Common Feather and Skin Disorders in Parrots and Other Pet Birds ...

For millions of proud bird and parrot owners in the United States, the relationship that they have with their avian friends are just as fulfilling if not more fulfilling than that of the relationship between a dog and its owner. Parrots, for one thing, are highly intelligent and bond deeply with their owners. Parrots can even become possessive of their owners and attack family members or friends that are very close to the owner. Parrots lovers also point out that parrots have the ability to mimic speech and thus offer a level of personal connection that dogs or cats are not capable of giving. But for all the amazing things that can come out of having a bird as a pet, one of the major downsides is dealing with illness and disorders in these pets. The anatomy of a bird is completely different from that of dogs and cats and few vets are properly prepared or equipped to treat parrots or other pet birds.

Pet birds are also much more fragile than other animals and any treatment for birds must be comparatively benign in order to not kill the bird in treatment. Much of their fragility comes with the fact that they have feathers instead of fur and thus there are large amounts of exposed skin underneath the feathers of birds. Birds, therefore, have a number of diseases and disorders that just revolve around issues with their feathers and skin.

Types of Feather Disorders

Almost every type of bird will pick at their feathers to a certain extend, but when the picking gets out of hand and they start to lose a great deal of feathers, they may be suffering from one of the following disorders or diseases in birds:

? Feather cysts-these are commonly found on the wings of birds and can result in infection. Most treatment requires surgical removal of the cysts from the bird.

? Behavioral feather picking-if a bird obsessively picks at its feathers and it starts to lose a large amount of them it may be a result of recent trauma or emotional upset.

? Polyfollicles-this is when multiple feathers grow from one follicle. This can cause inflammation and infection. It is thought to be caused from a virus.

For more information on the various feather and skin disorders in parrots and other pet birds, visit the website of your Austin Veteranarian Clincs.

Joseph Devine

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Devine

Related posts

This entry was posted on May 31, 2011, 1:32 am and is filed under Info Bird Parrot. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.birdhitsplane.com/common-feather-and-skin-disorders-in-parrots-and-other-pet-birds.html

rolling in the deep lyrics mississippi flooding sarah ferguson scandal peace corps scout chelsea handler bora bora