(425) 775-0121| 23502 56th Ave. W, | Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

At A Pet Care Clinic we believe educating our pet owners can help avoid problems and prevent heartache. Below is some helpful information on diseases, preventive care and emergency care to help you and your pet. 

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Aviary Hospital Cage


Aviary Emergency Cage

 

Anytime you notice your bird sitting with its feathers ruffled, eyes partly closed and looking droopy, or if you notice any signs of diarrhea, respiratory problems or injury, your bird should be put into a Hospital Cage. If there has been an accident, such as having been attacked by a dog, cat, ferret or another bird; if the bird has flown into a window or mirror; or has been burned or chilled (even if it seems to be all right), a hospital cage can make the difference between a live bird and a dead bird.

 

If it is at all possible, you should have an extra cage set up as a hospital cage for emergencies. This is especially important if you have more than one bird. Each step of the basic emergency care is important.

 

1. Incubator: "Hospital Cage"

 

A. Put the food and water dishes where the bird is spending its time. That means that if the bird is on the cage floor, the dishes should also be on the cage floor. Jar lids make nice, stable hospital dishes. Whatever the bird is used to eating should be provided, as well as a dish of water and a dish of Pedia-lyte or Gatorade. (You should try to get your bird accustomed to the taste of Pedia-lyte or Gatorade prior if possible. That way the bird will be more likely to drink it when it is needed than if it has never tasted it before. Find a flavor your bird likes. The electrolytes in these products will help in the treatment.)

 

B. Wrap the entire cage in clear plastic wrap to create a little, warmer bird room inside your normal room temperature home. Birds have a normal body temperature of about 104 degrees. When they are sick or injured we would rather have them exert energy healing than maintaining that high body temperature. By keeping their environment warm, we can help accomplish just that.

 

C. A heating pad fastened to the outside of the END of the cage, next the END of a perch, with clothespins or a clip on light with a 60 watt light bulb can be used to provide the heat. If you are treating a breeding bird you may want to try and regulate the temperature without the light as a heat source so as to not alter the light regulated aspects of breeding, but sometimes one must sacrifice a breeding season to save the bird.

 

The bird will usually snuggle up next to the heat source initially and then, within a few hours, move a little bit away. If the bird does NOT move away from the heat after a few hours, it is trying to tell you that more heat is required. Use a higher setting on the heating pad or a higher wattage light bulb. If the bird moves to the far end of the perch, less heat is required and the heating pad must be turned down or moved further from the cage, or the light must be moved further from the cage or use a lower wattage bulb.

 

Another sign of excess heat is the bird holding his wings away from his body and holding his feathers close to his body, so that he appears skinny. But, when you lower the temperature, do it slowly! A sudden temperature drop could be a fatal stress. (Unless you have been present during temperature establishment and the bird is WAY overheated when discovered to be too warm. Then, get him out of there until he quits panting before you return him to a less warm cage.)

 

2. Food

 

A. A bird that stops eating dies. Therefore put the bird's food and water in dishes where the bird is sitting. Food in a dish at the top of a cage is not good when the bird is too weak to get up to it.

 

B. If the bird is not eating even when the food is right there, you can help sustain him with a mixture of 1 tsp. corn syrup, pectin, honey or karo syrup mixed into 1/4 cup of Gatorade or Pedia-lyte. Wrap him in a towel will help to avoid sudden chill and help control him. Hold him and give him a few drops of the mixture with an eye dropper every few hours until you are able to get him to your veterinarian. Remember that in order to breathe a bird must be able to move his breastbone away from his backbone; so be careful not to wrap him too tightly in your towel. (See bird orals)

 

3. Droppings

 

Monitor the number, volume, color and consistency of the bird's droppings. Note any changes that occur between initial onset of problem and the time the bird gets to the veterinarian. Save the droppings for the veterinarian to see. Remember, there are normally three components to a bird's dropping - the color component (which is feces, the result of eating food), the whites (the urates), and the clear liquid (the urine), both from the kidneys. A bird can produce urine and urates without eating. If you see no feces, the bird is not eating.

 

4. Veterinarian

 

A. Contact your avian veterinarian.

 

Worms - How to avoid transmission from Pets to People
 
Pets to People Worms

 

How to avoid transmission of worms from pets to people: Pet owners sometimes worry about getting worms: from pets. It is possible, but preventable by simple measures. There are several different worms that can infect dogs and cats. People, usually children, can become infected with pet associated worms by:

 

Ingesting parasite eggs from soil, hands or objects contaminated by dog or cat feces. Roundworms (Toxocara canis and cati) and tapeworms (Enchinococci spp.) can be spread in this manner. Most cases involve young children eating dirt contaminated with animal feces.

Direct skin contact with hookworm larvae (Ancyclostoma spp) from soil contaminated by dog or cat feces.

 

Ingesting a flea harboring larvae of the dog or cat tapeworm (Dipylidium caninum). Spread of infection to human beings is rare.

 

PREVENTION

To prevent human infection pet associated worms:

 

Deworm pups early. Pups may start passing roundworm eggs as early as three weeks of age. Deworm, under veterinary direction, all pups at two to three weeks of age and repeat treatment every two weeks until the pus are three months old. The mother dog should be treated at the same time the pups are.

 

Cat roundworms do not start laying eggs as quickly as dog roundworms therefore, deworming kittens, beginning at six weeks of age is sufficient from a public health standpoint. Keep children away from contamination. Keep young children away from areas contaminated with feces and encourage them to wash their hands after play and before eating. Sandboxes should be covered when not in use. Prevent children from eating dirt. Have new pets checked. Have your veterinarian do a physical exam, including fecal tests as soon as you acquire a new cat or dog. Pups and kittens acquired at six to eight weeks of age should be dewormed at least twice, two weeks apart.

 

Have adult pets checked annually. Have you veterinarian check a stool sample from adult pet once a year as part of an annual physical exam.

 

For dogs, getting Heartgard Plus, the heartworm preventative, the “plus” part controls the hook and round worms. SO if you are giving your dog Heartgard Plus every month, that problem is taken care of on a regular basis.

 

Advocate community measures. Support ordinances aimed at preventing indiscriminate defecation by dogs and cats.

 

Finally, be aware that there are other ways people can become infected with intestinal parasites (worms). People can also "get worms" from other people and from eating undercooked meat or seafood.

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