Bird 3 Flashcards
basis of good bird (and other) medicine
- History + PE = Basis of good medicine
- Can spend lots of money on diagnostics
and still miss important issues - Most mistakes come from:
o Poor or an incomplete physical examination
o Tunnel vision
important history to collect for birds
o Signalment
o Captive environment
o Diet
o Past medical history
o History of current presentation
what do birds do that makes history / observation hard and why
- Birds tend to hide their clinical signs
o Prey species
o High compensatory mechanisms
o Acute on chronic presentations
4 parts of observations to make during history taking
o Signalment (species, age, sex, source, other pets, use)
o Husbandry (habitat, diet, enrichment, routine)
o Past history
o Presenting problem
why important to know bird species?
o Different questions to ask depending on species group (parrots and pet birds, birds of prey, backyard chicken)
o Diseases vary by species
why important to know bird sex?
o Sexualdimorphismoregglaying
o DNAorsurgicalconfirmation
o Females have lots of reproductive diseases, so important to know
lifespan for parrots, birs of prey?
o Parrot average life span: 20-30 years
o Birds of prey: 10-20 years
why important to know birds age?
o Younger birds have more infectious diseases vs older more non- infectious/neoplasias
important considerations before restraining a bird in practice
- DO NOT involve the owner
Most parrots are pets and some raptors are falconry birds - Don’t break the trust with owners/training
- Least intrusive techniques first
More stressful for everyone
<><> - Observe the bird and cage first
Breathing pattern and RR
Behaviour and mentation
Wing and leg position
<><> - Be aware of risks (and warn the owner)
Birds can die during restraint or sample collection (old, compromised)
Some birds lose feathers as a defense mechanism
principles of bird restraint, when about to restrain
- Be fast (prepared and efficient)
Have everything ready
Monitor your bird at all times
Maximize things done during restraint (collect all samples)
If planned to anesthetize the bird for diagnostic tests, do PE when anesthetized (don’t grab it twice) - Target their weapon
Beak for parrots
Feet for raptors
Nothing for chickens (except spur) and pigeons
Fused skeleton – limbs and head mobile - No open windows or doors
- Birds are light and fragile
o Most birds you’ll see weigh < 500g-1kg
o Do not exert too much force
o Never press on the keel or they will suffocate
o If sick, may have to stage things or put in incubator first - Can catch most birds in the dark
o Passerines: no light, no perch
o Birds don’t see as well as us in the dark (except nocturnal birds obviously)
o Definitely turn off lights if escape
very important restraint consideration for parrots
DO NOT USE gloves - not enough dexterity
proper parraot restraint
Use towels, not gloves
- Hold head with one hand and support body and legs with the other
- All fingers below mandible!!
- Can hold head and body simultaneously in small species
- Don’t hang them by the head
- If you are losing control or bird flapping too much > press it against your body and reposition your hands
proper tools for raptor restraint
-gloves (maybe with towels)
-safety glasses for eagles
- easier in the dark
never press on keel for birds or what?
o Never press on the keel or they will suffocate
considerations for parrot handling: dangers and issues
- Handling is stressful
o Parrotsbecome
hyperthermic in 15 min
o Hard to take blood on struggling parrot
o Loud vocalization
how to perform conscious sedation for parrots
- Conscious sedation
o Midazolam+ Butorphanol at 2 + 2mg/kg iN (or IM)
o Wait 10 minutes
o Reverse with flumazenil 0.05 mg/kg IN (or IM)
common clinical signs for general sickness
- General sickness = Non-specific signs
o Fluffed up
o Bottom of cage
o Eyes (half) closed
o Decreased appetite
o Lethargy
common clinical signs for dyspnea
o Tail bobbing
o Increased efforts
o Slow return to normal (>1-2 min)
o Open beak breathing (severe)
o Inspiratory (upper respiratory)
o Expiratory/mixed (lower respiratory)
o Voice change (syrinx)
common changes to see in urofeces for sick bird
o Polyuria (watery)
- Lots of causes, not specific
o Color changes
- Red: blood, myoglobin, hemoglobin
- Green: biliverdinuria
- Black: melena
o Undigested seeds
- Stomach issue
common clinical neuro / muskuloskeletal signs? important question to ask?
- Neurological / musculo- skeletal signs
o Falling off perch
o Posture abnormalities o Seizuring
o Ataxic / lame
o Unable to fly - Ask again about exposure to heavy metals (lead)
common reasons for straining in bird? can be confused with what?
oEgg binding oCloacal issues
oCan be confused with a breathing problem
common clinical signs that people bring in birds for
- General sickness= Non-specific signs
- Dyspnea
- Changes in urofeces
- Neurological / musculo- skeletal signs
- Straining
- Other common presenting complaints
o Masses
o Ocular issues
o Cloacal prolapse (which part is prolapsed?)
o Feather loss
o Egg laying problems
o Regurgitations/vomiting
distance exam for bird: what do we look at?
o Look at diet in the cage
o Look at urofeces
- Watery (beware of oversupplementation with fruits)
- Color change (beware artificial diet colorants)
- Undigested seeds
o Look at the bird
- Fluffed up, eyes closed
- Breathing pattern (increased efforts, tail-bobbing, open beak)
- Feathering (stress bars, dull colours)
- Wing and leg position, etc.
o Decide if placed in incubator/oxygen or safe to do a hand- on examination (can also keep the head in oxygen)
why do we weight bird on PE?
o Estimate of body condition
o For dosages
o For monitoring
steps for bird exam?
- distance exam
o Look at diet in the cage
o Look at urofeces
o Look at the bird
o Decide if placed in incubator/oxygen or safe to do a hand- on examination (can also keep the head in oxygen) - weigh bird
- Take blood before doing a complete examination
- Start with body condition
- Head examination
- Body palpation
- Wings (hold the elbows) and legs
- Cloaca
- Uropygial gland
- Hydration status
- Cardio-respiratory auscultation
- Fundic examination in raptors
- Cloacal temperature
- Then focus on specific presenting complaint or obvious issue
when do we take blood on PE? What to expect?
Takebloodbefore doing a complete examination
o Stress leukogram
o Increase in muscle enzymes, impair ability to diagnose liver diseases
o Increase in blood glucose
bird body condition helps give us what?
o Idea of chronicity
o Idea of hydration
bird head examination - whats is included
o Eyes, ears, nares, beak
o Oral cavity
- Choana
- Choanal papilla (blunted in hypovitaminosis A)
- Tongue
what do we palpate on bird?
Body palpation
o Palpate the crop
o Palpate the coelom
- An egg is round, caudal, and very hard
- Don’t confuse the ventriculus for an egg (small birds)
what do we do to cloaca on PE
o Evert slightly to look for papillomas
important considerations for Uropygial gland on PE
o Swollen, also site of neoplasias
o Lacking in some species (Amazon parrots, Pionus parrots, blue macaws)
what do we look for on cardio-resiratory auscultation in bird PE?
o Heart
- Midline on the keel
- Fast, so hard to pick up murmurs
o Lungs and air sacs
- Over the back
- 15-40/min
> HR depends on weight: 152-380 bpm relaxed, can be up to 2.4-3x increase in flight or restraint (greater increase for heavier birds)
what special exam should we cary out in raptor PE
- Fundic examination in raptors (part of eye)
normal cloacal temp? when do we measure?
Cloacal temperature
o Higher38-41oC
o Not measured routinely
- Birds are stressed when handled, so hyperthermic
o Only useful in critical patients to check for hypothermia
Last part of bird PE
focus on specific presenting complaint or obvious issue
o Detailed orthopedic examination
o Detailed neurologic examination
why is it important to know what diseases are common by species
oDirect suspicion / educated guess - Especially in empirical medicine
(owners declined diagnostic tests)
oHelp ranking differential diagnoses
oDiscussion with owners during health checks
what are concerning weight trends for bird
- Loss of 10% acutely or 20% chronically is a concern
reccomended bid bloodwrok schedule
- Once a year, every other year
what is the purpose of bird fecal cytology
screen for eyast
reccomended fecal parasite testing for birds , species and schedule
Fecal parasite testing (raptors, poultry, ducks, pigeons)
- Twice a year
how often should birds get a health check?
once a year minimum
important considerations for bird baseline values
o Subject-based reference intervals (lower intra- individual than inter-individual variability)
most convenient method for sexing
o DNA is the most convenient
o Don’t offer it for sexually dimorphic species
- Psittacine circovirus (PBFD): who it affects, how to test
o Juvenile birds
o Old world species
mainly
o DNA test on blood
Avian bornavirus (PDD): who it effects, how to test
o Any bird except budgerigars
o DNA test on cloacal swab
o Carrier vs. sick
- Avian polyomavirus; who is susceptible
Only chicks are susceptible
Avian chlamydiosis (Chlamydia psittaci); who gets it, dangers, how do we test?
o Mainly cockatiels and budgerigars
o Zoonosis
o DNA test on conjunctivo-choanal- cloacal swab
reccomended preventative care for birds
o Parasite treatment
- In raptors, poultry and pigeons
- Treat according to fecal testing
o Vaccination
- West Nile Virus in raptors
- Salmonella, PMV in pigeons (use chicken vaccine)
- ILT, infectious bronchitis, Salmonella, influenza, PMV in chickens (too late for Marek’s disease)
four main infectious diseases that should be tested for
- Psittacine circovirus (PBFD)
- Avian bornavirus (PDD)
- Avian polyomavirus
- Avian chlamydiosis (Chlamydia psittaci)
important thing to groom in birds
-beak and nail
-wing feathers
> 10 in small birds
> 5-7 in medium sized birds
-watch out for blood feather!
