Force Fed?

[kendrafitz]

What the heck is going on with Rosie?!?

For the last 20 minutes I have been warding off feeding attempts. They started in the usual fashion but it has gotten borderline violent. On Rosie's part, not mine. She has been trying for any part of my body starting with my arm. The last attempt was a screeching lunge for my nose. I like my nose, would like to keep it and don't want gooey nuts in it either. She will not take no for an answer.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Between last night and today I am at my wits end.

[spiritbird]

OH My. Is there anyone else in your home that can begin care giving duties with Rosie? Do you think it is hormones or over bonding?
If it persist I would consult with an avian behaviorist.

[kendrafitz]

Dianne - I am the only one that really handles her in the house.

I was wondering hormones, but she is only 3. I didn't consider over bonding though. I will have to read up on that. Thanks!!

[Mare]

Is she regurgitating on you, Kendra? I've never dealt with that so I can't help but I feel for you :(. Heck, it could be hormones...I have a bird, right now, still trying to hatch a seed cup!!

[kendrafitz]

Lol, poor Amigo. I was wondering if he was still sitting on his cup.

I am not letting her regurgitate. As soon as it starts I move. She came up with a way to regurgitate without the whole head motion thing a while ago to fool me. She grabs my arm, clamps down and somehow can regurgitate that way. But now I am onto that. Today she was trying everything. She just kept getting more and more frustrated which led to the insanity and roughness. Ugh

[Mare]

It definitely sounds like hormones to me, which surprises me at her young age but I'm not familiar with macaws. Amigo use to get real pushy, around five years ago, when he thought he should be humping the hood of my hoodie WHILE I was wearing it, or my arm, WHILE wearing the hoodie! All I can suggest is to get her attention focused elsewhere, wishing you luck :)

Oh, Amigo and his cup..I think I'm going to slyly make it disappear this evening when I bring him in for the night. It's been way too long for him to be missing out on all that's going on in the yard!

[kendrafitz]

Sounds like a good idea. He has been missing out on a lot of fun while hatching his cup! Please make sure to let us know what happens.

[PlaxMacaws]

Kendra- Salsa is 6 years old and has never been hugely 'feedy' with me. He brings up a small amount of crop matter every so often... but he simply swallows it and goes on as normal. Zaf, OTOH, used to try and force his feeding efforts upon me. Those attempts were never violent (per se). But he would try and deliver the globs of matter to any point on my body where he thought he could pull it off. Zaf's glob excretion would always be preceded by pumping motions, so thankfully there was adequate warning in most cases. My response was to place him on a perch structure away from me each time his urges began. Other than that the episodes were nearly impossible to deter.

Zaf hasn't been dredging up his globs of late because he has committed to somewhat of a hunger strike - I've not posted about this yet. He simply stopped eating most of his regular foods (pellets, nuts, various other food items, including many of his former favorites) about 5 or 6 weeks ago. No explanation. No apparent cause. He has maintained his high level of activity and playfulness and is otherwise behaving normally.

I brought home all sorts of potential food substitutes but he refused most of those as well. The only items he has been consuming (intermittently) are banana chips, pasta (usually with coconut oil), unsalted saltine crackers (with almond or cashew butter), and raw spanish peanuts (which have become his new food of choice for some reason). Prior to the current situation, I'd never given Zaf peanuts due to the risk of subjecting him to aspergillus pathogens. However, I really have little choice in the matter since he refuses to eat much of anything else of late. I've been acquiring the cleanest looking human-grade spanish peanuts that I'm able to find in bulk. Aside from my concern relating to aspergillus fungal elements, I don't think spanish peanuts are overly nutritious compared to the nuts Zaf used to consume daily (macadamias, cashews, pecans, almonds, brazil nuts). Spanish peanuts certainly lack the level of fats he requires.

I took Zaf to an avian vet yesterday afternoon. You might remember that my choices for quality avian veterinary care in my state are vastly limited. I took Zaf to the most qualified avian vet available in my state. She concluded that he is in good health except for her observation of a very small presence of bacteria in his throat and a relatively higher than normal mucus level. She did not want to do a blood panel at this time; she felt it would be unnecessary. She sent us home with some antibiotics and lactulose solution (it pulls ammonia levels down in the blood).

Zaf has lost 5 to 6% of his weight over the past month. The vet does not believe he's at the point of danger as far as starvation. I apologize if it appears that I'm trying to hijack your thread here, Kendra. However, I've chose not to begin a new thread on Zaf's loss of appetite issue. And I certainly wouldn't recommend a similar loss of appetite for Rosie to quell her regurg/feeding urges :(

[kendrafitz]

Oh no!

First off, please don't worry about "hijacking". Poor Zaf!!

Did she have an idea of what the excess mucus and bacteria were from? Did she say if hunger strikes were common with Macaws? I would think she would want to do blood work to see if there is an underlying reason for it...

I think I remember you talking to a good avian vet in the past about issues. Is there any chance you can get in touch with him/her?

[PlaxMacaws]

Did she have an idea of what the excess mucus and bacteria were from?She said it's hard to know but that it may be a strain of strep. My conclusion from her assessment is that the greater mucus level is in response to the presence of the bacteria.


Did she say if hunger strikes were common with Macaws?No. But she said Hyacinths are notoriously known to be the most finicky macaws and will often decide to turn down certain foods they have eaten before.


I would think she would want to do blood work to see if there is an underlying reason for it...Yes, that's what I expected her to do. She told me that radiographs are the next step (for the purpose of checking organ size and shape). I spoke with her on the phone again today and during our conversation she did mention doing the blood work at some point as well.


I think I remember you talking to a good avian vet in the past about issues. Is there any chance you can get in touch with him/her?Yes there is. And I have already corresponded with and discussed the matter with Dr. McDonald. I wrote to him on May 12. That's always a sad day for me - my good friend Terrie died on that day :'(. I was going to bring Zaf up to see Dr. McD in Vancouver, WA on May 16 or 17. But he told me he wouldn't be too worried yet based upon Zaf's then current status. He said that a 5% weight loss isn't life-threatening and that it wouldn't be worth the stress associated with hauling Zaf up to see him.

[kendrafitz]

I should have known you would have covered all the bases, especially when it comes to your guys.

I'm sorry about the anniversary of Terrie's passing both for you and Salsa. It's good that you have each other.

So is it a see as you go thing at this point? Hopefully the antibiotics will help poor Zaf. He is such a sweet guy.

[Macaw Lover]

Rosie loves her Mommy - just maybe a little too much. Just keep fending off the feeding attempts.

Tony, tell me the vet ran the culture along with a sensitivity before giving antibiotics??? How did Zaf handle the whole thing, exam and car ride?

[kendrafitz]

Thanks Renee! Today was better, no trying to force feed Mommy.

I read a bit on overbonding and requested that Jef please give Rosie her favorite treats a couple times a day. I also asked that he take her out of her cage in the morning once in a while. Hoping that will help a bit.

[PlaxMacaws]

I'm sorry about the anniversary of Terrie's passing both for you and Salsa. It's good that you have each other.Thank you, Kendra.


So is it a see as you go thing at this point? Hopefully the antibiotics will help poor Zaf. He is such a sweet guy.I hope so, too. Very, very much! But there's a problem with that at the moment... I won't go into it right now though. I'm working with the vet on finding a way to resolve the issue.


Tony, tell me the vet ran the culture along with a sensitivity before giving antibiotics??? How did Zaf handle the whole thing, exam and car ride?I can't tell you that because she did not run a culture. If you want to call me or you want me to call you I'll explain the reason she gave me.

[Mare]

Tony, I'm so sorry to hear about Zaf's hunger strike! I hope you and the vet figure it out and that it won't be too serious of an issue.

[spiritbird]

So sorry to hear this. You both are so bonded to your Macaws. It must be so stressful.

[kendrafitz]

I hope you are able to resolve the issue soon Tony. When you are ready to share, please do.

[94lt1]

Monte has been lunging at all of us.. Even his beloved Jessica.. He's got a history of aggressive behavior though..

Sorry to hear about Zaf.. Natural almond butter is a sure fire way to bribe Monte.. And even that is so so right now.. Macaws have had enough... Lol.. They're fighting back.. Just at the wrong people. Lol.. Seriously though.. I hope you get this straightened out

[Lady]

Oh goodness, this is surely difficult for both of you. I thankfully have not had to deal with either situation but sure hope things get resolved for all involved. Sure would be great if a quick fix was found, but life is never so easy.