So Skipper, my sulfur-crested cockatoo started limping two weeks ago. We noticed her foot (ankle more like) was swollen. So we took her to the vet and they put her on antibiotics in case of infection and anti inflammatory in case of gout or arthritis (we know she has arthritis, she's 38 years old. This just hasn't ever happened before). They said if the swelling goes down all the way to take her off the anti inflammatory 'cause it can be hard on her body, and continue the antibiotics.

Well the swelling went down almost all the way and she was walking normal and even dancing on her cage again. We took her off the anti inflammatory, and a day later it started swelling up again and now she's not standing on it. I called the vet and she said we can continue giving the anti inflammatory, just every two days in stead of one to avoid the risk of side effects.

So now I'm worried that it could be something other than gout or arthritis and the drugs are just masking whatever it is. And we're kind of scared so we're bringing her to the vet for some more tests soon...

Could it be bumble foot? What types of perches do you use? I would suggest that you switch to lots of rope perches if you are currently using wood and making sure everything is super clean.

Could it be gout? http://www.petmd.com/bird/conditions...etal/c_bd_Gout

Have the vets said anything about gout or bumble foot?


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My dear, if it's gout, anti-inflammatories are not going to take care of the problem but only the symptom and you can't give them anti-inflammatories all the time because they will destroy the liver and kidneys. Gout is easily diagnosed and taken care of. Blood work shows high levels of uric acid and XRays show accumulation of crystals in the joints (wasn't this done when you took the bird to the vet?). Treatment is a diet low in protein, high in fiber and lots and lots of water as well as herbals to help cleanse the kidneys and reduce inflammation naturally while the diet does its job. Some vets would give the bird allopurinol, but I don't agree because you can't use it long term and it's real bad on the liver.

The vet mentioned gout. She made it sound like it was something that wasn't that bad, and she said the anti-inflammatories were a treatment. We're taking her again on Wednesday to get testing done because we don't want anything to be missed.

Her diet already is low in protein and high in fibre. Her water dish is always full and we also have an extra water dish for her in the living room on her stand. We want to get xrays and blood work done because my girlfriend thinks it might be a broken bone. She went to pick her up (the day before the pain and swelling started) and she thought she was on her hand with both feet, but one foot was still hooked on the cage and she pulled..

She told this to the vet, and the vet didn't really check or mention checking.

At this point we're hoping that the case is a broken bone. she's on the anti-inflammatories for now just to keep the pain and the swelling down and we're hoping the tests will show us what it is..

I think if it was a broken bone she'd still be in pain and not using it if she was only given antiinflammatories and not pain killers too. It does sound like gout. I know eating cherries can help prevent having gout symptoms. I am sure there are other foods/herbs/natural things out there too. I would try to go that way before using drugs that had long term side effects, unless of course the natural ways didn't work.

So it's not a broken bone. And it's not gout either. We got blood tests done and her uric acid levels actually look really good especially for a bird her age. We can't afford an x ray yet but its looking like it's an arthritis flare up. The anti inflammatories brought the swelling down a lot so we're halfing the dose (it'd already a small dose) and we're going to continue monitoring her to make sure it's not getting worse again. And we're also watching her blood to make sure the drugs aren't hurting her kidneys

You might try researching some foods and herbs that help keep inflammation down in the body that you can give to her. Those things really work. Thanks for sharing your experience. Keep us updated.

Absolutely right. You must be giving her metacam, which is the most common NSAID used with birds. And it's fine in the short term but not in the long term. I would give her a glucosamine, msm and chondroitin supplement, some flax seed, curcumin and devil's claw (pain and inflammation).

How much of those supplements would I give her, though?
Also I read that vitamin supplements cause cancer in humans. They're okay for birds?

I wasn't referring to vit supp I was referring to foods and herbs. I don't think anyone can overdose in that.

You can mix some flax seed into her soft food as well as sprinkle some curcumin on it (mind you, most of my birds do not like curcumin so I have to 'disguise' the flavor with crushed chiles or some other strong flavor). As to the glucosamine/MSM/chondroitin and devil's claw, I use these:



But I've also used the devil's claw capsules (mixed in their gloop).

You calculate a bird's dosage going by the human dosage (this is not something that would work for everything but these are completely safe supplements and there is no way you can overdose or that a high dosage would have undesirable side effects). It's not that hard, human dosage is based on an average weight of 150 lb so you just find the dosage for the bird's weight.

For example, for the glucosamine, the dosage for a person is 1 fluid ounce which means 6 teaspoons with each teaspoon containing 76 drops. I don't know how much your bird weights so I'll use 300 grams:

68,000 grams (150 lbs) = 456 drops (1 fl oz = 6 tsps. = 456 drops)
300 grams = X

X = 456 x 300 so X = 2 drops
68000

See what I mean? Mind you, this only works for things you are going to put directly in their beak because, if you are going to mix the supplement with food, you have to up the quantity - unless they eat the whole thing.

There is a website call lady gouldian finch or something like that. Anyway they sell all kinds of supplements and describe what it is for and how much to give birds of different sizes. I like the site for that purpose. You don't necessarily have to buy from there.

Also talkbudgies has a section on natural remedies that could apply to all birds with dosage instructions. I love that forum.

I have used this with Henry to good effect.
http://greenandhealthy.info/arthritishumans.html
Cinnamon & Honey
You do have to figure out smaller amounts.
But he has had 3x attacks that we feel are arthritis. The last one was horrible.
I dosed him once a day for five days then stopped. I was also giving metcam each time.
He has it in his wing joints. Walks around holding up his wings trembling. After a few days of this treatment he does come right. It is not instant, so do not expect to see results for a few days, maybe a week.
What I like about Holistic is if it does not work it will do no harm.

http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/b.../arthritis.php

You could have a read of this post if you haven't already

Please, please, please, be careful about buying stuff recommended in the same site that sells the product. A canary hen I bred died because of a product sold by this site. It was called Miracle Meal or something like that and it had all kinds of good reviews but it was a bomb of vitamins and protein and would bring a bird into an untimely breeding condition. A lady I gave this hen to (she had driven 6 hours from upstate NY to pick up a pair of my Timbrados two years before) saw it and, thinking she was doing something good bought it and fed it to her. She ended up with dystocia (misdiagnosed as egg binding by her avian vet, I might add) in the middle of the winter and the bird died of renal failure three days after been released by the AV (you don't treat dystocia the same as eggbinding, with eggbinding, you can wait for the hen to lay the egg, with dystocia, you can't).

May be its just because off too much sitting in a place. Swollen foot is a serious disease at all to manage and take it seriously. Consult to a speicalist doctor to cure this disease. Its alarming