Not eating

[Wolf]

Yesterday morning I went and picked up an 11 yr. old Yellow naped female Amazon. Today at 3:45, she has refused all food and only took a small drink of water.

While I understand that this is not unusual given the circumstances, I am not sure how long I can safely allow this to continue. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

She has been with the same people since weaning and appears to be in good health and perhaps a little overweight. She is talking a lot and is moving around in her cage although somewhat less than I like, but then she is in totally new surroundings and is still scared but not terrified.

The previous owners could not continue to care for her. feeding and cage cleaning became too much for them due to health reasons. But she is a very sweet bird in normal circumstances.

Please help and accept my thanks and appreciation in advance.

[cml]

If she doesnt eat at all after a day or so, offer sunflower seeds. I am sure she will eat that if she is hungry. But over time, you need to adapt a better diet of course.

Best of luck!

[Wolf]

Thank you for your prompt response. I was given a bag of parrot seed for her which is what I am offering her at present ( it contains a lot of sunflower seeds ), as I did not want to change her diet too quickly or too soon as that could be detrimental to her health and well being.

Thank you again for your timely response and advise. If she doesn't eat tonight I will most definitely try straight sunflower seeds just to get something in her.

[Wolf]

Hi, I'm back!

It is now 6:40 pm and the new bird has decided to start eating. It has been about 36 hours since she last ate anything.

Thank you and the problem is all better now.

[Pajarita]

I am happy that the crisis is over! Poor baby, she must have been very upset and confused... rehoming is very hard on them.

Please consider changing her diet because a seed-based diet will cause fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) on all parrots but most especially on zons which are VERY prone to it and, at her age and if she is overweight, I bet her liver is already compromised so you might want to take her to an AV and have a complete physical (and don't forget to ask for a bile acids test which is the ONLY way you can tell if the liver is functioning right). I have six zons and five of them came to me already with liver issues...

[Wolf]

Thank you Pajarita !

I am very concerned for the health of this bird as I know that she was on a poor diet, consisting of cheap parrot seed mix and got away with only picking out the sunflower seeds. I don't think she even knows what a vegetable is much less that it is food. But I don't want to go into the previous life conditions of this bird. All I will say is that despite the difficulties that I am now faced with both the bird and myself are extremely fortunate that I was gifted with her.

I live in the extreme northwestern corner of North Carolina and there are no avian vet in my area. I was debating as to whether or not to ask if anyone here might know of such a vet in the region that I may not have discovered. But with this reply I guess that I am doing that.

Thank you for your reply as well as your concern for this bird. Just because I never mentioned it her name is Mimi. Thanks again.

[Pajarita]

If you cannot find an avian vet, you can observe her and see if you can find something that will indicate liver trouble: overgrown beak, claws that grow too fast, dull plumage, greasy plumage, fat deposits on the belly (blow on the feathers covering the abdomen to separate them and look at the skin to see if there is a yellowish tinge to it, if it does, there is fat under it).

Personally, I put all my new birds on a liver detox treatment because it can never hurt and it always helps (my birds are all rescues or rehomes). The treatment consists of organic aloe vera juice (not gel and only from inner filet, not from the whole leaf) in their water (2/3 water, 1/3 aloe vera juice) as well as liquid milk thistle and dandelion root extract (I do two squirts of milk thistle to one of dandelion root in a medium size bowl of water). To their food (I feed gloop so it's easy for me to do this), I add more milk thistle, more dandelion root, vit B6, folic acid, artichoke extract and a human pro-biotic that has the most number of strains you can find (usually 15 or so). Every second day, I add some B12. I try to get these things in capsules but some of them only come in pill form so I crush them in a mortar and mix them with the rest. Now, I do this in a large scale (I have birds that came to me in liver failure so they get the treatment every day for the rest of their lives) so you would have to calculate how much you would need for a single bird but the solution is to make a large batch of soft food and add one human dosage (it's on the bottle) to the whole thing. It seems like a lot but the human dosages are meant for maintenance and you need a stronger one for a detox and, besides, nothing in there can be overdosed.

[LadySaphine]

I'm a North Carolinian too. Do you live near Boone, Blowing Rock, or farther north, near VA/WV? I'm in the south, near Charlotte, and if you can make the trip there is a very reliable vet in Hickory or Huntersville, I'm not sure what (on a phone right now, but I think the name was Grifiths Exotcs?) They took in our sugar gliders when one became ill, and will take in birds. I'm pretty certain there are ome vets in Winston-Salem.

[Wolf]

I am north of Boone outside of a little town called Lansing, about 15 to 20 min. from the VA/ NC state line. I am willing to go where I must to see a vet for my birds, if needed.

Any info in this matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Kiki

Kookooloo

Mimi

Me : Wolf

[cml]

I am north of Boone outside of a little town called Lansing, about 15 to 20 min. from the VA/ NC state line. I am willing to go where I must to see a vet for my birds, if needed.

Any info in this matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Kiki

Kookooloo

Mimi

Me : Wolf

Wolf, here are avian vets in the VA/NC area.
http://www.aav.org/search/results.php?filter=state&q=VA&Submit=Search
http://www.aav.org/search/results.php?filter=state&q=NC&Submit=Search
With this link you can search for avian vets close to your zipcode:
http://www.aav.org/search/

I cant tell which vets are the best, but at least they all are avian vets, and members of the avian veterinarian association, which is a good indication!