Zahzu plucking update

[mas]

Hey guys,

So since our vet visit:

Zahzu has plucked out a whole lot more feathers! She now has a bald patch near her bottom- it is sort of the area where the broken feather would have been touching her body, and a bald patch on her body by where her wing connects to her body (like her underarm).

Her plucking has definately increased.

 

However, we do notice that it is 95% only on the left side of her body - any ideas with that??

 

Am trying really had to keep her busy -and whenever she plucks we just ignore her.

 

She's growling when I go to cuddle her, and she's not as affectionate towards me as she used to be - could this be because I'm forcing her to bath?? I put her in the kitchen sink a few times - and she hated this.

 

*sigh*

 

-Sameera

[M2MM]

Unfortunately, this sounds like her vet office experience has caused your bird to lose trust in you. The vet could very well have traumatized her and she's now afraid of being held.

 

The plucking could be in response to some unpleasant residue left on her feathers by the vet. I read about a man whose Grey suddenly plucked out a whole area of feathers that he'd been touching during a petting session. Turned out that he was a smoker and had used the nicotine stained hand to pet his bird and she removed all the contaminated feathers.

 

Perhaps your Grey's plucking is to remove contaminated feathers and not really due to other causes.

[Tycos_mom]

Isn't that strange when Ifirst got Tyco she had barbered every single Flight feather primary's and secondary's but only on her left side she never touched her right side at all and apparently she had done this for years because the people I got her from told my that she had always been like that and they thought it was a birth defect. she was so off balance and would fall constantly poor thing anyway I took she to the vet and they evened her flights out so they where the same on both sides and now she doesn't barber anymore. I wish I had a solution for you I can only imagine how heart breaking it is to watch your sweet baby destroy his beautiful feathers. I trully feel for you I hope thing get better soon and you can put all this behind you.

 

[mas]

Hey guys.

Noticed a green area under the left wing she's been shreading - so rushed her to the vet - and I'm SOOOO HAPPY - this vet was the one who is ill but he's at work! Yay! He is wonderful - he said it may be dye that is injected to indicate she's a female - or it may be a bruise from trauma (I'm guessing the other vet was very rough with her which caused the bruise - however that is just speculation!)... Anyway, he has his assistant hold her and said I musn't be associated with the pain or shock in any way.

 

Anyway, tomorrow she needs to go in and get anaesthetic again to remove damaged feathers. What happened was that last time the other vet (let's call him Dr. Evil maybe??) removed the feathers, he damaged others in the process - and these have been poking and irritating her. So, the vet feels this is a continuation of when she had a bad wing clip. This kinda explains why most of the barbering is on the left side.

 

I'm just feeling so much better after seeing this vet.

 

Also, he said that she will need to be on a bird sedative - i forget the name now - but he said it works quite well to stop plucking. He said he will probably remove all the feathers on the left wing also.

 

Has anyone else had to give their bird a sedative or anti-depressant for plucking?

 

I've read about this as a treatment on the internet but was just wondering what others think about it???

 

-Sameera

[danmcq]

It is wonderful to hear you were able to see a truly good Avian vet that knows what to do and how to do it.

 

"Dr Evil" is a fitting name for the abusive and Ill tempered previous vet. I would probably use a combination of words for him, but I can not post them here due to them being banned words. ;-)

 

Sedatives may not be a bad idea for the short term, since Zahzu is obviously very upset right now. But, long term would not be an idealistic option. Your new vet should be able to articulate his "healing" plan to you in a concise and well thought out process.

 

The first thing to do is get you bird balanced out on both sides and removing the agitating feathers that remain. Once this is done, hopefully the plucking to try and "Right" the issue by Zahzu should be resolved and the sedatives will calm for the necessary time period.

 

Please keep us posted. This is great information that others will be able to reference also.

[mas]

The new vet isn't actually an avian vet - however he knows what he is doing, and seems to be more aware of bird psychology than the previous vet. A friend of my hubby had a bird who was plucking and highly recommends this particular vet we are taking Zahzu to.

 

Anyway, the vet also said something that really struck a nerve to me - he said African Greys are not domesticated - they are wild animals, and this is a huge part of why they pluck - because captivity is just not natural to them. It makes one think twice about keeping a bird captive. Food for thought.

 

-Sameera

[judygram]

You are right, greys are not domesticated animals like our dogs and cats but I don't believe that captivity causes them to pluck.

 

I'm glad to hear you got to see the other vet, he sounds like he knows his stuff more so than Dr Evil who sounds like he should keep his paws off animals period.

 

I hope you can come up with a solution to Zahzu problem but I am afraid it won't be an easy one, plucking issues never are.

[M2MM]

I read a lot, and the majority of what I've read states that the plucking we see in "captive" Greys is due mostly to inbreeding done by people who are in it for "fun and profit" and not the conscientious breeders. So it may be in mutated genes that makes some Greys more susceptible to plucking than others. Their argument is supported by the large numbers of captive wild-born Greys that do not pluck.

 

If it were true that captivity causes plucking, then the wild-born should also have plucking issues.

[lovemyGreys]

From everything i have researched plucking is a disease of captivity, it is not found in the wild greys except as natural physiological behaviour in breeding birds.

[mas]

Hey guys!

I think what the vet was saying is what lovemyGreys said - that plucking occurs in captive greys, not wild.

 

Anyway,

We went in for feather removal today - the vet showed me the feathers he took out and said that we need to increase the 'healthy' fats in her diet - give her more seeds and 8 peanuts (human grade) per day. Also increase the nuts we give her, and ofcourse continue with fruit and vege. He said lots of melons and berries - things like that. We're very stingy on the 'fatty' foods such as seeds with Zahzu because there are so many warnings of the problems of overweight birds!

Anyway, I'll be in the kitchen making nutty things for her and all sorts of healthy treats for the rest of the day.

Since she's come home (about 2 1/2 hours) she hasn't plucked at all. Vet said after 2 or 3 weeks if she is still plucking we'll try the medication; and after 3 months he will repeat the process of removing damaged follicles.

Anyway, my next post will be about something fun I hope! ;-)

-Sameera

[danmcq]

Thats a wonderful start and good to hear that Zahzu is so far "Pluck Free". I am so happy that you and Zahzu are both feeling better.

 

Looking forward to hearing of the "Nutty" (no pun intended) snacks you are making up. They make give us some good ideas too. :-)

[mas]

Just another update!

Zahzu has re-started plucking again this time it is worse than before, however i'm not as stressed about it which is a good thing.

She's barbering and then plucking thick flight feathers and all - on her left wing, tail, chest and back and even on her legs *sigh*

I'm sure its started because I've started working longer hours - but I really did try to gradually increase hours at work. I'm out from 8.30 to about 2 or 3pm usually.

Will keep trying new things to get her to stop... it's so frustrating! Are these relapses normal?

 

Also we have booked to go away for 3 nights next weekend (not the one coming - the one after)..and she is going to stay with the bird sitter. The holiday is already booked - and we really need the time out... just a bit worried about the effect it'll have on Zahzu; however at this stage I don't know how much worse it can get!

 

-Sameera

[danmcq]

Oh Mas - I am so sorry to hear the plucking has resumed. I know the vet had started Zahzu on meds and you were using the collar for a while.

 

It sounds as if she had stopped for a period of time?

 

Have you tried loading her cage up with stuff to shred like newspaper, cardboard, foraging toys etc. to try and keep her occupied while your at work?

 

I know you have been trying everything you can think of to stop this behaviour.

[mas]

Yup - she did stop and was growing back all her feathers beautifully! She was 99% feathered and it started all over again.

 

I've tried heaps of stuff for the little madam ;-)

 

Some advice an acquaintance got from another vet for her feather plucking CAG is that she should leave her bird in it's cage for most of the time, and wean it off so much attention - till it is used to being in the cage.

 

I really feel Zahzu's problem is that she has been out of her cage almost all the time that I am home, and now that she cannot have that level of attention she is upset...

 

What do you all think of this strategy? It seems to be working for this other person I spoke to. I'm planning on phoning the vet this person took her bird to, in order to find out more and see if he can consult over the phone as he is a few hours away from us in another city.

 

-Sameera

[Kaedyn]

I can be a fairly skeptical person when it comes to many things, especially the product at the link below. But, it's being marketed by a company known to make excellent bird cages, so just maybe there is some truth to their claim? Anyway, you may want to investigate it and ask your vet's opinion. If all else fails, it may be worth a shot.

 

http://www.kingscages.com/pluck_no_more.php#plucknomore

[danmcq]

Mas - It is definitely advisable to only let your Grey out of the Cage for the amount of time you are going to normally be able to spend with it. Weekends of course are a different story and they seem to understand that routine.

 

Leaving her in the cage for longer periods each day is the best way to introduce that to her. Just make sure that there is plenty to keep her busy inside her cage, like foraging, toys, paper, cardboard Etc.

[mas]

Thanks guys - unfortunately that product doesn't seem to be available in Sth Africa...

 

I will keep trying all sorts of things - and will let you know how it goes.

She's removing all her feathers from both of her wings it seems - we are in it for the long run so we just gotta keep going i guess! Also, I've weaned her off the medication - it did help but it's not a long term solution.

 

Thanks for all the support once again - will keep u updated!

-S

[kyparamedic]

Hi Mas. I have a plucking grey that sounds very similar to Zahzu. She too plucks and chews primarily at night. At one point she had almost all her feathers back and I took her in for her yearly exam and after a fairly traumatic experience, she resumed. It seems to be attention and boredom related. I think you may be on to something about weaning her off attention. I've noticed that the plucking actually increases when I shower her with attention or give her more than usual. I think she gets upset the next day and starts pulling feathers out. Occasionally she does it when out on her playstand during the day but that's mainly when we're ignoring her. The other day though I was watching TV and she was sitting on my hand and she started pulling on her feathers. That's the first time she's done that.

 

My vet had me try giving her Benadryl (diphenhydramine) everyday as a first line pharmacological therapy for the plucking. This was several months ago. I'll spare you a long story but she nearly died after we went on vacation. The only thing we could figure out was that somehow she got too much of the Benadryl because it didn't get mixed in her water right or she had a bad reaction to it. We have no way of knowing if this is what happened but it's consistent with a Benadryl overdose. So the vet is holding off on any pharmacologic therapy for a little while and I agree. What medication was it that you tried and it helped?

 

I've used Pluck No More as my vet had very good success with it. Unfortunately it didn't seem to do much and I couldn't justify the cost. Aloe vera juice seemed to do the same thing for a lot less money.