911- PLEASE PLEASE HELP US

[becky]

We have a parakeet which is about 4 years old.
In the last few months he has started a condition our vet calls a goiter.
It began with me noticing he was breathing hard one day, and his chirp sounded fuzzy. He also wheezed during the night as his cage was covered.
The vet explained that a goiter is a growth in his throat which causes that opening to close up as it grows.
This condition has returned three times.
The vet blamed it on the bird's seed diet.

I bought my mother a parakeet on the same day in the same store at the same time I bought this one, and her bird has never been sick in these four years. Guess what- he eats seeds exclusively.



I tried to follow the vets suggestion of trying to give the bird cereals, pellets, fruit and vegetables, pasta, and the bird does not like it.
Has anyone heard of this - goiter? How common is it? Is there a way to treat it other than medicine? It's so hard to get the medicine into his tiny mouth, so who knows if he's even getting the required amount.

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Becky

[charmedagain]

Hi Goiter is Thyroid enlargement,

Its caused by the thyroid becoming enlarged it is not a growth.
Thyroid glands secrete a hormone known as thyroxine which controls the metabolic rate of the body. Enlargement of the thyroid glands is known as goiter
The most common cause of goiter in birds is iodine deficiency, either due to a lack of iodine in the diet or to a substance that induces goiter (certain plants). Birds on an all seed diet are at risk of developing an iodine deficiency.

You can try the following see if he improves.


If the bird is eating and drinking, Lugol's Iodine Solution can be added to the drinking water. Alternatively, cod liver oil, which is very high in iodine can be added to the food.

Give him a seperate dish of EMP or CeDe egg food which is high in vitamins, minerals and oils, It is used for handfeeding and weaning of birds but can be given to all birds even adults.

Let us know he he gets on.

Mike

[becky]

Thank you, Mike. I will ask the vet about this later when we take the bird in. The bird does eat and drink, but I think it's not easy for him this time. I'm glad the vet could see him today.

[becky]

We went to the vet today, and Mike he explained it just like you said.
My husband usually takes the pets to the vet and I was going by what he said the vet told him.
The vet just gave us thyroid medicine and antibiotics. He said there's not much that can be done, due to the size of the bird, his refusal to eat anything but seeds, and costs.

He said it's basically a genetic thing that will have to be maintained with medicine.

I will give cereals a try again sometime. I don't expect results, though. I've put cheerios and froot loops on string, threaded peanut butter crunch on string, and crushed up fruity pebbles in his dish.

With fruit I've diced it finely, crushed it, tied half an apple to the cage, tied baby carrots to the cage. I thought he might go at these like he does a cuttle bone.

[charmedagain]

I find to get a bird to try new things is first thing in the morning when refilling there food dishes, What i do is leave out there seed diet for a couple of hours and only give them dishes of chopped up fruit and vegtables.

If this does not work for you and he will only eat his seed try adding the cod liver oil to his seed and see how he goes you may find he will get diarreah (sp) for a couple of days but this is normal and usually passes.

You can also put the cheerios and fruit loops crushed a little mixed in with his seed but put les seed than normal this way he is eating some of the fruit loops and stuff.

keep us updated on how he is doing....

Mike

[becky]

I guess it is hard for them to get used to other food if they have been fed seeds from baby on.
I'm just wondering why it showed up now after all these years?

[charmedagain]

Birds are very clever at keeping illnesses hidden as in the wild a weak bird would be left behind by the flock and easy prey for predetors.

It could be anything that has triggered it off but its mainly due to the iodine deficiency.

Mike