Visceral Gout
Differences between Visceral Gout and Articular Gout in Birds
Gout & Nutrition
Gout is the most familiar example of an arthritis-related disease linked with diet. When an excess of uric acid remains in the body — because too much is produced or too little is excreted — it can deposit microscopic crystals in the joints. This causes inflammation of the joint lining and considerable pain. A healthy diet is important. Fortunately, medications to control uric acid levels in the blood are effective.
Please review this website first: homeremedies2.html#Cherries ... Having lost one pet bird because of gout, I wish I had had that information available at the time.
Gout & Other Causes & Sample Protocol:
However, Gout could be caused by anything that interferes with / overloads our kidneys: viruses, bacteria or toxic agents, or nutritional factors could cause visceral gout too, such as too much protein or "hot spots" in formulated diets (chemicals such as ethoxiquin, over-supplementation, under-supplementation, etc.) or metabolic disease. My own pet bird died from that and the first sign that I noticed was loss of appetite. Unfortunately, he was dead within days of us noticing anything, spending his last two days at the vet's. A necropsy was performed, as I wanted to make sure that there was no viral involvement; but the vet did not see any viral lesions and identified metabolic dysfunction; probably linked to his "stargazing condition."
Some people are luckier than I was -- they noticed something was wrong at a time when actions to correct the condition could still be taken.
Here is the post of Pat, who is one of my list members:
"Two years ago, my dusky pi had a severely elevated uric acid level - normal range is 1-10, his was 150-160, which is considered lethal! Fortunately, it appears that I caught it in time - x-rays showed no crystallization of the kidneys. Approached it in two manners. Drastic diet change. Completely changed pellets and feed much fewer. Aloe Detox, Dandelion greens, black cherries. At the time, black cherries were in season. As an alternative you can buy black cherry juice at a health food store, mix it up with some water and give it instead of water in the drinking bowl. His UA level dropped about fifty points in two weeks, but still not low enough, fast enough, so the vet put him on allopurinol. He was on that for about 6 months. I have blood work done on him twice a year now, and so far, his UA level has remained normal. So, don't give up hope. If caught early enough, it can be reversed. My vet said that although the kidney cells don't actually regenerate, that the remaining cells become larger and are able to do the job. ... Pat, For Fids' Sakes. A Case of Visceral Gout in a Grey-cheeked Parakeet by T. Johnson ... The Kitchen Physician - Nature's Pharmacy by Carolyn Swicegood. Her website: Land Of Vos - is one of my favorites. A great resource for bird owners who care about nutrition and health. A longer visit is highly recommended. ... A New or Maybe a Not-so-new Disease of Lories (Jim's story) - By James B. Taylor M.A.Sc. PEng
Differences between Visceral Gout and Articular Gout in Birds
| Visceral gout (Visceral urate deposition) | Articular gout | |
| Onset: | It is usually an acute condition but can be chronic. | It is usually a chronic disease. |
| Frequency: | It is very common. | It is rare or sporadic. |
| Age: | 1 day and above. | 4-5 months and above. However, immature genetically susceptible chickens may be induced by high protein levels in the diet. |
| Sex: | Both males and females are susceptible. | Mostly males. |
| GROSS LESIONS | ||
| Kidney | Kidneys are almost always involved and they look grossly abnormal with deposition of white, chalky precipitates. | Kidneys are normal grossly. Kidneys may become abnormal with white urate deposits if the bird gets dehydrated. |
| Soft Tissues | Visceral organs like liver, myocardium, spleen or serosal surfaces like pleura, pericardium, air sacs, mesentery, etc. are commonly involved. | Soft tissues other than synovium are rarely involved, however, comb, wattles, and trachea have been observed to be involved. |
| Joints | Soft tissues around the joints may or may not be involved. Surfaces of muscles, synovial sheaths of tendons and joints are involved in severe cases. | Soft tissues around the joints are always involved, especially feet. Other joints of the legs, wing, spine, and mandible are also commonly involved. |
| Microscopic lesions | Generally no inflammatory reaction in synovium or visceral surfaces. Kidney has inflammatory reaction around tophus. | Granulomatous inflammation in synovium and other tissues. |
| Pathogenesis | It is generally due to failure of urate excretion (renal failure). | It is probably due to a metabolic defect in the secretion of urates by the kidney tubules. |
| Causes | 1. Dehydration. 2. Nephrotoxicity: calcium, mycotoxins, (ochratoxins, oosporein, aflatoxins, etc.), certain antibiotics, heavy metals (lead), ethylene glycol, ethoxyquin etc. 3. Infectious agents: nephrotropic IBV and avian nephritis virus (chickens), polyomavirus, PMV-1 (pigeons), Salmonella sp., Yersinia sp., Chlamydia psittaci, Eimeria truncata, microsporidia, cryptosporidia, Aspergillus sp., etc. 4. Vitamin A deficiency 5. Urolithiasis 6. Neoplasia (lymphoma, primary renal tumors) 7. Immune mediated glomerulonephritis 8. Anomalies 9. Others? |
a. Genetics. b. High protein in the diet. c. Others? |
Ref: Shivaprasad, H. L. An overview of anatomy, physiology and pathology of urinary system in birds, AAV Proceedings, pp. 201-205, 1998
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