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Seizures in a Grey

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Seizures in a Grey Empty Seizures in a Grey

Post  AbbyBCLady Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:19 pm

Message 1 of 1 in Discussion

From: Indy75 (Original Message) Sent: 02/05/2000 7:09 PM
Hi! I am trying to find anyone that has an African Grey that takes seizures. Mine has been for 8 yrs and would like to compare notes because there are different causes and they are hard to figure out. Maybe we could help each other. Thanks Indy


Message 2 of 1 in Discussion

From: SnoBird Sent: 03/05/2000 6:05 AM
Hi Indy and welcome to the flock!!
Wow, that must be scary for you. What does your grey do when a seizure is coming on and how long does it last?? Thank you for posting your message under the African Grey topic so others can get info on this. I have two Greys and the only thing I know is lack of calcium can be one cause for seizures. I will write a note in my birding friends newsletter to see if any other Grey owners have had any experience with seizures in their birds. It may take a week for a response as the newsletter goes out on Sunday mornings. Thanks for such a good question we all can learn from and again..welcome!


Message 3 of 1 in Discussion

From: LilBit-MA Sent: 03/05/2000 7:01 PM
Hi, Indy

Although I don't have any greys, I do have a friend with some and will try to get in touch with her tomorrow, 5/4 to see if I can get any info for you. Will be in touch.....Lil Bit


Message 4 of 1 in Discussion

From: Indy75 Sent: 04/05/2000 3:55 PM
Allie is 10 and has been taking seizures for 8 yrs. I handfed her myself from 7wks old and then around 2 yrs old she took her first seizure which really didn't look like nothing. She was leaning against the bars of her cage. A few months later she flew off her cage. That was a slight one too. After that we took her to the vets and ran all kinds of tests. Her calcium was normal. That's what the vet said. Her lead test was normal. We tried calcium suppliment in her water but that didn't work. So they put her on phenabarbital. Over the years her dosage went up but she was doing real good from July 99 to Dec 99 with only one. Other times she would go maybe a couple of months. She had a total of 3 in 99. Since January 2000 she has had close to 20. These were different in that the seizure looked different. Usually she would flap her wings and scream during one. This time they came in clusters of days together and some look like she just fell off her perch. I sleep with a baby monitor all the time to hear them. Well I have a new vet and I asked for him to do a zinc test (the other vet 8 yrs ago said not to bother) She has a toxic level of zinc. We don't know if she has always had zinc in her because we didn't test along time ago. Her calcium was low normal so this vet put her on a suppliment. I feed her her phenabarbitol twice daily in a syringe so I just added it to that. He gave her a Vitamin D shot and I bought a vitalight for her. I bought a new cage because that is where she got the zinc from. My vet has talked to Dr. Wissman from Birdtalk and she felt it was a calcium problem. She still had seizures and he talked to other vets and they say to up her meds. I am still waiting on that. For some reason she isn't keeping her calcim level up and she is on such a high dose of meds these doctors can't figure out why the meds aren't working. I figured if I could find someone that has this problem I could learn something. I'm praying for an answer. Sorry this is so long. Thanks for listening!


Message 5 of 1 in Discussion

From: SnoBird Sent: 04/05/2000 8:01 PM
Gosh Indy, thank you for being so informative when bringing us up to date on your Allie. I e-mailed my human friend Allie and I'm sure she will put it in the newsletter for this Sunday. What a shame to be so medicated,...what kind(brand) of cage was the one in question with the zinc? Did she have the paint chewed off? You'll have to keep us posted as we say our lil' birdie prayers for your Allie!!!...snobird & friends


Message 6 of 1 in Discussion

From: Indy75 Sent: 05/05/2000 10:42 AM
Allie had been in a smaller cage a Prevue 125 that was brass. Since she took seizures I wasn't too concerned about having a bigger cage. I even had bought 2 of them in the last 10 yrs because the brass coating wore off. Allie doesn't chew her cage but the coating wore off. Since Allie's cage is lined with towels on top of her grate she would swing down over the apron and pull out the tray. Because of the towels that was clean. She would sit in this tray and play with pellets or whatever. I did not realize that this galvanized tray (it's not painted) had zinc in it. After during research on the net I found out galvanized anything has zinc in it.I also found out brass has zinc in it too. galvanied sheets have a whitish cast to them over time this is suppose to be the zinc. Her food that she was playing with was laying on this. There are other things that I was told have zinc in them. So actually they don't have to ingest an actual piece of metal. Some birds do when they chew on the bars or some types of padlocks I read that Macaws have destroyed. It's scarey because she has been doing this for yrs and I am so careful about everything concerning her and I didn't even realize it.


Message 7 of 1 in Discussion

From: LilBit-MA Sent: 05/05/2000 5:37 PM
Hi, Indy....Afraid I came up dry. Spoke to three people who know a good deal about greys, but none were of any assistance. I'll keep trying, though.


Message 8 of 1 in Discussion

From: joy Sent: 22/09/2000 3:34 AM
What is the best source of calcium for our little guys? What do you use that gives them what they need and that they will eat?? Thanks for any info! joy


Message 9 of 1 in Discussion

From: Indy75 Sent: 22/09/2000 11:41 AM
Hi don't give your bird any suppliment for calcium unless he has been tested by a vet. I'm talking about what Allie takes calcium glutamate. Too much calcium can be bad too. Brocolli is a good source. Cheese is another. Some people say that cheese isn't digested by birds but that isn't true. I've consulted with different vets and they all say feed her cheese. I feed her cheddar cheese. My vet consulted the vet from Birdtalk and she recomended mozzaralla. I think there is less fat in that. I use cheddar because I always use cheddar for other meals. Allie would eat any kind of cheese. There is one food you would think that would be good for them. Spinach. But spinach binds calcium so I wouldn't recommend it. Also I was told that sunshine lets them utilize the calcium. Since I can't get Allie outside all the time I was told to buy a full spectrum light. The sunshine is better though and not through a window. Does you bird like pizza? A lot of cheese there.

The problem with Greys and seizures is so complicated. They could be just epileptic, have a low calcium, or have metal poisoning. Allie also had zinc poisoning. I've been dealing with this for 8yrs and really not sure why she has them. I was hoping to find someone else to compare notes.

AbbyBCLady
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