Dear Parrots magazine,
Heavy metal poisoning
In the April issue of Parrots magazine I was very concerned to read the opinion of a contributor to Postbag who claimed that zinc does not cause any particular harm to cage birds. This is very far from the truth. Many parrots have died from zinc poisoning, often due to flakes of zinc found on cheap imported welded mesh. These look jagged and can be seen with the naked eye.
Many veterinarians can testify to this as the cause of death. Some years ago Australian avian vet Stacey Gelis told me of his experiences. In a collection of mutation Galahs the birds were put in newly built suspended cages. They were seen to be drinking excessively, they had watery droppings and were regurgitating water. One Galah, which was very sick was passing faeces that looked like strawberry jam. It did not survive, despite aggressive intravenous treatment with fluids, chelation therapy and antibiotics, the usual treatment for heavy metal poisoning (HMP). When the first bird was radiographed the heavy metal particles were seen not only in the gizzard, but also on the tail feathers in the matted faeces. In another case two newly acquired pairs of Golden Conures were saved due to early diagnosis and treatment.
This resulted in Dr Gelis routinely radiographing birds before necropsy if they are valuable or suspected to be suffering from HMP, as these particles can be hard to differentiate from grit in the gizzard.
If a bird is suspected of having HMP it must be rushed to a vet as a matter of extreme urgency.
Rosemary Low, by email