Answered by Ellen K. Cook, D.V.M.:

Hi Cynthia Jo,

Thanks for the great question...these dirty birds are no joke ;>)) I love the the smell of conures, 'toos, macaws, greys, all parrots! First, I must commend you on adopting Luther, for feeding him an excellent diet, giving him frequent showers and taking him to an avian veterinarian.

The missing choanal papillae could be caused from chronic allergies, infection, or poor diet (seeds). Sinus problems can be very difficult to resolve and may require further diagnostic testing to determine the cause and long-term treatment. What does the odor smell like? Garbage? Something dead? Spoiled fruit? How are Luther's droppings-do they have an odor? How was Luther's sinus infection diagnosed-blood tests? Sinus flush/cytology? X-rays? How long was the course of treatment you gave Luther and did his symptoms competely resolve? You may be correct in that a chronic infection can cause an odor.

If Luther does not preen much, this can add to his "odor" problem. Bathing and preening him should help, so please continue that. One-on-one interaction is wonderful, too. I would suggest delving a bit deeper into diagnostics to try to pinpoint Luther's odor. I hope you get to the bottom of things;>)

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Yes, there are many things to worry about. From your description, and considering the age of your bird, a good physical examination by an experienced avian veterinarian is a very good idea.

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Your questions are fair, and intentions are good with this question. Unfortunately, without any more detailed specific information, it would be impossible if not quite misleading for me to provide you with specific answers about the patient in question. Here are some important thoughts to consider though as you help your friend muddle through these issues: There are a number of different types of cancers that can be found in this area. Epithelial neoplasia is not an accurate enough description, unfortunately. Squamous cell carcinoma, metastatic air sac carcinoma, Osteosarcoma, Fibrosarcoma, etc all would be potentially more accurate descriptions with which to work with. Each of these tumor types has certan behavioral tendencies. Metastasis, overall, with most of these tumors in birds is rare. Treatment options are limited by the size and type of tumor, the location and degree of involvement / invasiveness, the specific type of surgical removal or debulking procedure being considered, the potential benefit for surgical removal, the risk of surgical removal, the potential for non-surgical treatments such as radiation, chemotherapy, or combinations of these options. The overall health and stability of the patient also influences the treatment options being considered. In addition, the behavior of the bird and its interaction in the home environments influence treatments - as a wild and comparatively unhandleable bird may suffer from a much lower quality of life with a wing removed when compared to a pet bird that can be trained and helped to adapt to its new condition(s). Best suggestions: Sit down and have a talk with the diagnosing clinicians. What is the EXACT diagnosis? What are ALL of the treatment options and relative prognosis / risk with each? What are the relative potential costs with each of these? What do you feel is the best, knowing my bird and myself? (IE: What would YOU do). This last question is one gathering the professional / personal opinions, not necessarily having to be a solid guideline, but does provide helpful information to hear. If surgery is to be considered - What is the procedure, exactly? How many of these procedures has the surgeon done? Are there other opinions or surgeons that may offer me a better potential success rate?

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Dorothy, acorns are a safe food for psittacines. There are many instances of wild parrots and feral parrots eating acorns, i.e. Thickbilled Parrots, Quakers, Amazons.

T'would not be unusual for your cockatoo to prefer to eat the acorns right off the limb--foraging is an instintive and fun pastime for captive hookbills. Besides, if you watch her carefully, she may in fact also be eating the attachment nodes on the acorn stems, a nutritious and preferred part of some fruit and nut clusters. We have had lorileets that did not like certain berries when they were placed in a food bowl, but the pets would gorge on the same berries if they were on the bush.

In addition, those acorns that drop on the ground are perhaps not at the best ripeness for your cockatoo's taste and trace mineral needs. He may be choosing younger nuts that are still attached because of their tannin level, much as our amazon flock will like semi-ripe fruit or seeds instead of the fully mature ones.

Encourage Perdy, I do not think an adult savvy cockatoo can eat too much of a certain food item as long as it is getting a fully rounded and complete diet (including occasional mineral grit) from which to choose. Besides, wild-crafted foods are one of the optimum offerings we can give our birds. Try picking some branches with lots of little accorn buds and early-set nuts, and offering them to your smaller psittacines. You may be surprised at the reception!

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Lots to talk about here, but challenges in detail are a real issue without actually physically evaluating the patient in question. Ear infections, overall, are comparatively uncommon in parrots. It is possible that the traumatic injury could have predisposed to this problem. In reality, there is no cytologic evaluation, culture information or factual solid confirmation of the presumption of infection here. Crusty material can accumulate in the ear canals when there is inadequate vitamin A in the diet, when foreign material gets into the ear, when secondary infection gets rolling, and secondary to trauma and even clots of blood accumulating in the area. Enrofloxacin is a very broad spectrum antibiotic. There is no long term adverse effects with this drug's use on the liver of parrots that is known. Water-based medication with this antibiotic in macaw species has only been published in the red-shouldered macaw (ara nobilis). (J Avian Med Surg, December 200; 286-290, 19 refs). In this study, it was shown that 200 mg/liter of water was effective at maintaining plasma concentrations, which would/should only be helpful for known and susceptible bacterial infections. I do not know what concentration is being achieved at 4 drops per 100 ml of water for your bird. What I would suggest is that your original veterinarian be asked to have a look at the bird and its ears carefully, possibly even with magnification. Retained material in the ears should be carefully removed, and possible bacterial culture samples taken from this area. At the same time, a careful oral examination is appropriate, as it is possible that the ear abnormalities are the result of more significant soft tissue trauma and skull boney damage.

Answered by Glenn Reynolds:

Hello Unknown,
You hit on one of my favorite topics, hot peppers or as most chili-heads call them "Chilies". I guess in the vernacular of the chili-head peppers are like bell peppers and anything with heat is considered a chili. I really enjoyed doing the news story. They had been bugging me for weeks, so I finally relented and did the story. It was a blast. The video doesn't even start to illustrate the pain that Roy de Jesus was in after eating one of my Bhut Jolokia peppers. In fact the one he ate was only about 1/3 the size of some of the larger ones on my plants.

Well enough about that. I will try to answer your questions. I have owned parrots for 30 years now, and they have always eaten chilies. Back when I purchased my first parrot formulated/pelleted diets were not yet available; therefore, most everyone fed their parrots the seed diets that were on hand. Most of those diets contained chilies.

I've never been able to find the proof to back it up but have always read that parrots don't have the ability to sense the heat in peppers. Peppers get their heat from a chemical called capsaicin that was most likely an evolutionary defense of the plant to protect its fruit from predators. Parrots have very few taste buds and are considered not to have a very good sense of taste or smell, so with a limited number of taste buds it would make sense that they may not be able to taste the heat in peppers. Furthermore, a minimal sense of smell may further explain their lack of ability to taste the heat. If you have ever eaten a really hot pepper like the ones I prefer you will know that half of the sensation is in the vapors collected in your nostrils and up the sinuses as you take that first bite. Some of the hotter ones can almost take your breath away. Many people will choke on the vapors long before the heat gets to them.

Chilies may exacerbate indigestion but they will not give you indigestion. They are actually alkaline not acidic. Currently the National Institute of Health is studying using capsaicin to cure bleeding ulcers. I have seen a lot of various bugs and worms get into my chilies and eat away, so I don't think they will keep your bird parasite free.

I wouldn't think many wild parrots live in geographical regions where chilies grow. It is thought that chilies originated in the Americas and were then cultivated all over the world as far back as 6000 years ago. There are very few overlaps of wild growing chilies and wild parrots in nature.

I think red peppers whether hot or not should be included in your parrot's diet. Red peppers are full of beta carotene (a precursor to vitamin A), and vitamin C. A maintenance diet for an adult bird should contain between 2500 IU/kg to 5000 IU/kg vitamin A daily and only reaches a toxic level somewhere between 20 and 100 times that amount. It is well known that vitamin A is very important for vision, but it is also important for proper growth and disease resistance. A healthy bird doesn't need an external source of vitamin C since they synthesizes it in the gut, but an external source is considered necessary for juvenile growing parrots and any parrot that is compromised from disease.

In humans there is a great deal of research going on with capsaicin and most of those studies are being done by reputable institutions. As stated above NIH is looking at capsaicin as a treatment for bleeding ulcers. They are also researching its natural anti-inflammatory activities for pain relief and for the treatment of arthritis. Other studies indicate it can help in weight loss, control blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and control glucose levels in diabetics. There are also indications that it can prevent colon cancer. In India they eat chilies before they go outside and work. They claim it reduces the effects of the hot sun. Sure, if your mouth is burning up who is going to notice that it's 100 degrees outside?

That said I should be a pretty healthy person and my birds should be pretty healthy too. I eat something hot every day of my life and so do my birds. I carry a small vile of ground pure red habanero in my pocket most everywhere I go. My birds don't have pockets, so they rely on me to give them their daily dose. I have some minor arthritis in my hands, but when I am picking chilies the pain goes away for days. I can't figure out how to get my birds to go out and help me pick peppers. Maybe I need to consult with Steve Martin on that one.

BTW since that news story aired I have sold a ton of hot sauce and my orders for pepper plants will keep me busy for months.

I hope this helps you out,

Glenn

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

This is not an easy set of questions to answer, unfortunately. What you really need to get established as soon as possible for your ill lovebird is a succinct diagnosis and clear treatment intervention plan. For the most part, what you seem to have here is at best some presumptive diagnoses, and quit a bit of symptomatic treatments being delivered. You may ask your veterinarian for a referral to an established specialist in avian medicine and surgery, to try to help you best get to the root of things as soon as possible. One option to consider for you would be at least a phone call to a colleague of mine in Swindon-Wilts, UK. His name is Dr Neil Forbes, and the telephone number there is 44-1793-603800. As an established diplomate in the European College of Avian Medicine and Surgery (ECAMS), Neil should be able to help guide you and/or your local veterinarian towards some diagnostic answers. Best of luck for you and your bird!

Answered by Glenn Reynolds:

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Hello Cindi,
Great question. This one took some research. Please keep in mind that various plants may or may not be toxic to different animal species; therefore, I don't know that there is any definitive answer to this.

The Princess Flower or Glory Bush is in the Family: Melastomataceae, Genus: Tibouchina, Species: urvilleana. I cannot find anything that suggests this family of plants is toxic. Unfortunately I can't find anything that states it's not toxic either. Everything I can find states "unknown", so I would be cautious. My feeling is if uncertain don't take the chance.

The Mandevilla is in the Family: Apocynaceae, Genus Mandevella, with many different species. Notice "cynaceae" in the family name suggesting cyanide. This entire family is listed as toxic to humans. Oleander is included in this family. Depending on species the toxins are found in anything from the root and milky sap to all parts of the plant. The milky sap is listed as a skin irritant. Toxins and reactions from some species and various parts of the plant are: Cathartic; causing vomiting, self limiting; Glycosides causing increased pulse and temperature, dilated pupils, sweating, cold extremities, mild diarrhea, and death; Cardiac Glycosides causing burning of the mouth, drowsiness, diarrhea, vomiting, heart failure, and death.

Obviously you want to remove the Mandevilla from your aviary area and as stated above I would be cautious of the Princess Flower unless you can find something stating that it is not toxic.

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Glossary

Cathartic: Medicine or substance causing emptying of the bowels

Glycosides:
Anthraquinone glycosides - Hydrolysis yields aglycones (A nonsugar compound that is produced from the reaction of a glycoside with water. Alcohols and phenols are aglycones.) which are purgatives causing vomiting and diarrhea

Cardiac glycosides - Steriods affectiong heart function

Saponin glycosides: Hydrolysis yields a saponin (soap like substance) which has a bitter taste and is irritating to mucous membranes and may destroy red blood cells