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Amazon with Changes in Droppings

My BF Amazon, 16 years old, has always had normal feces -- solid dark "core", slightly off-white urates, and some "water". His first evacuation of the morning -- a large one -- always has more water than those during the day. Lately, I see him drinking several times (3 to 4) during the day, and there is water with all his feces (the paper I put under his sleeping spot is soaked in the morning -- maybe a millilitre of liquid (with the rest of the normal dark and off-white components) and during the day, maybe a half ml or less per defecation. There hasn't really been any sudden increase in either the drinking or the water in the feces -- but I wonder if it just maybe has been increasing gradually over time. Or maybe it is just the contrast with his aviary-mate (also a BFA) whom I almost never see drinking, and whose feces contain almost never any liquid, but are also otherwise normal. His diet includes fruit and veg daily, "egg-food", a cooked grain mixture, and seeds and Harrison's pellets "ad lib" -- but he seldom eats much of either of the last two. His behaviour and looks are completely normal -- he is shiny, active, climbing, playing, preening and allo-preening, and vocalizing, with me and with his aviary-mate. He has always been healthy. I wonder if it couldn’t be related to the hot weather, that he eats (or at any rate crumbles) more pellets recently, and/or that it is now rose hip season and he has lots of them to chew on and play with (he doesn’t really eat them). Is this something I should be concerned about?

It would be technically impossible to provide you with a definite “yes” or “no” answer about your concerns here, unfortunately. The best answer to your question would be best arrived at with a proper veterinary examination and with the aid of some baseline laboratory screening. At this age, it is not uncommon for subclinical obesity to begin to show subtle signs, which can include alterations in urinary output in some individuals. On the flip side, there can be some variations in urinary output seen in some individuals due to season, hormonal cyclicity and diet being consumed. A veterinarian who is given the opportunity to actually see your bird and examine it should be best positioned to help you with your concerns.

About Brian Speer, DVM

Avian veterinarian Dr. Brian Speer was raised in a small town on California’s coast. He received his BS in Biology from California Polytechnic State University in 1978, and his DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 1983.

An active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Dr. Speer is a much sought after guest speaker and has presented at numerous conferences in the avicultural and zoological communities both within the United States and abroad. He is well published in the AAV annual proceedings, has served as guest editor for the journal Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine, the Veterinary Clinics of North America, and authored chapters in several recent veterinary medical texts on pet bird, avicultural and ratite medical topics. In 1995 he co-authored the extensive avicultural reference, The Large Macaws, and helped to co-author Birds for Dummies in 1999.

Since 1989, Dr, Speer has run a “bird’s only” practice in the San Francisco Bay area and is the President and Director of The Medical Center for Birds. He is a consultant for The Veterinary Information Network (Avian Medical Boards) and the Maui Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Lafeber award for excellence in private practice of avian medicine and surgery and in 2006, was named Speaker of the Year for the North American Veterinary Conference.