BeatriceC
New member
- Feb 9, 2016
- 1,351
- 91
- Parrots
- Goofy (YNA), Oscar (Goffin 'too). Foster bird Betty (RLA). RIP Cookie, 1991-2016 ('tiel), Leo (Sengal), Charlotte (scarlet macaw). Grand-birds: Liam (budgie), Donovan (lovebird), RIP Angelo (budgie)
Well, it was most of the flock. My son's birds aren't due for their annual exams until March. All the news is fantastic this time.
Charlotte: She's finally maintaining an acceptable weight. She was very underweight when we took her in last year, and now she's a healthy 970g. Her beak, nails, skin, and what feathers she does have look wonderful. Her heart and lungs are as healthy as can be. We are considering hiring a birdie behaviorist to come in and help with the plucking. It's been a year and we've had no luck in stopping it. She'll let a whole bunch of pin feathers grow and the sheath break off, then overnight she'll pluck out everything. It's very frustrating. Nothing is working, so birdie behaviorist is the next step.
Oscar: He was diagnosed with early stage liver disease a couple of months ago. While he was feeling so terrible, he began to self-mutilate, with a combination of feather plucking and chewing on his bare skin, causing bloody sores. He was put into an e-collar and we totally revamped his diet to be more liver friendly (it was good before, but the damage from the years of a terrible diet before I got him was already done, so now he needs to be on a strict diet a healthy cockatoo wouldn't need). We actually caught the liver disease because both he and Goofy came down with a strep infection. Goofy got better, Oscar didn't, so we looked for additional causes. Anyway, he'd lost 45g while he was sick, and he's now gained 40 back. He's got a ton of new feather growth and his skin is completely healed. I have instructions to remove the e-collar, bath him (with baby shampoo to help get all the flaked off scabs out of his feathers), and put the e-collar back on. The vet said since he's taking so well to the diet changes, his expected lifespan isn't that much shorter than normal now.
Goofy: Goofy's as healthy as can be in spite of himself. He's halfway to his weight loss goal. He was 60g overweight at his annual exam last year. I dug my heels in on getting him to break his seed addiction. It took a few months to get him off seed, but he converted to birdie bread, but wouldn't touch veggies or chop until just recently, after a year of trying. However, we have seen some results. He's lost 30g, so we're halfway there. We've also been slowly introducing more activity into his day. He's a pretty hardcore perch potato. The vet says it's okay to keep nudging his activity level up little by little. Between diet and activity, he should get to his goal weight within 3-6 months.
All in all, it was a very positive visit.
Charlotte: She's finally maintaining an acceptable weight. She was very underweight when we took her in last year, and now she's a healthy 970g. Her beak, nails, skin, and what feathers she does have look wonderful. Her heart and lungs are as healthy as can be. We are considering hiring a birdie behaviorist to come in and help with the plucking. It's been a year and we've had no luck in stopping it. She'll let a whole bunch of pin feathers grow and the sheath break off, then overnight she'll pluck out everything. It's very frustrating. Nothing is working, so birdie behaviorist is the next step.
Oscar: He was diagnosed with early stage liver disease a couple of months ago. While he was feeling so terrible, he began to self-mutilate, with a combination of feather plucking and chewing on his bare skin, causing bloody sores. He was put into an e-collar and we totally revamped his diet to be more liver friendly (it was good before, but the damage from the years of a terrible diet before I got him was already done, so now he needs to be on a strict diet a healthy cockatoo wouldn't need). We actually caught the liver disease because both he and Goofy came down with a strep infection. Goofy got better, Oscar didn't, so we looked for additional causes. Anyway, he'd lost 45g while he was sick, and he's now gained 40 back. He's got a ton of new feather growth and his skin is completely healed. I have instructions to remove the e-collar, bath him (with baby shampoo to help get all the flaked off scabs out of his feathers), and put the e-collar back on. The vet said since he's taking so well to the diet changes, his expected lifespan isn't that much shorter than normal now.
Goofy: Goofy's as healthy as can be in spite of himself. He's halfway to his weight loss goal. He was 60g overweight at his annual exam last year. I dug my heels in on getting him to break his seed addiction. It took a few months to get him off seed, but he converted to birdie bread, but wouldn't touch veggies or chop until just recently, after a year of trying. However, we have seen some results. He's lost 30g, so we're halfway there. We've also been slowly introducing more activity into his day. He's a pretty hardcore perch potato. The vet says it's okay to keep nudging his activity level up little by little. Between diet and activity, he should get to his goal weight within 3-6 months.
All in all, it was a very positive visit.
