problem

[gabby]

our bird ate a small piece of chocolate. this morning she had pulled out a bunch of feathers and wasn't herself all day she was not looking so well now we found out she had chocolate. we reas an animal book and read how bad that is what are the affects how long lasting and what do we do to make her better Thank you for all help

 

[Auggie's Dad]

The toxic component of chocolate is theobromine which is a methylxanthine like caffeine. The most observable symptoms would be changes in droppings, others would include changes in heart rate, body temp, and hyperactivity or restlessness.

There is very little treatment, a vet may be able to feed her a compound which would bind any remaining chemical in the GI tract as you cannot readily induce vomiting in birds, but if this happened yesterday (or earlier) it is too late for that.

Other treatment options are minimal and primarily ease the symptoms of sub-lethal doses which would subside on their own in the absence of treatment.

But enough with the scary stuff - unless she ate a LOT of chocolate it is unlikely that she got a sufficient dose to be an immediate concern.

How much chocolate did she eat? What kind of chocolate? What kind/size of parrot is she?

I'd encourage you to call your vet, or get in the car and go to the vet ASAP if you think her current symptoms are related to toxicity. This is not something that will make her sick and give you time to think about treatments - it will very rapidly pass, or kill.

If you are taking the time to post on forums and wait for responses then we'd all better hope she did not get a lethal dose as an anecdote is no substitute for an antidote.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Of course her present symptoms could be due to a sub-lethal dose of chocolate which has upset her system - but again then there is little to do but wait for it to pass and NEVER let her get chocolate again.

 

[gabby]

Thank You she had a small piece from a Pepperidge farms saulsalito cookie.This was last night and I just found out now6:30 pm Sunday Before I knew what she ate i found she plucked out a bunch of feathers and wasn't her playful self. Right now she's actually better than she was all day.We got the bird in April and she's 4 yrs old a yellow naped amazon.Are there residual side effects ?? and is she really getting better We don't know anyone with birds I apologize if I didn't use proper etiqutte and thank you for your response

 

[Auggie's Dad]

For a bird her size I wouldn't worry at all about her getting a bit of a chocolate chip cookie - 9 cases out of 10 that amount of chocolate (once) would not have any noticeable effect.

Keep an eye on her, but there shouldn't be any concern, and there should not be any residual effects. Just make sure she has plenty of clean water - though we should all always be doing this anyhow.