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Poop ology
By
Dr. David J. Kersting, D.V.M.
American
Cockatiel Society
Understanding
your bird’s droppings could save your bird’s life
It
is true that when a bird becomes sick that their health can deteriorate
quickly. But it’s rarely true that when a bird become sick, it dies
suddenly without showing symptoms of illness. The symptoms are there,
we just have to learn how to recognize them.
 Changes
in the droppings can be a very early indicator that the bird is
sick. Know what normal droppings look like so you can recognize
a change in color, consistency, odor, and/or amount. Use paper at
the bottom of the cage so that the dropping falls flat and clean
onto the paper. This will enable you to recognize any changes in
color, consistency, odor, and/or amount. If you are able to notice
this change you could save your bird’s life. If you use wood shavings
at the bottom of your cage and you miss a change in color and consistency
in the droppings then you failed your bird. It is wrong to use wood
shavings at the bottom of your cage so that it looks nice and you
do not have to clean the bottom of your cage as often if it interferes
with evaluating the droppings for signs of health problems.
There
are three components to most droppings. Urine consists of a crystal
urine called urates (white chalky material) and a non-crystal urine
called urine (clear water). Sometimes the two types of urine are
mixed creating a cloudy white urine. Important changes include color
changes and amount.
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Green or Yellow Urates: |
Liver Disease |
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Anorexia |
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Brown or Chocolate Urates |
Lead Poisoning |
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Red Urine or Urates |
Internal Bleeding |
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Increased Urates |
Dehydration |
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Increased Urine |
Disease |
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Eating food high in water |
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Drinking a lot |
The
third part of the droppings is the feces which comes from the colon
and consists of digested food. The color varies depending on the
types of food eaten. Red pellets and strawberries produce a red
colored dropping. (This does not apply to the urine.) Seed and green
vegetables produce a green dropping. (This does not apply to the
urine.) Blueberries and blackberries produce black droppings. The
feces should be solid and tubular like a worm. It can be coiled
up or uncoiled and it is okay if it is broken into pieces.
Diarrhea
is not excessive urine in the droppings. Diarrhea is the fecal material
not holding its tubular shape. Instead it is the consistency of
pudding. Look for blood in the feces. If the feces is fresh and
black in color and there were no blueberries in the diet then this
indicates melena. Melena is black droppings caused by bleeding high
up in the digestive system. When the blood passes through the lower
digestive system, it is digested turning the red blood into a black
tarry color, staining the feces black.
Color
which cannot be explained by the diet should be investigated by
your veterinarian. Don’t forget to look for real worms like tapeworms
and roundworms.
If
you notice black droppings (indicating internal bleeding) at the
bottom of your bird’s cage, stop and go to your veterinarian. If
you wait until the bird is weak, not eating, and fluffed up, then
you have a race against the clock to save the bird’s life.
Watch
your bird’s droppings everyday and learn what they look like normally.
When you notice a change, identify what portion of the dropping
has changed. If you cannot explain the change by the bird’s lifestyle
then act immediately and contact your avian veterinarian.
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