Vitamin deficiency

[GaryBV]

My brother had inherited brother and sister Amazons from my late sister, and he called me a couple days ago saying the male was sick and did I know any avian vets. I did not - and I'm still looking for one - if you know of an Avian vet in the greater Pittsburgh area please let me know. Anyways, i did find a vet that would see birds and I have him the information. The vet said the bird was on a bad diet (seeds), and I've been pushing my brother to broaden their diet, gave him some Roudybush and Harrison's pellets, told him about fresh foods, etc. The vet also said the bird was vitamin A deficient, and gave it a shot. Now the bird is on antibiotics twice a day so we are very hopeful it will turn out ok. The only problem is the vet said not to change the bird's diet until it was well. My feeling is give him his regular diet, but also, why not start giving him fresh foods, nutri-berries, avi-cakes, and pellets at the same time. Has anybody had vitamin deficient birds and what did steps did you take to correct the condition?

 

[henpecked]

I have posted many times on this subject, but will post once again. I have a hen Panama that i rescued from a lady in california. Kong is 38-39 yrs old now. About 6 yrs ago she came to us with Vit A deficiency after being on a life long seed diet. Several years ago she developed infections in her throat/mouth that would leave huge chunks of hard pus. The lack of Vit A (and resulting poor liver functions) leave her open to bacterial and fungal infections. Birds have a resulting "pus" that is hard not runny /soft like ours.For almost 2 yrs now Kong has a vet appt every Thursday at 8am to have these chunks of pus scraped out so she can eat and breath. We have tried everything, little success , the added vitA rich foods helped, but it was too late and the damage done to her liver. We have tried almost every med including Penicillin. Now cancer has started and is eating away at her tongue/throat, today we are taking her again to check on the progress of the cancer( we discovered last Thursday) and make some very tough decisions, i don't think Kong's cheery attitude will ever brighten our house again.
The best way to avoid this situation is to keep your zon on a good diet. If your rehoming start them on a good diet and learn to weigh them. Weighing them will let you know if they are eating well when changing over their diet. I hope some of that helps you give advice to your bother. Start them on a good diet ASAP. I'd write more but i'm pretty upset.

Edit, the Vet was late to work today so we've put "things" off til our usual Thursday appt.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I don't know how old this info is, but here are some Avian Vets in Pittsburgh:

David P. Dorn - West Liberty Animal Hospital
3055 W. Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15216 - Tel. (412) 341-3383


Denise A. Pleban - Northview Animal Hospital
223 Siebert Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237 - Tel. (412) 364-5353

Robert Wagner - Fox Chapel Animal Hospital
1152 Freeport Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15238 - Tel. (412) 781-6446

 

[Birdman666]

That's very, very common in amazons. I've had a couple of rehabs that needed this one.

Basically the high vitamin A food that I have never NOT had an amazon fill his beak with is Sweet potato. If he scarfs down a few bites of sweet potato every day, it should do the trick.

What I do is bake one at the beginning of the week. Cut it up into cubes, and then freeze the cubes.

Then, with morning feedings, I nuke them for about 15 -20 seconds (check to make sure they don't get too hot! We don't want burned crops!), toss them in a treat cup.

Or if you can get the bird to eat a baby carrot every day, same deal, problem solved.

 

[GaryBV]

Thank you all SO MUCH for your comments. I will definitely pass them onto my brother and with some firmness (being the oldest sometimes has it's benefits). Henpecked, that is certainly a cautionary tale, and I appreciate you sharing it. I admire the efforts you are taking with your bird. You say the best way to avoid this is to keep your Amazon on a good diet - I could not agree more and I would broaden that to every pet someone has should be on the best diet that you can provide, that is something I strive for every day for all of our animals, including the koi and goldfish in my pond. Thank you Birdman for the sweet potato and carrot advice - the birds I have love both of those and are definitely a part of their diet. And how simple that is too, it makes me kind of angry that my brother didn't edcuate himself sufficiently to prevent this. On the plus side I will be far more involved and getting into his business with the Amazons more. Hi Wendy, thanks for doing that search, I have done quite a few. My brother actually took his bird to Dr. Dorn on West LIberty the day before yesterday. It seems the problem for me is a lot of vets say they will 'see' a bird, but after I inquire further they do not specialize in avain vet care which is what I really am trying to find. I did contact my vet (we have 5 dogs and a cat as well as the birds) and asked if a vet did specialize there, or could they recommend someone - and I got a reply today and have already contacted the new vet to see what they offer. Virtual *hugs* to all of you.

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah.

Sadly this is an easy one to prevent, and takes years off their life (like 2/3rds of their life expectancy, if you don't.

That's why I don't get that one at all.

Give the dang bird some sort of fresh, high vitamin A food every day, and sit there and hand feed it to him so you know he actually eats it. There's tons of stuff that a bird will actually eat... just figure out which one your bird likes, and make sure he gets one every day...

And if nothing else, it's WAY cheaper than vet bills.

 

[GaryBV]

I think my search for an Avian vet is over - I wonder if many people have had the same problem finding an avian vet as I have, which I think is surprising as I do live in a fairly large metro area. Here is the email i just received:

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your interest in coming to out clinic. Unfortunately Dr Goodell dose not do regular or emergency care for birds. She recommended that you go to Dr Dorian at West Liberty animal hospital as he specializes in avian medicine. I have included their information below.
Address: 3055 W Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15216
Phone:(412) 341-3383
Hours:
Monday 9:00 am – 6:30 pm Tuesday 9:00 am – 2:30 pm Wednesday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm Thursday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm Friday 9:00 am – 2:30 pm Saturday Closed Sunday Closed




Thank you again
Missy (Tech)

So I will definitely be giving Dr. Dorian a 'shot' For other Pittsburgh area residents, you might want to consider this as well. The phone number and zipcode indicate it is in the Beechview section of the city. Thanks to everybody again.

 

[henpecked]

Glad you found a AV, most folks don't look until they need one. Your miles ahead to take your bird by and meet your AV . Especially with birds, time can be so much of the essence.

 

[dreamin_sqaw]

Henpecked I sadly hate to hear that news about your bird. So sad . I hope everything can work for you in some way to make things easier.

 

[GaryBV]

I have some good news - the Amazon has recovered and is cheerful and talking up a storm. And just as good news is my brother has found a renewed love of his birds and is asking me so many questions about nutrition and fresh foods, pellets, treats, etc. How nice to have a good outcome.

 

[lucy1]

Henpecked, so sorry to hear about Kong. You're clearly already doing the best for her and will not let her suffer, it's heartbreaking to know there are just some things all the money and love in the world will not fix... Big hugs for you both xx

 

[lucy1]

GaryBV, so pleased to hear things are working out! Sounds like your brother will have his birds on the road to recovery in no time

When we got our Orange Wing Amazon many years ago we found he had a vitamin A deficiency which had affected his breathing and led to a kind a birdy asthma- his air sacs had hardened and any kind of exertion would leave him gasping for breath and coughing/ sneezing. He had a very happy 16 years with me before passing away 2 years ago from what the vet thought was heart problems. Harrison's high potency pellets and lots of fresh fruit and veg after an all seed diet made a huge difference to him. It sounds like damage has already been done to your brothers birds, but it's never too late to try and turn it round and give them a long and happy new life.

I love that you are guiding and instructing your brother to help his new pals, thank you for looking out for them

 

[GaryBV]

Thank you Lucy - what a nice post - it's funny you mentioning the Harrison's - Drs Fosters had a sale today and I did pick up a 'gift' of the Roudybush high energy (which has more vitamins than the maintenance) to gift to my brother as well as some other things I saw there. I'm actually surprised how much I'm spending lately on the birds, but I'm stocking up on things like the Wesco Kabob (which my birds LOVE) as well as some soak and sprout seeds. I did buy a seed sprouter from Amazon (the 'store' - NOT the bird ) and it's working out GREAT. Thanks everybody.

 

[Terry57]

I am so glad that your brother has taken a renewed interest and it sounds like things are working out well! Henpecked, I am so sorry about Kong
I do have a question...my hawkhead is 17, and my 2 amazons are 14 and 7. We have only had them for a few months, and their diet was not good in their former homes (no fresh foods, and the amazons were on an all seed diet). What I'm wondering is if the diet for the first years of their lives will still impact their lifespan, even though they are on a healthy diet now?

 

[henpecked]

I wish i had an easy answer to that question. I know it effects different birds differently and most younger birds will recover, given a proper diet. I push feeding Vit A rich foods and hope for the best. Variety is best.

 

[Terry57]

I will pray that they are not affected long term and just do my best to continue to change things around for them.

 

[henpecked]

How lucky your birds are to have you.

 

[Terry57]

Awww, thank you...I feel like the lucky one to have them, though

 

[GaryBV]

Terry - the truth is that you can't change what was done in the past anyway - so is best to focus on the here and now and the future - and to do what is best for your birds with the knowledge you have. Your question is a good one, and I have raised many dogs (and a cat) from babyhood and puppyhood and kittenhood lol - and I always focused on the very best diet I could afford. I believe it paid off as well, as last year I lost my Bacchus, a 17 year old black pug I had since he was a puppy. But I also have a mixed lab that I got last year from a very bad situation, where she was kept in a windowless room in the basement and she worn her teeth down gnawing on the wood to get out... well today, she's picked up weight, her coat is shiny and her eyes are bright and she is happy and delightful. It seems to me Sadie has forgotten her old life, and so I think it best that I forget it too, and just focus on what I can do for her now. By the way, Sadie would be, by many people's standards, a 'hyper' dog. What I have found is that all that really means is you have to dedicate some actual play time every day with that kind of dog, to tire them out, and get rid of all of that energy. I've never in my life had a dog that actually REQUIRED this kind of exercise, but I can see the difference it makes on her every day. Wow this is starting to be kinda long, but the truth is that their diet when young probably does make a difference, especially in the 'development' phase when they are growing and their brain is developing, but at this point you have to deal with the bird you have and not the bird you would have wanted, if that makes any sense. I'm glad she has you. Good luck.