Benefits of Long-Term Treatment vs. Stress to the Bird

[BirdLady]

Does it make sense to medicate my budgie long-term (for life, basically) for a liver condition when the process (capturing, handling, etc.) twice a day causes him great stress? I am concerned that this daily intense stress will actually advance his decline more than the medication will help. Has anyone had any experience with this?

[jellybean]

What has the vet said about his liver condition?

What medication is he on.

Apologies it's taken so long for someone to answer you.

[skysmum]

Well, there's the thing BirdLady , i had a little Budgie that took episodes like epilepsy, this was often made worse if he was stressed, the vet offered a medication to try and ease the symptoms and after much thought i declined, the stress of catching and medicating certainly would have shortened his life i feel.

Most of us give milk thistle in their water to help with liver disease. What has the vet prescribed?

[Hezz]

I’d say that it depends on the bird. The more a bird is handled before there is the need for it makes any medication and vet visits much less stressful for everyone. Most will get used to the new routine with time with no adverse effects but there are some who never accept the new norm. All you can do to help is have everything ready to go and be as time efficient as possible and where possible have someone there to help you with either the holding or the dosing. Once the meds have been given offer a reward for being good (even if it has been a fight) and do not just release the bird to fly off thinking it has escaped the dreaded hand-monster. Stroking their cheek feathers can be calming for them as well, a harking back to their nestling days when mum would do this early in their life before the eyes open to let them know that she had food for them.

[Marianne Marlow]

This is very interesting Hezz, I did not know this!

"Stroking their cheek feathers can be calming for them as well, a harking back to their nestling days when mum would do this early in their life before the eyes open to let them know that she had food for them."

[Hezz]

Dec 27, 2023 14:38:57 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

This is very interesting Hezz, I did not know this!

"Stroking their cheek feathers can be calming for them as well, a harking back to their nestling days when mum would do this early in their life before the eyes open to let them know that she had food for them."

It is interesting, isn’t it? Birds and humans do have some things in common. I read that a while back and I’ve noticed that even Feral-Freddy aka Bunji doesn’t wriggle quite so much when I have hold of him if I do this.