Vet said he didn't really know what the problem was and that he probably couldn't help her.
A woman with a Lilac-crowned Amazon (A. Finschi), Lilac, wondered what happened to her bird which began eating and when she returned shortly, Lilac was sitting on her perch, mouth gaping, wings held away from her body. She thought she was choking. Put on top of her cage, the bird walked around with wings held out away from the body not unlike being hot.
She called the emergency vet. Instructions were to push in her crop to dislodge any obstruction. Crop didn't have food. She was breathing OK. Took her to the vet. Anesthetized her. Looked down the respiratory system. Found nothing. 30 min later mouth no gaping, but still lethargic. Vet said he didn't really know what the problem was and that he probably couldn't help her.
The writer took the bird looking terrible from, put her in a box to go to sleep, but the bird kept extending her wings and didn't sleep much, she thought. Surely the bird would die. The next morning, however the birds droppings were watery, white and very small. Back to the vet, where she ate an apple while waiting. Suddenly her stomach began making noises, frighteningly loud. The vet said her dropping s looked better today. Sent home again. The bird slept the rest of the day, and was better the next day.
**The owner had read about bird seizures wanted to why birds extended their wings and what caused the whole episode. Hence, she wrote to Bird Talk and Dr. Wasserman answered in "Causes & Cures" in September 1992. It was used here by permission. The question was herewith abbreviated. You can check the issue if you want the whole letter, written by Callie Hernandez, Texas.
You and Lilac sure had one harrowing night! From what you are describing, it sounds like Lilac had severe respiratory difficulty. This can occur from a seed or hull lodged in the trachea (windpipe) or while from a chunk of abscess material that may have broken free in the respiratory tract and blocked a major airway. Birds that gape and stretch their necks out as far as they can may have partial blockage. This is different than a bird yawning when he scratches at his face gently with a foot and then yawns slowly.
It is a good thing that your rushed her to an avian veterinarian immediately. Having her on oxygen with a gas anesthetic probably really helped her. Even though the vet did not find an obstruction, there may still have been one that dislodged during the procedure. However, she may have had a mild seizure, too. It is impossible to tell from what you described. Seizures are just abnormal electrical activity in the brain, causing involuntary muscle twitching, which maybe localized to certain muscle groups, or generalized. Seizures may occur from toxins, such as chocolate intoxication, pesticides, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar, : and some parasite, to mention just a few. Blood tests taken at the time of a seizure may help determine the cause.
One thing I really wanted to mention is that there is an emergency procedure that can be performed by an avian veterinarian, which could save a birds life. Because birds have an air sac system, it is possible for them to breath through a hole punched into the caudal thoracic air sac [ frontally, half-way between the shoulder and tail]. This means that if a bird has a partial or total blockage of the trachea, or if the bird has ceased breathing, a tube can be easily placed into the air sac, allowing the bird to continue breathing! A bird can even be anesthetized in this fashion, if surgery of the head or trachea is performed. It is very safe, and even though it seems very foreign to us that a bird can breathe though a tube place in its abdomen, it works! Placement of these tubes should only be performed by a qualified avian veterinarian very familiar with avian anatomy and physiology.
Even though Lilac is doing well now, I think it is definitely time for a thorough check-up, including x-rays, blood work and some cultures. Hopefully, she just had something stuck in her trachea, but it better to follow up on this and make sure there's nothing that should be treated now, rather than waiting for something like this to happen again.
The trachea is an air tube of complete circles looking much like a vacuum cleaner hose, located mostly on the right side of the neck of Amazons, right of the food passage (esophagus) and the cervical spine. In the Amazon, the end of the trachea is part of the bronchial entrance of the lungs. The air passage into the Amazons is very complex, but apparent through the nares behind which is the nasal cavity leading to the choana in the roof of the mouth and into the trachea. Chronic rhinitis can be caused by seed hulls or debris, which should be flushed or removed delicately by an avian vet, and perhaps treated with antibiotics to prevent further respiratory problems.------Information from Harrison, Clinical Avian Medicine and Surgery, W.B.Saunders & Co., Philadelphia, 1986. The book has an excellent chapter on anatomy, albeit in medical language, using the Amazon as the reference bird.
* AmaZone is a compendium outreach of the Peninsula Caged Bird Society, P.O. Box 2005, Yorktown, Va. 23692. Dick Ivy, director.
