Raptor Medicine

Question 1

Falconiforms

Answer 1

hawks, falcons, eagles, vultures

• diurnal birds
• females usually larger
• crop present, vestigial ceca

Question 2

strigiformes

Answer 2

all owl species
- nocturnal
- females usually larger
- well developed ceca, no crop

Question 3

how should you handle raptors

Answer 3

wear gloves and control the feet before the head

Question 4

electrocution

Answer 4

burned feathers and tissues, muscle convulsions, neuros probs, bone and spinal fractures

Question 5

frostbite

Answer 5

local ischemia, self mutilation, poor prognosis

Question 6

Lead

Answer 6

> 1.0 ppm with >2.0 ppm having a poor prognosis

chelation therapy with calcium disodium versenate (calcium EDTA)

Question 7

pododermatitis

Answer 7

S aureus, most common in falcons

Question 8

avian tuberculosis

Answer 8

M. avium

nonspecific weakness, chronic weight loss

Question 9

raptor herpesvirus

Answer 9

falcons and eagles
- fatal
- weak and anorexic for 1-2 days before death
- intranuclear inclusion bodies in liver

Question 10

aspergillosis

Answer 10

most important respiratory disease of raptors
- dyspnea, exercise intolerance, weight loss, voice change
- Dx: rads, tracheal or air sac, culture
- Tx: amp b, flucytosine, itraconazole

Question 11

Candidiasis

Answer 11

fungal disease that is often secondary to long term antibiotic treatment
- pseudomembrane/plague in mouth, crop, upper GI system
- nystatin, ketoconazole, itraconazole

Question 12

what kind of fractures are common with bird bones?

Answer 12

comminuted bc of thin bone cortices

Question 13

raptors have __ bones

Answer 13

pneumatic