Your bird may be unable to control its muscles and may fall off its perch while experiencing twitching and spastic jerking for up to 2 to 5 minutes. The cause of seizures is often hard to isolate, with the causes ranging from tumors and heat stroke to trauma and toxins. The seizure is a result of spontaneous disturbances within the brain’s electrical activity. Until you can get your bird to a veterinarian for treatment, ensure that your birdcage has a layer of soft padding on the bottom to protect it and minimize injury while having a seizure.
Seizures are upsetting to witness in your bird, involving loss of muscle control and muscle spasms such as leg twitching and wing flapping.
Types
There are three distinct stages to a seizure.
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After your bird has a seizure, carefully take your bird to the avian veterinarian as soon as possible to determine the cause of the problem and enable a treatment plan. Keep your bird in a dim light and quiet environment after a seizure, and keep it warm but not overheated. Padding on the cage floor, and lowering the perches may help your bird recover. Nutritious food offerings of easily digested food and ensure the water bowl is not too deep to prevent accidental drowning. Your veterinarian will need a history of how long the episode lasted, and what character changes your bird experienced will help, such as did your bird look vacant, fall over, or have any trembling at all.
Your bird will be given a thorough physical examination followed by radiographs and blood chemistry to reveal the cause of the problem. The blood chemistry can reveal liver and kidney malfunctioning, while the radiography can determine the presence of metallic material (toxic material) in the gastrointestinal tract. The blood count can help determine infectious disease. It can also show dietary deficiencies and mineral/vitamin shortages. Often it is a case of eliminating other disease before an in-depth study on the remaining options can source a reputable diagnosis.
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Because a seizure can be caused by a variety of physical reasons, once the cause can be found then targeted treatment can begin immediately. If the cause is toxic metals such as lead and zinc, then the treatment with chelating drugs and removal of the particles is the focus. There are many possible treatments for seizures, but your specialist will be able to advise you dependent on the results from his examination of your bird companion. Hypocalcemia requires dietary adjustments to be made, and supplying calcium and Vitamin D3. If hypoglycaemia is present then using glucose to stabilise the blood sugar will help.
Diseases such as liver or kidney disease have specific treatments that your specialist can advise you on. Good supportive care that includes a warm and safe home, fluids, and treatment medication will help. Anticonvulsants can be used to temporarily halt the seizures allowing treatment to take effect. While there are plenty of possible treatments depending on diagnosis, some birds only have rare episodes, and others recover completely. There are some birds that unfortunately get worse and for those the prognosis is grim. Your bird will need your support and care that only you can give in its time of need.
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Once your bird is home and on the road to recovery, it may be a good idea to keep your bird companion in a smaller cage with a padded floor to prevent injuries if it continues to have seizures. Check the environment to ensure there are no possible items in the vicinity that may cause possible poisoning. Birds are such curious creatures that they will investigate everything in their environment.
Beware of using household cleaners that have toxic vapors such as cleaning products, and while it may not affect you, it could harm your pet. Follow your avian veterinarian’s guidelines for treatment, and make sure you give all the treatment, don’t stop it when your bird appears better. Often the cause takes the full treatment to cure.
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Lovebird
One Year
Unknown severity
12 found helpful
Unknown severity
Has Symptoms
My grandma has two lovebirds. One of which has seizures. My mom has told me it happens once a month, but it has happened twice in two weeks since I have been staying with her. The bird is tired all day after, but is usually recovered the next day. If only one bird is having seizures, could the cause still be diet or environmental? I’m trying to convince my mom and grandma to take the bird to the vet, but they are convinced it will be expensive and result in nothing.
July 29, 2020
Owner
Dr. Michele K. DVM
12 Recommendations
Thank you for your question. Seizures in birds don't tend to be environmental, and there is probably an underlying reason for it. Unfortunately, I cannot give you an idea as far as cost of testing, as I do not know what test we would need until I would examine the bird, and the cost of things can vary greatly depending on where you live. It may be a good idea to start with an examination with a veterinarian, and they can give you an idea as to what they think might be going on, what test might be needed, and how much those cost. I hope that all goes well with the birds.
July 29, 2020
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Sully
cockatiel
7 Years
Serious severity
2 found helpful
Serious severity
Has Symptoms
He started to flail around on the floor of his cage and he couldn’t twist his neck. It took about two and a half minutes for him to recover, then had another one around five minutes later.
May 18, 2018
Sully's Owner
Dr. Michele K. DVM
2 Recommendations
If Sully is having seizures that frequently, he should be seen by a veterinarian to determine why he is having the seizures, and to get medications to help him stop. I hope that he is okay.
May 18, 2018
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