Hi everyone

Just wondered if you could give me some advice as to what I can give Percy with him moulting as he always seems to go downhill more when in moult (which he does quite often due to his liver disease methinks).

 

He has fatty lipoma too which doesn't help as the vet says that's what makes him scratch his vent so much cos the droppings don't always fully come out.. so that's a problem which I can't do much about sadly. Anyway, his food consists mainly of pet shop seed as he won't touch much else, though I do give him cooked and raw broccoli at times, both of which he picks at, also carrot.

 

His droppings have always ranged from loose, to hard, grey, green, green stained water... white, grey white etc etc but rarely normal. I know this is to do with his liver disease though. Does anyone treat for constipation which I am sure he often suffers from? He also gets very "anxious" which results in him tapping on his cage, or mirror etc and I put this down to him lacking something as he does this more when he's moulting or "under the weather".

 

I really don't know what to do for him, he's 5yrs old now and had all these problems since I first had him, though the fatty lipoma came on later.

 

Would love some advice from you guys if you can throw any my way as I'm once again at my wits end as to know how to treat him and get him through this once more. I think he needs vitamins but which ones and how etc... I give him the occasional Lactulose for the droppings probs but it doesn't help too much at times.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

Chrissie x

Hi Chrissie,

 

There are several suppliments on the market designed to deliver vitamins and minerals to birds. I am sure someone here can recommend a good one. One of my birds was having a hard time with her moult so we increased her protein intake by feeding an egg mixture.

 

Also if you feel that Percy may be constipated you could try loosening his droppings by feeding iceberg lettuce or celery.

 

Your avian vet would be able to give you a lot of information on how to best care for Percy too.

 

Some suppliments available either from your bird supply store or from Vetafarm include MOULTING AID and SOLUVET LIQUID VITAMINS.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Feathers

Edited January 15, 200718 yr by feathers

Hi Chrissie,

 

As feathers said, vitamins like Soluvet may help a little (multivitamin), but having a properly balanced diet is no doubt best for the long term. Moulting is a high energy time, as feathers are growing and new keratin sheaths are forming... So ensuring proper nutrition is arguably a good thing. Converting to some pellets in the diet is good for all budgies and can also help with the liver issue. Although the right percent of pellets to seed still seems debated. With those fatty lipomas, it sounds like Percy needs improved nutrition rather than more to eat (although feel in company - my bird is a little pork chop as well) I'd even try the home made egg biscuit thing - beat up an egg, 1min in the microwave and then mix with an soft food mix you know he'll eat (especially budgie crumbles).

 

No doubt your avian vet has talked you all thru this...

 

Touching a bird during moult can be a bit painful due to all those new little pin feathers breaking through the keratin. Ouch! So sympathise if he gets a bit cranky. He may well be feeling off colour. I've also read that it's good to keep up the humidity as this can help to soften the new keratin sheaths.

 

When you mentioned his droppings, it sounds like you may have had these checked recently. But if nothing in the last couple of weeks and he seems "off colour", I'd be taking Percy back to the vet for a poo-check. With his liver condition, he's likely to have low immunity and this could thus be the sign of an emerging infection of some sort. Speaking from experience here - had a bird with a liver condition for 5yrs..

 

Do hope the little Percy is okay. Turbs...

Thanks for your replies. The vet doesn't really offer much help most of the time, last time he gave Percy a steroid injection which I wasn't happy about and also some Ambidec vitamins which are for children. I wanted to try something different because this problem has been going on for the life of my bird - 5 yrs - and three different avaian vets later and no real help most of the time. I have been in touch with "Birds on line" and they recommend Calcivet for his moulting. I've never given anything to Percy during his moult so maybe this would help and I'm willing to try something different.... with care of course.

 

I gave him mashed up hard boiled egg this week and he enjoyed that, as I was told that might help... so will see how it goes. Thanks everyone for your help it's really appreciated and if anymore tips and help is out there I'd love to hear.

 

Thank you

Chrissie

Poor little Percy, he has certainly been through a lot. Don't think it will help with his moult but two of my budgies, Happy and Monty, have lipomas and they have Synthyroid (people meds) in their water dish every other day which helps shrink their fleshy tumors, Happy is a grand old age and nasty as can be so it works! See if your vet can research and prescribe this medication. :greenb: