Comparison of Treatment Protocols for Removing Metallic Foreign Objects From the Ventriculus of Budgerigars

A small metal sphere was placed in the crop, so it would be come "stuck" in the ventriculus. They administered various things to see which would help the sphere pass fastest (psyllium with grit, acidic drinking water, fine grit, coarse grit, cathartic emollients [peanut butter and mineral oil].

And guess what? Grit worked fastest.

(Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 23(3):186–193, 200)

Use of a duodenal serosal patch in the repair of a colon rupture in a female Solomon Island eclectus parrot

Just like the title says. Sorta.

The rDVM relieved egg-binding by collapsing the egg, after which hemorrhage was noted from the vent. The rDVM then performed a ventral midline cloacotomy (they didn't mention a coeliotomy, so I assume they went in through the vent? but doesn't make sense with the rest of the case...read on!) and sutured a tear in the cloaca.

blah blah bird doesn't get better blah blah

At referral, after medical treatment didn't work, they did perform a ventral midline coeliotomy and found one of the sutures from the cloaca repair to entrap a portion of the colon, causing GI obstruction. While cutting that suture off, the colon tore in 2 places. They repaired that with simple interrupted sutures and then sutured the serosa of the adjacent duodenum circumferentially over the colon repair.

voila! bird gets better. it's that simple...

HA! yeah, right.

(J Am Vet Med Assoc 2011;238:922–92)

Drug-resistant bacteria found in HALF of US meat

Just had to post this news article. I don't have to tell this crowd--part of the problem is how distant we are from the production of our food...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/15/health/main20054211.shtml

a "cure" for psittacine beak growth deformities!

This paper describes the use of cold-curing dental acrylics (used on non-anesthetized psittacines) to help abnormally growing beaks grow normal again.

For instance, this paper describes a case of scissor beak. Here is a picture for this example, stolen from this avian rescue blog: http://centerforavianrehab.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

Anyway--see how the rhinotheca is deviated to the bird's right? and because the gnathotheca has nothing to wear against, it is overgrown.

To treat this bird, you would trim both rhino- and gnathotheca, score the rhampotheca on the gnathotheca (to give the acrylic something to grip) and apply layers of acryllic to the gnathotheca rhampotheca (being careful to keep the bird's tongue away!). Then when it's dry, you shape the acrylic so it's higher on the bird's right and create a "groove" in the middle of the gnathotheca (where the rhinotheca sits in normal birds)--this forces the rhinotheca tip to slide into a more normal position, lining up with the gnathotheca.

After 6 weeks the acrylic usually falls off (or just pry it off) and voila! A more functionally (but not perfectly) aligned beak!

(Dental Composite for Use in Psittacine Species.

Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine, Vol 19, No 4 (October), 2010: pp 290 –297)

CPR works for rabbits!

And you don't need to intubate! Well, intubating is always better, but a tight-fitting facemask works well, too. Just follow your normal cat/dog doses and protocols (remember they have higher RRs/HRs!) and go to town! Happy ventilating!

(Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Hospitalized Rabbit: 15 Cases.

Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine, Vol 20, No 1 ( January), 2011: pp 46 –5)

Use of a Portable Tower and Remote-controlled Launcher to Improve Physical Conditioning in a Rehabilitating Wild Mallard

You heard right. That's the title of the study. They literally launched a harnessed mallard (using a real bird launcher) off a 20 foot pole for flight reconditioning. I love this field:)

(Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 24(4):308–315, 201)