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Post by Pappagallo on Mar 11, 2023 11:09:47 GMT -5
So Nikki had her ultrasound yesterday to determine the cause of her poor liver function (her bile acids were very high).
Anyway, the diagnosis is in - Chronic Hepatopathy - basically chronic liver disease. Her liver is very small. Apparently she has had this for years. However, I had not been getting her labs done annually until last year when she developed the spindle sarcoma.
Anyway, vet wants me to continue with the milk thistle twice a day and he also put her on a round of antibiotics for 21 days in case she developed hepatitis.
I am to return in about a month to have her levels checked.
So the liver can regenerate so hopefully with the supportive care, diet and exercise, I can reverse some of the damage. I just feel bad because I was not good with keeping up with lab work over the years.
She is otherwise doing very well, chirping a lot and I feel like her energy is up since being on the milk thistle.
Anyway thank you for the prayers and if you have any suggestions to improve her liver function, please drop your comments.
As for her current diet, she was never on an all seed diet. The only seed she gets during the day is safflower seed but that is a training reward. I do a lot of targeting with her to get her moving around. She walkes a few feet to touch the stick to get a reward, for example.
She gets millet no more than once a week, often less frequently because I don't want them to go through it too quickly
She gets pellets in the evening - TOPS
I buy a lot of food from Christine's Chop shop which she and my sun love. They love the soak and serve chop and the daily maintance (dried mix), which they eat in the morning. They also love blueberries.
For snacks they get get Classic nutriberries as a treat, no more than two a day. They get the cockatiel sized Are nutriberries bad for them? That stuff is like crack so I wonder if it is unhealthy.
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Post by rambosmother on Mar 11, 2023 15:42:58 GMT -5
My Quaker who is 29 also has fatty liver disease. He was never on an all seed diet which can cause it. He has always been on Harrison lifetime granules. My vet says Quakers are genetically predisposed of fatty liver so dont feel it's something you caused. Can you share the milkthistle you are giving your bird? Link to where I can buy? He is blind from cataracts. I wish that was reversible.
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Post by cnyguy on Mar 11, 2023 20:20:33 GMT -5
It's good that Nikki's diagnosis was less severe than it might have been and is something that is manageable and correctable. Milk thistle is effective in treating liver disease in parrots, so you already have that covered. Keeping seed to a small treat or special reward is the right thing to do. I doubt that the Nutraberries are a problem, in moderation and mainly as a treat. Some fresh foods can be helpful too. Dandelion greens (cultivated, store-bought and not from the lawn), broccoli, cabbage, red peppers and walnuts (in moderation) are all said to be helpful at detoxifying and are supposed to be beneficial to the liver. Glad that you and Nikki got some positive news. |
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Post by Pappagallo on Mar 20, 2023 13:38:41 GMT -5
My Quaker who is 29 also has fatty liver disease. He was never on an all seed diet which can cause it. He has always been on Harrison lifetime granules. My vet says Quakers are genetically predisposed of fatty liver so dont feel it's something you caused. Can you share the milkthistle you are giving your bird? Link to where I can buy? He is blind from cataracts. I wish that was reversible. Wow your Quaker is 29! God bless. Nikki will be 19 next month. She doesn't have fatty liver. She has a small liver and chronic liver disease.
The milk thistle was given to me by my vet and looks like a prescription and I feed it through a syringe. It's made by Nature's Wonderland. I did not by it over the county online so I don't know where you find it.You need to talk to your vet about the dosage before you give it to her. My vet told me to give her .4 ml twice a day.
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Post by heatherg on Mar 28, 2023 23:10:59 GMT -5
I’m glad vets are now more interested in milk thistle. When my Lucy had liver disease after egg yolk peritonitis the vet dismissed it as a folk remedy.
I’ve also ordered milk thistle seeds to give as treats and maybe will use them as training treats instead of sunflower seeds.
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