Urgent help!

[SnowUAE]

Guys, it’s a long story, cockatoo is not mine, I just have access to her. Well she is around 3 years old, since December started ruining and biting her wings… then tail, she doesn’t fly ever since…
She also bit off small feathers under the wings.
On the top of that she stopped eating, she was never a big fan of her seeds mix, but lately she doesn’t eat it either… I bought for her pellets, but seems she just bites them as toy and throws it all out without eating,. I got it just yesterday, will keep trying, so she is fed with formula at the moment, she is 404 gr only please let me know how many times a day she should be fed?? And the amount of formula in ml? And how to make her eat by herself and stop hurting herself???

 

[hiriki]

Has this cockatoo seen the vet?

Cockatoos are incredibly needy birds, who generally do not do well in captivity despite our best efforts and for that reason they are notorious for self-harm. However, there's a LOT of other reasons a bird might start self-mutilating that involve physical disease (rather than mental distress), and you really need to have that ruled out before anything else, especially since she's been refusing food.

She probably should be on a pellet diet in the longterm, with LOTS of fresh food & veggies to supplement the pellets as well as some/limited seeds. But right now, you shouldn't be rocking the boat by trying to change her diet, if she's not eating. And unless a veterinarian directed you to formula feed, I don't think that's a good idea for a 3 yr old bird, as formulas are made with the nutritional needs of growing babies in mind. I get that she's refusing food but rather than force feeding a diet that is inappropriate for her age you should be rushing her to a vet to figure out what the root cause of her discomfort is, and it NEEDS to be an avian vet--not a cat/dog vet!

Check out this website to find one in your area: https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803

(Not all exotic vets who see birds are certified, so if your country/location comes up with no results, I would be happy to help you try to find the next best alternative if you give me the nearest city to your location.)

 

[LoveOfallAnimals]

At 3 years old she should be feeding herself the fact that she isn't is concerning. Unfortunately, there are times when this forum will not be able to give you more than emotional support. Only a vet will be able to determine what is going on with this sweet baby. She desperately needs medical treatment to determine what is wrong and what needs to happen. Please reach out to an avian vet ASAP.

 

[SnowUAE]

Has this cockatoo seen the vet?

Cockatoos are incredibly needy birds, who generally do not do well in captivity despite our best efforts and for that reason they are notorious for self-harm. However, there's a LOT of other reasons a bird might start self-mutilating that involve physical disease (rather than mental distress), and you really need to have that ruled out before anything else, especially since she's been refusing food.

She probably should be on a pellet diet in the longterm, with LOTS of fresh food & veggies to supplement the pellets as well as some/limited seeds. But right now, you shouldn't be rocking the boat by trying to change her diet, if she's not eating. And unless a veterinarian directed you to formula feed, I don't think that's a good idea for a 3 yr old bird, as formulas are made with the nutritional needs of growing babies in mind. I get that she's refusing food but rather than force feeding a diet that is inappropriate for her age you should be rushing her to a vet to figure out what the root cause of her discomfort is, and it NEEDS to be an avian vet--not a cat/dog vet!

Check out this website to find one in your area: https://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803

(Not all exotic vets who see birds are certified, so if your country/location comes up with no results, I would be happy to help you try to find the next best alternative if you give me the nearest city to your location.)

Look, we visited vet 5 days back, he prescribed cream for the wounds, said to introduce her pellets which she doesn’t eat… easy to say introduce, change diet… she is not interested to open her mouth to anything except cashew… and real owner of the bird is always sleeping or at work… right now she barely had that formula at 1 am, 12 noon he woke up and left for work, saying he doesn’t have time to feed her, if I’m not here she will sit in the cage, covered with blanket. Then he will return after 11 pm and maybe attempt to feed her formula, what kind of changing diet or fruits… and vet said it’s behavioral, so mostly it’s Cz of stress

 

[SnowUAE]

At 3 years old she should be feeding herself the fact that she isn't is concerning. Unfortunately, there are times when this forum will not be able to give you more than emotional support. Only a vet will be able to determine what is going on with this sweet baby. She desperately needs medical treatment to determine what is wrong and what needs to happen. Please reach out to an avian vet ASAP.

We have been to get few days back… I wrote in the other comment, what he suggested… said it’s behavioral… and honestly she doesn’t open her mouth to any food, she is simply not interested, I can’t believe it… she is skinny… I feel the bones

 

[hiriki]

Was this a certified avian vet or a vet that sees cats/dogs? Also--when you say cream for wounds, do you mean that she's wounding herself by plucking her feathers or is there a different wound as well?

I don't mean to question the wisdom of this vet who presumably went to many years of vet school, but changing a birds diet when they're not eating is wacky, and this doesn't sound behavioral at all. Although, if she's covered for more than 12 hrs a day I would not be surprised if she's self harming. The plucking may be behavioral but the refusing to eat does not sound behavioral.

She should always have the food that she used to eat available in her cage. Presumably a seed mix. Additionally, if she is willing to eat cashews, give her cashews. They're high fat and not ideal as a main diet but she's starving herself right now. If you're force feeding formula, please stop that, you can encourage her to eat by eating cashews with her and make an appointment with a certified avian vet who knows how to diagnose birds. Again, it can't be just any vet, it has to be an avian vet.

 

[SnowUAE]

Was this a certified avian vet or a vet that sees cats/dogs? Also--when you say cream for wounds, do you mean that she's wounding herself by plucking her feathers or is there a different wound as well?

I don't mean to question the wisdom of this vet who presumably went to many years of vet school, but changing a birds diet when they're not eating is wacky, and this doesn't sound behavioral at all. Although, if she's covered for more than 12 hrs a day I would not be surprised if she's self harming. The plucking may be behavioral but the refusing to eat does not sound behavioral.

She should always have the food that she used to eat available in her cage. Presumably a seed mix. Additionally, if she is willing to eat cashews, give her cashews. They're high fat and not ideal as a main diet but she's starving herself right now. If you're force feeding formula, please stop that, you can encourage her to eat by eating cashews with her and make an appointment with a certified avian vet who knows how to diagnose birds. Again, it can't be just any vet, it has to be an avian vet.

Yeah that vet was said to be one of the best in UAE, avian doctor from Brazil. Her owner doesn’t give her enough time out of cage and enough attention, then he was moving houses and left her for 1,5 month with his brother who has kids. Don’t know what was happening there…. Then yeah, she removed all tail feathers till blood and smth white like an end of bone or whatever… don’t know what was happening in that bloody house of his brother…. Then they took her to vet, not sure if avian, he put on her collar, she was screaming like she was hit by bus I heard over the phone, that time she stopped eating….

 

[widor]

Yeah that vet was said to be one of the best in UAE, avian doctor from Brazil. Her owner doesn’t give her enough time out of cage and enough attention, then he was moving houses and left her for 1,5 month with his brother who has kids. Don’t know what was happening there…. Then yeah, she removed all tail feathers till blood and smth white like an end of bone or whatever… don’t know what was happening in that bloody house of his brother…. Then they took her to vet, not sure if avian, he put on her collar, she was screaming like she was hit by bus I heard over the phone, that time she stopped eating….

I think that explains a lot, think bird has serious mental issues (maybe some physical also). Please give her seeds, cashew whatever she is willing to eat right now- does she use to eat fruit and vegetables? . And for a long term maybe it is time to find her a good home ?

 

[Kentuckienne]

The Harrison’s bird food (top quality pellets) website has good information about transitioning parrots to a pellet diet. Basically, most parrots only eat food they have seen their parents or other parrots in the flock eat. A parrot might think pellets are some kind of rocks in the food bowl. Right now, let the bird eat anything it will eat. Then you can figure out how to get it to eat better foods.

The bird may be insane after so much mistreatment. Sometimes the vet can prescribe medication to calm them down until the crisis is past. It doesn’t sound like the owner cares about the bird and maybe they are willing to give it away to someone who will take better care of it.