Exotic Pets

Hi Camille, I know just how you feel. We had a beautiful abandoned Lutino Ring-neck here at the clinic for a while and had to re-home her for the same reasons. She would jealously turn up the volume as soon as she saw us trying to answer the phones! She hit the jackpot with her new home with Naila though, with a special toy house imported for her and tons of other animals to boss around. Rainbow Lorikeets are infamous for their rambunctious nature, for being difficult, bolshie and for their massive voice.

They are indeed spring breeders so his attitude could certainly ease off at other times of the year. They are also very keen to pair for life, coming together in huge flocks at times then separating off again. Environmental enrichment with toys was a good move but really I think the best and only solution is getting him a gorgeous girlfriend to take his focus off you the neighbours and certain toys, could be twice the work though, kind regards and best wishes, Dr Alex Melrose

Hi Aaron, great question. Budgies are very prone to developing Lipomas. These are benign, fatty tissue neoplasms. Other species get them frequently, but budgies and cockatiels top the list. The birds are usually older and on a high fat diet. Sunflower seeds are very high in vegetable fats and are a common instigator, being so popular with birds because of their flavour.

Think of them like ice-cream for ourselves; only feed them sunflower as a treat. In birds the masses are rounded, vein laden and lie just under a very thinly stretched skin, often under the abdomen. Although Lipomas are benign and wont attack other body systems, they can grow as large and heavy as to cause great suffering.

I’ve had birds that would fall off their perch all day long with the shear weight of the growth, let alone be unable to fly. Lipomas also place great physical pressure on internal organs, blood flow and respiration. Fortunately, as with cats and dogs, they are readily removable. We can anaesthetize Biggles with a little isofluorane gas and “shell” the Lipoma out through a very small incision, providing a massively improved quality of life for the little guy.

See you in the surgery soon, regards Dr Alex Melrose.

Hi Jane, by far the most likely cause is a mange mite infection, Trixacarus cavioptes caviae. While it’s unusual for death to occur from mites, it can certainly happen once these little guys get really stressed about their deteriorating, raw skin. Healthy guinea pigs can carry low numbers of these microscopic burrowing parasites with no clinical signs until other stressors kick in and drop their immune system down and the mites start to multiply.

For this reason it’s important to try to identify and reduce other stressors. The mites do not live in the environment (unlike some avian mites) so treating all the guinea pigs simultaneously will wipe them out. The most effective treatment is actually off-label use of Ivomec Oral Sheep Drench, carefully dispensed from your vet.

This is repeated in 10 days, three to four times, to ensure all juvenile stages are wiped out. This drench can knock the guinea pigs around (not surprisingly) so we often try products like Revolution or Advocate first (also off label but much milder and safer), at similar 10 day intervals and reach for the Ivomec if we are not getting good results.

Once they are treated and feeling less sore, your guinea pigs should start to put on weight again. Kind regards, Dr Alex Melrose.

He lives in an open aviary on the verandah with his wings clipped and I fear I am looking at more than 20 years of this behaviour He is well endowed with toys and has a close friendship with the cat (he cleans her ears). I did wonder if this racket might be seasonal, since he clearly wants to mate with anything that moves. (His toys are taking a beating). Camille of Ponsonby.

Hi Camille, I know just how you feel. We had a beautiful abandoned Lutino Ring-neck here at the clinic for a while and had to re-home her for the same reasons. She would jealously turn up the volume as soon as she saw us trying to answer the phones! She hit the jackpot with her new home with Naila though, with a special toy house imported for her and tons of other animals to boss around.

Rainbow Lorikeets are infamous for their rambunctious nature, for being difficult, bolshie and for their massive voice. They are indeed spring breeders so his attitude could certainly ease off at other times of the year. They are also very keen to pair for life, coming together in huge flocks at times then separating off again.

Environmental enrichment with toys was a good move but really I think the best and only solution is getting him a gorgeous girlfriend to take his focus off you the neighbours and certain toys, could be twice the work though, kind regards and best wishes, Dr Alex Melrose. VetCare Grey Lynn. 408 Great North Rd. 09 3613500 , www.vetcare.net.nz , info@vetcare.net.nz .

Hi, we do vaccinate our pet rabbits against Viral Haemorrhagic Disease. It’s great you’ve gone and got a bunny, until you get close to them you don’t realize how massive their personalities can be and how social they are. Our head nurse Vanessa also has a lop eared and it is best mates with her ginger tom. The two of them cruise around together and if any of her dogs get too annoying it charges at them, bunting them out of the way! Pretty cool pet dynamics going on there.

Rabbit Viral Hemorrhagic Disease (VHD) is a highly contagious, usually fatal disease caused by a calicivirus. Wild and domesticated European rabbits are both affected.

First seen in China in 1984 symptoms of VHD include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, spasms, and sudden death, up to 90% of affected rabbits may die from the disease which progresses rapidly. The virus is very hardy and can be transmitted easily by contact.

We use Cyclap vaccine, which requires a single shot in young rabbits over 10 weeks of age, then yearly boosters to retain immunity. We’ll also check his eyes, ears, teeth, nails and fur and discuss some good tips on ideal nutrition.

See you and your bunny soon, kind regards, Dr Alex Melrose, VetCare Grey Lynn, 408 Great North Rd. 09 361 300, www.vetcare.net.nz .

We understand from our google research it will either be an abscess or a tumor and were wondering what it would involve to treat either of these options. Hoping you can help the family. Peter and the Rat.

Hi Peter, it’s great to have a rodent question. I’m always filled with glee when our clients bring their Ratty pets in, perched happily on their shoulders, and the waiting room suddenly clears out. Nothing like the Pythons coming in to the London clinic though!

Domesticated rats are very prone to cancers, having at least some genetic components in common with rats previously tightly bred for medical testing of human drug therapies. It seems to be this, kidney failure or pneumonia that usually gets them in their old age and at Five Mr Ratty is certainly getting on.

The best thing to do is bring him in to be examined so we can come up with a plan to remove the lump, if possible. Abscesses on the body are comparatively rare so I’m picking it will be a “growth”.

Depending on how well attached it is to tissues below it could be possible to “shell” the mass out very quickly through a small central incision and without great trauma to the rat. We use an acrylic gas anaesthetic chamber to knock these little guys out as safely as possible and use very fine instrument, a magnifying head loop and steady hands. W

e would do things pretty cheaply to help out your kids, just starting out on the rewarding path of pet responsibility. See you soon with the family and Mr Ratty, kind regards, Dr Alex Melrose.