Decline

18.1 Physical Decline Due to Malnutrition

Geriatric birds are more susceptible to certain health issues. Since malnutrition and nutritional disorders are still common in pet birds, and many owners continue to feed a seed-only diet, these birds will develop long-term health problems, including hypovitaminosis A, calcium deficiency, hepatic lipidosis, and secondary infection. Birds can live a very long time on these deficient diets without any outward signs of malnutrition, but over time it takes its toll. Even if the bird is changed to a better diet, sometimes it’s too late, and the bird has developed illnesses that cannot be helped. Also, even though the owner may offer better foods, the bird may not adapt to this new diet and only choose foods he is used to or enjoys.⁶⁵

18.2 Mental decline

18.2.1 Senility and Dementia

T. Lightfoot states that the effects of aging on birds’ cognitive abilities are not known at this time. She discusses studies that have shown that parts of the brain, the hippocampus in particular, are reduced in tissue volume in captive birds. This leads to memory loss. "Although no controlled studies of senility in birds have been reported, there are a few anecdotal reports from practitioners and owners of older birds which suggest that some aspects of mental decline may occur." ³⁷ The birds may not be able to locate certain places, such as his cage door and food dishes, even though they had good vision and had always found these easily in the past. Also noted were behavioral changes. "The birds began to interact differently with their long-term human and avian companions. These changes could be related to their mental state, but also could be caused by pain, lack of good muscle control, or bone health." ³⁷