Avian Exam Flashcards
Psittacines
Parrots and parrot-like birds
Passeriforms
Canaries, finches, mynahs, etc
Columbiformes
Pigeons, doves
Anseriformes
Ducks, geese, swans
Galliforms
Chicken, turkeys, pheasants, etc
Falconiformes
Diurnal birds of prey like hawks, falcons, eagles
Strigiformes
Owls
Role of color “morphs” in avian medicine
- Different color morphs have different diseases
* More color morphed the bird is from the normal/native color = more likely to develop disease
Fun fact about psittacine (parrot-like) beaks
> Two part beaks, animal is able to move both parts
- Allows them to manipulate food before they swallow (unlike finches or doves)
Where do the majority of birds come from?
South America (New World) - Macaws, amazons, conures, pionus, caiques, quaker parrots, parrotlets
Birds that come from Africa (3)
- African greys (Congo = paler grey with red, Timneh = all grey)
- Poicephalus = Senegals, Meyer’s parrots, etc.
- Lovebirds
Birds that come from “Australasia”
- Budgies
- Cockatiels
- Cockatoos
- Eclectus
- Others = grass parakeets, rosella,s lories, lorikeets
Sexing budgies
> Can sex based on the color/texture of the cere
- Males = blue
- Females = brown/pink, hyperkeratotic
- Doesn’t work with color mutated birds
Sexing cockatiels
- Males = more prominent cheek patch
- Females = color is more washed out, have stripes in their tail feathers
Sexing eclectus parrots
- Females = red, blue, purple = more social
- Males = green, timid, stays at home
Three pillars of avian lifestyles
1) Foraging (and diet)
2) Social interaction
3) Feather care = helps them fly and thermoregulate
Housing husbandry of pet birds
- Confine to cage when unsupervised
- Multiple diameter perches
- Be cautious of lead and zinc coated cages and toys
- Don’t house in the kitchen = hygiene, PTFE from teflon
- Minimize temperature changes, direct drafts
- Keep away from other pets
Common household toxins
1) Poisonous plants, EX: philodendron
2) Avocados
3) Lead
4) Zinc
5) Teflon vapors from heated pans
6) Self-cleaning ovens
What should you be doing if the bird is out of the cage?
SUPERVISE - open doors, other animals, children, fans, stove tops, etc
Things to remember about birds and bathing
- Showering helps keep feathers healthy and skin moist
- DO NOT soak bird feathers to make them dripping wet
- Allow bird to drain in a warm or sun dry room
What does the role of birds as prey have to do with clinical disease?
- Birds = prey = mask symptoms of disease
- Usually miss early treatment and ID of disease
Purposes of new bird exams
- Pre and post (3-7 days) purchase
- Ensure health
- Rule out infectious disease (bring them in ASAP to diff diseases they acquired from your house)
- Discuss husbandry, behavior, life style, diet
Purposes of annual wellness exams for birds
- Monitor health
- Ensure early detection of problems
> > History = origin, age, sex, breeding history, contact with other birds, diet (pellet, seed mix, treats, table food? BALANCED?), caging (perches, toys, cage material)
PE = observation in cage (attitude, posture, RR), body weight, BCS, hydration, EENT, neck/crop, palpate coelom, auscultate thorax, skin/feathers skin, uropygial gland, cloaca, wings/legs
+/- Sedation with midazolam and butorphanol IN or IM
Diagnostics = rads, bloodwork, to find infectious dz or organ dysfunction
Grooming, discussion of diet, behavior, lifestyle
What should you do with every new bird to your household?
- QUARANTINE every new bird = most important step to prevent disease spread
- Consider even in a separate building (viruses can spread through the air)
- Lasts 4-6 weeks
What should you keep in mind with during avian PE’s?
> Restraint can be stressful = establish priorities, monitor stress level (dyspnea, rapid breathing)
- Consider sedation = midazolam, +/- butorphanol IN or IM
- Sedation = less stressed bird, no vocalization, fully reversible, no side effects
How do we BCS a bird?
Palpate the pectoral region and keel
Is an oral exam essential in a bird PE?
YES - extremely important, window to GI and respiratory systems (choanal slit)
Things to look for with coelomic palpation (3)
- Enlarged organs, Ex: liver, etc.
- Retained eggs
- Masses like neoplasia
Things to look for with the cloaca
> Common genitourinary and GI outflow
- Swelling
- Width
- Pubic bone width
- Masses
- Prolapse
- Bleeding
- Fecal staining
Things to look for with the feathers (2)
- Depigmentation
- Feather damaging behavior
True or false - “perched” and “bird in a box” is an acceptable positioning method for radiographs
FALSE - not going to get normal positioning
Appropriate positions/views for avian radiographs (2)
1) Lateral - avoid “bird-o-grams”
2) VD or DV = bend wings at the side to prevent rotation
Restraint methods for avian radiographs (3)
1) Manual + sedation (reduces injury and stress of patient)
2) Restraint board = higher risk for patient but avoids personnel radiation exposure
3) Chemical restraint = sedation (midazolam, butorphanol) or general anesthesia
How do you know if you have rotation on avian radiographs?
1) Overlying coracoids on lateral
2) Overlying coxofemoral joints on lateral
3) Keel and thoracic vertebrae should overlie on VD
True or false? The clavicles are fused in birds
TRUE - paired and fused clavicle
Cause of polyostotic hyperostosis in birds
+ Deposits of Ca++ in the medullary bone
- Common in the femur, tibiotarsus, humerus
- FEMALES
- Due to estrogen circulating during reproductively active times
How do we shoot the wing?
Cranio-caudal - holding the bird upside down
What organs can we see in the coelomic cavity on radiographs?
- Esophagus and crop
- Lungs
- Cardiohepatic silhouette
- GI = proventriculus, gizzard, intestines
- Repro tract
- Spleen
- Kidneys
- Gonads
Three separate cavities in the coelom
1) Pericardium
2) Hepatic
- Together = cardiohepatic silhouette
3) Intestinal-peritoneal with GI, spleen, and repro tract
* All separate
True or false - the hepatic and intestinal-peritoneal should fit within the coxofemoral joints on radiographs
TRUE - if it doesn’t = may have organomegaly
What is the normal width (% of thorax) of the heart on VD in birds?
50-60% of the thoracic width
*Species differences = falcons (larger), psittacines (parrots)
Rad dx? Enlarged cardiac silhouette, lost of waist of silhouette
Pericardial effusion - next step is echo
What causes a mineralized descending aorta?
Increased vitamin-D or Ca++ = atherosclerosis
Spleen on avian radiographs
- Only visible on lateral (NOT ALWAYS visible)
- Usually surrounded by air sacs on the lateral
What are the cervical air sacs connected to?
Infraorbital sinuses in the skull
*Not connected to the caudal air sacs
What do we suspect with hyperinflation or consolidation of the air sacs?
> Air sacculitis = fungal in most cases (Aspergillus), chronic, African greys and Pionus parrots are susceptible
- Confirm with laparoscopy
Is radiography a sensitive way to diagnose air sacculitis?
No very highly sensitive = use auscultation, blood CBC, etc.
DDx for air sac compression (4)
1) Organomegaly = liver, repro tract
2) Coelomic effusion
3) Coelomic mass - neoplasia
4) Obesity
Correct egg position for laying
Tapered portion coming out first, dilating the birth canal
Portions of the GI tract you can see on lateral radiograhp
- Esophagus and crop (cranial diverticulum)
- Proventriculus = middle
- Stomach (ventriculus) and gizzard = underneath coxofemoral joint
- Intestinal cavity = caudal to coxofemoral joint
On the VD, which side does the stomach/proventriculus get pushed to
Left side
DDx for proventricular dilation (4)
1) Gastritis
2) Proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) from avian borna virus - neuropathy and hypomotility
3) Foreign body = rare
4) Neoplasia
What is one of the most common metallic foreign bodies in birds?
Lead
Contrast we can use with avian radiography
- Barium
- Iodinated
> Via crop lavage
What can we use to help examine a bird’s swallowing ability?
Fluoroscopy - doesn’t require restraint
*Also can be used for excretory urograms
Uses for U/S with avian diagnostics
- Can’t really be used for the upper coelom due to air sacs and sternum/keel, patient size is small too
- May be able to see effusions with sicker birds, Ex: hepatic effusion
- Repro tract, Ex: ovarian cysts
Uses for CT for avian diagnostics
- Get 2D radiograph slices
- Can be used to construct 3D images
- Limited for soft tissue, better for bony structures
- Can utilize contrast
- Requires anesthesia/sedation
- Fast
What imaging modality can we use to examine soft tissue in a bird?
MRI - limited by patient size, cost, and anesthetic duration necessary
