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Cockatiel with respiratory infection aspirated medicine. X-ray next?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Cockatiel | Male | unneutered | 5 years and 8 months old | 0.198 lbs

My cockatiel has recently been diagnosed with a respiratory infection and is being treated twice daily with 0.05 mg of Enrofoxacin for 10 days twice now he's aspirated on his medicine, I've taken him to the vet after the first time and he was fine, should I take him again? The fluid amount is very low but it makes me nervous, he's scheduled for another appointment tommorow at 10am and they want to perform and xray and the sedation is scaring me. What should I know?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 14th, 2023

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It sounds like X-rays are warranted for Prince to see what is going on. It is not normal for him to aspirate on the medication - possibly there is some type of obstruction in his throat? If he is eating well then you may want to consider putting the medication in a drop of yogurt or applesauce or something with that consistency that he likes; I'm guessing you are syringing the medication directly into his mouth?

Sedation is always risky in birds especially if there is a respiratory issue already underlying. You will need to speak to your vet about this more about the risks vs benefits of performing the X-rays. Maybe they can give him just a very light sedative and do the X-rays standing instead of laying down. It depends on what type of X-ray machine your vet has.

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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