Marco is our 10(ish)-year-old cockatiel. On Thursday night, Kyle and I noticed he was having trouble breathing and brought him to the ER. He ended up having to stay 2 nights but is home now and settling back into his home routine. Birds are so fragile and it's so hard to figure out exactly what's going on with them. The vet thinks he may have had an infection but it's very likely he has an underlying heart condition.

While at the vet, Marco needed to stay on oxygen for most of his time there. He received antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications. He had an X-ray to rule out possible obstructions and to make sure he didn't swallow metal. He had blood work done which all came back pretty normal. He was able to breathe normally without the assistance of oxygen today, so he was able to be sent home with his medicine.

It's still unclear exactly what happened, but we're just glad he's home! At initial intake when going through Marco's history with the vet, it came up that Marco breathes pretty heavily for a few minutes after flying which suggests a possible heart condition. This can't be definitely proven unless you're doing an autopsy, but going forward Marco will need to be on a daily heart medication to hopefully prevent him from having further issues.

Marco's total medical bills right now are close to $2,400. This is way more than we had budgeted for and any help is greatly appreciated.