Is she ill, aged or mentally disabled?

[Luffbox]

I have an older Lutino lovebird that came from a neglectful home. I adopted her in 2008 from a home that had her for four years, and they got her from a friend that had her for around the same amount of time. When I got her to the avian vets she had liver and kidney damage, weak beak, splay leg, and malnutrition.

She never seemed to climb around the cage, she likes to sit at the bottom of the cage and nest. She hates leaving her cage, and freaks out randomly and ends up flying into things when she is out of her cage. Her cloaca area is bald as the feathers never grew back after laying eggs. She doesn't like to eat by herself, her mate feeds her as she refuses to feed herself unless its treats and her mate is not there to feed her. her poops seem normal, she has a diverse diet though she only likes seeds, and tosses the other things out of the dish when she does eat from it.
She has been doing this since the day I got her, but it seems she is less willing to feed herself and climb. She loves to play with her toys though again she won't climb up to the top of the cage.

Her previous owners fed her wild birdseed, didn't clean her cage, she had one perch (poor quality), a poop covered tent, and a lead based Christmas ornament for a toy. They also had her cage covered with a blanket as they didn't like her singing in the morning. And when that didn't shut her up they left her in the cage (still covered) in the basement and only changed the water a couple of times a week. The previous owner didn't like the fact that she was (still is) cage territorial.

Is it possible that her behavior is because of her age, her previous living conditions, or is she ill/ mentally disabled? I don't want to stress her out too much by taking her to the vets if it is not needed. I will take her to the vets if necessary though.

 

[MikeyTN]

She's been doing this for the part 5 years you've owned her???

 

[Luffbox]

Yes. I don't remember if my vet said she would, but she did say Bolt would always need extra attention and was unable to guesstimate her age.

 

[Betrisher]

Poor birdie! Whatever she's doing, I'm quite sure it's because she doesn't know any different. If she had a 'weak beak', then perhaps she can process half-digested food from her mate better than using a beak she can't rely on? Maybe you could dampen some pellets with a bit of fruit juice and offer it to her on a spoon? She might cope with mush better than hard food?

If she has a splayed leg, then she probably can't climb or doesn't feel secure enough to do it. You could try getting some sturdy wooden ladders and let her ramble over those at a low angle to start with. If she's never been given toys or allowed out to play, then she has no idea what she's capable of. She needs to be shown, slowly and carefully.

My Dominic had a similar problem when he arrived. He was severely disabled! Not any more, though. He's learned to clamber around his cage in search of food treats and has found his voice again (shrieks like any red-blooded Galah twice a day!) - he's even learned to eat a pellets and veggie diet at the ripe old age of twenty-five.

Do try and persevere with your little girl: these poor neglected birds deserve it and the rewards are *huge* when you see them find their inner bird again!

 

[Luffbox]

Thank you Betrisher. I'll have to put the pellet juicemix in a treat cup as she is terrified of spoons forks and chopsticks(she really is odd)

 

[MonicaMc]

How's her nutrition? How's her organs?

 

[Luffbox]

She has a variable diet. Most things she doesn't like her mate will feed her. She loves shredding up her vegetables before she either tosses them out of the food dish or in the water. She does not eat it once it has been in the water dish. Her liver and Kidneys were treated by my very when I got her. She was not prescribed further treatment for either damage.

 

[Luffbox]

The other times I've been to the vet with herI've been told to monitor her weight as well as keeping her break trimmed. Weak beak causes the beak to grow at an accelerated pace. If her beak is not trimmed often it will cause her not to be able to close her mouth correctly. I trim every second week to keep this from happening.

 

[MonicaMc]

The overgrown beak is also a sign of liver failure, so I worry that she may not be 100% healthy at this stage. Gout is linked to kidney failure and can lead to arthritis. I wonder if it hurts her to move around or something.

 

[Luffbox]

I'm not sure. She does play with her toys, she just won't climb or feed herself. She was not prescribed continued medicine for her liver. I do have to watch to make sure her food doesn't have too much vitamin A.

 

[crimson]

an overgrown beak can also indicate not enough calcium. I have an older female cockatiel who had an overgrown beak when I got her. I had her checked at the vets....all her blood work came back fairly normal(her liver was within normal limits) my a vet discussed the potential lack of calcium and to add calcium.... for two months I scraped cuttlebone onto her food, I literally drowned the food in it.
her beak growth slowed down substantially, and only required her beak to be trimmed every 3 months, rather than every month. Now it's every 6 months which is normal.

 

[Luffbox]

I'll add more calcium and see what happens.

 

[MonicaMc]

Does she have an issue with vitamin A?

 

[Luffbox]

Vitamin A is used as a preservative in wild birdseed. An over abundance of vitamin A causes liver and kidney damage.

 

[MonicaMc]

That's odd... I haven't heard of vitamin A being used to preserve wild bird food... and liver failure is often due to a high fatty diet lacking in appropriate nutrition (vitamins), which is exactly what wild bird food is.

 

[Luffbox]

I thought it was odd as well. My vet only sees birds as patients, so I trust her when she tells me this kind of information. Wild birdseed is full of preservatives and trace amounts of pesticides. It's the reason we don't give it to our birds even as a treat. Bolt lived off the stuff for years before I got her.

Originally I had been looking at parrotlets on Craigslist, but when I saw her I knew she needed out of there ASAP. The woman that had her before never even took her out of the cage or gave her any love.

 

[MikeyTN]

At least you were able to save her out of that situation!!!!

 

[Luffbox]

Thanks Mikey, I don't like to see animals suffer, especially at the hands of those that are supposed to love them. There is a famous quote that I remember my mum telling me when I was a kid. "We are responsible, forever, for the things that we tame. You are responsible, forever, for your rose. "

 

[MonicaMc]

Some of my birds came to me eating wild bird seed as well, but I don't think they were on it for too terribly long. Could be wrong. I do know that it is because the owners were too cheap to continue feeding the more "expensive" crap from Wally World (you know, the kind geared towards *PET* birds!). Some I don't know what they ate previously cause all I got was a cage and a box of birds! Stunk horribly of nicotine! And I've gotten a bird from a worse situation than that.


Still, would be curious to know how her overall health is.... and if perhaps some low platform perches may be of help to her. Maybe even a rodent cage with ramps? Or could outfit current cage with ramps?

 

[Luffbox]

I'm actually going to the tropical bird supply store on Saturday to get a new cage. The one I have was a temporary fix as I donated my double penthouse cage to the exotic bird society in my province.