Alternative treatment for supposed arthritis in 5 yo male

[doudini2]

Ok, so I have a green/blue/white male of 6 years of age, and he started limping about 1.5 months ago. He would do it only sometimes, but most times he kinda lifts his foot and stare at it or avoid standing on it, especially after sleeping he would be stiff. Since he sometimes gets into fights with things we thought it will go away. When it didn't we took him to the vet. They did x-ray of his hips last week and said he has arthritis(small bubbles between his joints). They gave him liquid pain medicine for arthritic dogs Meloxicam. This is an avian vet so I hope he knows his stuff. However, even after taking this medicine for a week, he is limping more, limping gingerly and crying gently at times. He is very sweet lately, very friendly. They did exam and poop test and he is fine otherwise. All I know is that I can't have him suffer for another 15 years. I can't believe it, he is so young and to think he will be in pain for rest off his life...I am scared to give him human vitamins as it might be harmful. One thing is Turmeric/curcumin supposed to be great for joints/inflammation/arthritis. But now sure how to give it to him. The capsules I bought for myself are powder so no help. Since he's Indian, maybe he just needs some indian food

.

I still wonder what we did wrong. He is very large male, and I wonder if him eating chicken and eggs when he was a baby, made him grow too fast. But he refused any other food! It took us 5 years to find grain that he will actually eat.
Now he's on a diet of Mizuri maintenance game food and I also wonder, maybe there is something in that that cause arthritis, as this was a recent addition to his diet). We bought it for him, after calculating he is not getting enough protein with sprouted whole grain bread, scrambled eggs, and greens. It is the first "commercial" feed, as he did not enjoy the organic feeds.

I am puzzled, as was always a very healthy male, living with humans, no chickens to catch disease from.

Are there other cause for sudden arthritis? Maybe he needs hen? He has a christmas tree toy that he humps for past 6 years. Maybe he danced too much this summer? (he literally dances from 10 am to 5 pm when in heat)
Are there any remedies for pain or cure or something to stop it from getting worse?

Is Turmeric, black ground pepper(helps absorb curcumin), Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Osteob Bi-flex or other human arthritis/joint aids safe for birds?
What else can we do in his environment to make him comfortable? Any specific perch tips?
He perches/sleeps on 2 by 2 wood placed on a table in a laundry room. Otherwise he roams around the house, sleeps and rests on a couch or outside in a grass. Yes, we made him a couch potato as we don't have a great outdoor place for him-is it bad for peacocks to be inactive?


I am coming through his life wondering what we did wrong and what we can do to improve it.

Thank you for any insight...I hope he could live with us at least 25 years...

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Oh no! Henri! I

Henri. So sorry to hear he is feeling badly.

I have no experience with this and hope the health experts will have some advice for you - I imagine that a change of diet may be helpful. But I do think that inactivity is not good for joints, can he have more outside time? Maybe you can make a pen for occasional outdoor activity?

Keep us posted!

 

[doudini2]

Oh no! Henri! I

Henri. So sorry to hear he is feeling badly.

I have no experience with this and hope the health experts will have some advice for you - I imagine that a change of diet may be helpful. But I do think that inactivity is not good for joints, can he have more outside time? Maybe you can make a pen for occasional outdoor activity?

Keep us posted!

Yes, he has a pen but it is not huge like a whole yard. Also, with Winter coming he will get less time there...My dream is to move to florida so he can be out all the time

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello again,

I've gotten some recommendations that turmeric and cayenne (perhaps in capsules?) are helpful for bird arthritis and will be safe for dear Henri. Also one gentleman who used to spend time here on the forum and who is really well versed in pea nutrition recommended that you "increase dietary fat and remove soybean based feed."
Hopefully you will get more advice for your pretty peaboy!

By the way, we haven't seen any pictures of him lately...

 

[KsKingBee]

Sorry to hear about your birds ailment, I really don't have anything for you but one one thing I noticed in your post is that he has a 2x2 perch. That is too small, it should be more like a 2x4 laid flat. I don't think the perch itself would cause arthritis in the hip, more than likely he injured it jumping down and landing hard on a hard surface or in a fight. It will take time for him to get better, things like this don't heal in a short time. I have a hen we call Limpy we injured while catching her years ago. She is much better now but still limps at times with the weather changes.

 

[Birdrain92]

Ok, so I have a green/blue/white male of 6 years of age, and he started limping about 1.5 months ago. He would do it only sometimes, but most times he kinda lifts his foot and stare at it or avoid standing on it, especially after sleeping he would be stiff. Since he sometimes gets into fights with things we thought it will go away. When it didn't we took him to the vet. They did x-ray of his hips last week and said he has arthritis(small bubbles between his joints). They gave him liquid pain medicine for arthritic dogs Meloxicam. This is an avian vet so I hope he knows his stuff. However, even after taking this medicine for a week, he is limping more, limping gingerly and crying gently at times. He is very sweet lately, very friendly. They did exam and poop test and he is fine otherwise. All I know is that I can't have him suffer for another 15 years. I can't believe it, he is so young and to think he will be in pain for rest off his life...I am scared to give him human vitamins as it might be harmful. One thing is Turmeric/curcumin supposed to be great for joints/inflammation/arthritis. But now sure how to give it to him. The capsules I bought for myself are powder so no help. Since he's Indian, maybe he just needs some indian food

.

I still wonder what we did wrong. He is very large male, and I wonder if him eating chicken and eggs when he was a baby, made him grow too fast. But he refused any other food! It took us 5 years to find grain that he will actually eat.
Now he's on a diet of Mizuri maintenance game food and I also wonder, maybe there is something in that that cause arthritis, as this was a recent addition to his diet). We bought it for him, after calculating he is not getting enough protein with sprouted whole grain bread, scrambled eggs, and greens. It is the first "commercial" feed, as he did not enjoy the organic feeds.

I am puzzled, as was always a very healthy male, living with humans, no chickens to catch disease from.

Are there other cause for sudden arthritis? Maybe he needs hen? He has a christmas tree toy that he humps for past 6 years. Maybe he danced too much this summer? (he literally dances from 10 am to 5 pm when in heat)
Are there any remedies for pain or cure or something to stop it from getting worse?

Is Turmeric, black ground pepper(helps absorb curcumin), Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Osteob Bi-flex or other human arthritis/joint aids safe for birds?
What else can we do in his environment to make him comfortable? Any specific perch tips?
He perches/sleeps on 2 by 2 wood placed on a table in a laundry room. Otherwise he roams around the house, sleeps and rests on a couch or outside in a grass. Yes, we made him a couch potato as we don't have a great outdoor place for him-is it bad for peacocks to be inactive?


I am coming through his life wondering what we did wrong and what we can do to improve it.

Thank you for any insight...I hope he could live with us at least 25 years...

Is this a completely new thread, did my comment get removed, or is the college life making me think things? I could've swore I commented on a post like this. If you're willing to spend the extra money, faster remedy, you could try asking your vet about stem cell therapy. In dogs with arthritis they can take the fat from the dog, usually from the abdomen, put the fat tissue into a centrifuge, which then spins the fat tissue really fast separating the fat cells and stem cells. Then they take the stem cells and inject, usually in a vein, into the animal. They do the same with cats with kidney failure. Would be interesting if you can talk your vet into it.

 

[casportpony]

@doudini2, it might be worth talking to your vet about the viral diseases that can cause arthritis.

-Kathy