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a 5 months old cocktail with respiratory problems

Dear lafeber
I have a 5 months old cocktail which caught cold 2 months ago.
2 times he got seriously ill and needed emergency treatments such as dexamethasone intramuscular injections and couple of oral medications due to labor respiratory problems. And what my veterinarian said was that he got pleural effusion and forbid my son to get out of cage due to possible complications.
Since then he is better but he continues coughing and breathing loudly and with open mouth especially when flying but even while sleeping.
My question is that when should I expect my son to be back to his normal life?
And due to breathing with labor, he lost some weight but doesn’t eat much(81 grams)… is it ok to give hime formula of baby cockatiel?
I am very nervous for my child so any other advice you might have, I would appropriate.

Hi,

Open mouth breathing like this is never normal. You need to take him back to the Vet. If you feel you need a second opinion, I encourage you to try another Vet. Has the Vet tested for diseases? Did the Vet test for anything like aspergillosis? Were you handfeeding the bird when this began? Birds don’t get what we call a cold, but there are viruses they can have and handfeeding birds can aspirate food and get an infection in their respiratory system. Along with lungs, they have air sacs throughout their body, so they have a very complicated respiratory system. What you describe sounds very serious and unless a Vet can find out exactly what is wrong, he is not likely to live much longer. He should not be flying around if he can’t breathe well. As for the weight loss, you should ask your Vet if you can offer handfeeding formula. This type of stubborn illness is not common in such a young bird, so he may have a genetic disorder. You should also make sure there isn’t something in the home that is irritating his system. You should not have anything with strong fumes or scents around him. Common things like household cleaners, incense, candles, perfumes and sprays of any kind can all be toxic to a bird. I’m sorry we can’t be of more help, but there are many things that can cause a respiratory disease, so only a Vet can run tests and try to diagnose the problem.

Take care,

Brenda