Arthritis home remedies & ideas

I just got off the phone with my mom and apparently her oldest amazon (45+ y/o DYH) has started to get some arthritis in her neck. It apparently causes her some pain on occasion when she moves it or bends over her dish to eat, especially when the weather is bad. My mom said the pain the pain doesn't seem to be persistent. She doesn't want to put her on drugs yet, but the vet doesn't really have much else he can do to help her. Anyone know of some home "remedies" or good ideas to help an aging bird starting to develop arthritis? She's apparently still able to fly, climb and stand, but when she bends over her dish and occasionally "moves wrong" she shrieks in pain. Otherwise still in good health and nutrition. Poor Lucy is, as the vet put it, feeling the pain of getting old

April, looky here: Z-AVI-HBAF-1 Arthritis Formula Herbal Extract 1 oz - AVITECH HERBAL BIRD RX

I haven't found any magic elixers that worked.

I've had a couple of fosters including a 60-something year old DYH who had arthritic feet. I wrapped his perches in soft fabric, got rid of any non-natural perches, and arranged things so that he didn't have to climb all over the place.

He was kind of a perch potato anyway.

Caring For Arthritic Birds: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Kiwibird said:

Poor Lucy is, as the vet put it, feeling the pain of getting old

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I can totally relate to this one... some days more than others!

I dunno about parrots, but I got rid of my arthritis years ago by making fresh raw carrot/celery root/beet juice every day for two years. Maybe if diluted with water a bit it can help a parrot as well.

JerseyWendy said:

April, looky here: Z-AVI-HBAF-1 Arthritis Formula Herbal Extract 1 oz - AVITECH HERBAL BIRD RX

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Any idea how well it actually works?

I haven't found any magic elixers that worked.

I've had a couple of fosters including a 60-something year old DYH who had arthritic feet. I wrapped his perches in soft fabric, got rid of any non-natural perches, and arranged things so that he didn't have to climb all over the place.

He was kind of a perch potato anyway.

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Her other amazon has bad feet from his stroke and has this kind of cage setup (wide, soft perches, all closely spaced, gets picked up and put where he wants to go so he doesn't have to walk). Lucy has a tinge of arthritis in one foot where she broke it years ago, but she's pretty mobile on her feet. My mom says it's her neck that's really bothering her (which seems like a weird place for a bird to get arthritic pain). My mom knows she was old enough to breed when she was wild caught and has had her over 40 years, so she's at minimum 45-ish, but could be a whole lot older. She's such a beautiful, strong bird. I hate to hear of her aging

I dunno about parrots, but I got rid of my arthritis years ago by making fresh raw carrot/celery root/beet juice every day for two years. Maybe if diluted with water a bit it can help a parrot as well.
Today 02:55 PM

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She eats lots of carrots and celery stalks. Don't think my mom has ever bought a beet though lol (nor have I). Her birds eat pretty much anything you toss at them, especially produce, so she'd probably eat beets. Is there a difference medicinally between celery stalks and the root?

No, I'm sorry, April. I don't know how well it works, I just remembered seeing it, so I gave you the link for it.

fwiw since willow is safe to use with parrots you could always keep some willow branches in the cage.

the reason i suggest this is there is a natural pain killer in the bark that was/is used to make aspirin. so if they munch on the bark it may help. please keep in mind this is just an idea/theory i have no proof this will actually help and i didnt stay in a holiday inn express last night

we learned this years ago from our vet when we asked why our morgan horse was eating the willow branches.

JerseyWendy said:

No, I'm sorry, April. I don't know how well it works, I just remembered seeing it, so I gave you the link for it.

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Maybe I'll order some and send it to my mom on my next MSBS order. Hopefully a member who has used it has some idea how well it works and will share