he was able to fly amazingly fast for an overweight, 11 year old bird, and was quite loud while doing so. Now he is barely flying, fluffy, and rather quiet.
Other things:
For as long as I can remember, he always shivers his wings once in a while. He has this bad habit of eating off his floor, sometimes used oat groats, sometimes his own crap! Just today, when I put him back into the cage, he literally ran to get to the bottom of the cage to eat stuff off the floor, and he did this over and over after picking him up each time. Recently (past two weeks) i have given him half of a honey nut cheerio, which he has enjoyed. That's the only thing I've done differently the past little while. And I know you will all be critical of me, but I haven't given him a cuttlebone in years. I know it's something I should start doing, but he's been fine for so long without it, so I wouldn't directly attribute his strange behavior to the lack of a cuttlebone.
The bottom line:
He's been sleeping a lot more often, fluffed up all the time, can't fly very well, and he's quieter than usual. Having seen him sick before, I don't think he's actually sick. Is this simply old age? Is he perhaps physically injured (broken/sprained wing)? Is it something else?
Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible as my budgie has a lot of health issues that he has lived with for a very long time, and I wanted to make note of them. Thanks so much in advance!
Addendum: about 4 or 5 months ago, he started having night terrors frequently throughout the night. He would fly wildly around the cage, and I'd have to turn the light on to put him back up to his spot. Minutes after turning the lights back off, he would again fly around in his cage. This, combined with the fact that he has trouble balancing, means that he now sleeps with the light on at all times (he never sees complete darkness).
it looks like I won't be able to bring my budge into a bird veterinarian until tomorrow at the soonest as everyone is booked or closed.
