Who has a bird with cardiac disease?

[roxynoodle]

I definitely have one, and now possibly two. That Pete has it is not surprising. He is at least 35 years old. In his previous home of 28 years he was fed a garbage Walmart seed and peanut mix, had about 1 inch he could move in either direction in his too small cage, no toys and his wings were clipped all the way to the tops on both wings. What is surprising is that he survived. He was hospitalized for over a week and even after that I was going back with him daily for fluids and gavage feeding. His blood pressure was so high it wasn't measurable. An X ray showed his blood vessels were clogged everywhere. The initial med brought his BP down to being readable, although still too high, and then it went back up again. Dr. O consulted with the leading avian cardiac researchers, who are in Germany and they recommended we try Enalipril. That not only brought it down but he's been stable for a few years now.

However, my youngest bird, Oobie, might also have hypertension. She went from her seemingly normal self to too sick to eat, move or talk overnight last month. She had a sinus infection, but that really doesn't account for that kind of decline that quickly. During her exam her liver wasn't feeling great but was likely hormone related. But, her BP seemed too high as well. We could feel it in her belly. Dr. O felt it was too high to account for just nerves. So later this fall we will be doing further tests. Right now we just want to make sure she is done with sinus issues first as they will be combining the fields soon.

I guess I'm wondering why Oobie? She's only 11 and my most active bird. She is like conure active. Did eating a poor diet in her previous home account for this even though she's been on a good one for the last 5 years? Is it heredity? Not enough exercise compared to wild birds? If so, why is Merlin ok at age 28 when she's kind of a CAG potato?

Just wondering what thoughts others might have on the situation even though I do realize there may not be an answer that we will ever know for certain.

Honestly I was shocked to wake up to find Oobie was sick. If one of my birds was going to be sick that morning she is #4 out of 4 for who I would expect it to be. Even more so than Rowdy I think, who has always been healthy, just based on their ages and point in their potential lifespan.

 

[Clueless]

Secret has developed an illness but thankfully, not the heart.

I've met Dr. O now at seminars. She's flat out amazing. My first intro to knowing she existed was when you posted a picture of Pete getting his blood pressure taken.

All birds are individuals..... just like people. My brother that eats the healthiest and exercises has had steents twice and a quadruple bypass.

 

[roxynoodle]

Secret has developed an illness but thankfully, not the heart.

I've met Dr. O now at seminars. She's flat out amazing. My first intro to knowing she existed was when you posted a picture of Pete getting his blood pressure taken.

All birds are individuals..... just like people. My brother that eats the healthiest and exercises has had steents twice and a quadruple bypass.

My mother's family has a hereditary high cholesterol problem which I also inherited. So yes, I think it could run in other animals as well. Interestingly though I am doing better than my mom was at my age and I am unmedicated due to my pancreatitis. Apparently the statin drugs don't play nicely with the pancreas. Mine is 330 unmedicated while hers can hit over 600. My mom is 5'6" and only 105lbs. You would never know from looking at her that she is a ticking time bomb for a heart attack or stroke. My blood pressure also has just now started becoming an issue to watch. It's running between 120-130 on top and 80-90 on the bottom when taken under ideal conditions. My mom says at my age hers was over 200 on top. Many family members have died young due to it or have had bypass surgery. My aunt who is 10 years older than I am has had 4 bypass surgeries and the surgeons were very, very reluctant to do that 4th one.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Audrey - it's so very good to see you again. I hope life has been kind to you.

I don't know if you remember, but Jasper (25 yo female GW) has had severe heart and circulatory issue since she was at least 6 1/2 yo (when I got her). Dr. Driggers put her on Enalapril 18 years ago and it worked well. Then about 2/3 years later, when he got his bird blood pressure machine, he discovered she had BP of 235 (normal is 150) and he switched her to Benazepril to take care of the high BP. Her BP has been normal and stable since being on the Benazepril. She still has congestive heart disease, occlusion of both the right and left atrial chambers and very severe atherosclerosis in her descending aorta and some branches. And of course her airsacs and lungs are compromised due to two sessions with Asper. Also, she has bad arthritis in both feet and legs. Hey, her cholesterol has always been fine. LOL

Right now she is on;
Benazepril, SAMe, Celebrex (has done great with the arthritis), Gabapentin and furosemide for water retention for heart, circulation and pain. She takes Garlic, Milk Thistle and RPO as supplements.

Additionally, I'm flying her on a harness 2 out of every three days on a harness and line. We have worked up to flying about 700 ft when she flies. If you have any question about the equipment I've worked out to fly her, just ask



That may give you some questions to ask Dr. O. Do you remember that Dr. Drigger's wife and Dr. O are long time friends?

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

ROXIE!!! Sorry to hear about your sick bird.

Wonderful to hear from you!

 

[Hankmacaw]

@Laurul Feather Cat - Good to see you back posting too. I'm old and I don't like changes.

 

[roxynoodle]

Audrey - it's so very good to see you again. I hope life has been kind to you.

I don't know if you remember, but Jasper (25 yo female GW) has had severe heart and circulatory issue since she was at least 6 1/2 yo (when I got her). Dr. Driggers put her on Enalapril 18 years ago and it worked well. Then about 2/3 years later, when he got his bird blood pressure machine, he discovered she had BP of 235 (normal is 150) and he switched her to Benazepril to take care of the high BP. Her BP has been normal and stable since being on the Benazepril. She still has congestive heart disease, occlusion of both the right and left atrial chambers and very severe atherosclerosis in her descending aorta and some branches. And of course her airsacs and lungs are compromised due to two sessions with Asper. Also, she has bad arthritis in both feet and legs. Hey, her cholesterol has always been fine. LOL

Right now she is on;
Benazepril, SAMe, Celebrex (has done great with the arthritis), Gabapentin and furosemide for water retention for heart, circulation and pain. She takes Garlic, Milk Thistle and RPO as supplements.

Additionally, I'm flying her on a harness 2 out of every three days on a harness and line. We have worked up to flying about 700 ft when she flies. If you have any question about the equipment I've worked out to fly her, just ask



That may give you some questions to ask Dr. O. Do you remember that Dr. Drigger's wife and Dr. O are long time friends?

The flying outside (I assume) is an interesting idea. Do you worry about birds of prey? We seem to have a lot of them around here. There are bald eagles, a lot of hawks and of course owls, but the owls are mostly just out at night. I've been seeing the eagles a lot lately, even sitting there in farm fields. They are enormous up close.

Of course I remember Jasper and I'm glad to know she's still managing

 

[Hankmacaw]

The birds of prey here, and we have quite a few, stay up on the ridges. I have one very stupid Cooper's Hawk that sometimes tries to get my little birds - but he's never managed yet.

I don't worry about it with Jasper - she doesn't look like their regular food sources and I fly her right in the backyard. Not to say I don't keep an eye out for the hawks. Yeah, we have both Golden and Bald Eagles in this area, but I've never seen one near my house.

 

[roxynoodle]

Jasper is probably large enough to give them pause, but maybe not Oobie or Pete. The hawks are often right on my property sitting on trees or utility poles. In fact during a bad cold spell this January I found one dead under a tree in my front yard. I also once saw one come down on a rather large groundhog right in front of me. I said to myself no way can that bird carry that groundhog off, but it surely did. Flapped it's wings, lifted it off the ground and flew away with it.

 

[Hankmacaw]

I'm very impressed and really like the birds of prey.

Besides being large, none of their food sources are bright red like Jasper is. And I have gobs of crows and ravens around. I see them chasing the hawks out of our little valley every once in awhile.

 

[roxynoodle]

Oh, sure, I love all birds. I just wouldn't love the one that ate one of my birds I will discuss it with Dr. O though and see what she thinks. Come this time of year I can't help but notice I don't see rabbits anymore even though in the spring they seem to be all over my yard. I've always suspected the hawks are responsible for that.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Good hawks - I just wish the hawks would get all of the squirrels around here. I hate those ground squirrels.

 

[aooratrix]

Good to see @roxynoodle and @Laurul Feather Cat back

 

[ZoeyFredrik]

Sam, my quaker has heart disease. His, the vet thinks is congenital. He's had it since he was little and we assume since he was a baby. Now at 12, hes got additional issues, neurological damage including seizures and tremors. Possibly having some connection to the heart. He takes a mix of medicines that keep him going. And I'll work to keep him going since he still gets enjoyment out of life (I believe). I've always wondered if his siblings were afflicted by the same thing. I think its completely possible, that like humans and other animals, heart related issues can be passed through bird families.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Plus there are labs who have developed genetic lines of especially cockatiels prone to developing specific diseases so they can be used in experiments. The labs routinely sell birds to large pet stores to be sold as pets. So what if the pet gets heart or vascular disease by age 8 and die. They sell more birds that way.

My Chip Tiel literally dropped over dead just past age 10. A necropsy showed severe cardiovascular disease. It was my Vet who told me about the genetic disease lines in cockatiels. I had bought Chip from Pet Smart. All his male children also died suddenly of cardiovascular diseases by age 10. The hens lived much longer and no disease sx.

I have never bought another pet from either of the big box pet stores.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Oh. About birds of prey: My Aunt Blanche kept the wild bop away from her chickens by purchasing a fake owl and mounted it on one of the sheds close to the coop. Her chickens are free range during the day and cooped at night. It worked well. No bop perched close to her fake Great horned owl.

 

[roxynoodle]

That's sad, Lois, about the pet stores selling the lab birds. I lost my Blue Crowned conure to a stroke at age 11, but I got her from a breeder. I made a deposit when she was an egg and visited her many times after she hatched until she was weaned. I think it hadn't occurred to me until right this moment that she must have had cardiovascular disease as well I guess that lends credence to "can be inherited in birds as well."

Ok, that hit me really hard.