Association of Avian Veterinarians

Bubble-Wrap for Surgical PatientsAuthor(s): Greg J. HarrisonSource: Journal of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, Vol. 7, No. 4 (1993), p. 221Published by: Association of Avian VeterinariansStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27671100 .

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sent at necropsy. Furthermore, pesti cides may not be detectable in the

dead animal because these chemicals

quickly break down or are metabo

lized. In addition the limited sample volumes of gastrointestinal contents

from small birds makes detection of

these compounds difficult. These ob

stacles all lead to a very important

point ? the observations made by

the field investigator and the history submitted with the bird are crucial to

the successful positive diagnosis of

this mortality factor.

BUBBLE-WRAP FOR SURGICAL PATIENTS

Greg J. Harrison, DVM

Lake Worth, Florida

In human studies, water blankets

have apparendy been shown to have

little effect on maintaining or raising the body temperature of the surgical

patient. A p?diatrie surgeon once re

marked that babies undergoing sur

gery are wrapped with a hot air

blanket. The blanket is similar to

bubble packaging material, which

contains channels into which hot air

is directed. He thought a similar blan

ket could be made for birds from common bubble-wrap material. Al

though using a hair dryer might ac

tually burn a patient, perhaps a hot

air blower with some kind of thermo

stat could be used to bring heated air

into the chambers.

We have used regular bubble

wrap to envelop avian patients un

dergoing long-term surgery (along with a hot water blanket) and, al

though we have not measured body

temperature, it appears that the birds come out of anesthesia faster and

don't seem to sit around looking chilled after surgery. We just cut a

hole through the bubble-wrap at the

surgical site.

USE OF DERMCAPS LIQUID AND HYDROXYZINE HCL FOR THE TREATMENT OF

FEATHER PICKING Michael Krinsley, DVM

New York, New York

A 27-year-old Red-lored Amazon

Parrot was presented with a six-month

history of feather picking. The skin over the breast, abdomen, legs, shoul

ders and tail base were virtually featherless. The bird had been healthy otherwise and weighed 420 grams. The birds skin and plumage, in areas

that were not being picked, were nor

mal in appearance. Tests taken in

cluded a blood cell count, serum bio

chemistry, thyroid level, fecal parasite screen, fecal Gram's stain and culture, feather pulp Gram's stain and culture, and radiography. The test results were

all nondiagnostic. A complete review of the history

suggested that emotional and envi

ronmental factors were not involved.

The diet was varied, although nutri

tionally unbalanced, and the bird

readily adjusted to an improved diet.

Numerous successive drug thera

pies including antibiotic, anthelmin

tic and vitamin supplementation were attempted over several months.

No improvement was seen.

The final six-week trial consisted

of hydroxyzine HCl syrup 2.2 mg/kg PO TID. While the bird continued on

hydroxyzine HCl syrup, DermCaps

Liquid 1.0 ml/20 lbs/day (DVM Phar

maceutical Inc, Miami, FL) was

added. In one week's time, the owner noted that the bird seemed

less pruritic. By three weeks, picking

was minimal and plumage started to

regrow in areas that had been devoid

of feathers. After three months, there was little evidence of feather picking.

Attempts to reduce the dosage of

hydroxyzine HCl at that time resulted in a return to feather picking.

DermCaps have been used by vet

erinarians for the treatment of pruri tus in dogs and cats. The oxidative

metabolism of certain fatty acids re

sults in the formation of eicosanoids, which include prostaglandins and

leukotrienes. These compounds play

important roles in immunoregula tion, inflammation and maintenance

of normal integrity of the skin. Eicos

apentaenoic acid (EPA), the main

ingredient in DermCaps, is a potent

competitive inhibitor of arachidonic

acid metabolism and thus can inter

fere with the inflammatory effects of

arachidonic acid and its metabolites.

USE OF IV CATHETERS

Greg J. Harrison, DVM

Lake Worth, Florida

The 24 gauge intravascular over

the-needle Teflon-coated catheters

make nice cannulas for flushing of

nasal lacrimal ducts or flushing the

opening of the uterus in very small

birds with egg-laying problems. The

needles themselves can be used for

intramedullary pinning of the legs of

birds the size of parrotlets.

DUODERM AS A SPLINT FOR SMALL BIRDS

Greg J. Harrison, DVM

Lake Worth, Florida

DuoDerm (hydroactive dressing -

ConvaTec, Princeton, NJ) can be easily trimmed to fit from the groin area to

the foot in budgerigars, finches and

canaries, and can be used to handle

most bone fractures in these small

birds. In cases where the bone has

penetrated the skin, DuoDerm also

provides the environment to promote

Vex. 7 No. 4 1993 221

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