Diabetic Budgie?

Re: Diabetic Budgie?

Mike Nikolaou — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:56:16 GMT

It does Marie and thanks.

Insulin is out of the question as the owner's hands shake terribly, so I don't even think of suggesting injections to them! I cannot be sure there wasn't mixing of faeces and urine, but i thought glucose is unlikely to "leak" in the faeces as the body would absorb it all. Or am I thinking mammals?

The bird has been PU/PD and that's what triggered the owner to seek advice. She brought me the paper from the cage's bottom, which she had just changed and it was already soaked.

I will suggest to her we take a blood sample and take it from there...

Thanks for all the help!

Re: Diabetic Budgie?

Marie Kubiak — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:22:58 GMT

Faecal contamination can often lead to false positives of glucosuria for birds, how confident are you there was no significant mixing of the faecal and clear urine portions? What is the signalment of the patient and management/husbandry?

Glucosuria and concurrent pu/pd gives a high index of suspicion of diabetes. I would want to take at least one blood glucose in addition because of the risk of false glucosuria detection. For true DM in birds the blood glucose should be consistently >40mmol/l. Minimal handling and sampling under anaesthesia is used to avoid significant stress hyperglycaemia.

DM pathophysiology is very different in birds than mammals - insulin is not the only factor. Insulin:glucagon ratio and somatostain regulation are thought to be key but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Treatment focusses on lowering the blood glucose to minimise clinical signs (and potenitally avoid B cell toxicity) and oral hypoglycaemics (Glipizide) and insulin injections have used successfully. I would always opt for oral meds first over insulin injections but you still need a co-operative owner willing to medicate twice daily. Monitoring urine glucose is very useful and the intention is to keep a low level of glucosuria to avoid iatrogenic hypoglycaemia.

Hope that helps,

Marie

Re: Diabetic Budgie?

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:45:28 GMT

Budgies don't produce urine as we know it. Just the one waste stream. I honestly would expect that not all the glucose will be absorbed from the gut gut and some will be present in the urates.

You can't diagnose diabetes based on glucose in the feaces.....................