I have a feather plucker on my hands, and need help.
I'm pretty sure I wrote about this at the start of all of this, but I am getting towards my wits end wanting to solve this problem because I hate seeing her like this, she's like my child. So I am reaching out again for help in the hopes I am overlooking something.
Around Christmas 06 she began constantly laying eggs. We tried everything, more calcium, reducing light, extending light, moving her cage around. Nothing stopped it. After a possible egg-bound scare I made the decision to start her on lupron. She has attempted to lay 2 eggs since, both that were soft shelled but were dismissed by the vet as a lack of calcium and possible side effect and I was ordered to make sure she has a good and daily source of calcium.
Since around September-October 2007 I'd say she began feather plucking. Earlier this year I took her to get evaluated, her yearly physical and was tested for giardia. My tiel will be 5 years old this July. She had a clean bill of health, did not have giardia, and I was actually told she was a little overweight, coming in at about 106grams. Since November, her weight has been fluctuating between 91-105 grams where she is currently back up to.
Nothing drastic changed from the time she was plucking. My job stayed the same, my time at home was the same, we haven't introduced new pets, a new home or anything really new. The only difference was that I cut her wings (after a long time of having free flight) but those have since grown out and the plucking continues. She started only doing it under her wings - She has always been a bit of an overpreener but she began pulling at feathers (and screaming at the top of her lungs) as she ripped it out. It first only was the white feathers beneath, but in recent investigation she has stripped out the feathers all the way down to her thighs - but she is doing it ALL beneath other feathers, as if to hide the evidence of this. Unless I nudge feathers out of the way, the plucking is completely hidden. But now it seems she might have started pulling on them on her chest, there's a little spot that is starting to catch my attention and this is stressing me out. She eats well, pellets, fresh vegtables/bread/kale and a measured amount of seed daily and has two calcium perches in her cage, she gets 12-13 hours of sleep nightly in dark room/cage and gets daily sunlight and warmth. I try to give her baths 2-3 times a week. Her cage has toys and shredders, papers and kleenex distributed for her to shred but often it gets ignored.
I decided to try the aloe vera bath spray sold at petsmart and while it soaks into her feathers well, now it seems that she isn't preening all the feathers when it's done, and she just looks very disheveled and I am worried the spray is drying her out worse and making any itch worse, not better. I plan to give her a regular water bath when I get home so that she cleans herself up a little and wipe away any discomfort in the case that she hates how this spray tastes and that's why she isn't fixing herself.
I contacted the doctors again who said that its possible the sexual frustration as a side effect from the lupron may be causing this, but they've told me she needs to stay on the lupron due to the egg laying and that not getting these hormone shots might be what is triggering this. So it seems that now I've started, I CAN'T stop them for her sake (even though I was told in the beginning that after a few shots she shouldn't need them other than every few months.)
So I guess that's really it. Does anyone else use lupron or can share in a similar experience? I am sorry this message is all over the place, I just wanted to try to answer any questions I might get upfront. Thank you for any assistance anyone can offer.
April 15 2008, 18:12:01 UTC 4 years ago
I would say sexual frustration due to Lupron is a Load of BS. My doctors tried putting me on Lupron - and at least in humans it shuts down the ovaries, and basically puts you in menopause. I would assume it is very similar in tiels - in order to prevent egg laying you take away the hormones that trigger production. A major side effect of Lupron (in humans) is decreased calcium. I would ask for an additional oral calcium supplement, especially if she is laying.
Giardia is very hard to detect, and sometimes takes a couple of tests. If she is having an adverse reaction (allergy) to the Lupron, I would be hesitant to keep her on it as is.
The all in all - if it were my bird I'd try to find a another vet for a second opinion.
April 15 2008, 18:32:02 UTC 4 years ago Edited: April 15 2008, 18:34:27 UTC
Neither the aviary/vet mentioned Giardia might take multiple, I had no idea. It is something I will probably mention to them tomorrow, I scheduled her for another lupron shot, as her last was at the end of January and if it IS sexual frustration perhaps that will stop it (or at least slow it down).
Giving her oral medicine is absolute hell, she figured out as a baby how to scare the hell out of me and I have to catch her off guard and do it at lightning speed or she squirms out of my hand, screams and does everything in her little bird power to avoid it (even tucking her head down and clamping her little mouth shut.) We have successfully used it a few times now, but I am about at the end of a bottle they gave me a while back. Do you know any tricks to giving the liquid medicine? I've even tried putting it on her favorite foods and she STILL knows its there!
April 15 2008, 19:16:19 UTC 4 years ago
I just honestly can't see that sexual frustration would be a side effect from Lupron, or even as an indirect cause of it. But, I suppose anything is possible.
Medicating birds is hard. However the calcium supplement I used was very sweet (one of my hens was on it) and she didn't seem to mind too much. For me when I medicate by myself I usualy place them on a table grab their jaw (either sides of the cheek patches) and keep them from running using my palm. I prefer to have help, my SO usually grabs bird with one hand and holds the head still with the other (holding jaws) while the other person places the syringe in the birds mouth.
Some people swear by using something your bird likes in a syringe for treats, be it apple sauce, mushed sweet potatoes, baby bird fomula, etc. and desnsitizing them to it.
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April 16 2008, 12:07:28 UTC 4 years ago
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