Rescue Bird Health

[ddobs]

I just lost a young parakeet suddenly that we got from a rescue over a year ago. The cause was not determined with certainty, although the vet identified blackened lower intestines when she performed a necropsy. She thinks the intestine twisted due to stress or movement, causing a blockage of blood flow. There was no evidence of the bird having ingested anything that caused the blockage. (She said German Shepherds are prone to a similar problem.) The bird otherwise appeared healthy and had been eating well before bedtime the night before we found him on the cage floor beneath his perch. My question for this group is whether it is more common for rescue birds to have underlying health problems than for birds acquired from (responsible) breeding programs. I ask this not because I wouldn't rescue another bird - we are planning to get another - but because I feel like I somehow should have/could have prevented this. We had transitioned all our birds to Harrisons weeks before, and they were all eating I have one toy with natural fiber that the birds tear apart, but again, the vet saw nothing to suggest the bird ingested anything that didn't pass.

 

[GivemeSeedsorgivemeFlesh]

My condolences! I have no knowledge or advice to give but I am sorry for your loss.

 

[ddobs]

My condolences! I have no knowledge or advice to give but I am sorry for your loss.

Thank you.

 

[SailBoat]

Very sorry for your loss.

The sad reality of an intestinal twist is that it can just happen, but tends to occur in younger more active birds of all species. There is nothing you could have done that would have prevented it.

 

[ddobs]

Very sorry for your loss.

The sad reality of an intestinal twist is that it can just happen, but tends to occur in younger more active birds of all species. There is nothing you could have done that would have prevented it.

Thank you, and that is interesting. Have you seen this happen before yourself or through a friend? No one else seems to have heard of it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I agree with a comments above. Someone I know, a 30 year old healthy man, recently suffered an intestinal kink and required emergency surgery to remove part of his colon. It can happen for no reason to any creature with an intestine. So sorry it happened to your budgie.
Regarding rescues vs breeder birds, rescues are not necessarily birds that were neglected. Some must be rehomed because their owners died, moved, had allergies etc. I've adopted rescue budgies that have lived for years and breeder birds that died young. Budgies in particular are very prone to tumors because the gene pool hasn't been enriched by "new blood" (wild budgies) since the late 1800s when Australia banned export of their native birds. Underlying health problems in budgies like liver problems and tumors are hard to diagnose without imaging and bloodwork. Obesity is very common in budgies that are not given daily out of cage flying time, a seand leads to liver problems

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Oops. Cont'd
Budgies can get obese from poor seed only diets, not enough out of cage flying time, and leads to fatty liver disease and possibly fatty tumors. A budgie's weight is a good indicator of overall health and conditioning. A regular American type or Australian type budgie should weigh about 28-38 grams. English budgies are considerably larger at 50-65 grams. English budgies generally have more health problems and don't live as long as regular budgies because they are more inbred.

Regarding intestinal blockages in budgies- it's unusual for people to have their deceased budgies autopsies. Ive only had one done in the decades I have had budgies. If more budgie deaths were investigated like that we would better understand why so many of them die suddenly without warning. Bowel kinks may be much more common than we know.

 

[ddobs]

I paid for a necropsy because I wanted to know if I did something wrong. I have four other birds and don't want to lose any more prematurely.