Japanese Quail with Arthritis

[TwoCrows]

I have an image of you in my head TwoCrows, standing with a sturn face watching the birdies reach out, take a cod liver oil capsule, and a swig of rum to wash it down with....

....then roll over for a belly rub.

Are you sure it is the birds going for that swig of rum??

 

[GreenChicken07]

when i started reading this thread i was thinking "I wonder what they feed".A few extras in the diet can really help.

i would enhance their feed with omega 3's which are known to have benefits to inflammatory arthritis. Something like cod liver oil, sunflower seeds, various nuts. The contents of supplement capsules, or liquid from the chemist could be mixed with feed.

Omega 3's are long chain fatty acids, whereas the other oils in the feed you use may be the short chain type which may or may not be metabolized to energy, or converted to the long chain forms that benefit the body's joints/brain.. Depending on how much you add you may wish to reduce oil rich treats such that the birds don't get too much oil in their diet. Bear in mind the suggested human dosage of whatever you buy, and dose by combined body size of the birds.

Additional vitamin e would also help. Good vitamin rich food could consist of ground up breakfast cerial, (be sure to choose something low sugar)

Oils will take a few weeks to get into the animals systems so there will not be immediate difference. Vitamins will also help the animals feel more alert so you may notice this change before the joints appear different. It has worked with my dogs, and hamster, (And grandparents!!) so it should work for the birdies.

Good luck,

Dr S.

Thank you so much for the helpful reply! It is always difficult dealing with small birds, especially quail, so your reply is much appreciated!

I will definitely try what you prescribed. I have been going with the cuttle fish and oils for 2days now but I don't expect a recovery until a while still. I will however add along what you said. I'm sure that they'll love the addition of breakfast cereal!

In response to you, Twocrows, I am giving my boy what is labelled as "Multimin" vitamin oils that is made by Robalon Enterprises. I'm not sure if it is the best on the market, but I find here in South Africa our supply of medicines for small birds and poultry is somewhat limited, so you may find something similar or even better over there.

May I ask what Glucosamine is? I have never heard of it.

I would like to thank you both for the help, it has been invaluable to me.

 

[TwoCrows]

Glucosamine is something I can't really explain...LOL but here is a link that describes what it is. It is actually present in the shells of shell fish, so I would imagine that is why your vet recommended using the cuttle fish bone in the feed.

It is used widely here in the states for people with arthritis and is proven to help relieve joint pain and stiffness. I know a few old folks that use it and swear by it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucosamine

 

[GreenChicken07]

Glucosamine is something I can't really explain...LOL but here is a link that describes what it is. It is actually present in the shells of shell fish, so I would imagine that is why your vet recommended using the cuttle fish bone in the feed.

It is used widely here in the states for people with arthritis and is proven to help relieve joint pain and stiffness. I know a few old folks that use it and swear by it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucosamine

Thank you for the link, once reading up about it I can definitely see why you couldn't explain it. I'll look around here to see if I can find it. I think that I should try one treatment at once and see how it goes, although that is always an excellent back-up plan, thank you.

 

[GreenChicken07]

Hi all,

Just an update, I took my quail to the vet early this morning as he has not gotten even the slightest better after about 4 weeks on his medication, and has gotten worse, once the vet examined him he pointed out severe swelling of his upper joints, if you could call it his "knee", which pulled on my boy's tendons causing them to retract like they have.

Though the vet couldn't prescribe anything as pain medication would be dangerous, especially determining the quantities.

He did say I must keep up with the cuttlefish, though he said that my boy is going to hobble on for the rest of his life and when he can't walk anymore we'll have to make a decision

Have a good Christmas.

 

[TwoCrows]

Arthritis is quite difficult to treat in humans as well. It is an auto immune disease which can have so many origins within the body. So prescribing something that works is not easy. Usually the patient deals with pain and swelling the rest of their days.

My male that has it quite bad seems to have leveled off and his pain and swelling have been arrested for the most part. I don't think the swelling is ever going to go down, but sometimes he doesn't limp as badly as he used to. I have been adding a particular supplement to his diet, although I have no idea if that is why he has somewhat improved. I have also been offering him an infra-red heat lamp every morning so he can warm his bones and get going. This seems to have helped him more than anything. Our over night lows have been in the lower teens and even some upper single digits. And I am sure his stiff bones are aching in the morning. He eagerly limps over to the heat lamp and bakes himself for about 15 mins and then heads out to the aviary. I have always felt that infra-red heals and I do know for a fact that infra-red is used in saunas for arthritis patients in Europe quite widely. They swear by the powers of the infra-red light spectrum to draw blood to the area and increase over all circulation and health. You might give this a try with your suffering quail as well.

Good luck with him and have a wonderful holiday as well!

 

[GreenChicken07]

I'm so glad that the arthritis that your male has has been arrested. The vet said the same to me, his swelling won't ease and he will just have to live with it as such.

Quite a few people have told me about an infra-red lamp for him to warm up his old bones. I also noted that its during the morning that he is at his worst and hardly moves around at all, and its during the day when he starts moving around and it becomes warmer. Over here we're quite warm and during the day we get to the lower 30's.

I'll definitely will try the infra-red lamp, thank you for the suggestion.

 

[saz326]

I'm so sorry to hear there is no improvement.

It sounds like the poor fella is more advanced in his arthritis than I had credited. Send him my warmest wishes and take each day as it comes. I am sure that everything you are doing or have started as treatment will be helping.

Keep an eye on everyone else and be sue to start treating as soon as you see any similar symptoms. if they are from the same clutch, or reared in the same environment they may all be prone eventually.

Dr S x

 

[GreenChicken07]

Thank you very much Dr S, it means a lot.

I'm doing all can for him, he isn't suffering yet, but as soon as he does, i'll make the appropriate decision.

I have checked the others out, but they're a lot younger than what he is so they aren't showing any signs yet, but they are exposed to the same medicine as what he is and the vet did say that this would help the others not suffer from the same problem as what he has now.

The vet did tell me the symptoms of what to look out for if the others did get it, so I can catch it in time before it progresses like this.