|
|
|
Rehabilitating Birds with Lead Exposure
Birds brought to SOAR sometimes have symptoms or behaviors that may indicate lead exposure.
Lead poisoning symptoms:
- Bird may be unable to stand, may appear "drunk"
- Lead in the system can cause brain swelling (encephalitis) that interferes with vision and nerve function
- Poor vision can lead to secondary injuries -- collisions with powerlines, cars, trees -- and may make birds less wary and possibly more easily approached and shot
- Respiratory distress, open mouth breathing, purple mouth lining
- Lead impairs the ability of the red blood cells to carry oxygen and so no matter how fast the bird breathes, they cannot properly oxygenate their blood
- Dehydration and starvation
- Kidney damage
- Liver damage
- Seizures
- Death
Attempted treatment
SOAR can run blood lead levels on site with just one drop of blood. This gives us an immediate result and know for sure if chelation therapy is needed.
- Oral or subcutaneous fluids are given.
- If the bird is not vomiting, high calorie, easy to digest meals are given usually hand feeding is necessary.
- The bird is kept warm and quiet.
- If chelation therapy is needed, Calcium Disodium Versenate/ Calcium EDTA is used for chelation (this is the same medication that would be used for a human with elevated BLLs). It is a process of intramuscular injections twice a day for four days. Then there is a two-day rest period, this allows the lead stored in the organs and bone to come out into the blood where the chelation medication can bind with it to form a compound the kidneys can excrete. Another four days of twice-a-day injections and two days rest. This is repeated for up to six weeks.
For blood lead levels (BLLs) over 0.2 ppm (>20 µg/dL), it is very unlikely that the bird will survive, too much damage has occurred to the brain, eyes, and major organ systems.
Return to:
|
