Knotgrass for budgies

[LMO]

Hi

My 6 year old budgie started developing lameness in her right leg a few weeks ago. When I took her to the avian vet he found a lump in her abdomen which is probably a kidney tumour. After some research I found some budgies with this condition have benefited from knotgrass and want to give it a go if it has a chance of helping her or making her more comfortable. She's always been a very fussy eater - I've tried pellets and different veg over the years but the only thing she will eat other than seeds is spinach. I am sprinkling the dried knotgrass on her seed but not sure how much of it (if any) she is eating. I've also soaked her spinach leaves in the knotgrass tea. I have read of some adding the leaves to their water but I'm concerned if she doesn't like it she may not drink and could get dehydrated. Has anyone used this or can recommend a good way to introduce it into her diet?

 

[Rozalka]

I can't really help but I am curious - what do you mean by lameness? Doesn't she move her foot at all?

 

[LMO]

I can't really help but I am curious - what do you mean by lameness? Doesn't she move her foot at all?

I noticed a few weeks ago when she was stood on her perch, one of her back toes was folded forwarded - I thought it was a one off at first but it kept happening. Now she can't seem to open her right foot up at all so it stays clenched and she walks/rests on her 'ankle' or just holds her right foot up. I've got her a flat perch to make it easier but she still prefers her usual rounded perch. The tumour/growth will be putting pressure on the sciatic nerve causing the paralysis.

 

[Rozalka]

I can't really help but I am curious - what do you mean by lameness? Doesn't she move her foot at all?

I noticed a few weeks ago when she was stood on her perch, one of her back toes was folded forwarded - I thought it was a one off at first but it kept happening. Now she can't seem to open her right foot up at all so it stays clenched and she walks/rests on her 'ankle' or just holds her right foot up. I've got her a flat perch to make it easier but she still prefers her usual rounded perch. The tumour/growth will be putting pressure on the sciatic nerve causing the paralysis.

Thanks, I asked because my budgie died because of this ilness

 

[LMO]

I can't really help but I am curious - what do you mean by lameness? Doesn't she move her foot at all?

I noticed a few weeks ago when she was stood on her perch, one of her back toes was folded forwarded - I thought it was a one off at first but it kept happening. Now she can't seem to open her right foot up at all so it stays clenched and she walks/rests on her 'ankle' or just holds her right foot up. I've got her a flat perch to make it easier but she still prefers her usual rounded perch. The tumour/growth will be putting pressure on the sciatic nerve causing the paralysis.

Thanks, I asked because my budgie died because of this ilness

I'm sorry for your loss. Sadly the vet said he sees a lot of these kind of tumours in budgies over 6yrs - think it's as high as 1 in 5.

 

[Flboy]

Poor little one, this sounds painful!

 

[Ivan.Vanca]

I do not see a sense in pellets. Is the lameness total, or just partial? I think the tumor on the kidney is usually not felt by a hand. Can that be an enlarged liver? How the poops look like?

 

[LMO]

Poor little one, this sounds painful!

It's hard to watch. But she is still enjoying singing, eating well and loves having head rubs so I'm hoping at least at the moment she is managing to live fairly happily despite it.

 

[LMO]

I do not see a sense in pellets. Is the lameness total, or just partial? I think the tumor on the kidney is usually not felt by a hand. Can that be an enlarged liver? How the poops look like?

I tried the pellets years ago when she was much younger - the vet recommended them to try to improve her diet but she never had them. Her right foot is completely lame now although she's still able to walk on the leg itself and can climb the cage as the toes stay permanently clenched. Yes I was wondering that as the kidneys sit quite far back - he said if it was the left leg he would be thinking ovarian tumour and asked if she is definitely a girl (in case of testicular cancer). They can do an x-ray but even then they may only see a shadow and could be still hard to diagnose for sure. She's actually had hypertrophy of the cere for years which is probably hormone imbalance - I was wondering if there could be any link at all? Her droppings have got worse - some are very wet and not formed and some are coming out in large groups rather than single droppings. Her vent is also quite dirty.

 

[LMO]

I started offering her the knotgrass tea and it looks like she's really enjoying it - she goes to it straight away when I put it in the cage - hopefully it will help her. Sorry to ask a different question but I noticed a lump just above her cere a few days ago - it appeared really suddenly. She started rubbing her head and managed to remove some of it (please see photo) but it looks like its starting to grow back. I've made her a vet appointment in 2 days time but wondering if anyone can advise in the meantime - is this a feather cyst?

 

[HowdyDoDee]

I started offering her the knotgrass tea and it looks like she's really enjoying it - she goes to it straight away when I put it in the cage - hopefully it will help her. Sorry to ask a different question but I noticed a lump just above her cere a few days ago - it appeared really suddenly. She started rubbing her head and managed to remove some of it (please see photo) but it looks like its starting to grow back. I've made her a vet appointment in 2 days time but wondering if anyone can advise in the meantime - is this a feather cyst?

How’s she doing? Has the cause been discovered for these conditions? I wonder if she’s getting enough vitamin A and if she’s acquired an opportunistic infection.

 

[LMO]

I started offering her the knotgrass tea and it looks like she's really enjoying it - she goes to it straight away when I put it in the cage - hopefully it will help her. Sorry to ask a different question but I noticed a lump just above her cere a few days ago - it appeared really suddenly. She started rubbing her head and managed to remove some of it (please see photo) but it looks like its starting to grow back. I've made her a vet appointment in 2 days time but wondering if anyone can advise in the meantime - is this a feather cyst?

How’s she doing? Has the cause been discovered for these conditions? I wonder if she’s getting enough vitamin A and if she’s acquired an opportunistic infection.

Hi. I'm really sorry for the late reply - I have only just seen your message - I had been checking the thread but must have missed it. She is coping really well despite her condition - still managing to fly and climb round her cage. She's eating well, singing, and still enjoying the knotgrass tea. But I have noticed a noise when she breathes - I'm not sure if this is related to the tumour or something else. The tumour is also causing very wet droppings which in turn is causing pasting around her vent which is really difficult to manage. The vet said the tumour he felt was most likely from the kidney. I took her to get the growth above the cere checked and he thought this was linked to her hypertrophy of the cere (which she's lived with for years). She will eat spinach which is high in vitamin A but she is very fussy and eats mostly seeds so she could have a vitamin deficiency. And with her tumour she's probably more susceptible to opportunistic infections. I've started adding apple cider vinegar 'with the mother' to her water 3x a week as this is supposed to boost the immune system as well as other benefits.