This is something a friend recently did with her parrot. The parrot
*coughed/wheezed* at home, but did not when at the vets. My friend
knew it was not a mimicking, but something health related.

She set up a tape recorder and the next time the parrot had one of
these spells, she recorded it.

Vet then proceeded with proper exam, and treatment *without* masking
with ISO, very stressful for a bird.

When any of my ferrets have had breathing problems, coughing etc, they
almost always are fine at the vets when the adrenalin kicks in. I'm
asked to describe the sound, wet/dry/chest/nasal etc. Ever try to sound
like a panicked ferret at 2 AM trying to get his breath?


I now have a little recorder that I can grab if/when needed.
Ardith

[Posted in FML 5455]