The opinions expressed here are opinions only. No contributor is liable for the use or misuse of any advice or information provided. No recommendation has been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Contributors are not qualified to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. All responsibility for the application of any information taken from these pages is wholly upon and at the discretion of the individual choosing to use it. Consultation with a holistic veterinarian is encouraged.
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HolisticBird Pet Bird Health Discussion Lists List Guidelines for HolisticBird list Articles & Discussions Pet Bird Diet Avian Nutrition Bird Behavior Healthy Bird Environment Help for Ailing Birds Healing Methods
Resources
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Health and Healing
Symptoms and Remedies List
Follow the links to read detailed discussions and brain-storming on these subjects by list members of the HolisticBird list.
Go to these sites to read about using bird droppings as a clue to diagnosis.
http://www.acstiels.com/poop-ology.htm
http://harrisonsbirdfoods.com/avian_medicine/mak172.htm
Please Review Calculating Dosages for Birds before using herbs.
| Ailment | Helpful Treatments |
| Acupuncture | Chinese healing method that involves clearing blocked energy meridians with the use of needles placed on critical acupoints to stimulate energy flow. |
| Aspergillosis | . |
| Avian Disease | See list of Major Avian Diseases at the bottom of this page |
| Bacteria | Herbal 'antibiotics' include echinacea, cinnamon, more. |
| Bleeding | Birds have little blood volume. It is important to stop bleeding quickly. Yunnan Paiyao is a chinese herb that stops bleeding. Flour or conrstarch work well, too. You can use kwik stop on toenails, but not on beaks, eyes, or open wounds. Apply pressure to the follicles of blood feathers. |
| Burns | Aloe Vera, St John's Wort |
| Broken Bones | herb: comfrey homeopathic: symphytum |
| Brown's Hypertrophy | indicated by a change in cere color |
| Cataracts | Homeopathic Calc. fluor or .tissue salt Calc. fluor.6x instead, eucalyptus honey |
| Choanal Atresia | . |
| Circulation | ginger, hawthorn, garlic |
| Colloidal Metals:aluminum | . |
| Colloidal Silver | natural antibiotic. use internally or externally. Poor quality will cause skin to turn grey. |
| Crop Problems | Air in Crop Slow Crop |
| Diabetes | Nopal, Chromium |
| Digestive tract injury |
Slippery Elm, marshmallow, aloe, |
| Digestion - poor | food enzymes (lactase, cellulase, protease, lipase) probiotics, cayenne |
| Droppings | . |
| Diarrhea | . |
| Egg Laying | prolapse, fertility, antifertility |
| Eye infections | prepare eye wash of eyebright/goldenseal tea. Be sure to strain first. Also give this tea to drink. |
| Fatty tumors | psyllium hulls, milk thistle, garlic, chickweed |
| Feather plucking | different causes require different treatments. Use the link at left for examples. (Causes: nutrition, metal poisoning, parasites, stress etc) |
| . | . |
| Feather/skin | milk thistle, burdock, red clover, horsetail, dulse, trace minerals, red african palm oil. MSM Thyroid related: bladderwrack or kelp |
| Female stimulant | dong quoi, red raspberry, black cohosh, soy |
| Fluid retention | dandelion |
| Foot Stomping | Cockatiels Cockatiel's - foot stomping |
| Fungus/yeast | Garlic, pau d'arco, pro-biotics, GSE |
| Gentian Violet | purple stain for treating yeast topically. |
| Giardia | see parasites, GSE |
| Giardia, GSE Giardia Testing |
See major avian diseases, below |
| Glandular tonic | N.S. Master gland formula |
| Gout | Cherries, strawberries, celery juice and seed |
| GSE Remedy | antibiotic, antifungal. Acts as a broad-spectrum antibiotic so must use probiotics during and after use. |
| Heart | Hawthorn berry, CoQ10, Vitamin E |
| . | . |
| Immune System | . |
| Inflammation | Bromelein, boswellia, white willow (like aspirin) |
| Insect Bites | Homeopathic: apis |
| Iron Storage Disease |
Iron Storage and Tannins and Citrus and Vitamins |
| Kidneys | Dandelion helps to flush and detoxify kidneys. Bladder infections can be treated with cranberry. |
| Lactulose |
Amazon-1/2cc in 8 0z., tiels 1/4cc, babies (being medicated, slow crop,etc) 1 drop per feeding./ precaution- loose droppings - reduce the amount of Lactulose.
"We routinely use a milk thistle extract added to chronulac (lactulose) for almost any sick bird we think has some type of liver disease. Scott McD D.V.M. |
| Liver | Milk thistle, Natureade's Aloe Detox, Lactulose, Dandelion |
| Fatty Liver | . |
| Male stimulant | yohimbe, saw palmetto |
| Metal Toxicity | . |
| Mites | external parasites |
| Feather Plucking | Various remedies depending on the origin of the problem. |
| Nerve damage | Brewer's yeast, soy lecithin, St. John's wort, |
| . | . |
| Parasites | garlic, pumpkin seed, probiotics, GSE, black walnut |
| Phenols | . |
| Poisoning | Activated charcoal |
| Polyurea | increased water in droppings. can be caused by diabetes, increased water consumption, or consuming large amounts of juicy fruits. |
| PFBD |
See major avian diseases, below |
| PDD | Proventricular Dilatation Disease See major avian diseases, below PDD misdiagnosis? PDD / PDS St. John's Wort, digestive enzymes, astragalus, probiotics, garlic, propulsid. Use together |
| Probiotics | lactobacillus, bifidus, etc. Bacteria found in yogurt or capsules that help to repopulate a digestive tract depleted of microflora by antibiotics or stress. |
| Prolapse | White oak bark, Homeopathic Calc. fluor |
| Psittacosis | See major avian diseases, below |
| Regurgitation | Vomiting. The symptom of regurgitation can be found in the following conditions/diseases: BFD (budgerigar fledgeling disease); bacterial infection; candidiasis (yeast); crop impaction; hormone stimulation; PDD (proventricular dilatation disease); tumors of crop or esophagus; Nutritional secondary hyperparthyroidism; Pacheco's disease; oral or digestive tract pappilomatosis; parasites (worms or protozoa); toxins (food toxins, fertilizer, insecticides, various household environmental toxins, water) |
| Red Palm Oil |
1/4 tsp or 15 drops of Red African Palm oil daily for an African Grey sized (Congo) bird. It is rich in Vit. A, one of the richest sources of Beta Carotene and some Vit E. all necessary for supple smooth skin. Read more about Red Palm Oil under Essential Fatty Acids Discussion. |
Reproduction |
female: dong quai, black cohosh, red raspberry leaves male: saw palmetto, |
| Respiratory | Numerous types...see below. |
| Respiratory allergic |
burdock, golden seal, capsicum |
| Respiratory fungal |
see Aspergillosis |
| Respiratory congest / inflamm |
Mullein, fenugreek, boneset, slippery elm |
| Respiratory bact. infection |
echinacia, garlic, astragalus, |
| Sarcocystis | See major avian diseases, below |
| Slow Crop | Main causes include unsanitary conditions, brooder too cold, formula too cold, bacterial and/or yeast infections, and contaminated formula. Cause must be determined prior to treatment. Bacteria and yeast responds well to garlic, echinacea, probiotics, and digestive enzymes added to formula, if caught early enough. Brooder temp must also be increased. |
| Seizures | . |
| Sinusitis | Upper Respiratory: use garlic and echinacea |
| Skin...dry | Red Palm Oil Aloe, pure juice |
| Stroke | . |
| Toe-tapping | No conclusive cause. Speculation includes excess vitamin/mineral supplementation. Most likely related to diet. |
| Thyroid | Bladderwrack, Kelp |
| Thyroid and Light | . |
| Toxic system | One ounce Aloe Detox per 3 ounces of water, dandelion, milk thistle, burdock, |
| Tumors (budgies) | fatty tumors: psyllium hulls, milk thistle, garlic, chickweed |
| Urinary system | marshmallow, horsetail, cornsilk, uva ursi, |
| Urine | normal is clear. volume depends on diet. increased in diabetes because of increased water consumption. |
| Uric acid (serum) Uric Acid |
Vit C w/bioflavinoids |
| Urinary Tract infection | cranberry for acid tract |
| Vaccinations | Controversial: may cause immune system and other health problems as long and short-term side-effects. |
| Virus | (cold) elderberry, cat's claw, (hot) echinacea & garlic |
| Wounds, bleeding | TOPICAL: calendula, capsicum, plantain, white oak, yarrow, yunan paio |
| Wounds, shallow | TOPICAL: aloe, arnica, calendula, comfrey, goldenseal, plantain, St. john's wort |
| Wounds, deep | TOPICAL:white oak, calendula, lobelia, yarrow* |
| Wound, infected | TOPICAL: lobelia, plantain, slippery elm |
| Wounds, venom | TOPICAL: arnica, lobelia, tea tree oil, white oak, yarrow |
| Wounds/Injuries | . |
| X-rays and vet visits | Bach rescue remedy for stress plus appropriate homeopathics and spirulina for radiation |
| Yeast | GSE, Garlic, probiotics, eliminate sugar from diet |
| Yellow | Cockatiel turning yellow (case studies) |
| Zinc Toxicity | EDTA drug reaction, homeopathics, charocoal, psillium, aloe detox |
| . |
Major Avian Diseases |
| Pacheco's virus |
affects liver and spleen. Amazons and Conures can be |
| Polyoma virus | also known as papovavirus and budgarigar fledgeling disease. The disease can be rapidly fatal or chronic. Mortality is high among juvenile birds. There is a vaccine and a test for this disease. Eclectus and Caiques are susceptible even as adults. |
| PDD | Proventricular Dilatation Disease, also known as Macaw Wasting Disease and Proventricular Syndrome. Causative agent is like a virus and a virus may have been identified. It attacks the central nervous system and the nervous system of the digestive tract. Route of transmission is unknown. There are both chronic and acute forms. There is no vaccine, but a test for the disease is in development. |
| PBFD | Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease. Caused by a virus. It is sometimes referred to as avian AIDS because it severely depresses the immune system. In one form, the virus attacks the organs of the immune system and in another form, there is extensive feather loss. Feathers that grow do so abnormally. The beak and nails overgrow and fracture. As far as I know, there is no vaccine. Some birds are known to sero-convert. There is a test for this disease. |
| Newcastle Disease | VVND (Velogenic Viscerotropic Newcastle Disease. Caused by a virus. Nearly 100% mortality. Can be transmitted to all species of birds so has grave implications for the poultry industry. This disease is reportable to the State Department of Agriculture. In order to prevent the spread of this disease, all birds within a determined area of contagion are euthanized. |
| Sarcocystis | Protozoan organism whose life-cycle involves opossums, birds (particularly grackles), and insects (cockroaches and flies). It mainly infects the lungs which fill with fluid, causing swift death. Old world parrots like cockatoos, african greys, and eclectus are especially susceptible. |
| Giardia | Protozoan organism contracted by drinking contaminated water. This organism is found in birds, humans, dogs, and cats. |
| Psittacosis |
Caused by the chlamydia organism. It is transmissible to |