Hello, I am new to the forum, but trying to seek out as much info as possible so please bear with me 
We have a 20 year old African Grey, I am her original owner (after her mom of course!) Hand fed and healthy up until last month. My first question is optimal nutrition, is there link that anyone trusts that has exact nutrition breakdown of what an African Grey needs.
We feed our birds very well (or so we believe) A mixture of seed/pellets daily, trying to limit sunflower seeds adding more, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts. They get apples and oranges daily plus in the evening I cook them dinner Meat (chicken, beef) sweet potatoes, rice, pasta, and mixed veggies.
Their wings are not clipped and our grey once out of the cage in the am and pm does a fly around the room back to her cage. We do take them to our vet for nail trims.
Last year almost every time we went for a nail trim for the Grey, the vet said she was having a seizure and stopped. There was nothing noticeable (no flapping or stiffness) she just would stare. So when this happened they stopped. I must add here that our vet of 20 years when she was a baby, and did not ever fly told us to cut her wings. After this she fell in her cage and messed up her foot. The vet said it would be too traumatic for an operation and since she could perch to just leave it as it is.
Her foot goes out to the side like a 'gimp' but she does very well. But this is why it is difficult to cut her nails. Anyway, this past December they were getting pretty long, I try to cut one or two if possible when she is out on a perch, but it is not a science. We took her to the vet beginning of January for the nail clip and again a seizure.
Feb 14, she had a major seizure falling on the bottom of her cage and flapping around, never happened before and I can't think of anything that would have brought it on OTHER than her nails were too long and she may have lost her footing? Next morning she had another one so off we went to the Vet. They sedated her (cut her nails) did blood work and xrays and cultures. Vet sent us home with Phenobarbitol, cherry flavor, she will not touch it.
We decided to wait and see thinking it could be her nails. Two weeks went by and she was fine. Then exactly a month later same time at night she had another one. We researched a medicine called DMG that says it works on African Greys with seizures, (one of your threads links to it as well) She has been on this for about a week now, 0.2 twice daily. Last night around the same time, she had another seizure (not as severe) I went to hold her and she said, "I'm cool" (Gotta love them!)
We went to our vets to pick up her dishes that we left when she was admitted and picked up her blood work originals. Something made me look when I was in the car, her WBC count was elevated as was her protein level. I went back in and asked to speak to our vet as we were told 2 times once by the doctor and once by the nurse that everything was WNL. They said I had to speak with the doctor and she would be back from vacation in two weeks! We are awaiting her call this evening.
My next question would be has anyone used DMG with any success? Plus anyone who has used phenobarbital what was the outcome? The Phenobarbital is cherry flavored and she will not touch it.
My last question (for now) is we have a Kings Cage for her, and tried to move her perches down. She just hangs upside down from top. So we would like to 'rig' a bottom that is higher. I remember 20 years ago when they were young there was a cage that the floor adjusted (kind of like a crib) Any ideas on how to move the bottom up or have one made?
Thank you again, sorry for such a long first post hoping to find help or to help someone else who goes through this with their baby.
We have a 20 year old African Grey, I am her original owner (after her mom of course!) Hand fed and healthy up until last month. My first question is optimal nutrition, is there link that anyone trusts that has exact nutrition breakdown of what an African Grey needs.
We feed our birds very well (or so we believe) A mixture of seed/pellets daily, trying to limit sunflower seeds adding more, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts. They get apples and oranges daily plus in the evening I cook them dinner Meat (chicken, beef) sweet potatoes, rice, pasta, and mixed veggies.
Their wings are not clipped and our grey once out of the cage in the am and pm does a fly around the room back to her cage. We do take them to our vet for nail trims.
Last year almost every time we went for a nail trim for the Grey, the vet said she was having a seizure and stopped. There was nothing noticeable (no flapping or stiffness) she just would stare. So when this happened they stopped. I must add here that our vet of 20 years when she was a baby, and did not ever fly told us to cut her wings. After this she fell in her cage and messed up her foot. The vet said it would be too traumatic for an operation and since she could perch to just leave it as it is.
Her foot goes out to the side like a 'gimp' but she does very well. But this is why it is difficult to cut her nails. Anyway, this past December they were getting pretty long, I try to cut one or two if possible when she is out on a perch, but it is not a science. We took her to the vet beginning of January for the nail clip and again a seizure.
Feb 14, she had a major seizure falling on the bottom of her cage and flapping around, never happened before and I can't think of anything that would have brought it on OTHER than her nails were too long and she may have lost her footing? Next morning she had another one so off we went to the Vet. They sedated her (cut her nails) did blood work and xrays and cultures. Vet sent us home with Phenobarbitol, cherry flavor, she will not touch it.
We decided to wait and see thinking it could be her nails. Two weeks went by and she was fine. Then exactly a month later same time at night she had another one. We researched a medicine called DMG that says it works on African Greys with seizures, (one of your threads links to it as well) She has been on this for about a week now, 0.2 twice daily. Last night around the same time, she had another seizure (not as severe) I went to hold her and she said, "I'm cool" (Gotta love them!)
We went to our vets to pick up her dishes that we left when she was admitted and picked up her blood work originals. Something made me look when I was in the car, her WBC count was elevated as was her protein level. I went back in and asked to speak to our vet as we were told 2 times once by the doctor and once by the nurse that everything was WNL. They said I had to speak with the doctor and she would be back from vacation in two weeks! We are awaiting her call this evening.
My next question would be has anyone used DMG with any success? Plus anyone who has used phenobarbital what was the outcome? The Phenobarbital is cherry flavored and she will not touch it.
My last question (for now) is we have a Kings Cage for her, and tried to move her perches down. She just hangs upside down from top. So we would like to 'rig' a bottom that is higher. I remember 20 years ago when they were young there was a cage that the floor adjusted (kind of like a crib) Any ideas on how to move the bottom up or have one made?
Thank you again, sorry for such a long first post hoping to find help or to help someone else who goes through this with their baby.
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