Calcium & Vitamin D3 deficiency in my parrot

Lui (my Quaker Parakeet) has seemed a little off the past couple of days and it really worried me when he never ate anything, especially now he can't fly properly and really struggles. His health deteriorated since I moved to this house and he just wouldn't fly as much at all, if he does he'd fall onto the floor.

The vet said it's calcium and vitamin D3 deficiency, suspected Metabolic bone disease... I've been given ZOLCAL-D (liquid calcium) to orally give to him until he starts eating Harrisons Bird food: http://store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/HIGH-POTENCY-FINE/productinfo/HPF/ ... which is supposed to provide him with all the vitamins he needs.

I thought he'd be great on an all veg and fruit diet, occasionally some seeds. But the seed packet I'd gotten had a high contents of Linseed (the vet said he looks greasy, and is having too much fat in his diet).

I was wondering if anyone experienced could give me any more advice, I'm very worried and was quite upset today thinking I'd done him wrong with his diet and the possible the bone disease because of my mistakes. If he isn't improving in two days then I have to go back and pay a lot of money to have his bloods done, X-rays etc. I've sang to my crystals this morning and left them next to his cage - my personal ones and my house one. He seemed to have chewed the string on them a lot, so he's been playing with them and I'm sure he needs them more than me!

Very sorry to hear about Lui, Lilyalic. I hope the ZOLCAL-D gets him feeling better soon.

Lilyalic said:

Lui (my Quaker Parakeet) has seemed a little off the past couple of days and it really worried me when he never ate anything, especially now he can't fly properly and really struggles. His health deteriorated since I moved to this house and he just wouldn't fly as much at all, if he does he'd fall onto the floor.

The vet said it's calcium and vitamin D3 deficiency, suspected Metabolic bone disease... I've been given ZOLCAL-D (liquid calcium) to orally give to him until he starts eating Harrisons Bird food: http://store.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/HIGH-POTENCY-FINE/productinfo/HPF/ ... which is supposed to provide him with all the vitamins he needs.

I thought he'd be great on an all veg and fruit diet, occasionally some seeds. But the seed packet I'd gotten had a high contents of Linseed (the vet said he looks greasy, and is having too much fat in his diet).

I was wondering if anyone experienced could give me any more advice, I'm very worried and was quite upset today thinking I'd done him wrong with his diet and the possible the bone disease because of my mistakes. If he isn't improving in two days then I have to go back and pay a lot of money to have his bloods done, X-rays etc. I've sang to my crystals this morning and left them next to his cage - my personal ones and my house one. He seemed to have chewed the string on them a lot, so he's been playing with them and I'm sure he needs them more than me!

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I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm keeping parrots since I was a kid.I never had any major problem with them with some exceptions.
I noticed that they dont develop diseases if they are not locked in cages all the time. IF he is free to fly at home all the time and if he is not afraid and he trusts people then they are usuallt ok.
I also noticed that they are connecting to one person very close relationship. They can be good with many people but especially close they can be only with one person.

I'm feeding my parrot with the same food as you do. Fruits and vegetables and seeds.

Once i had a parrot that was eating everything. He would come on the table and he would eat even a meat, sausages, and he had a really long life.
I also noticed that they very sensitive in their periods of moulting, few times per year.

And some vegetables are not so good for them. For example, many of my parrots ( not all of them ) developed a diarrhea after i gave them a cucumber. So now i'm not giving them that vegetable. I usually give him carrots, apples, few leaves of parsley, green salad.

When the weather is good i put him in the cage and take him outside on the balcony so he can get the sunshine and natural Vit D. Just dont put him under a direct sunlight when its too hot. An early morning and a late afternoon is good time.

Some of them also love to take a bath. So just bring him near the tap and he will do the rest if he wants.

I hope that your parrot will be better soon.

Thank you!

I do give him baths Konstantin, he's always out of his cage as I never lock it. Thank you for all your advice and tips! :)

He still isn't coming out of his cage voluntarily, but I had to make him when I got home from work today to give him the calcium & vit D medicine.
He played a little with his toys and my hand but became tired very quickly. Vet said to bring him back in 7-10 days just to see how he is. He's eating the Harrisons food as long as it's mashed with water and he ate some banana too. I've ordered a UV lamp to help with his VD deficiency, and will take him out in the cage everyday when I've moved house at the end of the month.

Fingers crossed!

I'm so sorry to hear about Lui; I really hope he is ok. What kind of lamp are you getting? Is it the same kind as one of those basking lamps for lizards?

Big hugs for you both

Hello Lainey; If you look at parrots in the wild, they will eat a lot of nutsand seeds, and the nuts and seeds are somewhat toxic. To compensate for the toxicity they will seek out clay to eat which neutralises the toxicity. If you could make enquiries about the kind of suitable clay for your bird, it may help its situation.
The other thing which crossed my mind is that Spring is in the air, and maybe it is in love? It is a lovebird..
Just saying..

Sorry for the late reply I've been so stressed and busy researching and taking him back and too from the vets and changing stuff around etcetc...

The lamp I got was the full spectrum (Keyhole gave me the one he thought was best) and I've been keeping that on him a few times a day, but not for long periods of time and I wouldn't leave it on because I've read many reviews which said they'd exploded and there's lots of mercury vapor in there so no ty!

I had to have blood tests done for Lui last week which costed a bomb, and took him to the specialist avian vets which is an hours drive from where I am today. His cholesterol is VERY high, it's meant to be between 2 & 6 and it was 21.5. His Liver bile is meant to be between 0-80 and it's 125. So, the signs point towards Fatty Liver Disease.

I changed his diet within this time to Harrison's mixed with Spinach and water - I read a whole lot about milk thistle and cinnamon that help lower the cholesterol and help the liver. Thankfully Richard (the avian specialist) gave me Milk Thistle today and said that's it's too risky to do any further procedures on him whilst he's poorly and with the chance his blood might not clot as well as it would if he wasn't poorly. He also said that further procedures may not be necessary because his condition might be improving with all that I'm doing.

He said I was doing all that I could, and it's good that I've moved him to sleeping in my room because he needs black out and good quality of sleep to recover. The liver disease (IF it is that) CAN be reversed with a very strict diet, UV rays, Calcium & Vit D supplements, Milk thistle, black out sleep and exercise when he's well enough, I also have to weigh him every 2 days.

IF he doesn't improve within the next few weeks and go from a 7/10 to a 10/10 then the next step will be X-rays and more procedures which will cost £250-£400 about. Or, if he is improving and he's staying between 80-95grams weight then, in 6 weeks I have to take him back for more blood tests (£200) to confirm his recovery. --Also if he's not improving with these steps then it's a sign of possible Heart Disease.

I have been really stressed and worried over this, I'm not eating or sleeping properly, I've been singing to the crystals every single day and was originally leaving my personal ones with him but they seemed to work better when they were with me and he had the house one. He does seem like he's improving honestly but I know that he's not 100% and he's still very sick.

Could you guys please, please pray for him, or give him your thoughts or something. I really care about him and love him so much, he's my responsibility and I would sell all my belongings to make him better if I could. I've been on a Parrot Forum which people there are really helping me too - that's probably why I've not been on here to check the replies because my queries where better answered there but Lui needs all the support he can get energetically and I guess so do I.

Here's a picture of him a few seconds ago:

I had a couple of budgerigar. They used to gnaw at a lot of things including indoor plants. Are you sure that your Lui does not gnaw at something or eat something he should not get?

I hope your Lui is getting well soon, Lainey. He is such a nice bird.

Hey Lily, sorry to hear about Lui! Give it some time and keep up with the treatment and hopefully he'll turn around. Sending you & Lui good vibes and well wishes!

It looks like you are doing your best for Lui. I hope everything turns out ok for you both and he gets better without it costing you too much.
My thoughts are with you both.
Big hugs.

MusicMan said:

Hello Lainey; If you look at parrots in the wild, they will eat a lot of nutsand seeds, and the nuts and seeds are somewhat toxic. To compensate for the toxicity they will seek out clay to eat which neutralises the toxicity. If you could make enquiries about the kind of suitable clay for your bird, it may help its situation.
The other thing which crossed my mind is that Spring is in the air, and maybe it is in love? It is a lovebird..
Just saying..

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Hmmm, looks like I mixed up Lainey and Lilyalic! Apologies to both, and I hope Lui is on the mend.

MusicMan said:

MusicMan said:

Hello Lainey; If you look at parrots in the wild, they will eat a lot of nutsand seeds, and the nuts and seeds are somewhat toxic. To compensate for the toxicity they will seek out clay to eat which neutralises the toxicity. If you could make enquiries about the kind of suitable clay for your bird, it may help its situation.
The other thing which crossed my mind is that Spring is in the air, and maybe it is in love? It is a lovebird..
Just saying..

Click to expand...

Hmmm, looks like I mixed up Lainey and Lilyalic! Apologies to both, and I hope Lui is on the mend.

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I guess we are all the same entity in 6/7D anyway so I wouldn't worry too much ;)

lainey said:

MusicMan said:

MusicMan said:

Hello Lainey; If you look at parrots in the wild, they will eat a lot of nutsand seeds, and the nuts and seeds are somewhat toxic. To compensate for the toxicity they will seek out clay to eat which neutralises the toxicity. If you could make enquiries about the kind of suitable clay for your bird, it may help its situation.
The other thing which crossed my mind is that Spring is in the air, and maybe it is in love? It is a lovebird..
Just saying..

Click to expand...

Hmmm, looks like I mixed up Lainey and Lilyalic! Apologies to both, and I hope Lui is on the mend.

Click to expand...

I guess we are all the same entity in 6/7D anyway so I wouldn't worry too much ;)

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That's a good way of putting it Lainey :D don't worry MusicMan. :)

Thank you all for your well wishes.

It´s good to know you´re receiving more help on the other forum Lylialic.

As I also had a grey parrot, I would also stress the importance of staying very relaxed and joyful, and singing calmly to him while staying around him. Many times I´ve been surprised at which degree my parrot would pick up my own states and reflect it through his behaviour. Whenever I´d feel too sad or worried, he´d bend forward all he could from above his big cage and start calling non-stop for my attention until I´d let him feel everything was ok. Amazing creatures!

Lui's blood tests came back really good. His liver bile had gone down from the 126 to 1.2 :) So he is getting better although it'll take over a year to fully recover from liver disease and I still have to go back every few months for blood tests. I want to thank you all for sending good vibes his way and being so supportive.

I'm not sure why he didn't test for his cholesterol levels, I'm guessing he (the vet) thought the liver bile would show an indication of that also. The cholesterol levels will be tested around August along with his liver bile etc again. I have to continue with everything that I'm doing.

I read the fear post this morning that Luc had shared and members had commented and I've not wanted to post about this - not sure why on the Lui part but more so about how his illness or my worry and stress has knocked me back. I was dissociating so much and going back to old ways of coping with stress. I did manage to go and see my therapist and she said I shouldn't be so hard on myself etc etc - but that's not the same as getting feedback here and she's always trying to validate me.

She made some good points about times like this can feel isolating - I went to a house party one night because it was 2 of my friends birthdays and everyone was drunk and I couldn't get drunk because I knew I had to get home to Lui and I can never stay over at someones house because I have to be home - everyone was trying to make me stay and it was a house full of students, none of them had responsibilities that required them to be home at certain times or be there for the next day. The whole time there I just felt like I was being irresponsible and that everyone was looking at me as if I was boring or that I needed to "chill". Sometimes I resent having Lui but I figured that wasn't Lui, it was just having the responsibility of looking after something/somebody else and I wouldn't change a thing if I could go back.

I feel like an idiot, considering how much I fell. I hardly came on the forum at all, I watched programs all day, I even got drunk one night and that's something I hate doing. A few weeks ago I just felt depressed for about 4 days and was battling my mind. Strangely at the right time, a member shared something on facebook about the "inner critic" and I kept reading different articles from that one, decided to start journalling again, do EE and reading "When the body says NO". Yet I'm still wanting to dissociate.