Liver disease

[Joannie]

Hi, My African Grey Parrot Sammy is 34 years old. I have had him since he was 4 months old. His diet has consisted of Harrison's and ZuPreem pellets, fruits, vegetables, eggs, chicken, cheese and seeds & walnuts for treats.  Sammy's diet has had a drastic change since this last March when he showed signs of nausea, low energy and very yellow droppings.  His white face even had a tinge of yellow.  Our veterinarian believes that Sammy has liver disease.  He has been on 2 rounds of antibiotics and went through a 5 part series of X-rays with contrast.  The tests showed some atherosclerosis and the liver was slightly enlarged and smooth in appearance.  He no longer is given any animal protein, less fresh fruits & veggies, and his only treat with fat is a pinch of flax seeds. He now eats lots of Harrison's pellets.  He drinks lots & lots of water.  We encourage him to fly for us for some exercise.  

We bought the last bottle of Milk thistle/ dandelion detox for parrots from "Avitech".  Sammy has been on 2 drops twice a day for about 3 weeks.  He has improved, but is is still not himself.  I wonder if Sammy will need this supplement long term.  Does anyone have experience with a milk thistle product and dosage that can be recommended for birds since Avitech is no longer in production?

Thank You,

Joannie & Sammy Birdie

p.s. I would especially love to hear from Greywings High Flyer

[Greytness]

Hi Joannie,

Welcome to the forum! While I don't have direct experience with liver disease, I do have 2 place that you could look for some great answers. First, if you are on FB, there's a closed group that deals with raw nutrition, sprouting and the use of teas. It's called: Avian Raw Whole Food. Solid nutritional support for our feathered friends.

There is a website that sells teas specifically blended for our avian babies. Unfortunately they sell out of everything all the time, so you might want to reach out to them to see when this tea is back in stock: https://greywoodmanor.com/products/clean-and-pure  It should be a great one for your Sammy.

If you haven't yet been on Avian Avenue, that forum has a lot of members whose birds are currently in liver failure. You might want to check them out, too.

It's very sad that the owner of Avitech died so suddenly, leaving no plans in place for the company to move forward in her absence.

With that being said, I'm also confident that Greywings will be of tremendous help, too!

Edited November 24, 2018 by Greytness

[Joannie]

 Lots of great information to explore!  

Thank you very much

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