My cockatoo threw up, I need some advice- please!

[RachelAndOllie]

I was reading on the Internet about a lady who had a cockatoo and fed her Warm milk in the mornings, so i decided to see if my Cokatoo, Ollie, Would like it. Well she enjoyed it so much she started gulping it down- she drank more then i had ever seen her drink, and then she had some apple.
About a half hour- to an hour later, she threw up milk and apple everywhere.
Ive never seen her throw up before. Shes 9 years old, and to my best knowledge pretty healthy. She usualy eats Pees, Apples, a pellet and seed mixture and a few other things here and there
Does anyone know why she might have thrown up?

[bekfreak]

No milk please. Birds cannot digest the lactous in milk and it can make them sick.

[birdlady49]

The milk is what made her throw up. I'm glad she DID throw up, otherwise you'd be heading to the emergency vet right now. Do not ever offer milk again! As has been said, birds cannot digest lactose. A very occasional piece of cheese or some yoghurt are the extent of dairy that should ever be offered.

Keep a close eye on her, keep her warm and quiet. If she's still sick in the morning, get to an emergency vet immediately.

Other foods that should never be fed to birds: avocado, caffeine of any sort, alcohol, chocolate, rhubbarb (part is okay, but it's not worth it to remember which part is safe as the other part is very toxic), moldy foods....

[Matt]

A interesting thing about dairy products is that some are pure such as milk and does make birds very sick but as said above cheese and yogurt are fine in moderation with less being better. The process of making yogurt and cheese changes the milk and "burns up" the part of the milk that tends to make the birds sick.

[Savery]

yeah go easy on the milk products. About the only milk my birds get are the occasional cereal flake and my conure likes to lick vanilla ice cream ( he really doesn't eat it, he just likes to press his beak against it and tongue it... i think he likes the temperature and texture more than anything else)

[Savery]

Originally Posted by Matt

A interesting thing about dairy products is that some are pure such as milk and does make birds very sick but as said above cheese and yogurt are fine in moderation with less being better. The process of making yogurt and cheese changes the milk and "burns up" the part of the milk that tends to make the birds sick.

I've heard the same thing. My birds won't eat yogurt but they like cheese. I understand that it's actually pretty good for them calcium wise.

[Tishrei]

As a person being very lactose intolerant, I have found it interesting that I can eat cheese and yougurt. I have ended up in the emergency room because of milk until I finally found out that milk is somthing that my body cannot take.

The way the doctor explained to me why I can tolerate cheese & yougurt is becuase the process in making the cheese & yogurt changes the molucule structure. Milk can cause me to break out in hives that looks like someone took a switch to my body -- it really is horendous what I look like. However, I have absolutely no issue with cheese or yogurt. I can handle a little bit of cream in my coffee but that is all I will have in the milk department.

[PowerBBS]

Yes, NEVER feed your bird milk. They lack the enzyme lactate is which is required to digest lactose in milk. Keep a close eye out on your fid. Even after he's thrown up the fid may not have purged all the milk out of his system. The milk can begin to rot in the intestines and cause diarrhea. Make sure he's drinking lots of water and eating.

Tishrei is correct in many cheeses the process of making the cheese can remove much of the lactose in the cheese - especially in yellow cheese, white cheeses are still high in lactose - except strangly cottage cheese, it is low in lactose. The bacteria in yogurt actually will eat off most the lactose in yogurt. Many a AVM will recommend you feed yogurt to your bird as, just as in humans, the bacteria can help them with digestion. Again both cheese and yogurt, small amounts.

[whitewing]

She threw up because birds cannot digest milk.

For the love of god............

[Abyssinian1]

All of my birds like Vanilla ice cream. I give them at most, a 1/2 teaspoon maybe once a month. If it is really important that I motivate them to do something (get out of their cage, for example, or get into the cage) and time is of the essence, I will put a little on the tip of a spoon and use it as positive reinforcement. They know what cold white stuff on the end of a spoon means and will scoot down my arm quickly just to get a taste of it. I'll give them a little probiotic yogurt once every two weeks and maybe a little cheese (cottage or cheddar) on the same time frame. But never more than a teaspoon, maybe less of the cheese, since it can also impact a bird's crop.

Never give milk - not being mammals, birds don't really need to be able to digest milk (no need to breastfeed) and won't be able to process it. I'd scoot to the vet and get Ollie checked out, just in case. Birds, if they are feeling the ill effects of some bad food, might not always give you any indication they aren't feeling well. Better safe than sorry.

Of all the living beings in my house, I am the only one that loves and can eat dairy. Dave is lactose intolerant and has a hard time with any kind of dairy food, including cheese.