Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Good morning. 

My 29-year-old Caique parrot Skeeter had a stroke 10 days ago. 

The vet who treated him sent him home the same day with antibiotics and calcium; told me to keep him in his travel cage which was padded with towels, and wished me good luck. 

She said they often recover but it could be weeks or months. 

 

After 2 days the small cage was a gross disaster so I got creative and made a false bottom for his condo. 

 

It’s wider and is easier to keep clean. 

 

I also added his “girlfriend”, a string toy he’s very fond of. 

 

He’s getting better and has control over his head and only lists to the left a little. 

 

Oh, the vet also pointed out he’s almost 30 which makes him a senior bird and implied he’s on borrowed time. 

 

(I’m glad my doctor didn’t say that to me!) 

 

I know this is long, but trust me, you’re getting the condensed version. 

 

My question is – do you have any experience with strokes in parrots? 

 

What can I do moving forward? 

 

Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

Sherri and Skeeter

 

Mitch replied

 

So very sorry to hear about Skeeter, Sherri.

 

I’d be interested to hear why he was sent home with calcium especially because Skeeter is a boy.

 

You’ll need to keep everything low in the cage so he’s not encouraged to climb.

 

The higher in the cage the longer the fall and we don’t want that.

 

Look into a hospital cage with a little more horizontal room but a lot less height

 

Best of luck

Mitch