| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 825.1 | RE: Feather Picking | ABACUS::BOURGAULT | | Wed Sep 22 1993 14:34 | 19 |
| Jeanne,
Although not impossible by any means, it is probably unlikely that
Sunny will be cured of her feather picking. Its a tough habit to
break - similar to smoking or nail biting in humans. I have a friend
in our bird club that has had a beautiful male cockatiel for many years
that has the most outgoing personality you could imagine. However his
whole chest is bare of feathers....not one can be found! He looks like
a Purdue chicken breast! But he has a mate and they produce beautiful
babies, so it isn't due to sexual frustrations. And his owner spoils
him. He is out of his cage daily.
So, it probably isn't due to any bacteria or illness - and if so, then
medication will not help. Sunny will probably continue to pluck
herself. Hopefully they will be able to cure her.
Best of luck!! Keep us posted.
Denise
|
| 825.2 | Working bird? | SWAM1::DEFRANCO_JE | | Wed Sep 22 1993 15:57 | 6 |
| Sunny is very outgoing also. She would spend the entire day on my
shoulder if I let her! I wonder how that would go over at work?
Only kidding!!!
Jeanne
|
| 825.3 | Update on Sunny | SWAM1::DEFRANCO_JE | | Fri Sep 24 1993 15:48 | 18 |
| Well, the vet and I had a long talk about Sunny and after another
negative stool sample, he thinks this may be phychological. He based
this decision on the fact that Sunny looks great (other than the
plucked areas) acts healthy, and eats healthy. Also, none of my other
birds have this problem. Sunny also has a habit of picking any other
bird she shares space with (thus, she has her own cage).
The vet gave her a shot of Deproprevara (sp?) and said this would calm
her down. Sure enough, this morning, she was not picking (or preening)
but just going about her business in a very relaxed mode. I hate
having a bird on drugs like this but maybe it will help to break the
picking cycle if she stays on it for a few months.
Time will tell!
Jeanne
|
| 825.4 | Another concerned pet owner! | ALFA1::PEASLEE | | Thu Sep 30 1993 14:56 | 11 |
| I had an earlier note in here about my lovebird Chet, (not to be
confused with a noter in this file). Chet picked out all of his
feathers except his wing feathers and those he could'nt reach on
his head and neck. He has recently allowed his breast feathers to grow
back so I am viewing this as a positive sign. He is energetic and
eats alot, the vet has ruin alot of tests on him and can find nothing
wrong. In the latest issue of bird talk, there is an article that
discsuses this (along with the photo of a bird that has pciked out alot
of his feathers.) I wish I knew what caused it!
Nancy
|
| 825.5 | Sunny is a litle better! | SWAM1::DEFRANCO_JE | | Fri Oct 01 1993 14:54 | 10 |
| Re .4
This drug we tried on Sunny (Depoprevera (?)) seems to be working. She
has let her wing feathers come out and she's actually getting small pin
feathers under her abdoman.
You may want to try this with Chet. You've got nothing to loose and
possibly some feathers to gain!
Jeanne
|
| 825.6 | Vitamin E Treatment. | SWAM1::DEFRANCO_JE | | Mon Nov 15 1993 17:19 | 14 |
| Well, the drug therapy ultimately failed. Sunny was good for about 2
weeks and then pulled eveything out again. What's a mother to do??
Actually, I have tried something else and so far so good, but I'm
certainly not putting any bets on this treatment either! Each day, I
add to Sunny's egg food, a capsule of vitamin E (just the sticky liquid
part). I've been doing this for about 10 days and yes, once again,
feathers are growing.
If Sunny remains true to form, she should be pulling these feathers out
within the next week or so. Who knows, maybe this will work. I'll
keep you posted.
Jeanne
|