Update on Barney, parrots can have strokes!

[Kiwibird]

A few months ago, I posted on this forum desperately seeking answers about my moms green cheek amazon Barney, who fell off his perch in the middle of the night, had limited movement on one half of his body, and appeared to be dying (he's a pretty old guy, about 40 years old). After a thorough examination and several tests, the vet concluded he most likely suffered a stroke! Who knew parrots could have strokes? The vet hadn't really ever seen anything like it (and he is an experienced avian vet), so he prescribed some arthritis/pain medicine to help ease any pain, but didn't have any answers on how to help him recover (I don't think he really thought he would recover). 3 months later, and he is well on his way to being his normal old self again. There really isn't a lot of information on parrots having strokes, so I wanted to put it out there for anyone who may experience a similar problem what we did to help him regain motor control again (birdie physical therapy!):

After his stroke, his wing and foot did not work, so we removed all perches from his cage to prevent injury, and lined the bottom with soft towels. A few times a day, my mom would manually move his foot around for a few minutes at a time (open and close it), and manually extended his wing (like how you would for clipping) to keep them from atrophying. He was still attempting to move, but the foot was just limp. After about a month, she sat a perch wrapped in soft cloth directly on the bottom of his cage so he could start attempting to perch again. It took a few more weeks of his "physical therapy" but he slowly started to be able to grip the perch and walk a little more on it. In addition, when he started to attempt perching again, she would get him out of the cage, hold his feet, and pull him down so he flapped his wings. The wing has actually regained function faster than the foot! 3 months in now, he has graduated to a an actual perch, sitting about 6" off the cage floor which he seems to be gripping pretty well, and has taken a couple small, supervised flights off the bed to the floor, landing successfully. Hopefully by the new year, he will have gained full function of his foot and wing so he can keep up with the other birds again! You can tell he's determined, and he never lost his huge appetite or love of shredding things. His vet is beyond amazed at his progress, given his advanced age and how close to death he seemed right after it happened. It's been a very amazing thing to watch! Almost more amazing is his lifelong mate, who will go into his cage, preen him, regurgitate, shred stuff with him....you wouldn't imagine animals being capable of that kind of emotion. So basically, while it's very rare, if your bird does have a stroke, please don't give up on him/her and put them down. There is hope for recovery with just a little dedication.

 

[Birdlover11]

This is a beautiful story, never give up no matter what the odds ! So happy he's recovering, the vet must've been surprised! Your such a good parront , I never heard of birdie therapy !

 

[Kiwibird]

My parents have had their 3 birds for over 40 years. I grew up with them, there's pictures of them in my crib, and I remember them following me around like puppies when I was younger. It's kind of hard when an animal has been such a positive part of your life that long to give up and stick a needle in their heart the moment they have a problem. When I was still living at home, his mate Lucy broke her foot, and 2 vets wanted to put her down. We finally found a vet (the one the whole family still uses) that would cast her up. That was well over a decade ago, and while her foots a bit crooked, she's happy and healthy and full of life. I don't think a lot of people realize animals can recover just like humans, albeit making their human carers lives a little more difficult for a while. I just hope someone else who's bird is having similar problems reads this and decides not to kill their faithful companion because he/she has a medical problem that can be overcome.

 

[Mayden]

Just to add on this, birds can get a lot of illnesses that are seemingly normal for humans to get. Their blood works in the same fashion as ours, their bodies can throw clots, their arteries get full of fat, their hearts enlarged and overworked. etc. It's all quite similar to our own health. Barney may have had a stroke because of stress, bad diet, lack of exercise, or just unfortunate luck. Whichever it was, I hope it's resolved.

My baby girl Wonsy died of multiple strokes. She had her first and then died a night or two afterwards from another (or two?). I wish she had gotten well like your bird had, but she taught me a lot and I'm grateful for that. My baby girl died probably because of a not so fantastic diet, stress and bad luck. I'm happy you and your mother took the time to work with Barney. Thank you.

 

[Birdlover11]

I don't get it that parrots cant get the same treatment humans can. If a parrot has cancer vets reccomend putting it down if a human gets it every effort is made to save him. How are parrots different ? With humans no matter how bad the disease is they do the best they can to save him but with a bird most vets just say he won't make it but a few months later he's all better . I just wish more research was made on avian diseases.

 

[MonicaMc]

Parrots with cancer have gone through chemotherapy... however, it can be very hard on their bodies.

My bourke parakeet has cancer on one of her feet, and she went through surgery to get it removed. Unfortunately, we were not able to get all the bad tissue as the growth has returned, and I don't think I could put her through surgery again... especially at her age!

Birds can also get diabetes, however, if I understand it right, diabetes in birds can be "cured".


Kiwibird, I don't really know the difference between a stroke and a seizure in parrots, but my cherry headed conure did suffer from one of them. He would go limp, could not grab, would lose his eye-sight, one side of his body would stop functioning altogether with one leg being stuck out at an odd angle and clasped shut, etc. I'm sure he could still see shadows, but it didn't seem as if he could follow anything. After 10-30 seconds or so, he'd return to normal. Some of these were caused by him stumbling/falling, others I don't know what.


Glad to hear Barney is making a recovery! Might I suggest looking into the liquid form of Vetri-DMG??? It might (or might not) help him recover faster? Or maybe to prevent future occurances? (don't really know)

Vetri-DMGboost boosts the immune response

 

[5oclock]

A few months ago, I posted on this forum desperately seeking answers about my moms green cheek amazon Barney, who fell off his perch in the middle of the night, had limited movement on one half of his body, and appeared to be dying (he's a pretty old guy, about 40 years old). After a thorough examination and several tests, the vet concluded he most likely suffered a stroke! Who knew parrots could have strokes? The vet hadn't really ever seen anything like it (and he is an experienced avian vet), so he prescribed some arthritis/pain medicine to help ease any pain, but didn't have any answers on how to help him recover (I don't think he really thought he would recover). 3 months later, and he is well on his way to being his normal old self again. There really isn't a lot of information on parrots having strokes, so I wanted to put it out there for anyone who may experience a similar problem what we did to help him regain motor control again (birdie physical therapy!):

After his stroke, his wing and foot did not work, so we removed all perches from his cage to prevent injury, and lined the bottom with soft towels. A few times a day, my mom would manually move his foot around for a few minutes at a time (open and close it), and manually extended his wing (like how you would for clipping) to keep them from atrophying. He was still attempting to move, but the foot was just limp. After about a month, she sat a perch wrapped in soft cloth directly on the bottom of his cage so he could start attempting to perch again. It took a few more weeks of his "physical therapy" but he slowly started to be able to grip the perch and walk a little more on it. In addition, when he started to attempt perching again, she would get him out of the cage, hold his feet, and pull him down so he flapped his wings. The wing has actually regained function faster than the foot! 3 months in now, he has graduated to a an actual perch, sitting about 6" off the cage floor which he seems to be gripping pretty well, and has taken a couple small, supervised flights off the bed to the floor, landing successfully. Hopefully by the new year, he will have gained full function of his foot and wing so he can keep up with the other birds again! You can tell he's determined, and he never lost his huge appetite or love of shredding things. His vet is beyond amazed at his progress, given his advanced age and how close to death he seemed right after it happened. It's been a very amazing thing to watch! Almost more amazing is his lifelong mate, who will go into his cage, preen him, regurgitate, shred stuff with him....you wouldn't imagine animals being capable of that kind of emotion. So basically, while it's very rare, if your bird does have a stroke, please don't give up on him/her and put them down. There is hope for recovery with just a little dedication.

My yellow head amazon, 5oclock had what looks like a stroke on 16 Apr 2013. Both legs are weak, 20% in left and 8% in right leg. Vet wanted to put him down but I had to give him a chance. He is eating and drinking ok.
Hope it works out for him.

 

[aliray]

What a great update It sounds like the therapy that your Mother did is what made the difference in his amazing recovery

 

[Parrotdise]

Wow this is amazing, i am so happy the therapy worked! I also have amazon thank you for the info.

 

[Scott]

When I was still living at home, his mate Lucy broke her foot, and 2 vets wanted to put her down. We finally found a vet (the one the whole family still uses) that would cast her up. That was well over a decade ago, and while her foots a bit crooked, she's happy and healthy and full of life. I don't think a lot of people realize animals can recover just like humans, albeit making their human carers lives a little more difficult for a while. I just hope someone else who's bird is having similar problems reads this and decides not to kill their faithful companion because he/she has a medical problem that can be overcome.

Pardon the lateness, but came across this thread via link.

I've had two birds (Eclectus and Grey) have broken legs that were surgically pinned and cast. Both made complete recoveries and you'd never know it unless you felt the leg. Such therapy requires a competent and experienced avian vet - it is crucial to seek one out rather than reflexively choose a sad ending.

 

[Frey]

Our 43yr old scarlet macaw just had a stroke, everything working well again apart from both his legs. The vet said that if there is no improvement until Friday, we should consider putting him down - I cannot do this !!!! and have been frantically looking on the internet for hope and tips on how to help him ..... Thank you to all of the members above for giving us hope ... I am willing to do whatever is needed to get our Coco back on his feet ...

 

[Kiwibird]

Human stroke victims don't recover in a week or month, so why would a vet expect a parrot to just bounce back after such a serious medical event? He will probably need a little different cage setup from now on, but I'm sure he can still have a good rest of his life even with some limited mobility. Can he stand at all? Is he eating well now?