Veterinary Services

A three-year-old Amazon red lore parrot was submitted for post-mortem examination after dying suddenly. It had fallen off its perch in the early evening, thrown its head back as though in a convulsion and had died within a short time. Post mortem the bird was found to have very bright red tissues, especially the lungs. There was food in the crop and the bird was in good body condition. Due to the sudden death the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) poisoning was considered. Subsequent enquiries revealed that the owner had been using a halogen heat lamp for the previous two days.

PTFE is often used to make heat lamps shatterproof, and it is likely that PTFE poisoning caused the sudden death of the parrot. This has been reported previously in raptors (Forbes N A and Jones D (1997) PTFE toxicity in birds. Veterinary Record 140, 512). Laboratory confirmation of this diagnosis is not possible currently.

Three budgerigars, four finches and a Rozella parrot died suddenly in a pet superstore over a weekend. Another 14 budgies were reported to be lethargic and had puffed up feathers. The finches were found to have white crystalline material, probably urates, over the pericardium. It is possible that temperatures had not been maintained in the store over the weekend.

Three of a group of six captive-bred Snowy owls aged 14 weeks died suddenly over a period of one week. Post mortem examination revealed that all the birds were thin and had dark livers and spleens. A diagnosis of concurrent Leucocytozoon and Plasmodium infection, possibly with Haemoproteus, was made on the basis of histopathological findings in the dead birds and examination of blood smears from the surviving birds. In total only one of the six birds in the group survived. Snowy owls appear to be particularly susceptible to intracellular blood parasites.