The Accipiter - Vets Corner October 2005

Vet's Corner - October 2005

John Chitty, the park’s vet, gives us some insight into the healthcare and maintenance of raptors as well as the injuries and illnesses that they fall victim to, and how he treats them...

Our extremely well-travelled vet has been to various locations around the globe to attend meetings on avian medicine, to learn more about differences in diseases from one area to another, to give a talk about one particular condition in birds and to discover how things are done in other countries.

Learning About Birds

As I’ve mentioned in earlier pieces, avian medicine is a rapidly growing field and so it is vital to keep up-to-date. It is also helpful that conferences of the Association of Avian Veterinarians are held in “interesting” locations – I have just returned from the meeting at Monterey, California while the European meeting (earlier this year) was held at Arles in France. Locations that make the decision to go that much easier!

These meetings cover all aspects of avian medicine and surgery although there is an emphasis on parrots as they are so commonly kept as pets. Nonetheless there is also a lot of material pertaining to raptors.

The Arles meeting featured some excellent papers from vets based in the Middle East. This is probably the most concentrated falconry area in the world which enables large amounts of data to be gathered. There are differences between the diseases seen there and those in the UK- we are fortunate enough not to see Newcastle Disease (a viral problem) while they see it very commonly. Another common problem there is ammonium chloride poisoning. In the Middle East it is traditionally used as a gut purgative, a form of chemical “rangle” yet this technique is not used at all in the UK. There are also similarities – lead poisoning, bumblefoot, and aspergillosis are, sadly, common everywhere.

Naturally any meeting about raptors would be incomplete without bumblefoot. At the Monterey meeting David Remple gave an overview on the use of slow-release antibiotic beads in these cases. This is a technique that has become quite popular as it is simple and provides a lot of antibiotic in a small area; we have used it at the Hawk Conservancy when managing Mowgli’s long-term foot problems. The new paper reviewed not only the technique but also which antibiotics genuinely work in this situation. This is important as the making of these beads produces a lot of heat and many drugs would be destroyed during this process. Proving which drugs survive and work is essential – when two techniques are combined (these beads are always used alongside surgery) it is very easy to believe one single part of the process is more effective than it really is. In this case, some of the antibiotics that have previously been recommended couldn’t have worked!

American perspectives on raptors are different again. Across the pond there are very few falconers and most raptor veterinary work involves rehabilitation birds. They also have West Nile Virus which has killed many wild and captive birds over the last few years. There is also some interesting research on raptor behavioural problems which are becoming more and more of an issue these days as artificial rearing is used more often. Professor Mike Jones from the University of Tennessee gave an excellent masterclass on this subject. He is a keen falconer and so provides a very personal perspective on the subject (and often brings his own birds to illustrate points!). Just to prove that the Hawk Conservancy’s vet is not entirely on a “jolly” (!) I gave a short review of feather plucking in birds of prey. Dr Shivaprasad from the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System gave an overview of the current situation regarding vultures in India. He has been working with Dr Lindsay Oaks and the Peregrine Fund on the pathology of the dying birds. In the paper he discussed his findings, the use of diclofenac in India and some of Dr Oaks’ research findings regarding drug use and vultures. It is good that the Hawk Conservancy can be a part of a truly global effort to save the Asian vultures.

Naturally, as with any meeting, there are many aspects away from the lecture rooms. This year the real highlight was seeing wild Californian Condors along the Big Sur coast. The birds here are part of a smaller release group (most are much further south) and one of the birds we saw was the first chick to be hatched in the wild in this area. It is now a year old and looks magnificent!

John Chitty BVetMed CertZooMed MRCVS

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