Cardiovascular Drugs in Avian, Small Mammal, and Reptile Medicine

Cardiovascular Diseases in Pet Birds: Therapeutic Options and Challenges

Cardiovascular disease, including congestive heart failure, pericardial disease, and atherosclerosis, is becoming increasingly better recognized in companion birds. A wide range of medications is available to treat these conditions, including diuretics, vasodilators, positive and negative inotropes, antiarrhythmic agents, and pentoxifylline. This review systematically discusses each of these drug classes and their potential applications in avian species. Although treatment approaches remain largely empirical and extrapolated from small animal and human medicine, the management strategies presented here have the potential to both maintain quality of life and extend survival time for the avian cardiac patient.

Cardiology in Rabbits and Rodents-Common Cardiac Diseases, Therapeutic Options, and Limitations

Information about heart diseases and their treatment is still sparce for rabbits and rodents. Dilated cardiomyopathy seems to occur more frequently in rabbits, whereas in guinea pigs pericardial effusion is often diagnosed. There are still no available therapeutic studies for heart diseases in rabbits and rodents, and treatment is often extrapolated from dogs and cats. Consideration should be given to the off-label use of drugs, mostly not licensed in the species mentioned in this article.

Heart Disease in Pet Birds - Diagnostic Options

Cardiovascular diseases are common in pet birds. Diagnosis is often made postmortem only. In any case, suspicious for cardiac disease, a full diagnostic work up should be applied. First indications are given by the anamnestic data. Relative predisposition to cardiovascular diseases is associated with the species, breed, age, gender, lifestyle, and diet. Clinical signs and examination can reveal further indications of cardiovascular diseases, but may be unspecific or even without any pathologic finding. Diagnostic imaging, at least radiography, and echocardiography are always recommended. Advanced imaging methods, especially angiocardiography, can be valuable but is also more invasive and expensive.

Use of Amlodipine in Psittacine Birds: 5 Cases (2010-2018)

Amlodipine is a calcium channel blocker shown to be effective in lowering blood pressure with minimal adverse effects in mammals. To provide a retrospective evaluation of amlodipine use in psittacine birds, medical records were reviewed for all avian patients prescribed amlodipine for treatment for the presumptive diagnosis of hypertension, based on clinical signs and indirect blood pressure measurements. Five birds were treated with amlodipine between 2010 and 2018. The median age was 33 years (range, 22-37 years) and 3/5 birds presented for ataxia or seizures. The median indirect systolic blood pressure at diagnosis was 243 mm Hg (range, 200-275 mm Hg). In 3/5 birds, amlodipine was the only drug prescribed, whereas, in 2/5 birds, enalapril was also prescribed in addition to amlodipine. In addition to the prescription of enalapril, blood pressure measurements were obtained indirectly, which are variables to be considered in this report. The initial median dose of amlodipine prescribed was 0.4 mg/kg (range, 0.1-0.4 mg/kg) PO q24h. In 3/5 birds, amlodipine administration was increased either in dose or frequency. Median follow-up time was 25 months (range, 2-55 months) after the initiation of amlodipine treatment. Owners in all 5 cases reported improvement of clinical signs by a median time of 2 months (range, 1-15 months). Three of 5 birds (60%) demonstrated a decreasing trend in blood pressure during the first 6 months after treatment with amlodipine was started (average, ≥20% decrease). Prospective, controlled studies are needed to investigate the efficacy of amlodipine in psittacine birds.

Care of the Geriatric Raptor

Despite falconry having been practiced for centuries and with a wealth of published material on the husbandry of captive raptors over that period, there is a paucity of published material on the care of the geriatric raptor. Raptors are often a long-lived species and can suffer a range of age-related conditions that may impact on their welfare. This article seeks to cover some of these conditions and look at welfare considerations in the management of geriatric raptors, including quality-of-life assessments and euthanasia decision making.

Gerontology of Psittacines

With recent improvements in the husbandry, nutrition, and veterinary care of captive psittacines, the avian clinician must be familiar with common medical condition seen in geriatric parrots. A review of the theory of evolution and avian senescence is provided. Five clinically relevant medical conditions are described: organ failure, atherosclerosis, neoplasia, cataracts, and osteoarthritis.

Geriatric Hedgehogs

African hedgehogs are susceptible to aging changes like those of other small exotic mammals. Common conditions of the geriatric hedgehog include heart disease, chronic renal disease, and dental/periodontal disease. Hedgehogs are unique in that they have an unusually short life span and a propensity for neoplasia. These 2 factors make it especially common for exotic animal practitioners to encounter geriatric hedgehogs affected by one of the many conditions outlined in this article.