Hello, My question is, I have a 19 year old cockatiel. He is very tame and I sometimes take him with me in the car. Today when I had him in the car he looked a bit unsteady and then started to vomit. He seems to be O.K. now I have him home , but this never happened before. What do you think would have caused him to vomit, as he was fine before I took him out, should I take him to the vet?
Car motion sickness can cause regurgitation in parrots. However, your bird is 19 years of age, and I would most definitely recommend a proper physical examination and diagnostic foundational workup if this is not current at present time.
Avian veterinarian Dr. Brian Speer was raised in a small town on Californias coast. He received his BS in Biology from California Polytechnic State University in 1978, and his DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 1983.
An active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Dr. Speer is a much sought after guest speaker and has presented at numerous conferences in the avicultural and zoological communities both within the United States and abroad. He is well published in the AAV annual proceedings, has served as guest editor for the journal Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine, the Veterinary Clinics of North America, and authored chapters in several recent veterinary medical texts on pet bird, avicultural and ratite medical topics. In 1995 he co-authored the extensive avicultural reference, The Large Macaws, and helped to co-author Birds for Dummies in 1999.
Since 1989, Dr, Speer has run a birds only practice in the San Francisco Bay area and is the President and Director of The Medical Center for Birds. He is a consultant for The Veterinary Information Network (Avian Medical Boards) and the Maui Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Lafeber award for excellence in private practice of avian medicine and surgery and in 2006, was named Speaker of the Year for the North American Veterinary Conference.
When suffering from motion sickness, some parrots appear to fare better when covered. Maybe losing sight of the world’s rapid speed prevents disorientation from occurring. Determine whether your bird does better in a cage that is fully or partially covered.
Motion sickness is caused by disorientation. Your brain receives a confused signal when you are motionless while seated in a car and can see and hear the outside world moving quickly. Although you are motionless, your inner ear detects that you are moving. The result is sweating, nausea, and vomiting. Even though it appears to be a mental trick, it is actually quite unpleasant and very real. Parrots, like people, can be affected during travel.
Since 1987, author Patty Jourgensen has worked with and taken care of rescue birds. She is an expert in avian health, behavior, and nutrition.
Once you’ve established that there is a problem, the best course of action is to experiment to see what best suits your bird’s needs when traveling. As usual, organizing ahead of time will relieve your stress and make your parrot more comfortable when traveling.
It’s best to take your parrot on shorter trips first to see how she handles car rides before embarking on a longer, potentially uncomfortable one. To help her become more tolerant of traveling, start with short trips of fifteen minutes and gradually extend the duration. Before she gets sick, you might be well into an out-of-state trip.
Car motion sickness can cause regurgitation in parrots. But since your bird is 19 years old, if this isn’t already current, I would strongly advise a thorough physical examination and diagnostic foundational workup.
Dr. Speer has been the president and director of The Medical Center for Birds since 1989 and has operated a “birds only” practice in the San Francisco Bay area. He provides consulting services to Maui Animal Rescue and Sanctuary and The Veterinary Information Network (Avian Medical Boards). He received the Lafeber Award for excellence in the private practice of avian medicine and surgery in 2003, and the North American Veterinary Conference named him Speaker of the Year in 2006.
Being a current participant in the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Dr. Speer is a highly sought-after keynote speaker who has spoken at many conferences in the zoological and avicultural communities in the US and overseas. He has authored chapters in several recent veterinary medical texts on pet bird, avicultural, and ratite medical topics. He is well-published in the AAV annual proceedings and has guest edited the journal Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine, the Veterinary Clinics of North America, and other journals. He coauthored The Large Macaws, a comprehensive avicultural reference, in 1995 and contributed to the coauthorship of Birds for Dummies in 1999.
Avian veterinarian Dr. Growing up, Brian Speer lived in a small coastal town in California. California Polytechnic State University awarded him a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1978, and the University of California at Davis awarded him a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1983.
Hi, may I ask you a question? I have a 19-year-old cockatiel. He is quite gentle, and I occasionally bring him along in the car. He appeared a little unsteady in the car today and then began to throw up. He seems to be O. K. He’s at home now, but this has never happened before. Since he was fine when I took him outside, what do you think would have caused him to throw up? Should I take him to the vet?
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