Common Health Problems Every Pet Bird Owner Should Know

What are some signs that your bird is unwell?

What are some common diseases you should be aware of?

Obesity

Obesity is unfortunately common in pet birds and is usually a result of improper nutrition. Birds fed an exclusively seed-based diet are especially prone to obesity. Pet birds are more likely to overeat when given the chance, so the proper amount of good quality commercial pellet diet supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables is recommended for a healthy bird.

Symptoms include rotund appearance, yellow fat deposits showing through the skin, internal fat deposits compressing organs resulting in malfunction and failure of those organs, difficulty breathing due to reduced capacity of air sacs with fat deposits, beak overgrowth, narrowed blood vessels resulting in high blood pressure, exercise intolerance, breathlessness, and heart failure.

Liver and kidney disease is seen as having a distended abdomen, poor feather quality, and diarrhoea. This is a common sequela to obesity due to fat deposits causing malfunction, severe illness, and death.

Proper nutrition before symptoms become severe and irreversible can treat obesity. Swapping diets from seeded diets to nutritionally balanced pellet diets supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables should be done sympathetically and slowly. Ask your vet if you need guidance with the process.

Deficiencies

Deficiencies are common in those fed improper nutrition and again, more common in birds fed seed-based diets.

• Vitamin A
  A deficiency in vitamin A leads to damage to the lining of the mouth, nose, and throat as well as kidney damage. Symptoms include enlarged blocked nostrils, tongue “abscesses,” and kidney failure. Treatment for less severe cases involves surgically unblocking nostrils to aid breathing and supplementation.
   
• Calcium
  In younger birds, calcium deficiency (hypocalcaemia) results in poor beak, bone, and feather quality. This leads to deformed beaks and predisposes birds to fractures. In older birds, deficiency results in muscle tremors, a generalised weakness, difficulty perching, seizures, and can lead to death.

A properly formulated commercial diet supplemented with fruits and vegetables should negate the need for supplementation. However, supplementation blocks or additives for water are also available.

Aspergillosis

Caused by the inhalation of the fungus Aspergillus and common in warm, moist conditions, this disease results in respiratory illness.

The disease can either be acute (fast to cause more severe disease) or chronic (slow to cause symptoms with a gradual onset). In acute disease, we see severe breathing difficulties, choking, and the rapid deterioration to a potentially life-threatening illness without emergency treatment. In chronic disease, pneumonia will develop, air sacs will become less efficient and breathing problems are more gradual. During chronic disease, fungal spores are also released into the bloodstream, affecting internal organs and causing liver failure and death.

Treatment with antifungals is often successful if the disease is caught early. Prevention is with good hygiene, maintaining cage ventilation, and removing spoiled food.

Beak and feather disease

Caused by circovirus, this disease attacks young, growing feathers and beak tissue in fledgling birds. It also damages their immune system, so they have no resistance to other diseases. Most infected birds will die, and some will survive but with damaged wing and tail feathers, leaving them unable to fly. The course of the disease varies depending on the age at infection and the infective dose of the virus. Very young chicks succumb quickly. Older birds develop characteristic feather deformities or discolourations, and the disease takes longer to take hold.

Symptoms are a generally unwell bird, eye discharge, breathing difficulties, poor appetite, lethargy, and characteristic feather and beak deformities. There is no specific treatment, the disease is often fatal, and prevention is through hygiene and sanitation.

Parrot Fever

Parrot fever, also known as psittacosis, is noteworthy as it can affect birds and humans. Caused by the bacteria Chlamydia psittaci it results in pneumonia in people or depression, ruffled feathers, loss of weight, inappetence, diarrhoea, and respiratory symptoms in birds. Birds usually have a thick nasal discharge with a sneeze and fluorescent green diarrhoea.

This can be transmitted between birds by inhalation, direct contact with sick individuals, or through faecal transmission.

Treatment is with an extended course of antibiotics. In severe cases, intensive care may be necessary including supportive treatment such as injectable antibiotics, fluids, and heat. Isolation is also needed due to the infectious nature of the condition.

Bacterial infections

Birds are susceptible to various kinds of bacterial diseases, usually caused by a lack of hygiene, brought in by new birds, or on natural perches or foods. Symptoms depend on the type of bacteria, its location in the body, and the organs it is affecting, but they are generally that of an unwell bird such as listlessness, weight loss, and loss of appetite.

Preventing bacterial infections in birds is best achieved with hygiene and sanitation with the biggest risk factors being the introduction of new birds into a home. This is why quarantining birds for a minimum of 30 days is recommended to prevent the spread of any such diseases. Ensuring cages aren’t overcrowded, are frequently cleaned, and are well-ventilated, with plenty of fresh species and appropriate nutrition available will reduce the incidence of infections. Cages should be regularly disinfected, and food stored hygienically.

If you are worried your bird is unwell, consult your veterinarian who will advise on the best next steps to ensure your bird gets back to full health quickly where possible.