Cockatiel likely has PDD

[Little beeps]

Hello! My cockatiel, Will, is thought to have PDD. I'll explain more on that after I cut to the chase.

The main issue I have right now is how picky of an eater he is. He utterly refuses pellets, and seeds pass through him whole. To save him from further losing weight I started frequently offering him rice-pasta, couscous, and scrambled eggs; He has since developed a fixation with the eggs.
Before all this, he would often eat a somewhat decent variety of veggies. Now he is ignoring most food I offer if it isn't eggs or seed. I make him fresh dishes of veggies, pastas, etc everyday but he often doesn't want anything to do with it. I want to be a little more rigid in what I offer but he really doesn't have the weight to spare.

His PDD story:
A few weeks ago he very suddenly (overnight) was pooping large amounts of whole seed & acted very lethargic and unwell. His condition varied after that, the seeds slowly diminished from his poop and then came back again, unrelated to things the vet tried. The vet did a poop gram stain, crop gram stain, multiple x-rays with barium and we tried an antibiotic (Not all at once). Nothing came up amiss from these tests. The antibiotic was the last thing we tried, as his behavior was beginning to suffer. At the same time of the antibiotic I began keeping his cage much warmer, ~80 - 85F. He perked up around this time & seemed a bit better, I believe from the warmth rather than the antibiotic. The seeds in his poop also lowered briefly, which I think was coincidental as they came back again before the course of the antibiotic was even finished. My current vet at this time was out of ideas really, so I found another avian vet in the area and saw him. The new vet reviewed the past tests and suggested it might be PDD. He also did an additional poop test that came back clean. We tried some anti-inflammatory oral medicine (metacam) but that seemed to upset Wills GI - he became lethargic & disinterested in eating at all. I waited a day (as instructed by vet) and tried again to be sure it wasn't a coincidence, and he again was lethargic. So (this is current) the last thing we have done is an injection of anti-inflammatory. I have not noticed any difference in the amount of undigested seed in his poop since then.

While all this was going on, despite eating well (seed & fresh veggies) he was losing weight, his (I believe) healthy weight was 70grams, he was down to 59 & beginning to act unwell. I read up on PDD and more easily digestible foods, and started offering pastas & eggs. Since giving him those foods, he got back to ~65grams and has since been acting the best I've seen him act since this all started. But now here we are with this new issue I mentioned at the start.

It should be noted that I have been using Harrisons Fauna&flora, and I also tried some Prozyme for awhile as I read helped someone elses PDD afflicted birdie. I have some bird probiotics as well but he didn't want to eat anything with it ontop, so I haven't tried that again.

It should also be noted that this bird was found, I have no idea how old he is or where he came from. When I found him he was 60grams, and over the year & half that I've had him he weighed 70grams consistently until this illness reared its head. I have tried to get him to eat some pellets using various methods with no success.

If you've gotten this far, thank you so much for reading. If you have any advice on anything I've talked about please let me know. If you have any ideas for foods he can eat that might spark his interest or ways to get him to eat more than seeds/eggs I am all ears. He is currently, at this moment, pacing around beeping over the fact that his dish of fresh broccoli, carrots, zuccini, cooked chickpeas, & crumbled lafebers pellet berries isn't eggs. It's been there for him for an hour and he won't bother with it.

 

[Porter]

Have you tried bread?
I make bread for my birds that I mix soaked pellets and seeds and usually veggies into :3

 

[Little beeps]

Have you tried bread?
I make bread for my birds that I mix soaked pellets and seeds and usually veggies into :3

Yeah, I tried some toast with a tiny amount of jelly & I made him Harrisons Bird bread, I mixed some millet in as well (he loves millet). But no dice

 

[MommyBird]

This has some diet recommendations and other ideas:
http://amccorona.com/wp-content/upl...th-the-Avian-Bornaviral-PDD-affected-bird.pdf
He may not be eating your offerings as he knows they are too hard for him at the moment.
You may want to try celebrex instead of metacam, it is the recommended one now and maybe Will will tolerate it better.
Also have on hand some Lafeber's Emeraid Omnivore. Purchase thru your vet. It is a powder you mix with water and syringe feed.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Has he had an ABV test? How was it determined that he had PDD? It really sounds like a strong possibility.

Some pellets are a complete diet. A few of these that are a complete diet are; Harrison's, Roudybush and Caitec Oven Bites - there are others and @Mizzely has done a review of those pellets and she will come on and give you the link. A complete diet means that they need nothing else to eat and can live and thrive on them.

Years ago I had a GW that was so ill he was starving himself to death and this is what I did (with my veterinarian's assistance and approval).

I ground up soaked pellets in a blender into powder, then added Prozyme, Probiotics, Almond Butter and fresh Papaya or Mango and blended it until perfectly smooth. Then fed it to him by syringe. A word about Prozyme - it is important for a bird with PDD because their digestive system is not working correctly and Prozyme predigests the food and it is easily and quickly adsorbed into the bird. Keep the Prozyme up! To add calories add more Almond Butter. To give him energy add a few drops of Karo syrup. This did the trick on my Greenwing - he had severe Aspergillosis. Oh, and heat the mixture up to 105f - 110f he will take it better.

Ask your vet to switch to Celebrex - it is by far the most often NSAID (Nonsteroid Anti-inflammatory Drug) used with PDD birds.

I wish you the very best and please ask any questions you have.

 

[Little beeps]

Thanks for the responses! My vet said there was not really a very definite way to test for PDD, as healthy birds can carry the ABV and birds who develop PDD may only intermittently pass evidence & show negative. So I believe he determined it by process of elimination of all other possibilities. The vet gave him onsior injection a few days ago, but I will ask about the celebrex as well.
I've been trying to have Will accept Harrisons pellets. I originally tried Lafebers avicakes & pellet berries to try and get him interested but he didn't seem to like either very much. I've continued to offer a crumbled berrie in his seed. I started putting the Harrisons high potency pellets in his egg, some whole & some mashed up in hopes he gets a taste for it while he enjoys his eggs.

The Miesle article is actually why I started offering the eggs & pastas. I've been giving him a little scrambled egg every morning for breakfast. Should I continue with the eggs?

I have not ever syringe fed a bird, is there a good place to learn or should I just ask my vet when I next talk with him? I picked up some Harrisons recovery formula on hand, but I will also ask my vet about the emeraid.

Is Harrisons fauna flora worth giving him? Or is the prozyme the best option?

 

[iamwhoiam]

So sorry about your 'tiel. Ask the vet about syringe feeding. The vet should be able to show you how to do that. There are also videos on youtube although some of them are not good. Do you mix veggies into the eggs? Have you tried Lafeber Avicakes? Almond butter on toast or on a slice of apple?

 

[Mizzely]

Here is the link with other ideas for pellets Pellets for Parrots

What I would suggest is either a baby bird food like Zupreem Embrace or doing something like Harrison's Mash. For my underweight picky bird I have had success wetting it with veggie baby food and other foods he will eat (seeds in this case).

Have you tried the fruity Zupreem? While I am also not a fan of the colors I have been able to convert every bird I've had into a better diet by first using Zupreem a bridge

 

[Hankmacaw]

I don't believe that your bird will get enough nutrition by trying to feed him "regular food" - if he has PDD. @Mizzely 's recommendation of baby bird food is a good one.

Very definitely continue to give him the prozyme, it has helped a lot throughout the years with my two chronically ill birds. Prozyme actually digests the food so even a bird with PDD and compromised digestive function gets more value from his food.

Feeding a bird by syringe is not difficult and your vet should be able to show you how. Feeding them by syringe also assures that they get all of the fluids they need

I see that a number of vets are now using Onsior for PDD birds.

 

[Mizzely]

Some birds also do well eating a wet, slightly warmed mash straight from a spoon.

 

[iamwhoiam]

You could use Exact handfeeding formula and add some organic baby food to that. When Scully was sick the vet sent home a bag of Emeraid Critical Care with us. Scully hated it and adding some baby food helped but then I wound up switching to Exact.

 

[webchirp]

Also what about grinding up pellets really fine and adding to the eggs...I’d look at sneaking some things in but start with tiny amounts and work up to confuse the taste buds. My older baby only likes critical care with pomegranate juice. Good luck and a huge thank you!

 

[Little beeps]

Also what about grinding up pellets really fine and adding to the eggs...I’d look at sneaking some things in but start with tiny amounts and work up to confuse the taste buds. My older baby only likes critical care with pomegranate juice. Good luck and a huge thank you!

That was actually something I did, I made the pellets into a powder and mixed with the eggs. I may continue to do that.

 

[Love My Zons]

Thanks for the responses! My vet said there was not really a very definite way to test for PDD, as healthy birds can carry the ABV and birds who develop PDD may only intermittently pass evidence & show negative. So I believe he determined it by process of elimination of all other possibilities. The vet gave him onsior injection a few days ago, but I will ask about the celebrex as well.
I've been trying to have Will accept Harrisons pellets. I originally tried Lafebers avicakes & pellet berries to try and get him interested but he didn't seem to like either very much. I've continued to offer a crumbled berrie in his seed. I started putting the Harrisons high potency pellets in his egg, some whole & some mashed up in hopes he gets a taste for it while he enjoys his eggs.

The Miesle article is actually why I started offering the eggs & pastas. I've been giving him a little scrambled egg every morning for breakfast. Should I continue with the eggs?

I have not ever syringe fed a bird, is there a good place to learn or should I just ask my vet when I next talk with him? I picked up some Harrisons recovery formula on hand, but I will also ask my vet about the emeraid.

Is Harrisons fauna flora worth giving him? Or is the prozyme the best option?

Harrison's fauna flora is great for birds that have yeast, and it helps improve digestion. I have been soaking the Caitec Oven Fresh Bites and my Cockatoo loves them. We just tried this as a new alternative pellet but she also eats Harrison's HP coarse and likes the power treats. You can also try some bird breads, this way you can add in things he might not eat otherwise.

Best of luck, you truly are an great parront really commend your efforts and love for this bird!

 

[Little beeps]

Here is the link with other ideas for pellets Pellets for Parrots

What I would suggest is either a baby bird food like Zupreem Embrace or doing something like Harrison's Mash. For my underweight picky bird I have had success wetting it with veggie baby food and other foods he will eat (seeds in this case).

Have you tried the fruity Zupreem? While I am also not a fan of the colors I have been able to convert every bird I've had into a better diet by first using Zupreem a bridge

I actually had the zupreme pellets for awhile that I mixed with his seed. He has Zupreme smart selects now which comes with some of their pellets. I believe he ignores them.
I'll try the Harrisons mash & some organic veggie baby food.

Harrison's fauna flora is great for birds that have yeast, and it helps improve digestion. I have been soaking the Caitec Oven Fresh Bites and my Cockatoo loves them. We just tried this as a new alternative pellet but she also eats Harrison's HP coarse and likes the power treats. You can also try some bird breads, this way you can add in things he might not eat otherwise.

Best of luck, you truly are an great parront really commend your efforts and love for this bird!

I baked him some Harrisons bird bread but he's having none of it lol, I keep offering little bits of it and pretending to eat it to get him interested. Thank you for your kind words, it's really important to hear. Despite doing everything I can think of I feel a little like a failure to him, and I hate seeing him unwell. In the distant past I'd had a cockatiel, Alley, who quickly passed away due to teflon fumes. I was so disheartened and disappointed in myself, I hadn't ever had the courage to get another bird as much as I'd wanted one. Now here comes Will, who quite literally landed on my front lawn with no owner ever found; he's like a little miracle bird. To have him fall ill like this is hard for me and I want to do whatever I can for him.
Thanks everyone for your advice

 

[enigma731]

It sounds like your vet has been pretty diligent, but I would want to make sure avian gastric yeast has been ruled out. If this were my bird, I would even want to do a trial of metronidazole to see if that helped.

 

[Mizzely]

I actually had the zupreme pellets for awhile that I mixed with his seed. He has Zupreme smart selects now which comes with some of their pellets. I believe he ignores them.
I'll try the Harrisons mash & some organic veggie baby food.

I actually have better luck when I DON'T mix the seeds with the pellets. I also have a lot of luck putting them on plates vs bowls, especially for natural ground foragers like cockatiels.

Pellets I have available, by themselves, all day, whereas anything that spoils or has seeds I give as a "meal". I know that cockatiels usually need some seeds in their diets and this illness complicates matters so my approach may not be the best but it has worked, even for birds who have never seen a pellet in 19 years