When to put a bird down.

[KimR]

I have a double yellow head amazon. I rescued him a few years back so I don't know his age. Just recently he has started to have problems with his feet. I believe it is arthritis. He is getting worse and worse. Tonight I finally had to put gloves on so I could grab him to put him in his cage. He can't hold on to anything specially a moving arm or hand. He can barely get up to his sleeping spot anymore. Falls to the bottom of the cage 90% of the time. When I let him out during the day he spends his time flying from his cage to my B&G's cage. He loses grip and has to fly. If he can't fly ( in his cage) he struggles to climb.

I tried adding apple cider vinegar to his water (heard it helps with arthritis), but I think he is just in to bad of shape for it to help.

I feel so sorry for him. I think it would be best to put him out of his misery. I'm just having a hard time figuring out if I really want to do that. Also, I have takend dogs to the vet for putting them out of there misery, but never a bird. Can an avion vet do this? How do I go about doing this? It's such a sad thing to have to think about and I think that is why it is taking me so long to ask questions here.

Oh, I also think he is going blind. He screams every time you go near him and does this till you either walk on by or he figures out you want him to step up.

Sorry this is kind of jumbled. Just kind of upset about having to deal with putting another pet down. Why can't they just pass on their own? :21:

Kim

 

[HalfInsane]

In general, I feel that when an animal is no longer enjoying a good quality of life, that is the time to put them down. However, although I have never encountered a bird with arthritis, I don't necessarily think it is cause for such drastic action.

First and foremost, I'd get the bird looked at by a vet. If he is older it is quite possibly arthritis, but it could be something else. An infection, perhaps, a vitamin deficiency. Get him checked out before making any decisions. Same thing with the possible blindness, get him looked at.

Secondly, if it is arthritis, it can be managed in many cases. Here's a link with some great info on caring for arthritic birds:

Untitled Document


I know having an aging animal is stressful, you constantly worry about if they're suffering too much, etc. That's why I always go to a vet first, to be sure, consider my options, see if they can be treated, or if not, if you can manage their health problems. Just take things one step at a time, get things sorted out, and see if you can't give the little guy a few more years.

 

[antoinette]

I would take the bird to a vet and let them examine the bird. It does sound like arthritis, but then again, I am not a qualified vet.
I pray to God I never ever have to make such a drastic decision where my African Grey Mishka is concerned.
Praying the bird recovers and is pain free.
Please keep us posted......

 

[oled]

I also think yoy should givet it a try going to a vet and let them decide what to do

 

[roxynoodle]

I would also consult the vet first and consider your options based on what it turns out to be. My Nanday had a foot weakness problem and it was either an infection or a selenium deficiency we think. We treated her for both and she fully recovered. It also could have been minor lead poisoning. The bag of frozen veggies I was using at that time had vegetables containing lead! I only knew because they started sparking in the microwave and I looked it up. I've been having trouble with this with many brands lately, but never before. The FDA says this is ok for us, but I don't think this is ok, and especially for our tiny birds. I'm not sure why this is a sudden problem, but I've thrown out recently Great Value from Walmart, Pictsweet and Green Giant veggies for this problem.

 

[henpecked]

At the risk of derailing this thread, I'd like to hear more about lead in frozen veggies and sparking in the microwave, maybe another thread somewhere?

 

[KimR]

Thanks for the advice you guy's. I will call the vet and make an appt.

 

[roxynoodle]

At the risk of derailing this thread, I'd like to hear more about lead in frozen veggies and sparking in the microwave, maybe another thread somewhere?

I posted about my experience and the info I read about it in the other thread.

 

[KimR]

Here is a pic of Poppy at better times. See how he used to sleep with his head backwards, tail all nice and tight. Well, he's awake in this pic but he was asleep. LOL

This is him now. He is alway's fluffed up and I haven't seen his tail tight in a long time. He always has it spread out. I know this is to help him keep his balance. Poor guy.

He has to sit on our B&G's cage because it has a flat top. His cage is rounded. So when we let the birds out in the morning we have to make sure to get Oso out and put on his play gym, then we can let Poppy out. He immediately flys to Oso's cage. Then when he looses grip he flies back to his. This continues all day till we put him back in his cage.

The other dangerous thing we are dealing with now is him landing on Burts cage or on Oso's play gym. They of course try to attack him. When trying to get him back in his cage last night, before I posted the first post, he landed on Burts cage but luckily we were able to get him (sadly) knocked away before Burt actually bit him. It was a real close call, Burt actually went to bite but missed.

Sad thing is, we don't want to leave him locked in his cage because he can't move around it to well. He falls off of his purchases a lot. All of a sudden you hear this "thump", that was Poppy hitting the bottom. Poor guy. I have put flat boards in his cage near his food and water and also have some lined on the bottom so he can rest a little easier, but it is still hard on him.

I will let you all know when I get the appt. and then what happens from there.

 

[roxynoodle]

I wish you both the best

Perhaps his wings could be lightly clipped as well. Enough left to help him balance, but not enough to fly and put himself in dangerous situations.

 

[HalfInsane]

Any word on how the little fella is doing?

 

[Remy]

Poor baby!

Have you had him checked by a vet? There could be any number of causes of weakness. Mineral or vitamin deficiencies, infection, allergy, etc. There is also medicine for arthritis, if that is it.

Please keep us updated!

 

[MikeyTN]

Like it was mentioned by multiple posters. Get him vet checked, cause all you can do is guess what is wrong with him. You wouldn't know what's causing his issue until you get him checked by a Avian Vet. What are you feeding him exactly? It's a close call when the macaw missed his foot, but I would really suggest not allowing him to perch on the macaw's cage cause one of these days he wouldn't be so lucky. Please do take him to a vet and have blood work done to see exactly what is going on before thinking of the worst. Good Luck!!!

Side note, fresh veggies is better then those frozen bag veggies....As I don't feed those to my birds...Fresh only!

 

[YUMgrinder]

Side note, fresh veggies is better then those frozen bag veggies....As I don't feed those to my birds...Fresh only!

studies show this to be incorrect. Frozen locks in vitamins that normally dissipate in fresh veggies.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Heart-breaking picture, OP. Thank you for helping his bird. Any news?

 

[itzjbean]

Not sure if we'll get an update on this one as the OP hasn't been on the forums in over 5 years!

 

[Mariar]

Please take him to the vet....my yellow nape showed signs i had never seen and the result was death from stroke..he was a super recue.i took him. And you can never be to sure. Give us an update plez....good luck.