parakeet diahrrea

Question
My mother (age 84) has a parakeet(Cecil) that is 4-5 years old.  We have taken him to 2 vets and neither has helped. Neither seemed to know what is wrong.  His problems started about 1 year ago with what I will call diahrrea.  Watery droppings.
This little guy drinks ALOT.  Eats well but only seeds and used to like millet but not so much anymore.  He has progressively gotten worse.  He used to talk alot and very well.  Doesn't utter a word now.  He is apparently blind.  We can put our hand right in front of him and it is obvious he cannot see.  There are times when he falls off his perch and to get back up he has to use his beak and pull himself back up, usually by grabbing the metal bars on the side of his cage.  Lately he turns his head around to the side and looks up in a strange way.  This is just heart breaking.  We had a breeder tell us to get a product called MarvelAid.  It seemed to help a little at first but not as much anymore.  Besides I don't guess it is good to keep him on it for any length of time.  She will give it to him for 5 days as it directs then keep him off of it for a week or two, then give it to him again.  Do you have any suggestions?  Help!

Answer
Hello.  Thanks for posting your question.  Are you taking Cecil to an AVIAN vet?  A regular dog/cat vet doesn't have the expertise to deal with bird illnesses.  I seriously doubt Cecil has diahrrea if he's lived with this for over a year...loose droppings maybe for drinking a lot of water, but not diahrrea (or he would have passed by now).  I do not recommend over-the-counter medications for birds.  They just are not strong enough to be effective, and I believe they cause more harm than good (especially when added to drinking water). Sounds to me like Cecil has reached/is reaching his maximum life expectency.  I recommend getting Cecil to an AVIAN vet immediately.  Otherwise, I wouldn't expect him to live much longer.  In fact, it doesn't sound like Cecil's quality of life is too good.  I hate to say this, but you might want to consider putting him down.  Four to five years old is considered average life expectency for a keet in captivity, and Cecil may be suffering quietly to himself, as birds do not exert outwardly signs of illness until they are too sick to hide their symptoms any more.  Consultation ASAP with an avian vet is highly recommended.  

Chrys