Story Bird: Captain

Captain is our 26 year old Nanday we have had since she was a year old. She has been healthy all these years  but did not have good eating habits. You know, the favorite sunflower seed diet.  I have learned so much in this past year about nutrition. I took her to the vet and an x-ray showed  her gizzard was full of black lava grit. I did not realize she was ingesting this. Her gizzard was pushed forward and there appears to be a mass behind that.  1 year ago this month, we thought Captain would certainly die. She was malnourished and was having seizures. Each night we, and the vet, knew it would be her last. I did everything I could in force feeding and finally after showing the vet the video, which I knew had to be a seizure, she was started on Phenobarbital every 12 hours, which she has been on for almost a year now. She has regained her strength and is eating a better diet. She still has seizures between 2- 10 weeks. Stress will bring them on also. Who knew she would be here a year later? She is still a special needs bird that needs a lot of extras, but we are grateful we pulled her out of this.

Does anyone know anything about seizures in birds? There seems to be little info out there on the subject. I would appreciate any info anyone can share about  this. Even the vet seems to have very little knowledge on the subject.

Judy (increase@erols.com)