Chaka the Yellow-crowned/Yellow-naped Amazon

[Pajarita]

For liver disease, there are three things to do:
- a detox
- lower protein/organic diet
- supplements for life.

For the detox, you do 1/3 organic aloe vera juice (from inner filet not whole leaf and not gel, only juice), 2/3 spring water (never distilled!) and add milk thistle, dandelion root, artichoke extract and lactulose. You also add milk thistle, dandelion root (in capsules), SAMe or methionine and vit B6 to her soft food. This is every day for three weeks.

For the diet, absolutely NO pellets, you need to feed either chop, mash or gloop (I use gloop) made with lower protein grains (like soft white spring wheat, oats, basmati brown rice, wild rice, etc) and cooked and diced veggies (50% veggies/50% grains) accompanied by fresh produce for breakfast and a small (less than 1/4 cup) portion of a good quality low protein seed mix (budgie or cockatiel without sunflower seeds).

Supplements: you will need to supplement her with milk thistle, dandelion root and methionine every day, aloe vera twice a week and lactulose once a week or every ten days but this is a just a general idea, the frequency depends on the extent of the damage to the liver.

[LisaB]

Thank you so much, Pajarita! My vet has her on a pretty good dose of Milk Thistle (she compounds the powder from capsules into a suspension solution), but I'm so grateful to have a detox and diet plan. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to give me this information. I will go get everything tomorrow. I'm sure Bernadette will benefit from this as well. Chaka doesn't like pellets, so that's not a problem. Bernadette does like them quite a bit, so that will be a change for her. She likes her soft food just as well, however, so I don't suppose she'll waste away by any means.

What about nuts? Again, Chaka doesn't seem to like them (weird for an Amazon from what I hear), but Bernie loves her daily pistachio. I worry with Bernie about her low weight. It's such a quandary because the very things that help her put on weight are the things that aren't good for her liver.

Again, thank you so very much for the advice. I'm very grateful.

[Pajarita]

Nuts are better than seeds, it's just a matter of adjusting the size/portion to the size of the bird. Another thing I forgot before is vit C, very good for the liver and an excellent antioxidant. My birds consume lots of things with high vit C content (they eat broccoli everyday plus they get oranges and other fruits that have it) but, for the detox, I always add a bit of liquid vit C (it comes in fruity flavors) to their water.

Another thing, SAMe is kind of tricky because it's not good if you crush or wet it (it's always in coated tablets) as it deteriorates very quickly so you need to be pretty fast about it, I use a mortar and pestle and only crush and grind it at the very last minute before mixing it with the other liquids I need to give in the syringe and administer it in the beak right away. Methionine is much more forgiving, you can open a capsule and simply mix it with the food but SAMe is what methionine becomes so, for the liver, SAMe's better (one wants the liver not to have to work so it can heal faster that's why giving organic and spring water is necessary. The liver is the filter (insecticides, chemicals in water, medicines, etc) but, if the filter is clogged, nothing goes through so the idea is to provide the body with what would have come out of the filter so the liver doesn't have to do the work.

One more thing, I did notice that the bird did not look good on the pictures but I assume (incorrectly, obviously) that the rescue had already vetted the bird and had found everything normal. It was entirely irresponsible of them not to vet that bird.

[LisaB]

Thanks for the additional information. This is very helpful. Chaka had several visits to an avian vet when she was first taken in by Colorado Parrot Rescue. She was put on anitbiotics and some pain meds. She was so underweight that she was given pretty much whatever she would eat. The rescue I work with now has been taking a lot of Colorado Parrot Rescue's calls as Bob (the man who runs CPR) is wanting to retire. That's how I met Chaka. Bob was going to send her to a sanctuary, but I just knew in my gut that she wouldn't do well in that type of setting. She likes people and she really needs individualized care.

My avian vet is much more open to herbal and homeopathic remedies and often uses them in conjunction with traditional medicines. I've seen her work miracles with sick birds and Chaka is no exception. She immediately put Chaka on liver supplements and a liver medication not often used in birds and the change within a week is astounding. I'm hoping with the diet and detox information you've given me, I can get Chaka back to health. She is preening now and is interested in a few toys, which is a huge change for her. I do believe she will grow her feathers back now that she's healthy and has things to do. From what Bob said, she had no toys with her former owners. I think they just left her on a perch in front of an open upstairs window. Brilliant.

I will post new pictures in a week or so and see what you think. And by the way, my vet agrees with you that Chaka is a Yellow-nape and not a hybrid.

Thanks again!

[Pajarita]

I like your vet! And not because she agrees with me on the species but because she has a holistic approach to avian medicine which is not easy to find among avian vets. If all the avian vets were like her, birds would do much better.

[LisaB]

I agree, completely! I can tell you that she's gotten some push back from other vets, but I don't trust anyone the way I trust her. She worked for a large rescue here for years and that's where I met her. We have since left that "rescue" (that's a whole other story) and formed another. When Dr. O left the former rescue, many of the birds there were taken off their meds and the holistic remedies she had them on and I fear they have not done well, or even survived. I try not to think about that, but focus on what good we can do with our new group.

I think she would like you too, Pajarita!

[Pajarita]

Thank you, Lisa! Usually, all vets like me if, for nothing else, the amount of money I spend on them and how often they see me -LOL- I just started with a new vet recently (dogs and cats mostly but I am pushing him to learn more about birds -he only does what he calls 'little things' with them) and he already recognizes my voice and calls me by my first name when I call him - no surprise as I've been going once every two weeks for the last two months or so because spring is the time of the year when I do the annuals for all my dogs and cats (and that means dentals, cysts surgery, etc). I brought my ancient alpha male yesterday (he's only 15 but he was 120 lbs in his prime and the average lifespan of a dog that size is only 8 years) and he laughingly asked me if I had any young or healthy animals at all -LOL . This is because, so far, he has seen LiluMisu, 19 year old cat with hypothyroidism; Bunny, 14 year old bichon mix with epilepsy; Tita, 15 year old chorkie with liver and kidney damage, a defective heart valve and cataracts; Coqui, 13 year old cat with liver damage and a neurological defect which impairs movement (both conditions caused by his mother been sick with panleuko when she was pregnant); Kitty Pooh, 13 year old cat blind since she was two weeks old; and now Mikey, the 15 year old bullmastiff mix with severe arthritis and neurological degeneration in his back legs nerves. The man must think I live in the Bermuda triangle of disease -LOL

[LisaB]

Oh my gosh! No wonder you have so much information on healing animals! I imagine you must learn an awful lot caring for all your babies. I must say I admire you tremendously for the investment in time, money and love you have put into your animals. The fact that you have a giant breed dog living well into his teens is a testament to good vet care and nutrition. I have read that food and medical care is absolutely critical for the giant guys. It is, of course, with all animals, but it seems to make an even bigger impact on very large dogs.

Chaka is responding well to her treatments and diet! She suddenly started singing opera in my bathroom the other morning and my 11 year-old daughter came running downstairs scared out of her wits. She thought some strange person was in my bathroom! LOL! It was so funny, because Chaka's been pretty quiet up to now. I have no idea what she can say (or sing), so it will be interesting as she gets better. She also bit the end clean off one of her syringes this morning, so she is definitely getting her strength back.

I also have a Budgie (Herbie) who is on medicine for Avian Gastric Yeast. He has no symptoms whatsoever. In fact, he's slightly overweight. My vet and I became suspicious, however, after his second mate died. We tested him and sure enough he was positive. Do you have any recommendations for treating this? Besides the traditional meds he is on, he gets Pau D'arco bark, Usnea, Reishi, and Thyme extract. He can't have a friend until the yeast is cleared up and I know he hates being by himself. I feel like a monster. He's a good little eater and likes a variety of food. If there is something I can feed him that will help, I'm pretty sure he'd accept it readily.

You're going to get so sick of me now that I know you're the health guru! I just can't get over your 15 year-old giant breed dog.

[AnarchoBoxer]

Congrats on the new friend!

What does an Amazon smell like?

[cml]

Congrats on the new friend!

What does an Amazon smell like?

A rich smell, a bit sweet and fruity. I love it .