More problems with Barney :-(

[Kiwibird]

So, some of you may remember me on here about my moms bird (a 40+ y/o green cheek amazon) Barney a few months ago. He basically fell off his perch in the middle of the night, and was limp for weeks. The vet determined he most likely suffered a stroke. He has been making steady progress, and regained most of his mobility (just not as strong with flight as before).

Now my mom is noticing him drinking an excessive amount of water. He gets plenty of fruits/veggies in his diet, and her other 2 birds (all around the same age) are not drinking excessively/showing other signs of illness. Besides the excessive drinking, he hasn't been lethargic, still has a healthy appetite, no changes in stools and hasn't backtracked on his "physical rehabilitation" progress since the stroke. The vet ran a bunch of blood/stool tests when he went in after the stroke, but I wouldn't know if he may have tested for diabetes or not (I know excessive thirst is a symptom in animals). The vet said there was really nothing that showed up abnormal on anything. So basically what I'm getting at is has anyone else ever had a parrot exhibit excessive thirst with no other symptoms? Is it possible he's just been kind of working harder lately, so that's why he's thirsty, or is poor old Barney just on his downhill slide? He is getting pretty old, he has a cataract, he went bald (like a vulture) on his head and neck about 30 years ago (vet equates it to male pattern baldness, and until recently, he's never been sick, just bald). Plus, he's never been the most "lively" parrot to begin with. I just feel so bad for my mom, he was her first pet, she got him before he was weaned and she's had him over 40 years. I grew up with this bird, and he is by far, the most sweet, gentle, calm parrot I've ever met. It would be so sad if he ended up dying at the lower end of his lifespan... Anyone else have experience with this kind of thing?

 

[henpecked]

Yes i have. I've spent tons of money on older zons and vets still can't help me diagnose liver and vitA issues. This sounds like what you are dealing with. 40 yrs old is about the right time for this type of issues to arise.If you can catch the issues, earlier is better than later.Sorry for the tone of this but i'm losing a 40 yr old hen to diet issues from her first 30 yrs. And there's nothing i can do to save her.

 

[Kiwibird]

So what are the symptoms? Also, why are the other birds (cockatoo and DYH who is older than him) in good health if it was a vitamin deficiency? They eat a healthy, varied diet, it's hard to imagine those birds being deficient in anything (they eat better than some people!). I am also not familiar with parrot liver issues. Wouldn't they have some sort of lump or something if their liver was having issues? Anything she could ask the vet to look for specifically when he goes in?

 

[henpecked]

Varies from bird to bird. Symptoms are secondary infections caused by compromised immune systems. The lack of VitA effects the lining of all organs. Bacterial infections result, these infections will become cancerous. Yes it would be wonderful if we could cure the liver damage but if bad enough , little can be done. Best is early detection and proper diet. Something we knew little about in the old days.What a vet should check for???? That's been my question to more than a dozen AVs , top of the line. That's the question i've paid thousands of dollars to have answered. No luck yet. If you find a answer let me know. Best i've found is ,yes their liver is gone, too late. That's why i'm here on a parrot forum trying to help newbies out.

 

[Kiwibird]

Sounds a bit to me like what your describing is just the natural breaking down of a well used body. Perhaps it manifests differently in parrots than humans, but having organs start to wear out/not work as well and being really susceptible to infection and cancer sounds like the natural progression of aging. And perhaps in the past, parrots who set the age standards, who survived capture, transport, quarantine and less informed living accomodations were the exceptions, just especially good genetics/strong birds. Parrots haven't been "domesticated" for very long, and as you know, there is still a lot to learn about them. The first "generation" of parrots actually bred in captivity are now reaching the end of their lifespans, and it's really the first large enpugh group that can be studied in old age to better recognize the aging process of human raised parrots.

We got Kiwi at 10, and while his diet was dismal prior to us, we hopefully got him young enough that the healthy changes we made will increase his lifespan and quality of life. I am very interested to see what Kiwi is like 30 years from now.