Plucking

[donnakris]

I've posted before about Morgan and her feather issue. She had this issue when we adopted her and we've been at the vet's almost every 2 weeks since bringing her home. They have pulled feathers, put her under anesthesia to remove feathers, tried medication and done blood work and nothing works.
This morning we had a bad bleeder under her wing again. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact she won't stop but have decided that we are going to try the collar. I love her and don't care if she is a little feather sparse but the bleeding has to stop. She's not really pulling the feathers out but she picks and bites and shreads until the blood feathers bleed.
She's kind of clumsey now without much wing feathers and I just wonder how much worse it will be with a collar? Will she be able to eat alright and still climb around her cage? I would appreciate hearing anyone's experience with the collar.

[ljhassell]

This is what started us pulling grates from cages, and using corn straw for bedding. We have had birds fall from perches, and grey's get wings caught in them. This allows them to forage and have a soft landing when falling. We had a U2 that would chew certain feathers and we are always on the watch and closely inspect and pull blood feathers as soon as we can. We give tons of shreding toys, and baths really help. I personally dont like the collars, I know it is a must in some cases, but i wont use them. I hope it does help your bird.

[EngTeach]

We put a e-collar on our Chaucer because of picking, and he and us hated it. He chewed it up in no time and it actually caused problems around his neck because he chewed sharp edges and it would irrate is neck. His personality changed terribly, he wouldn't come out of the cage, he refused any kind of attention from us, and he acted depressed all the time.

We took him to a new avian vet that prescribed a bubble-collar. It's a clear, hard acrylic ball that snaps around his neck and prevents him from reaching anywhere to pluck accept maybe his feet. He is so much better; more active in his cage, personality has perked up, and he's beginning to show signs of wanting our attention. You might have to search for a vet that carries this type of collar. Only 1 vet in town did. She's also recommended .02cc of childrens Benadryl once a day for itching, etc.

The bubble collar was $57, but well worth the money and virtually indistructable.

[donnakris]

I don't like the collar's either but if it's a choice between the collar and bleeding to death, easy choice. We do pull broken blood feathers from the tail area but can't, and our vet said shouldn't try to pull a wing feather.

EngTeach, thanks so much. I'm taking Morgan to the vet on Monday so I'll ask about the bubble collar. Morgan being depressed and hating the collar is my biggest worry. Well, other than her bleeding to death overnight.

[jmfleish]

What tests have you had run on Morgan for the feather plucking issues so far?

[donnakris]

Looking on the bill it says they ran an AV/REP Full Profile and an Avian CBC. Next they are going to run the tests for zinc or lead poisoning although we don't think that's it unless it happened at a previous owner. The doctor also wants to do radiographs to look for any underlyuing arthritis or skeletal abnormalities. Morgan is also on a trial dosage of Meloxicam once a day for 14 days. She's also picked at/pulled blood feathers under her wings so badly that the vet has had to put her to sleep and remove them twice. The vet said that to do that anymore is basically useless because it just keeps happening and she doesn't want to keep putting Morgan under.

[jmfleish]

Make sure they do the tests for zinc and lead and also run an asper test and a giardia test just to cover them. Does it seem like she's itchy at all? Do you know if your vet did a feather biopsy while he had Morgan under? That should be considered next after these tests if money isn't an issue. I'd seriously pay attention to the lead and zinc though.

[donnakris]

Originally Posted by jmfleish

Make sure they do the tests for zinc and lead and also run an asper test and a giardia test just to cover them. Does it seem like she's itchy at all? Do you know if your vet did a feather biopsy while he had Morgan under? That should be considered next after these tests if money isn't an issue. I'd seriously pay attention to the lead and zinc though.

Thanks so much. We're doing the lead and zinc next. I don't know about the asper and giardia test or the feather biopsy. I'll ask the vet on Monday when we go. As for itchy, I swear that's what it's like. She doesn't pull her feathers out, for the most part, but seems to chew them off. She chews her chest feathers almost constantly if she's not on me. Also, she seems to pull/chew on her wing feathers really hard. The vet and I were hoping this was being caused by whatever lunatic overclipped her wings and that she would stop once her wings all grew back in but I think there's little hope of them growing back if she keeps "eating" them. It's funny really because she's so smart she knows what she's doing. When I pick up a bitten off feather, I will hold it up and say Morgan, what's this? She'll turn her back on me and walk off like she knows what she's done. Thanks for the advice about the tests. Keep your fingers crossed.

[jmfleish]

If she looks itchy, I'd definitely run a giardia test with the heavy metals. Giardia is hard to catch but it causes itching so ask about it and ask about whether or not the test they do will pick up the parasite or not. Different tests may have to be run a number of times because the parasite doesn't always show up in the stool.

Heavy metals might also be the problem and if it is, it is very treatable, assuming you can figure out where the heavy metal is coming from. That's my problem right now. I know Reggie has zinc toxicity but I can't locate the source of the zinc to save my soul and that's what drives you crazy.

If it was just a wing clip issue, I think you'd see more of a barbering issue with the clipped feathers and the feathers in that area, so if you are seeing picking in other areas such as the tail, legs, or tummy, I don't think that's it. If it is just the wings, letting her wings grow out might fix the problem. I ran into that problem with my Timneh grey and it comes back whenever I clip him. He'll barber the feathers around the trimmed ones as well as the trimmed ones and even after they fall out and the new set of flights grow in, he'll still barber a little. The next molt he leaves alone though. Greys can get pretty testy about wing trims and I decided a while ago that he's just better off fully flighted!;)

Good luck and let us know how it goes. The heavy metal tests will probably take a few days to a week to come in but giardia they should be able to tell you if they can see parasites right away.