If you are reading this at speed, here is the short version: birds hide illness until they cannot, so a bird that looks unwell is usually a bird that has been unwell for a while. Do not wait to see whether it passes.
Signs that mean today, not tomorrow
Any one of these is worth a phone call:
- laboured or open-mouthed breathing, or a tail that pumps with each breath
- sitting on the floor of the cage
- not eating
- feathers fluffed up for long stretches rather than briefly
- bleeding, or any visible injury
- a sudden change in behaviour — a noisy bird that has gone quiet, a bird that will not come out
The last one matters more than it sounds. You know your bird's ordinary day better than any vet does, and "not himself" is a real symptom.
Not every vet sees birds
A bird is not a small dog, and a general practice will often say so when you call. What you are looking for is an avian or exotic-species vet, and outside office hours, an emergency hospital that will take one.
We keep a list of the clinics in Ontario we would call ourselves, with addresses and phone numbers, grouped by region:
It is worth finding yours before you need it. Put the number in your phone tonight. The half hour you spend now is the half hour you will not have later.
Getting there
- Keep the bird warm. A sick bird struggles to hold its temperature. A towel over part of the carrier and a warm car help more than you would expect.
- Use a secure carrier, not the cage. A cage in a moving car is a bird being thrown against bars.
- Handle as little as you can. Catching and restraining a bird that is already struggling to breathe can make things worse.
- Keep it quiet and dark-ish. Less noise, fewer people, no radio.
- Bring a photo of anything you noticed — droppings, a wound, the way it was standing. It is easier than describing it.
What we do, and what we do not
We are a boarding house, not a hospital. What we do is watch: your bird is in a room with people in it, so a change in appetite, droppings or behaviour gets noticed the same day rather than at the end of the week. If something looks wrong we tell you straight away, and we would rather tell you something you did not want to hear than let you find it out at pick-up.
Our full guidance on household hazards and what to do first is here:
Fewer emergencies in the first place
Most of what sends a bird to a vet in a hurry is preventable, and none of it is exotic: a proper diet rather than a seed bowl, a clean cage, and paying attention daily so you notice a change on day one instead of day five. An annual check with an avian vet is the other half — it is the only way anybody catches the things a bird is hiding.
