Poorly Cockatoo possible PDD need advice

[Markmmmm]

First time member so i will try to keep this as short and simple as possible about my poorly cockatoo snowy

Just a year ago now Snowy started getting poorly and displaying the following symptoms

Unstable and shaking on his perch and Falling of his perch and very poor balance, sometimes holding on to the bars with his peak

Unable to walk properly he stumbles about as if he is drunk

Vocally he seems his normal self, his eating seems ok but to be fair his diet could be better but he is a very fussy eater which is a problem and his climbing around the cage seems perfectly fine aswell

Long story short we took him to the Vets and nothing showed up on his X-ray and attached below is his blood test results can anybody make any sense of them maybe a small insight into what could be wrong?
We was kind of left in the dark after these test results came back so have had to plod on over the last year, he fluctates up and down and he is still displaying the above symptoms but he is less shaky now and does not fall off his perch quite as often i have lowered them asw ell to decrease the fall if he does
Any advice or ideas? apart from PDD as i understand that is mentioned on the test results but to be honest don't make much sense thank you in advance hope this is not to confusing
P.S only other thing i can add is his weight is not the best either but his poo seems fine no food in it etc

[Wolf]

I am not a vet or anything close and although no sex was mentioned in the blood work which is over a year old it mentions egg yolk embolism which is when some of the egg yolk gets into the blood stream which is highly suggestive of an egg binding incident so it suggests to me that this bird is a female. The vet appears to suspect the presence of some kidney disease and possibly tumors of the central nervous system. It seems that his first thought is the possibility of PDD, but would likely have needed more tests to determine what is actually going on but is definitely concerned about dehydration and the indications of long term malnutrition in this bird. There is indication of trauma which could have been cause by the bird falling, but again can't say the cause of the trauma.

As I have said, I am not a vet and my interpretation of the lab results provided could easily be all kinds of wrong.

Do you have any more up to date information that we could see as the comparison of the two could help tremendously. In matters of a birds health it is not usually going to help us by being brief as the more detailed information that we have the better we can attempt to give you accurate answers. Personally, I would take this bird to the vet and get new tests done.

[Chantilly]

I hope your little guy/girl gets better. To tell gender for some species you can actually look at their eyes, red-brown is female whereas black is male.

image.jpg (19.75 KiB) Viewed 4123 times

In this image the left is a male rose breatsed cockatoo, and the right is a female.
Here is a link showing the way to sex different species of cockatoos, some you can tell visually, others not. https://www.beautyofbirds.com/sexingcockatoos.html

[Markmmmm]

I hope your little guy/girl gets better. To tell gender for some species you can actually look at their eyes, red-brown is female whereas black is male.

image.jpg

In this image the left is a male rose breatsed cockatoo, and the right is a female.
Here is a link showing the way to sex different species of cockatoos, some you can tell visually, others not. https://www.beautyofbirds.com/sexingcockatoos.html

Always thought he was a male and this link seems to confirm that as his eyes are black so thank you for that

I agree a 2nd blood test may be the best option see what has changed or not a year on is there a test for PDD that gives a clear result? some people have said it can give false results for PDD

[Pajarita]

The black eyes in males is not for all species and, in truth, I am not sure it works for any species of cockatoos. I couldn't actually see the picture (it appears to be too big) so I don't know what species you have but I had two female umbrella cockatoos and they both had black eyes so I would not go with that.

The symptoms you mention could easily be attributed to low calcium, too. I had a hard time reading the blood work results - I did see that the calcium result appears normal but, in birds, blood calcium is not indicative at all of the actual calcium level in the body. This is because, as birds are able to move calcium in an out of their bones plus their blood calcium levels fluctuate during the day and the seasons, it's never really accurate (you need an ionized calcium test for that). I know of birds that produced soft-shelled eggs that actually had perfectly normal and even mildly high serum calcium levels...

The bird appears to have deficient liver and kidney functions (high uric acid, high AST and creatinine) and, although the high uric acid and creatinine levels could be due to dehydration, it seems to me that, combined with the high AST, the combination would indicate a diet too rich in protein (I am NOT a vet, I just have a bit of experience with sick birds). If this is the case and this diet has been caused by free-feeding seeds with no adequate produce intake and vitamin and mineral supplements, it could be the cause of the low calcium, too.

Personally, I would change this bird's diet ASAP and, if it has not been taking any multi vitamin/mineral supplements or eating any fortified commercial food (like pellets, for example), give it some as well as 5 dosages of calciboost (never more than 5 daily dosages in five days). I would also put him on milk thistle, dandelion root, methionine, aloe vera juice and some flax seed oil. Wait a couple of weeks and then take it to the vet again and have complete blood work done (CBC, chem panel and bile acids) to compare to the previous ones and to find out, for sure, if there is and how bad is the impaired liver function.

[Chantilly]

Yes you can not tell with all species visually, the eye colour trick is mainly something that Aussie toos have, but the Indeonesian species seem to mainly need to be DNA tested. You can tell via eye colour with sulfurs, major, mitchels, galahs ect: but not correlas gang gangs, umbrellas and so on. Do you know what species you have Mark?

Bare-Eyed Cockatoo Aka Little Corella The Female Is Usually Smaller And The Unfeathered Area Around The Eye Is Shorter. But Visual Sexing Is Not Definite. DNA Or Surgical Sexing Is Recommended.

Blue-Eyed Cockatoos Males Have Brown Eyes, While Females Have Reddish Brown Eyes.
Ducorps Cockatoos Males And Females Look Alike. DNA Or Surgical Sexing Is Recommended.
Gang Gang Cockatoos
Some Of The Lower Abdomen Feathers Of The Male Is Barred With Orange, White And Red. He Has Distinctive Red Markings On His Head.

The Females' Lower Abdomen Is A Duller Orange And The White Has A Greenish Caste. She Lacks The Red On The Head That Is So Striking In The Male..

Glossy Black Cockatoos
Males Have Black Beaks And They Are Slightly Smaller. They Have Brown Feathers On The Head.

The Females Have Horn Colored Beak; They Don't Have Any Spots Or Bars On The Body Feathers.

Immature Birds Look Like Females Until They Mature At About 4 Years.

Goffins Cockatoos Males And Females Look Alike. DNA Or Surgical Sexing Is Recommended.
Greater Sulphur- Crested Cockatoos The Males Have Darkbrown/Black Eyes. Females Have Reddish Brown, Deep Burgundy Eyes.
Leadbeaters Cockatoos (Major Mitchell's) Males Have Dark Brown Eyes; While Females Have Pinkish Red Eyes.
Lessor Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos Males Have Darkbrown/Black Eyes, While Females Have Reddish Brown To Burgundy Red Eyes (When Mature, About 3 Years).
Moluccan (Salmon Crested) Cockatoos Males Have Darkbrown/Black. Females Have Deep Brown To Burgundy Red Eyes (When They Mature). A Small Flashlight Helps In Determining Eye Color.
Palm Cockatoos Males And Females Look Alike. DNA Or Surgical Sexing Is Recommended.
Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos (Banks)
Males Have Black Beaks With A Dull Gloss On Black Upper Parts. The Chest Feathers Are Greyish Tipped And They Sport A Deep Red Tail.

Females Have Horn-Colored Beaks, Yellow Spots On Upper Parts, And Yellowish Barring On Chest. The Tail Has An Orange Red Bar Mixed With Yellow.

Immature Red-Tailed Cockatoos Look Like Females Until Mature At About 4 Years.

Red-Vented Cockatoos (Phillipine) Males Have Dark Brown Eyes, While Females Have Reddish Brown Eyes.
Rose-Breasted Cockatoos (Galah) Males Have Dark Brown To Black Eyes. The Eye Of Females Are Reddish Brown
Slender-Billed Cockatoos Males And Females Look Alike. DNA Or Surgical Sexing Is Recommended.
Umbrella Cockatoos (White) Males Have Black Eyes, While Females Have Brown Eyes. Immature Umbrellas Have Greyish Brown Eyes.
White-Tailed Black Cockatoos (Baudin's)
Males Have Black Beaks, Females Have White Horn Colored Beaks.

Females Are Lighter In Color And Greater Color Variations Exist. Females Are Slightly Smaller And Their Yellow Markings Are More Pronounced.

Immature Birds Look Like Females Until They Mature At About 4 Years.

Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos (Funereal)
Males Have Black Beaks, Females Have White Horn-Colored Beaks. The Are Lighter In Color And Greater Color Variations Exist.

Females Are Slightly Smaller Than Males And Their Yellow Markings Are More Pronounced.

Immature Birds Look Like Females Until They Mature At About 4 Years.

[Wolf]

You know Chantilly, If I were to go by the post with all of the pictures and by this reply, I would begin to be suspicious that you really like cockatoos.

[Pajarita]

No! You think?

[Chantilly]

Indeed! They are such loving little(big) guys

[Wolf]

It is just a wild guess, don't you know!