Breathing difficulties, rattles,clicks 12 yrs old tiel.

[jamington]

Hello
My 12 yr old male tiel is under vet care for the above problems.. he has been quite sleepy for past few weeks and noticed breathing noises recently..still eating but wheezing.
Vet has prescribed treating him with BAYTRIL for 10 days (day 3 today) as she believes its an infection.
I was wondering if its worth treating him for possible mites....at the same time ??
Would consult vet first.... but it was just a thought...as the bird may run out of time if antibiotics dont work.
Thanks
Jam

[Pipers Mom]

How long has your tiel been on the Baytril? Sometimes it will take 3 - 5 days before you see any kind of improvement. Did the vet say what kind of infection? As a precaution, I would go 12 - 14 days instead of 10 days just to be sure that the infection cleared. Are you administering the medication orally? I found that giving the antibiotic orally worked better for me.

[Marrie]

Baytril can take time to work, it is also a broad antibiotic so a different one may be needed if your bird isn't responding to it. And the medicine itself can make the bird feel ill so can cause lethargic behavior. Did the vet do a culture or any sort of test to test for infection? If not, may want to call and ask if it is possible to do a test to see exactly what infection he has.

[jamington]

Hello Marie and Pipers Mom
Thanks for your replies.
Bird has now been on Baytril for 5 days and no improvement. By syringe into mouth.
Still sleeping mostly and lethargic.
Eating and drinking with little bursts of energy.
Clicking and wheezing whilst awake..silent when sleeping.
No cultures..just the antibiotic so far.

I will speak to the vet again Monday...
Thankssssssss !!!

Jam

[jamington]

Incidentally... my other bird that he lives with and now 26 yrs old is fighting fit... bright colourful and will still take the end of your finger off if he decides hes tired of whistling. :*) They are separated just now to give the sick one a rest.

[Pipers Mom]

Please keep up updated after you speak to the vet. Would like to know what kind of infection is being treated.