Vet's View

by Joel Murphy D.V.M.
August 2001

Feather Picking Diagnosis
-Joel Murphy, DVM 

The first step in determining the cause(s) of feather picking in a given bird must be a complete veterinary work-up. This should include a Complete Blood Count (CBC), a Biochemical profile with bile acids included, parasitology tests (we recommend a Ph.D. parasitologist using a phase microscope), bacterial and fungal culture, and Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease DNA probe tests. Additional tests that we do at my veterinary clinic, which are often not available at most avian referral centers, include live blood analysis using a phase microscope. Many birds with feather abuse problems also need feather and skin biopsies, radiographs, and blood work to determine lead and zinc levels.

The list above may seem to readers to include a lot of tests. However, avian diagnostic medicine is very difficult compared to dog and cat medicine. Unfortunately, with our current level of technology, these are the “bare bones,” the minimum number of tests necessary to determine whether a pet bird is healthy, or suffering from a physical illness. Any veterinarian working with a feather picking bird is faced eventually with having to come to a conclusion as to whether the bird is feather picking for physical or psychological reasons. If an avian veterinarian is doing fewer than these minimum tests, he is only pretending to practice avian medicine. Making a diagnosis in the absence of these tests would be the equivalent of flipping a coin to determine if the bird is feather picking due to a physical disease or a psychological problem. It is impossible to tell if a pet bird is healthy simply from performing just a physical exam, or even a physical exam and a gram stain. Too often, based upon inadequate testing, a veterinarian will simply make a guess and decide that a bird is feather picking for psychological reasons, when the poor bird is really suffering from Giardiasis, zinc poisoning, a fungal infection, tuberculosis, malnutrition, liver disease or cancer.

Thus, it is only after these tests are completed, and the results found to be normal, should consideration be given to the possibility that the feather picking is occurring for psychological reasons. Once the conclusion has been reached that the parrot is feather picking for psychological causes, the veterinarian is faced with a real dilemma. 

Parrots have evolved in their natural habitats to have very complex flock social structures and inter-bird dynamics. When we keep birds as companions we are expecting them to adapt to our environment and social lifestyles and essentially “forget” millions of years of evolution. For most parrots this is not a big deal and they are happy to oblige. However, many species of parrots, such as Queen of Bavaria and Cherry-headed Conures, have a very difficult, if not impossible time, adapting – and feather picking is sometimes a result. As veterinarians, we know it is unlikely that we can help these birds unless we can identify drugs or holistic therapies that will reduce their psychological suffering.

Some parrot species could be described as “emotional sponges.” When living as our companions, they are exposed to many human emotional energies that they are not always prepared or able to handle. In the wild, if one of the members of the flock is “on alert,” all of the birds in the flock become more alert and correspondingly go into a flight or fight response. As companion to humans, pet birds often tune into our anxiety and respond with a flight or fight response. However, in the case of the companion bird, there is no way to fly away from this perceived danger. If an owner is the type of person who experiences chronic anxiety, the pet bird will suffer. In these cases, drugs or holistic therapies can sometimes help to alleviate some of this suffering.

Thus, if you are a “stressed-out” person, have a lot of psychological issues that impact your daily emotional life, have difficulty maintaining good personal relationships, frequently experience high levels of anger or fear, and you live with one of the more empathic parrot species, it is very possible that your pet bird will begin feather picking. As a veterinarian, I’m well aware that “fixing” the people is not practical, but I can often relieve the psychological suffering of the bird by using either drugs or holistic therapies.

Further, parrots, like all living creatures, have an instinctive drive to reproduce and maintain their species. Any bird or animal that has little motivation to multiply will be quickly eliminated by natural selection. In keeping them as our companions, we often unconsciously expect them to behave as if they are “celibate priests.” This expectation works about as well for parrots as it does for people and results in all kinds of deviant behavior and psychological disease – feather picking being one of these (so far we have no reports of parrots molesting children). When it is obvious that a pet bird is not going to be able to have a normal sexual relationship with one of his own species, hormonal therapy to reduce his sex drive is sometimes effective in dealing with this very common cause of feather picking.

In the October/November issue of the Holistic Bird Newsletter, I will be taking a closer look at some of the drugs and holistic therapies that we can use to help a bird whose feather abuse problem results from psychological or hormonal reasons.