Upper Respiratory Infection In Cockatiels?

Question

My sisters birds were recently diagnosed with a possible respiratory infection. She took 1 to the vet as he was sitting at the bottom of the cage just not looking right.The vet checked him and noted the roof of his mouth was very red which most likely means a URI. He was also closing 1 eye on the side that seemed inflammed.The vet advised it would be a good idea to bring in the cagemate to this bird as this infection is contagious and she had exhibited similar signs(closing 1 eye) about a month ago. She now has brought in 2 more birds who also seem to have this infection. She has 12 birds in all. I suggested that she bring them all in for testing as to not keep this virus spreading around. My question is how did they get it?
She dosent take them anywhere and dosent attend any bird shows. The only thing I can think of is that she dosent spray them enough and maybe their sinus's got clogged? She would like to avoid this happening again.Anyone have any ideas; what worked for you ? Thanks

Answer 1

I would ask the vet this question because he is more qualified to answer. If you do not wash the birds water and food dishes properly every day and rinse thoroughly and air dry them it will contribute to bird illnesses Do not wash bird dishes in a dish washer or with people dishes or with a sponge (sponges harbor bacteria deadly to birds). Also it is important to use the same dishes for food and water for each bird. Birds are very good at hiding the fact that they are ill. It is very important not to give a bird a bath in a drafty or air conditioned room. I hope I have answered your question. Tell your sister I said I wish her birds get well quick she must give them stress formula to build up their resistance to their illness. She must change the paper on the bottom of the cages every day and thoroughly disinfect and rinse the cages at least once a week. Clean food and water dishes with hot soapy water, rinse and air dry every day. With so many birds it's a good idea to put names on the food and water dishes and to have extra dishes with each birds name on them to prevent cross contamination. Before and after handling birds it's best to wash your hands because many bird illnesses can make people sick too.

Bubba

Answer 2

Cockatiel Eye Infection

Answer 3

The bacteria can come in on you. If you or your sister or another family member touched a bird and then went home and played with the cockatiels, that's how they got it. It can even stretch as far as you being around other people who were recently around an infected bird. If the other birds aren't showing symptoms, I would put them on ornacycline/tetracycline (get at the pet store--and John P had the original idea about the tetracycline, not me) just to make sure because it will kill off whatever they may have, or at least protect them from getting it while the one bird is on antibiotics.
I would clean EVERYTHING including your house/clothes just to be safe.
Good luck!

Answer 4

URI in pet parrots can often be traced to the diet as well. Lack of vitamin A (or its precursor beta carotene) can leave the membranes of the respiratory tract lacking in their protective mucous layer. This strongly predisposes them to infection. The infection was not necessariy brought in from anywhere. It may just be an opportunistic infection that took hold in one bird and if the others have similarly compromised respiratory tracts it could then spread to them.
Seed based diets are very deficient in vitamin A. It's important to supplement a seed diet with dark green or orange vegetables.

Answer 5

Cockatiels are notorious for clogged nostrils. If you don't know what to look for, the nostrils get clogged from dander. Which is why tiels need to be bathed early morning hours to allow them to dry for the 10 hours. Check their nostrils and see if any of them are clogged.

If they are clogged, the drainage goes down into the lungs and causes the upper resiratory infections and bulging eyes. This is then spread from one to the other after it turns into a bad bacteria infection from one to the other.

To avoid this, once every two weeks, pull out each tiel, and drop very luke warm water in each nostril opening. This will losen up the dander disk and make it soft enough for the birds to help blow it out of their nostrils. You can actually help this, but taking a tooth pick and helping to lift the harden disk shape dander out. Be very careful cause there is a very thin sheet of skin inside the nostril cavity that you can peirce and make bleed. You do Not want to peirce that thin peice of skin.

Any one who is Avian Certified learns how to clean the nasal cavity so your avian vet knows just how to do this.

Edit: John P was WRONG on the sulfur products PERIOD!
Good Luck!