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Abnormal hematology in a Palm cockatoo and Hyacinth

 
Expert Question

I have two male Goliath Palm Cockatoos 2.5 years old and one male Hyacinth 8 years old along with three female Hyacinths each 4.5 years old. All have a very low lymphocyte count under 1. Tested in November , December and now January . Their Avian Vet is Dr Elliot at the Onderstepoort veterinary research University in Pretoria South Africa. Everything else in the CBC is normal along with eating , flying , playing. All virus tests come back negative. Their weights has been constant for at least 12 months. Their day consists of being woken up in their bird room and given fresh fruit and veg. They then go outside to a 188 sqm flight for the day. they have mixed nuts ( checked ) and palm nuts along with Kaytee chunky. At 16h00 they come in to the house for time with me. At 18h00 they go into their stainless steel sleep cages inside and have a hot soft food mix (Harrisons , Purity baby food, Coconut , Walnut oil , mashed banana . Kaytee macaw hand rearing ) before getting Mac nuts ( checked ) and Palm nuts. Lights out around 19h30.  Do you have any suggestions as to cause or what can be done to raise the Lymphocytes ?
Many thanks
Trevor




Expert Answer

Trevor - viewing the description you have posted here, I am first and foremost concerned that the hematologic abnormalities you are seeing are either laboratory error or artifactual changes, rather than representative of a true problem within these birds. I would not suggest “treatment” of this abnormality for this reason, but would strongly suggest that you confer with your veterinarian about interpretively what these results may mean, including artifact or stress-related changes.


Brian Speer, DVM
About Brian Speer, DVM

Avian veterinarian Dr. Brian Speer was raised in a small town on California’s coast. He received his BS in Biology from California Polytechnic State University in 1978, and his DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 1983.

An active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Dr. Speer is a much sought after guest speaker and has presented at numerous conferences in the avicultural and zoological communities both within the United States and abroad. He is well published in the AAV annual proceedings, has served as guest editor for the journal Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine, the Veterinary Clinics of North America, and authored chapters in several recent veterinary medical texts on pet bird, avicultural and ratite medical topics. In 1995 he co-authored the extensive avicultural reference, The Large Macaws, and helped to co-author Birds for Dummies in 1999.

Since 1989, Dr, Speer has run a “bird’s only” practice in the San Francisco Bay area and is the President and Director of The Medical Center for Birds. He is a consultant for The Veterinary Information Network (Avian Medical Boards) and the Maui Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Lafeber award for excellence in private practice of avian medicine and surgery and in 2006, was named Speaker of the Year for the North American Veterinary Conference.