Letter
I have a red-front Kak, 7 months old. I received him from a friend of mine
when he was approx.. 6 to 8 weeks old. The day before I was to bring him home, he experienced
what I would call a "spell" (disorientated, absolutely lost all functions to walk, fly etc.)
This continues to happen to him quite regularly. His last two episodes were the most extreme....
to the point where I thought he was dying. His whole body just went totally limp, his eyes were
glazed over, unresponsive to everything, totally lifeless). I picked him up, and securely held
him close to my chest. I continuously kept talking to him, stroked his head gently, gave him
kisses etc...all the very things you would do to comfort a child actually. It took approx.. 2
hours for him to regain his energy and return back to his regular self again. Being new with
birds like I am...this is really a concern to me and I don't see this as a normal. So far, I've
been lucky to have been around during each of these episodes and have been able to aide him
through this. Actually the "father" had the same kind of "spells" as well.
I've been told, its because of stress? weakness in the heart? Any suggestions, advice would be
greatly appreciated....he has been a wonderful member in our family and love him to pieces...I
need some sort of direction though.
Reply
As a fairly new bird owner you need to start learning as much about birds as possible. One of
the best sources to get all the basic bird information is Bird Talk magazine. Be careful of the
bird books out there on the market. Many of them carry bad information and are severely
outdated (like first published before I was born).
It sounds as if your bird is having siezures and may be epileptic. You need to get him to an
avian vet as soon as possible to diagnose what's causing it. An avian vet might be able cure
the problem if it is caused by an infection or something. If it's a genetic disorder he/she
can tell you the best way to deal with the episodes when they happen and perhaps perscribe some
medication to help prevent the siezures. Epilepsy can become worse due to stress but this is
not the cause. Please get the little guy checked out as soon as possible.
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