Hey everyone,
It seems likes its been forever since I was last on the forum. These past few months have been pretty crazy and not altogether pleasant, both on a personal level and with Harley. We've been through a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs- but we seem to be making our way out of it (knock on wood). Good news is we are closing on a house next week, so I finally get to start designing my bird room! Bad news is Harley has not been doing well at all
.
It all started around February/March when he started what I have termed "an episode". He would be on his stand or perch and start to bob his head around in a figure eight motion while dropping/half flapping his wings, and make this sort of choking like sound. Imagine what it sounds like to clear your throat if you had something stuck; not exactly the same noise but similar. I don't know if he was mimicking something or not, but it quickly became his go to noise for when he was uncomfortable. He did this kind of activity before, usually when he wanted me to come pick him up. This time it was different. As time progressed this behavior (his episodes) quickly escalated. It became a near constant thing and soon incorporated feather destructive behavior. Prior to the start of these episodes his feather picking was under control and he was hardly picking at all.
Flash forward to around April and things took a turn for the worse. Seemingly overnight he became very fearful of any activity, motion, or noise in the house. He would still step up but would start to fly off my hand or perch/stand and "panic fly" around the house. This too escalated until he would be flying into walls, doors, corners, etc. (Before this all started he became a fairly accomplished flyer, being able to turn well and land with ease.) His shaking behavior became so pronounced that he stopped eating and would sometimes slip off the stand. Prior to all this all he would want would be to be with me, whether that be on my shoulder, holding him, getting scritches, or sitting with me in the chair. Now he is almost unhandle-able because of how panicked he gets and there are so many feathers picked that I need to vacuum almost daily to clean them all up.
I was in contact with local avian vets trying to find someone to help, but the only response I got was "he's a Grey, they're nervous birds and they do that". He was always somewhat high strung, but this was different, I knew something was wrong. Thankfully I found a great vet about and hour and a half north of me who was willing to listen and help. We made the trek up to her office and she agreed that this behavior was not normal and could indicate some underlying health issue. She wanted to rule out any issues with his heart so he was sedated and had an X-ray done, as well as tests for lead and zinc toxicity, bornavirus, and a full blood panel. He went through the procedures well and the results all came back normal- no issues found. The working diagnosis is it could be a type of seizure or neurological issue.
She prescribed an anticonvulsant to see if that would eliminate or slow down the shaking. Unfortunately it didn't help- he continued to get much much worse. Two weeks ago he started having severe episodes and panic flew around the house until he crashed and rolled after hitting the wall. His appetite decreased and he lost all interest in his almonds and nutriberries foraging. I could see in his eyes that he was not there. We agreed that the anticonvulsant wasn't having any immediate effects and the stress of the episodes was not good for his heart, so we started him on an anti-anxiety med diazepam to help him settle down until we can figure out where to go next. This has helped a little, but not much. She has reached out to other avian vets to see if anyone has seen this before and perhaps recommend a new course of action.
So, that is where we have been for the past few months. It breaks my heart to write this and think back at all that has happened. What was so strange was the severe changes happened almost overnight, and it was like he became a different bird. We're trying our best to figure out what is wrong and how to help him but have not had much success so far. I am thankful that I found a vet that is willing to help and take me seriously. I know in my heart that something is wrong, this isn't my Harley; I can see it in his eyes.
I plan to be back on the forum again, especially as we get settled in the house and start building the bird room. And I of course will update on Harley's progress.
It seems likes its been forever since I was last on the forum. These past few months have been pretty crazy and not altogether pleasant, both on a personal level and with Harley. We've been through a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs- but we seem to be making our way out of it (knock on wood). Good news is we are closing on a house next week, so I finally get to start designing my bird room! Bad news is Harley has not been doing well at all
. It all started around February/March when he started what I have termed "an episode". He would be on his stand or perch and start to bob his head around in a figure eight motion while dropping/half flapping his wings, and make this sort of choking like sound. Imagine what it sounds like to clear your throat if you had something stuck; not exactly the same noise but similar. I don't know if he was mimicking something or not, but it quickly became his go to noise for when he was uncomfortable. He did this kind of activity before, usually when he wanted me to come pick him up. This time it was different. As time progressed this behavior (his episodes) quickly escalated. It became a near constant thing and soon incorporated feather destructive behavior. Prior to the start of these episodes his feather picking was under control and he was hardly picking at all.
Flash forward to around April and things took a turn for the worse. Seemingly overnight he became very fearful of any activity, motion, or noise in the house. He would still step up but would start to fly off my hand or perch/stand and "panic fly" around the house. This too escalated until he would be flying into walls, doors, corners, etc. (Before this all started he became a fairly accomplished flyer, being able to turn well and land with ease.) His shaking behavior became so pronounced that he stopped eating and would sometimes slip off the stand. Prior to all this all he would want would be to be with me, whether that be on my shoulder, holding him, getting scritches, or sitting with me in the chair. Now he is almost unhandle-able because of how panicked he gets and there are so many feathers picked that I need to vacuum almost daily to clean them all up.
I was in contact with local avian vets trying to find someone to help, but the only response I got was "he's a Grey, they're nervous birds and they do that". He was always somewhat high strung, but this was different, I knew something was wrong. Thankfully I found a great vet about and hour and a half north of me who was willing to listen and help. We made the trek up to her office and she agreed that this behavior was not normal and could indicate some underlying health issue. She wanted to rule out any issues with his heart so he was sedated and had an X-ray done, as well as tests for lead and zinc toxicity, bornavirus, and a full blood panel. He went through the procedures well and the results all came back normal- no issues found. The working diagnosis is it could be a type of seizure or neurological issue.
She prescribed an anticonvulsant to see if that would eliminate or slow down the shaking. Unfortunately it didn't help- he continued to get much much worse. Two weeks ago he started having severe episodes and panic flew around the house until he crashed and rolled after hitting the wall. His appetite decreased and he lost all interest in his almonds and nutriberries foraging. I could see in his eyes that he was not there. We agreed that the anticonvulsant wasn't having any immediate effects and the stress of the episodes was not good for his heart, so we started him on an anti-anxiety med diazepam to help him settle down until we can figure out where to go next. This has helped a little, but not much. She has reached out to other avian vets to see if anyone has seen this before and perhaps recommend a new course of action.
So, that is where we have been for the past few months. It breaks my heart to write this and think back at all that has happened. What was so strange was the severe changes happened almost overnight, and it was like he became a different bird. We're trying our best to figure out what is wrong and how to help him but have not had much success so far. I am thankful that I found a vet that is willing to help and take me seriously. I know in my heart that something is wrong, this isn't my Harley; I can see it in his eyes.
I plan to be back on the forum again, especially as we get settled in the house and start building the bird room. And I of course will update on Harley's progress.
How stressful. And the good stress of homebuying to boot.
