My 2 to 3 year old male parakeet is showing signs of difficult breathing, occasional crusty eyelids and closing of of eyes, excessive sleepiness, change in personality and decreased socialization.

He has been rather lethargic for several months now. After some online research I have came to discover he may have psittacosis.

Does anyone here have any experience or knowledge on this illness?
Is there any other treatment besides the antibiotic doxycycline?

Your comments are dearly appreciated!

I wish your parakeet a quick recovery. Unfortunately I don’t know. He definently needs to see an avian Vet. If you can’t afford to take him to one at least call all the vets you can & ask. Most likely the secretary will take your message & call you back after speaking to the vet ASAP. Your parakeet sounds like it’s suffering tremendously & on it’s way out. They will probably all tell you it can’t be diagnosted over the phone to bring them in, but perhaps, someone can also give you some additional helpful information. Good Luck

I have had very good luck with the over-the-counter medication called Ornacycline; it is just like the prescription tetracycline from the vet. It is available at pet stores. Don’t give up on your bird. Tetracycline is amazing. I wish you the very best of luck with your parakeet. If you decide to try the Ornacycline, keep in mind that you might need to dose him for a longer period of time than the package states. You should see gradual improvement over time. If what he has does not respond to the tetracyline you could try Ornacyn or Ornacyn-Plus, which are erythromycin. (The Ornacyn-Plus is Ornacyn with vitamins added.) I have used both with success. Make sure your keet has food he likes a lot, such as millet sprays. When a parakeet is ill, it is vital that he keeps eating-- if he loves people food such as crackers, make certain he has those-- whatever he will eat readily! Keeping his strength up is more important than nutrition when a bird is ill!