Treat it Like a Bird - The Wagging Tail - Banfield, The Pet Hospital

? Value Communication and the Client-Veterinarian-Patient Relationship


Posted on February 22, 2012 by Patrick Shearer, BVMS, PhD

I find birds fascinating, both as pets and as patients. They?re different from cats and dogs in so many ways, plus, the fact that they?ve mastered flight is just so cool! These differences are great to appreciate, but they can make dealing with avian patients challenging. Most of the time, if I?m stuck, the ?treat it like it?s a small dog? approach works quite well (i.e., go back to basics?history, physical exam, diagnostic tests and supportive treatment) but there are times when the differences are key. Corticosteroids, for example?don?t use them in birds! Another key difference that made me pause recently was avian behavior and how it?s different from the pets we?re most used to. Over the centuries we?ve selected for traits in dogs and cats that suit companionship (some would say cats selected us for companionship out of convenience). Trut and colleagues illustrated this by selectively breeding foxes for temperament. Over generations, the foxes not only became friendlier, but developed other traits that we associate with domestic dogs, such as variations in coat color and tail wagging.

The point is, this selection process hasn?t happened to the same extent with birds; selective breeding in birds has mostly been to develop color variations. This means that in terms of behavior, birds are still close to their wild cousins?anyone that?s hand-raised a bird will know that hand-raising doesn?t guarantee that the bird will make a good pet. The idea that pet birds need to be allowed to act like wild birds, to express their normal behaviors, is becoming more popular, with toys that encourage foraging becoming more common. What hadn?t occurred to me until recently, is that this also applies to social behaviors. All the things that we like to do with our pets?kisses, cuddles, scratches?are things that birds do when they?re pair-bonding. Even the act of providing food is an act of courtship to a bird. When we cuddle our dog or cat, we?re saying to them ?let?s be friends,? but when we do the same thing with a bird, we?re saying ?let?s go steady.? When we stroke their back, we?re actually saying ?let?s mate?!

In a recent discussion among avian veterinarians on an email forum, a few mentioned diseases with physical manifestations (e.g., wing web ulcerations, even when the birds weren?t over-preening) that could only be kept at bay with hormonal control, such as deslorelin implants. The general consensus was that this happened because the owners? behavior was sending sexual messages to the bird, resulting in hormonal changes that led to these diseases. The group thought that owners should be encouraged to be one of the flock, rather than acting like a mate. We have so much to learn about birds as animals, pets and patients, it?s impossible to have all the answers in the clinic. Now, though, when I?m thinking ?treat it like it?s a small dog,? I?ll think, ?treat it like it?s a bird? instead.

References:
1. Trut L, Oskina I, Kharlamova A. Animal evolution during domestication: the domesticated fox as a model. Bioessays. 2009;31(3):349-360.

? Value Communication and the Client-Veterinarian-Patient Relationship

Source: http://waggingtail.banfield.net/2012/02/22/treat-it-like-a-bird/

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