Please help Barney! Sudden balance problems

[Kiwibird]

Barney is my mom's 40 y/o green cheek amazon. He is the sweetest, most gentle parrot you could ever meet, and she has had him since before he was weaned. About 20 years ago, Barney went bald on his head, with just a small patch of red feathers remaining. The rest of his plumage is fine, and multiple vets could find absolutely nothing wrong with him, and likened the baldness to human male pattern baldness. He has remained in perfectly good health, albeit looking like a turkey vulture, until very recently. My mom has noticed in recent months him hunching over and being more lethargic than usual (he has never been a very animated bird in the first place). Her other 2 birds (a female double yellow head amazon and goffin cockatoo), both of similar age, remain in perfectly fine health. She has been summing it up to arthritis and getting old. 2 nights ago, he fell off his perch and has not been able to regain enough balance to perch since. She lined the bottom of his cage with towels, and has been hand feeding/giving him water every few hours. She says his appetite and droppings are normal, he is quite alert with clear eyes, no wheezing, but he's "tipped over" and resting his beak on the ground except when eating or drinking. The only avian vet in town is on vacation until Saturday, and will be seeing him first thing on emergency basis when he returns. The other 2 birds are showing no symptoms of illness whatsoever, nor has my blue front amazon who frequently visits (just over there last Sunday) her birds. 3 healthy birds and one sick bird makes us feel this isn't contagious, especially since this is happeneing to the ONLY bird I have ever heard of that went permenantly bald without any apparent reason. I am wondering if anyone has ever experienced similar problems with their parrot, and if so, what the cause might be. Vets are not all knowing, and we don't want any possibility overlooked when he visits. It would break my heart if Barney died before his time of something treatable that went overlooked. He still has 20+ years in his natural life, and we want to do anything possible to save him.

****I POSTED A PICTURE OF BARNEY IN A NEW POST BELOW, PERHAPS SOMEONE HAS SEEN THIS BEFORE!!!****

 

[friedsoup]

Move his cage to another room with a different air source better safe than sorry.

 

[dishgal1]

I know nothing about amazons but does he act like he might have had a stroke? Or is that possible in birds? I would definitely take him to the vet and I am very sorry to hear of his problems. Wow she has had him a really long time and I bet he has had a wonderful life with her. Good luck at the vet.

 

[henpecked]

C ould be several things, none of them good. toxic metals, poor liver functions,Vit A defencies, I'd find a GOOD avian vet. PS does he have a good selection of different size perches? I see your old school,,thought i was the only one who calls them Green Cheeks.

 

[Mozzie]

I am so sorry Barney is not doing well. I would get him to the vet as soon as possible. I have not had any experience with those symptoms in my parrots so I can not give advice but I hope he is feeling better soon!

 

[Kiwibird]

In regards to his perches, we live in an area with manzanita growing naturally, and all our birds have (sterilized) natural manzanita branches, which vary in size quite a bit. The problem isn't just with his feet, he can barely hold his head up to eat and drink and falls right off a perch. They have been removed from his cage for the time being for his safety, because he did attempt to climb up yesterday to where he sleeps and promptly fell again. As for toxic metals, a vitamin deficiency or communicable disease, those seem highly unlikely since the other birds share the same (healthy) diet, play with the same kinds of toys and are not ill at all. If he was suffering from something environmental or communicable, it would seem to me that the others would be sick too. As for the concept of a stroke, I never thought a bird could have one, but it is definitely something to bring up to the vet. Other than being tipped over and unable to perch, there aren't any other signs of illness you would expect from a sick bird.

 

[Pedro]

I go along with Henpecked, a visit to the Vet. There is also the possibility of stroke or tumour. He could also have a bacterial infection & if so would require antibiotics.

 

[Kiwibird]

View attachment 4386

This is Barney and his life-long "mate" Lucy. As I mentioned, he has been bald like this for 20+ years, with only a very recent decline in his health. I grew up with large parrots, have volunteered at rescues, and have done a lot of research, yet have never seen anything quite like what happened to Barney. It has been suggested by his avianvvet that his baldness is something genetic, so I do wonder if what's happening to him now is somehow related. I was a toddler when he went bald, but from what my mom says, it happened over just a few weeks time. Just thought a image may help jog someones memory if they have ever seen anything like this before in a parrot without any known cause (no mites, infections, vitimin deficiancies ect...).

Wanted to add- the spots in the picture are dust on the photo itself (i scanned it), not filthy walls. Also, another thought I had is possibly something wrong in his ears (which can cause imbalance in humans, not sure about parrots), since they are exposed unlike in normal parrots.

 

[Pedro]

http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avmed/ampa/28.pdf

Have a look through this. May shed some light on the poor birds problem.
I really can't help as i have never had this sort of problem.

 

[Kiwibird]

Pedro- That's a very extensive article about everything that can go wrong with a bird. Thanks.

 

[Kiwibird]

Wanted to add an update- Barney is doing much better this morning. He's been lifting his head up and moving around He's also been working on chewing a sizable hole in the towel he's been resting on. Going to wait until he sees the vet tomorrow to get an ok to try him back out on a perch, but his condition seems to have improved dramatically since last night. Thanks for all the ideas, and I looked into it, and it is possible for a parrot to have a stroke. That's quite possibly what happened to him...

 

[Pedro]

Happy the link was of some help. Just goes to show there are so many things that can & do go wrong with our pet birds. I have heard of some really strange ones over the years.

 

[lizardsmells]

I'm watching this thread and hoping for the best. I hope you'll come back and let us know what the vet thinks.

 

[dishgal1]

Glad Barney is better. Let us know what the vet says.

 

[Mozzie]

I am so glad Barney is doing better! Keep us updated.

 

[Didomum]

It's not unknown for a older bird to have a stroke. But it could be manythings. Hope the vet can help the old guy as for his bauld spot if it been like that for sometime and not really got any worse then that should have not connection with his problem now.
Keeping my finger crossed for him let us know how he's did with the vet.

 

[Remy]

Let us know how things turn out! I hope he feels better.

Since he's been bald for so long, I kind of doubt it's connected to this recent issue.

 

[Kiwibird]

The vet looked at Barney this morning, and feels a lot of his problems are related to arthritis setting into most of his joints. He said that the sudden symptoms he's been having were probably because we've been having thunderstorms, and the changes in the weather have been making the arthritis more painful than it normally would be, making him unable to stand or lift his head. He prescribed some medication to help ease the pain and make him more mobile. He also trimmed his nails shorter than normal to help him be able to grip his perches easier. Hopefully with proper medication he will start feeling better soon. Thank you everybody for your concern and suggestions.

 

[Didomum]

Oh! Poor old boy. Hope the meds help. It's rough getting old. I know how he feels. Hope the sun shine soon for him.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Poor Barney, I hope he continues to improve.