medicine from pet shop??? urgent!!!?

Question

my cockatiel has what i think is a cold, and the lady at the pet shop wanted to sell me something that i don't remember the name, it's kinda like drops, or you replace the water with that stuff for 5 days, it says on the back of the bottle that it is fot runny nose and things like that, do you think it's good? Should i try it? I heard that pet shop stuff is more harmfull to birds than it is good...

my cockatiel is not really playful now, he never opens his eyes completely, i mean never, itès always half closed. I want to bring him to the vet but my b/f doesn't really want to, cause we just bought the bird, he wants to bring him back...
He doesn't play, he doesn't sing, he does climb his cage A LOT! He doesn't eat much (i think he doesn't like his food) he drinks and i can finally touch him, and pet him which makes me really happy since i only had him for 6 days! i don't want to let him out yet, i think he could hurt himself since he doesn't open his eyes (even when loud noises) just to mention that it is REALLY HARD to find a vet that will treat birds around here, nothing less than an hour ride to get to a vet and i couldn't find one! not even for the bird that i had before! they all laughed at me! :|

Answer 1

Ok I'm going to take a shot at this one and maybe you'll listen to what i have to say here!

This is why you should NOT purchase the pet store BS!


1) If you do, it prolongs any test that could be run on your bird when you eventually DO take your bird to a vet, and you WILL have to take it to a vet, I guarantee that much.

2) Your bird will not drink the water you put that crap in, because it tastes so bad, lol. So your bird ends up getting worst in the long run.

3) The whole ordeal ends up costing you more money, because of the expense of the crap you bought at the pet store, then the vets office twice, because you have to take the bird back twice because they can't run the tests the first time around because you had treated the bird with the crap from the pet store, so you have to wait 5 days till that crap is out of it's system to run the test, so now you have two visits under your belt and in the wallet. Now you getting the idea of why you should not buy the crap from the pet store???

If it was that simple to just put the crap in the water, don't you think us veterinarians would be using it instead of injecting birds with antibiotics to make them better? Don't you think we would sell the same thing as the pet stores sell??? There is a reason why it don't work!!!!

Call your avian vet and get it done the right way the first time around. Until that can be done, put the bird on a heat source.

Answer 2

Don't believe the people at the pet shop, even if they say they're certified. I'm certified through a pet store, too (among other things) and trust me, they learn NOTHING about medicine. You learn to find the symptoms so you know what to be worried about and what not to be worried about. None of those over the counter things work, especially in the water since most birds will just stop drinking. Go to your vet right away. The medications may not HURT the bird (though possible) but the fact that you're letting them stay sick for a longer period of time can harm the bird and even kill it. Your bird has a runny nose? Well check to see if it has runny droppings or the tail bobs when it sits still. Both of those are other signals that the bird is sick.
Trust the vet, not the pet store. They just want to sell you stuff.

Humor4fms: I didn't know you had to wait 5 days for testing after using an otc medication, that's good to know (not that I use any, anyways). I do know that my vet was so happy that I don't just treat Lucy with "whatever" at the pet store when she gets sick (which is all the time...that's what happens when you have a lutino bird) because it would have actually made her even sicker and could have killed her!

Answer 3

" I heard that pet shop stuff is more harmfull to birds than it is good..."

You heard correctly.

Call an avian vet and get your tiel in immediately. Birds don't last long when sick as they hide illness instictively and by the time you see symptoms it's already bad.

Tiels can and do take antibiotics but you need a proper diagnoses and real antibiotics from the vet.

While you are calling and maybe waiting till next morning to see the vet make the tiel comfortable by increasing the temp and humidity and not stressing the tiel at all.

Good Luck

Answer 4

buying medication from any pet store can do more harm then good , the best thing you can do is call youre avain vet , take the bird in and go from there , over counter stuff is not as good and again could cause more harm then good . its more of a money gimmick then to really treat the underlying dease or cold what ever the case might be, please go to a avain vet ...

Answer 5

If the lady only specializes in birds then maybe I would take her advice especially if she has been in business for many years, but to be safe a vet is always the best answer

Answer 6

If the ingredients are doxycycline,oxytetracycline or erythromycin,then they are for respiratory infections.I've used it for my birds before ~ my vet recommended them.Here's a link to a site that sells them.See if the one she wants you to use is there.

Edit: My vet HAS cockatiels and recommended the Ornacycline or Ornacyn plus from the pet store.It comes in orange flavored tablets that are disolved in the bird's water,and my bird had no problem drinking it.I wouldn't tell someone to try it if I hadn't already used it with good results.Of course a vet is good,and Baytril is probably the best antibiotic,but maybe she doesn't know of a vet that treats birds.So cut it out with the thumbs down already.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/davehansen/tdisordr.html
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+5992+6094&pcatid=6094

Answer 7

If you don't want to go to the vet you need to do something. the vet would be your best bet though.