Acupuncture

Q. Is your acupuncturist a vet?
LAP. Yes he is.

Q. Where did he get training in acupuncture, and what did the training consist of?
LAP. He got his training through the International veterinary Acupuncture Society. This consists of intense training one week per month for a 6 month period. Both class and lab work are done. These classes are offered in Houston Texas.

Q. Who recommended acupuncture?
LAP. He is an avian vet and recommended it as an alternative to drug therapy such as Prozac or valium. We have also done some homeopathic therapies along with the accupuncture.

Q. How often is your bird treated?
LAP. We do treatments weekly. My vet has said that he does vary the frequency depending on the patient.

Q. Where are the needles inserted?
LAP. The position of insertion of the needles depends on the bird being treated. No two are exactly the same, as each bird has a different cause/reason for plucking. The treatment is highly individualized. Usually, in birds Aquapressure using vitamin B12 injected into accupressure points is used. This gives a longer period of stimulation to the points with less handling time and stress for the bird. Mo's points treated are on the top of the head, two points around the tibio tarsal joint of each leg and two to three points on each wing. Total time for injection of all points is about 10 minutes or less depending on the amount of cooperation that Mo gives us.

Q. How long has your bird plucked prior to this?
LAP. About 5 months prior to starting the treatments.

Q. What is your bird's "medical" history -- ie, wild caught or domestically bred, how fed as a baby, how old is he, what is his normal routine, how many hand feeders did he have, if hand fed, how many owners has he had.
LAP. Mo is a domestically raised baby. I never met the breeder. He had been adopted by 2 college students from a breeder or handraiser (I'm not sure which) who told them that he was weaned at the age of 8 weeks. Needless to say, this was NOT true. He had been force weaned too early, and was quite distraught when I got him. These students brought him to the shelter to sell. We do not buy animals there, but I had always wanted a grey, and chose to rescue him after checking to make sure that paperwork on him seemed legit. I talked to the handraiser on the phone. It sounded like she had bought 6 greys as babies and handraised them to sell to make extra cash. Based on this history, he had 2 to 3 handfeeders with some time where he was forced to eat on his own before he was ready. I regressed him back to hand feeding when I got him, and weaned him at between 16 and 20 weeks of age.

Mo is now about 16 months old. He first started to chew at the age of about 9 months. Since his traumatic babyhood, he has had only 1 owner ... Me.

Normal routine varies as to whether I am scheduled to work. On a work day, the birds sleep till I am dressed. Cages are spot cleaned, and breakfast of mixed veggies and bean mash is served. I then take care of the other animals in the house (1 cat and 1 dog). Mo is then taken out of his cage and placed in his carrier for the ride to work. (He picks more when he is left home alone.) We go to the shelter veterinary clinic where I am employed and Mo is placed in his cage at work. This cage is a cockatoo-sized Bird Motel from Papagallo. This cage is placed where he can see all of the action in the back, but remain out of the line of fire. Mo plays by himself while we are in surgery. He also interacts with many of the rest of the staff and volunteers during this time period. (Due to his regular presence at the clinic, Mo is a skillful imitator of all types of dog and cat sounds!)

Lunch time has Mo out of the cage with me (if there is time for lunch) sharing my noon meal. Afternoon is nap time and play time on his own while treatments and appointments are in progress. Evening has a trip to the shelter in carrier for brief rounds (approx 30 min), and then home. Supper is Harrison's pellets,occasional treats of Nutraberries, more veggies and some of my dinner. Evening play time out of cage with supervised trips to couch or computer room. Bed time at 10:00 pm, and we do it all again the next day.

On Non-work days, after breakfast, all of the birds come out to play on cages for the majority of the day, with occasional trips to join me at the computer or on the couch for 1 on 1 time. Some of these days has time at home alone while I run errands or work at my second job.

Q. What is his plucking pattern? -- seasonal? constant? sometimes? always?
LAP. Mo's plucking seems to be sometimes to constant depending on the week. Weeks where I am more stressed seem to lead to more chewing for him.

Q. Where does he pluck? Wings, back, neck, chest, under-wings. etc?
LAP. Mo only plucks tail and wings. He is more of a feather chewer than a true plucker, and tends to over preen in these areas. He takes sheaths off of new feathers too early, causing feathers to come in damaged. He does pluck some under wings.

Q. What did you try before acupuncture?
LAP. I tried dietary changes, manipulation of the environment (temperature, humidity, addition of full spectrum lighting), provision of different and greater numbers of toys, and increased amounts of direct attention. We have also tried to vary routine by leaving him at home thinking that the office was too stressful. He seems to prefer the office to staying at home alone.

Q. What advice do you have for us about acupuncture and plucking?
LAP. Acupuncture is NOT a short-term or quick fix. It is a long term process, and needs to be combined with manipulation of routine and environment. It also requires attention to reaction of the bird, so that adjustments in therapy can be made if necessary. Make sure you are seeing a veterinarian who has been trained in the art of acupuncture.

Q. How long has your bird been treated?
LAP. We have been treating now for about 4 months at weekly intervals. The few times that a week has been missed has resulted in a recurrance of symptoms. We have not yet achieved a "cure", but I feel that the treatments are helping. We are seeing more feathers appearing, and fewer being lost to chewing. Setbacks seem to come when routine is altered, or I am stressed. I also feel that Mo's stress level is decreased with the acupuncture and homeopathy (for example, he now seem less fearful).

Q. Do you feel that the improvement is permanent?
LAP. It is too early for me to tell at this point. I hope it will be, and I want to continue to give it a chance. I will be pursuing training in the field of acupuncture so that eventually, I will be taking ofer the treatments if they continue to be long term. My vet friend says he feels he is helping many birds, but the results for the long term ore not in yet. This is a VERY NEW area of veterinary and avian medicine. (The science is OLD, the acceptance in western society is NEW.)

Q. What other homeopathic medicine are you using?
LAP. The medication that was used was a specific homeopatic remedy to treat for the excess fears and lack oc confidence that it was felt may be contributing to the feather chewing. Homeopathic remedies are often combined with acupuncture. No two birds (or people) will recieve the same exact remedy. These remedies are chosen for the exact set of personality "symptoms" that the bird (or person) may be showing. Homeopathics do not have to be used with acupuncture, they often are. The friend that is my vet is a homeopathic veterinarian as well as an acupuncturist, so it seemed natural that we try homeopathics in addition to the acupuncture. I'm not sure that I saw a great difference, or if the medication made the difference ( I have also been working on socialization, etc) but Mozambeak does seem to be less fearful and slightly more self confident. This remedy was directed at trying to undo some of the damage from Mo's traumatic life. We may try other remedies in the future. (Sorry I can't remember the exact name of the remedy). I feel that the acupuncture has been more effective than the Homeopathy in treating the feather chewing.

Q. What makes acupuncture more natural than other alternatives?
LAP. Acapuncture does not add any chemicals to the body. It stimulates the production of natural endorphans by the body, so the only chemicals present are those that the body itself produces.

When I was in veterinary school, my pharmacology professor stated that we must remember that ALL drugs are poisons to the body (even antibiotics). Any drug in too high a dosage can cause toxic effects (that's what side effects are). The key is in giving controlled dosages of the poisons to achieve the desired effect. (like killing bad bacteria) As a veterinarian, I have seen a kitten die when accidently given too high a dosage of an otherwise safe antibiotic accidentally.

I prefer to try to stimulate the production of natural chemicals by the body itself. These may in fact have the same effects as drugs like Prozac are imitating. I feel that it is much more difficult to overdose on chemicals being produced in reaction to stimulation by acupuncture, than in adding chemicals such as those found in common tranquilizers.

I am also extremely conservative as a veterinarian (must be my midwest upbringing) and like to wait until new treatments have been tried out by others before I use them on my patients or animals. All too often, I have seen severe side effects caused by the newest treatment. I try never to be the first to try something new, but I also try not to be the last!

Even though acupuncture seems new, it has been around for hundreds of years in the Orient. So far no side effects seen. The question becomes ... how helpful is it. I am waiting to see. Right now there is some slight progress ... next week? Who knows? If it doesn't work, we are no worse off than we were before. If it works, then at least Mo will have more feathers than he does now. I'm hoping for the feathers!

Q. Do you have other birds? If yes, what others?
LAP. Yes, I have a Galah (Rose Breasted) cockatoo, and a cockatiel.

Q. Do you have other pets? If yes, what?
LAP. Yes, 1 dog and 1 cat.

Q. What is your routine with your bird? How much time do you spend with him daily, and does this vary?
LAP. Exact times vary slightly. I make sure each bird gets at least 30 minutes of direct one on one time with more indirect attention and play time thru the day and evening.

Q. How does your bird handle change in general? New toys, new food, new people, etc?
LAP. Mo usually handles change relatively well. New toys are almost immediately accepted, New food is readily accepted, and new people are dealt with individually - some he likes, some he hates. (I am unsure of his sex, I call Mo "he" for convenience sake.)

Q. What kind of relationship do you have with your bird? Is he your "first born son?" Or simply another pet. Or somewhere in between.
LAP. Mo is probably my favorite child. He interacts with me on a more individual basis than any of the other birds or pets. This may be due to his intelligence level. He is like a child, and definitely gets special attention over the rest of the animals (although I love them a lot too).

Q. How did his plucking affect you personally? How did you cope with it?
LAP. I felt guilty at first. ( He first started picking while I was on my last vacation where he was left with a friend who loves birds as much as I do.) I felt as if I had caused him to be unhappy and begin/continue chewing his feathers. I have since realized that my stress level further contributes to his chewing. This has motivated me to control my stress, and to stop feeling guilty. Now other than the acupuncture, I try to ignore the chewing, and I try not to obsess about it as much.

Q. What do you want to tell us about your experience?
LAP. This has definitely been an eye opening experience for me. As a veterinarian who practices traditional western veterinary medicine, I had to keep a VERY open mind to try this. The jury is still out somewhat as far as long term success is concerned, however, I think that there is something very worthwhile here

. Acupuncture is definitely not for everyone's pocketbook, but it may be a good alternative therapy for some owners of feather destroying birds.