My Canary' head is twitching, and his foot wont grab

[razzell2]

...what is wrong?

while i was in bed, i heard him clicking a few times, loudly, and a while later i heard him fall to the paper in the bottom of the cage.
but i have heard this before when he eats, so i am not alarmed.

i woke up about 2 hours later and i see that he has lodged himself down under a feeder, in the corner of the cage.
i take him out, and hold him, and his head is twitching, to the right side is seems, spasmadically.
a small amount of fluid is building up on my finger, from his beak holes.
his left foot will not grip, he cannot grip my finger like he usually does.

i hold him in my hands for about an hour.
the twitching subsides, just a bit. only a bit.

eventually i PLACE him back on his perch, in a place where he can lean against the cage, and his foot can perch itself against a toy i have in there.

this is where he is right now.
he is NOT clicking, he seems not to be twitching but then his head is resting against the side of the cage.

oh yeah, he talks very quietly, seems to be chirping or whispering very very quietly.

whats wrong with him?

[Zanzi's Mom]

I don't know about canaries, but if it had happened to a human I would suggest a seizure had occurred and likely a stroke. :(

[2horse]

I don't know canaries but I would guess a seizure as a result of a deficient mineral possibly calcium.

[catschair]

I'm so sorry. It does sound like the little guy is going to have problems eating and drinking, so you may want to take him to the vet to be sure he is not in pain or hungry. Hope he gets better soon.

[razzell2]

thank you guys for responding.
my canary, Monk, isnt much better this morning.
this morning, his left eye is swollen shut, i mean, really swollen.
he has stopped jerking and shaking, and he has his grip back.

yesterday he was all fluffed up in a ball, with his head buried inside his fluffiness, and i read where that either means he is cold, or sick, or both.

so i held him in my hands most of the day yesterday, off and on.
we put him in my daughters room where it is warmer during the night.

but as i said, i got up this morning at about 3:30am and he is listless, sitting on the bottom of the cage, fluffed up, and his eye swollen and sticky shut.

i took a warm washrag and got the goo off of his eye, but its so swollen it wont, or cant, open.

so now, i dont know. that twitching he was doing yesterday was all to the same side as his bad eye, but i didnt know that yesterday. today i can see that his eye was bothering him yesterday and im thinking he was pulling his head to that side repeatedly because his eye was messed up, or hurting, or beginning to get messed up.

perhaps he has a cold? in his eye? i keep his cage clean. in fact i cleaned it about 2 days before this happened and now im wondering if i put some paper in there that messed his eye up. i lined the bottom of this cage with some of that colored print advertising paper we get in our newspapers.
know what i mean?

so i dont know.

i truly cannot afford to take him to a vet. i litterally do not have a penny to spare.
i know i know....what an evil uncaring b---st-rd, right?

im sorry but i dont have the money.

i will take care of him the best i can.,

by the way, i give him canary food from the local feed store that has 3 different kinds of seed, plus vitamins. he has been getting that since ive had him, nearly 5 years now.
water, both to drink and to bathe in. i have a calcium bar up there that he picks at, and one of those seed covered sticks that he eats away and i have to replace every couple of months.

?????

thanks guys

russell

[birdlady49]

I don't think your little guy will survive. I'm sorry.

[Monica]

I hate to say it, but I agree with birdlady...

Canaries that are on a seed only diet aren't expected to really live past the age of 5 years, if even that. However, if fed a proper diet (lots of greens, veggies, sprouts, some fruits, whole grain breads, legumes, etc) it IS possible for them to live up to 20 years.

[BeakerLuvsBunsen]

It sounds like he's not too much longer for this world.
Im sorry

[catschair]

Do you have a vet? Maybe if you explain your situation and that you think he may be in pain, he will see him. Or your local animal shelter may be able to refer you to someone. It must be really hard having a fid you have loved so long being so sick. I really don't know if he has a chance, but hate to think he might be suffering.

[NapoleonUWS]

This is horrible... I know we all love birds here, but if you cannot afford proper vet care, you really should not have a pet...