Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 15:32:15 GMT

Thanks.

I'll keep you posted from time to time. This owner gives me regular reports – almost too regular, but that's certainly preferable to the more usual hear-nothing-for-three-months-then-they-complain-it's-worse.

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Marie Kubiak — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 09:13:54 GMT

Sounds a good plan if it is improving, a diagnosis is nice but blind successful treatment is also nice though a little less satisfying! I tend to find foot swellings do the flaking thing when recovering so that is usually a good sign (unless it turns to sloughing!).

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 19:46:45 GMT

Well, uric acid was 300 micromol/litre, lab's normal range 80-350, so I'm ruling out gout again. Attempted FNAB of a joint but obtained only copious blood.

The appearance has certainly changed, most of the footy regions look much improved though the skin is flaking a bit (not surprising) but one digit looks like a Christmas stocking after Santa Claus has been. I'm thinking just continue with Metacam.

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 15:10:34 GMT

Thanks Marie, well, there's food for thought there.

Evelyn

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 15:03:46 GMT

No difference in appearance from budgies so gout is less likely then.

If responsible, there is usually an obvious thick white material there either in aspirate or oozing out after sample collection, or just a gritty feel to the aspirate when rubbed between microscope slides.

In most cases fluid therapy, allopurinol and diet management are used to limited effect. Rasburicase is a more rapidly effective therapy, but doesn't have wide usage to determine safety, is expensive and requires IV administration so repeat sedations are typically needed for small birds. I tend to be pessimistic with gout as the primary cause is knackered kidneys in most cases so even if you make the feet comfortable the bird is unlikely to remain in a good state for long.

Marie

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 14:54:39 GMT

Gout was my first jump-to-conclusion diagnosis but on mature consideration it doesn't look anything like the gout with which I am very familiar in budgerigars.

However thanks for the suggestion of serum uric acid. I'll have a word with the owner about that. But FNA is surely just going to show "inflammation" unless it's lucky enough to pick up some urate granules?

Supposing that this were basically gout, is there anything new in treatment beyond juggling diet and the rather dubious allopurinol?

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 13:48:24 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

You've made my post look very lazy Marie!

[/quote]

I'm just delaying leaving my cosy office to go out in the blizzard, purely a self-indulgent distraction!!

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 13:29:30 GMT

You've made my post look very lazy Marie!

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Marie Kubiak — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 13:09:52 GMT

I second the gout! Getting FNA samples from swellings plus serum uric acid levels will help rule this in/out.

Other causes are pretty rare and the dry necrosis type issues usually relate to birds with severe acute damage (frostbite/burns primarily) and everything sloughs concurrently.

Neuropathies seem to make birds more included to self-mutilate toes but you'd likely have open wounds, or the owner see the bird compulsively running toes through its beak. Fungal toxins (ergotism) are written about in textbooks as a cause of weird digital swellings but never seen a case in real life...

Marie

RE: Monk parakeet – avascular necrosis?

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 09:39:44 GMT

Any chance it could be gout?