health
Let's Shoot the Poop!
by Mina
Most bird owners are aware that “poopology” is an important part of proper bird care. Put simply, birds are prey animals so they hide symptoms of illness or injury to preserve their lives and the lives of their flock. Makes sense, right? So if your bird acts normal when he/she is sick, how do you know? The proof is in the poop. Yes, your birds droppings do not lie. This is just one reason you want to use paper to line your trays and clean it daily. You need to check for changes in the droppings. So, what are you looking for?
Bird droppings consist of three different factors:
Feces: they are the green part that is usually shaped like a worm. This should have a good shape to it. My birds tend to hold their poop all night and have one very large morning dropping. This makes their first dropping have less shape. The others are normal and that’s important. Now, if your bird is a big fruit eater (like my caique) do NOT freak out if the feces are more brown. What goes in the beak comes out the vent. So much like anything in life, what you put into it is what you get out of it. I have also found that fresh fruit and veggies can sometimes make this have less shape. When you inspect this, always consider what you fed your bird.
Urates: this is the pasty white part of the dropping. It usually looks like your bird ate correction fluid. (Wite-out) This should be white. If this gets yellow, that is a sign of liver issues and you need to go to the vet for a blood work up right away.
Urine: this is the clear wet substance that surrounds the dropping. This should always be clear. Red is an indication of lead poisoning. You cannot get to the vet fast enough if this is the case!
Now, here’s an interesting story of how all this information can steer you wrong. Last week my cockatoo, Haley, had a red tint to the urine of her morning dropping. The second dropping was near it, with less tint. All the others were normal. Naturally I flipped out and felt the need to text local bird friends at 5am. My vet was consulting me by 8am. I emailed him a picture I took on my cell phone and he was confident it would end well since her following droppings were normal. He guessed that the red was blood and was caused by swelling in the cloaca, usually brought on by strain. Strain and swelling in the cloaca can be from constipation and/or mating behavior. I instantly Googled it all and by the time I left work I was ready to have a repeat the following morning and get a referral to Penn University for experts to exam my sweetie pie. When I got home and saw all the other droppings were still normal, I felt a bit better. (in my mind still packing the carrier) Then I remembered one article a vet wrote that I found in my Google-madness. I turned the paper with the dropping over and yes, there was a bright red car ad on the back of my black and white newspaper! The ink had bled through. I drizzled some water on the newspaper around the dropping to be certain it came up the exact same color. After thanking the Universe for the vet who wrote the article advising to check the back of the paper, I exhaled. So as a tip: Make certain the paper is NOT colored on the underside before you wake people at 5am and pack your bags.
The following morning her fresh paper had a dropping that landed where two papers overlapped each other. Her dropping was perfectly clear and normal on one side and red tinted on the other. I took a picture that you can view to show how a perfectly healthy dropping can appear to be a sickly one for you to see.
Most bird owners are aware that “poopology” is an important part of proper bird care. Put simply, birds are prey animals so they hide symptoms of illness or injury to preserve their lives and the lives of their flock. Makes sense, right? So if your bird acts normal when he/she is sick, how do you know? The proof is in the poop. Yes, your birds droppings do not lie. This is just one reason you want to use paper to line your trays and clean it daily. You need to check for changes in the droppings. So, what are you looking for?
Bird droppings consist of three different factors:
Feces: they are the green part that is usually shaped like a worm. This should have a good shape to it. My birds tend to hold their poop all night and have one very large morning dropping. This makes their first dropping have less shape. The others are normal and that’s important. Now, if your bird is a big fruit eater (like my caique) do NOT freak out if the feces are more brown. What goes in the beak comes out the vent. So much like anything in life, what you put into it is what you get out of it. I have also found that fresh fruit and veggies can sometimes make this have less shape. When you inspect this, always consider what you fed your bird.
Urates: this is the pasty white part of the dropping. It usually looks like your bird ate correction fluid. (Wite-out) This should be white. If this gets yellow, that is a sign of liver issues and you need to go to the vet for a blood work up right away.
Urine: this is the clear wet substance that surrounds the dropping. This should always be clear. Red is an indication of lead poisoning. You cannot get to the vet fast enough if this is the case!
Now, here’s an interesting story of how all this information can steer you wrong. Last week my cockatoo, Haley, had a red tint to the urine of her morning dropping. The second dropping was near it, with less tint. All the others were normal. Naturally I flipped out and felt the need to text local bird friends at 5am. My vet was consulting me by 8am. I emailed him a picture I took on my cell phone and he was confident it would end well since her following droppings were normal. He guessed that the red was blood and was caused by swelling in the cloaca, usually brought on by strain. Strain and swelling in the cloaca can be from constipation and/or mating behavior. I instantly Googled it all and by the time I left work I was ready to have a repeat the following morning and get a referral to Penn University for experts to exam my sweetie pie. When I got home and saw all the other droppings were still normal, I felt a bit better. (in my mind still packing the carrier) Then I remembered one article a vet wrote that I found in my Google-madness. I turned the paper with the dropping over and yes, there was a bright red car ad on the back of my black and white newspaper! The ink had bled through. I drizzled some water on the newspaper around the dropping to be certain it came up the exact same color. After thanking the Universe for the vet who wrote the article advising to check the back of the paper, I exhaled. So as a tip: Make certain the paper is NOT colored on the underside before you wake people at 5am and pack your bags.
The following morning her fresh paper had a dropping that landed where two papers overlapped each other. Her dropping was perfectly clear and normal on one side and red tinted on the other. I took a picture that you can view to show how a perfectly healthy dropping can appear to be a sickly one for you to see.
Comments
Blood in the feces?
Blood in the feces? There are several things to consider when you believe that something is wrong with a parrot’s droppings. You should know if they have been eating beets or cherries or another food that discolors poop.
Another thing that might frighten you is completely harmless. Be sure and check the other side of the newspaper where you found the unusual color. It might be ink on the other side as in the picture below.
It does look like blood but it is from the print on the other side.
Another thing that might frighten you is completely harmless. Be sure and check the other side of the newspaper where you found the unusual color. It might be ink on the other side as in the picture below.
It does look like blood but it is from the print on the other side.