Pionus with arthritis and athrosclerosis - care and diet

[Award]

I have a pionus maxi, Bertie. He is a kind of "rescue" bird so we are not sure how old he is - maybe as old as 14, but no more. He has a twisted beak that grows abnormally and as to be clipped frequently. As a result of this it is likely that he has sinus issues. He is missing bits of of a couple of toes, all his toes curl under so perching isn't the easiest thing for him, the latter problem is arthritis. Recently he has been diagnosed with athrosclerosis and a badly arthritic knee. The recent diagnosis was made when we took him to the vets after a bad fall. Clearly the fall had hurt his bad leg. After a week on pain killers the initial pain seemed to have subsided, but he seems to have lost his confidence. We have agreed with the vet to take a step by step approach. Firstly, we need to see if we can find a perch that he is comfortable with and try and build his confidence. After that we will discuss the next step. He lives with his mate (she had PDD) and they were both jogging along quite happily until this recent incident. Has anyone else faced a similar situation? We are keen to do the best we can, anyway we can.

 

[iamwhoiam]

BUMP

 

[Kodigirl210]

I don’t have quite the same issue as Sif is a young bird so no arthritis but she is missing/has deformed toes. One was partially amputated a couple of weeks ago. I found the most helpful information to be augmenting regular perches into usually one as well as lining the bottom of the cage with towels or non-pill fleece in case they fall. I started by taking a cheap wooden dowel and carving contours into it & covering it in vet wrap to make it tacky. If you aren’t comfortable cutting the wood, then use prewrap or fleece to make it continued and then cover it in vet wrap. The contours make it easier on the feet and the vet wrap makes it tacky. Alternately feathersmart.com has perches that have a grooves surface that Sif finds easy to grip. Excuse the messiness. The phone doesn’t allow corrections like a computer. . Also

 

[Kodigirl210]

Here’s the website and pics:
FeatherSmart CORNER EZ CLEAN BIRD PERCH (Small)

 

[Hankmacaw]

I wrote this post recently in response to another member who has a bird with atherosclerosis.

In my and my Dr.'s opinion having her on O2 twice a day for years has been a large portion of keeping her disease at bay. She gets one hour of O2 in the morning and one hour at night. She loves her O2 box and spends most of her time either napping, looking out the window or playing like a maniac. My Dr. says, and repeats every time I ask, that an animal cannot be harmed by putting them on O2.

We have recently put her on a new medication that has helped her circulation and blood pressure immensely. It is called Sildenafil (it's actually Viagra) and brought her blood pressure down from 234 to 150. Blood pressure of 150 is the cut off for treatment. She was not getting circulation to her breast muscles and they were shrinking. Birds do not have a diaphragm and have to have breast muscle strength to breath.

Here is a list of medications she has been on, In chronological order;
Heart and blood pressure:
Enalapril
Benazepril
Sildenafil

Liver support
Milk Thistle
SAMe

Diuretic
Furosemide

Supplements
Red Palm Oil
Flax seed oil

Pain and anti-inflammatory
Metacam
Metacam and Tramadol
Celebrex and Gabapentin and SAMe.

I highly recommend that she get a full 12 hours of sleep every day and that you get her onto O2 as soon as possible.
Diet is important too.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Here is a picture of my O2 setup in my RV. The Oxygenen Concentrator is to the right on the floor and the plastic tub that Jasper sits in during her treatments is on the bed. The O2 concentrator is a Devilbiss 525 and that one lasted 17 years without servicing - I live out in the boondocks. I now have a Devilbiss 525 DS and it is just as good and much These normally last for hundreds of thousands of hours and you will use it only a couple of hours per day. If you order online from this company, you will not need a prescription. @Macawnutz and I both have the same setup and it has served us well for years.

 

[Award]

Haven't been on line for a while, but thanks so much for all your input.

 

[Kodigirl210]

@Award - How is Bertie doing?

 

[Bonnetbird]

Here is a picture of my O2 setup in my RV. The Oxygenen Concentrator is to the right on the floor and the plastic tub that Jasper sits in during her treatments is on the bed. The O2 concentrator is a Devilbiss 525 and that one lasted 17 years without servicing - I live out in the boondocks. I now have a Devilbiss 525 DS and it is just as good and much These normally last for hundreds of thousands of hours and you will use it only a couple of hours per day. If you order online from this company, you will not need a prescription. @Macawnutz and I both have the same setup and it has served us well for years.

this is amazing! Bonnet has really bad arthritis and her kidneys are shot. She is currently getting fluids at the vet twice a week to keep the uric acid at bay... wonder if something like this would help.

As far as the sleep goes - that is the hard part with living in a studio, me being at work most of the day and her being a night owl! she usually sleeps all day when I am away.

 

[Hankmacaw]

If she has atherosclerosis the O2 will be quite helpful. Will the vet teach you how to giver her subQ fluids? That would save you the hassle of taking her in and save you quite a lot of money?

If she has arthritis she needs to have a pain killer and anti-inflammatory. Jasper is now on Celebrex and Gabapentin and SAMe for her arthritis, which is quite bad. In fact she has had two toes amputated because the pain couldn't be controlled.

Good luck with your girl.​