Sudden loss of appetite of food?

[Lauren]

I did NOT post this in the emergency section, as I don't feel it is one and hopefully will NOT become one.

Skittles, for those who don't know, is my 19 year old senior lovebird. She has been on a Hagen pellet diet for years and I've never had issues with her trying new foods. Since Piper (meyers) has come home, Skittles has been obsessing about Piper's food (it's a mixed blend with pellets, fruit, seeds etc). I only JUST clued in today after realizing Skittles hasn't eaten her food for almost 2 days and has been foraging in Piper's, that she LOVES the un shelled sunflower seeds in the new pellet mix.

I have removed Piper's food from her access and monitored her, and she is still not eating her food.

So I've been working on moving Piper to Seth's Zupreem diet, so I am running VERY low on her existing food blend.

I don't want Skittles to start having an only sunflower seed diet (for obvious reasons). What can I do to help her back onto her food or even a new brand?! (My avian vet has Harrison's available)

 

[Mizzely]

Jingo used to do this too; if he got ANY sunflower seeds, he would refuse any other food I had to basically remove all sunflower seeds from his diet for a LONG time before I was able to introduce any back in. I am talking months. Have you been weighing her to make sure she isn't losing too much weight?

 

[Lauren]

She is down weight and has never gotten back up to 52 grams. She was throwing up every day for a while about 8 months ago. She dropped to about 46 grams and has never bounced back up. She was on oral medication for about 10 days and has stopped throwing up, however the weight has evened out at 48 grams.

She was at 45 this morning. She hasn't been NEAR seeds (aside from millet) in at least 4 years. So I was a bit taken aback and shocked she would have this "obsessive junk food" behaviour about it.

I spent 20 minutes pulling ALL the sunflowers from it and put them in a bowl for her. If she hasn't eaten then at least she can get her fill on these and I'll work out what to do with her next steps of what the heck to feed her.

 

[Lauren]

Skittles is still not eating. I tried to weigh her again this morning. However, my scale is now not functioning.

I'm going to my veterinarian after work or on lunch if I have the time to pick up some Harrison pellets and in the mean time I'm going to make Skittles some brown rice and egg to keep her tied over.

I'll probably bring her to the vets as well and have them weigh her

 

[Wayne361]

Not sure if this helps but I dont think now is the proper time to change her pellet diet over. You need to wean her back off the seed diet first, and if it were me, I would wean her back to a proven/familiar pellet. The methodology I would use is put in some seeds in her pellet mix, obviously she is going to pick seeds out first but at least she is eating. Start reducing the seeds in her mix over time till she is left with pellets and dont offer seeds from then on. The objective being that she will go back to pellets when seeds dont quite meet her hunger needs. Weighing the bird is critical during these times, as you realize. I think that by changing over her pellet diet at this time is not a good idea as the main objective here is to get her back on pellets and not to introduce her to a new brand of pellet that she may, or may not, take to. Once she is back on the pellet for a few months, then I would start changing her over to new pellet. Her eating right now is your main concern.

Hope this helps,

Wayne

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]