Aggitated parrot

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:44:10 GMT

The remaining results came back today. Zinc within normal limits and Chlam -ve.

He's now on baytril, tramadol and metacam. He seems to have good and bad days but the owner thinks the droppings are looking more normal and he is putting weight back on. Apparently most of the left side of his breast and left leg are now bare but the right side is hardly touched. Unfortunately the lab have said that there's no blood left to run any more tests. So we're going to see how he gets on over the weekend and discuss further tests on Monday if he's no better.

Re: Aggitated parrot

Mark Rowland — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:46:40 GMT

before you do that you might want to get bornavirus serology/PCR. PDD is a segmental neuropathy, and can appear in many, many ways in parrots. Mild neurological signs and feather picking are included in this.

Check with the lab if they can run the serology, PCR is on cloacal and Choanal swabs

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:17:45 GMT

Well we've got some of the results back and they don't seem particularly bad.

Alb 18 (9-18)

TProt 41 (27-44)

Uric acid 60 (100-500) L

Bile acid 41

AST 204 (0-500)

CK 1879 (140-411) H

Ca 2.01 (1.65-2.68)

Ionised Ca 1.17 (0.96-1.22)

WBCs 3.8 (3.3-10.3)

Hg 16 (14.2-17.1)

PCV 42 (45-53) L

MCHC 38.1 (28.9-34) H

Heterophils 67% 2.5 (1.85-7.31)

Lymphocytes 32% 1.22 (1.8-4.8) L

Monocytes 1% 0.0 (0.0-0.19)

No polychromasia within erythrocyte series. No toxic or macrophaging leucocytes seen. Thrombocytes appear normal in structure and number and are aggregated on film.

Chlamydia serology and zinc results to follow

So based on the WBC count we can rule out active chlamydia infection?

He's been on baytril since Saturday and started on Tramadol yesterday. The owner thought he was a bit more settled on Monday but then he seemed more aggitated again on Tuesday. I haven't been at work today so I'll find out how he is tomorrow.

If he's still no better and the remaining results don't show anything obvious then I think I'll have to refer him for further investigation as we don't have an endoscope.

Re: Aggitated parrot

Marie Kubiak — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:43:18 GMT

Best way is to have a stock 'normal' bone and put it on the plate next to the patient and compare, otherwise just experience (and familiarity with the images your machine gives you) - particularly looking at cortical thickness, long bone outlines and articular definition. I had the joy of spending months radiographing various species for calcium metabolism studies so am very OCD about this If you radiograph distal limbs this increases sensitivity as early/minor changes are clearer.

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:13:51 GMT

Thanks.

Are there specific ways of determining if bone density is reduced or does it just come from looking at lots of x-rays of these birds?

I'll let you know when the results come back from the lab.

Re: Aggitated parrot

Marie Kubiak — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 20:07:10 GMT

The opacity is the syrinx and appears slightly more pronounced than usual but the image is slightly underexposed. Tracheoscopy would be sensible to check for any inflammatory/fungal syringeal lesions causing increased density but this may well be artefactual exaggeration of normal anatomy.

There is reduced bone density ('normal' for a captive grey but indicates husbandry needs improvement to avoid future clinical problems). Intestines appear slightly dilated and overfull (inflammatory/bacterial/viral [PDS=bornavirus]/metal intoxication/delayed transit time with any other pathology) and there is a significant splenomegaly indicating a chronic inflammatory process. Chlamydophila is the most common cause of this but mycobacteria, aspergillosis and other chronic infections e.g. bacterial/fungal dermatitis are also considerations in this bird. If the bird is stable await haem, biochem and serology for further info and do a faecal smear and gram stain to assess bacterial populations in the meantime.

Marie

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:50:37 GMT

Above are today's x-rays.

The liver looks a bit small to me.

What's the opacity just cranial and dorsal to the heart? Is that normal?

The owner says that there's no way he could have got hold of any toxic metals. She also said they don't use anything with teflon because they know it is bad for birds. She did mention this morning that she thinks a lot of the aggitation involves shaking his head. She also thought that there had been some improvement since the injection of butorphanol. Both tympanic membranes look fine but there is a slight redness surrounding the tympanic membrane on the right side.

I looked at a couple of feathers under the microscope and can't see any signs of parasites.

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:37:48 GMT

Re: Aggitated parrot

Tim Cheyne — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 12:36:15 GMT

< When he's let out of his cage he won't sit still for more than a few minutes before flying to a new position. He's constantly preening himself and plucking his feathers,>

Sounds analogous to a cat with recently acquired Cheylettiella (spelling?). Any animals in the household? Presumably you have been able to exclude ectoparasites? I remember once abandoning my Christmas dinner to drive forty miles as a second opinion on poultry dying with Red Mite infestation.

I agree that could be a helpful first stage in diagnosis especially if you clear it with KOH, lactophenol or similar.

Tim.

Re: Aggitated parrot

Marie Kubiak — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 09:02:21 GMT

It's amazing how many birds are exposed to zinc from cages/toys and copper or even lead from normal household items.

Pinmoore (www.palsvetlab.co.uk) will do Chlamydophila serology and can run a full avian profile and the serology on 1ml heparinised blood (they can do it on less if you're pushed for a sample but the first thing to get dropped on a small sample is ionised calcium so I tend to get a little more to be sure). If you get really stuck let me know as we can run chlamydophila serology in house on 0.05ml serum/plasma.

Marie

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:22:35 GMT

Finn say that they can't do the serology for chlamydophila and none of their labs they outsource to do it either. Does anyone know which labs do offer it and what kind of sample they need and how much?

Re: Aggitated parrot

CatherineThomas — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:55:03 GMT

Thanks for the replys.

I haven't specifically asked about metal ingestion, I'll ask when they bring him in this morning. He lives in their living room, not the kitchen. The owners do seem to be pretty switched on and be doing everything right for him.

We use Finn for our normal lab work and I think Petra Wesche does all the exotics interpretation. So that's where I was planning to send the samples. I'll have to check if they can do the chlamydophila serology too.

Re: Aggitated parrot

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:27:28 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]

BTW I wouldnt necessarily call a 7yo parrot on Harrisons old or on a bad diet.

[/quote]

Neither would I, hence why i wrote this is not normal signalment.

Although never assume what you are told by parrot owners is fact!! I see so many that I am assured are on perfect diets and eventually the owners cave when you press them and admit they feed them chips/sausages/sunflower seeds and only sometimes put a token pellet in. Plus I see many 'young' greys recently purchased with no closed ring and the iris of a geriatric!

Re: Aggitated parrot

Mark Rowland — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:13:45 GMT

Good ideas so far, The only thing I would add is to make sure ionised calcium is included in the blood profile or you can run it in house. Getting a good avian haematologist to look at the smear is a good idea also. Where are you sending the blood?

BTW I wouldnt necessarily call a 7yo parrot on Harrisons old or on a bad diet. It could still have cardiomegaly though. Make sure you pull those legs down on the VD

Goodluck

Re: Aggitated parrot

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:15:49 GMT

I have seen really uncomfortable older greys or those on terrible diets with cardiac disease - it is hypothesised that profound 'angina' pain and reactive chewing/plucking but given diet and age this is not normal signalment. Air sacculitis or any inflammatory process can cause similar internal irritation but less marked. Diffuse dermatological discomfort is unusual but reaction to irritant chemicals or infections (usually secondary to endocrinopathies) can cause generalised pruritus. Any history of potential metal ingestion?

I would do exactly the same as you're doing - work up thoroughly to see what is causing the discomfort but add in endoscopy if there is nothing conclusive the planned diagnostics, it is amazing how much more you can glean by directly visualising the viscera/air sacs. I would also suggest doing chlamydophila serology rather than faecal PCR especially as you're getting blood as it is much more sensitive.

Marie

Re: Aggitated parrot

james herriot lied — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:14:50 GMT

Feather plucking is a gigantic bag of issues - but in this case, I would say pain and/or GI irritation. You're exactly on the right lines with faeces and blood, and and xray may give you some more objective info about organ size etc. Have you tried putting a feather under the microscope yet, or perhaps a faecal smear?