Health Watch - pet care questions and answers - Column

Animals, Sept, 2000 by Paul Gambardella

My 10-year-old budgie favors her left leg and foot, keeping it curled up when she's sitting on her perch. She continues to eat well and sings and doesn't seem to be in any pain. Is this common in older budgies?

Leg lameness does occur in pet birds, including budgerigars, according to Tracey Ritzman, D.V.M., an avian and exotics specialist at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, a division of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/ American Humane Education Society (MSPCA/AHES). Causes of leg or foot lameness in birds include trauma, infection of the joints, accumulation of uric-acid crystals in the joint spaces (gout), and kidney enlargement.

For budgerigars, one of the more common reasons not associated with an injury is renal (kidney) enlargement. Kidney enlargement is fairly common in budgerigars and is often, but not always, associated with a kidney tumor. Budgies with renal enlargement will often exhibit sudden lameness or loss of sensation in one foot or leg. The lameness might be mild or more severe, causing the bird to stop perching with the foot or stop using the limb. This condition is seen most frequently in older budgies, usually four years of age or older. The lameness stems from pressure the enlarged kidney places on the main nerve that supplies sensation to the leg and foot.

It would be best to have your bird examined by an avian veterinarian. Diagnostic tests, including radiographs to make sure there is no fracture or other injury to the leg, can help pinpoint the cause of your bird's lameness.

My three-year-old Himalayan cat has frequent episodes where she twitches the skin on her back, flicks her tail, cries out, and attacks objects for no reason. This bizarre behavior only seems to last for about a minute. Should I be concerned?

Allen Sisson, D.V.M., a neurologist at Angell Memorial, reports that this type of behavior, called feline hyperesthesia syndrome in the veterinary literature, has been described many times in cats. The technical term, however, may be a misnomer, since there is no evidence that increased sensitivity or pain (hyperesthesia) is the cause. All cats normally behave this way when they hunt or play-fight. Anticipation emotionally excites the cat, which results in twitching of the skin on the back and tail and vocalization; an attack soon follows.

If your cat does this infrequently, it is probably normal play. If your cat gets to the point where she is attacking herself, such as biting her tail or the skin near it, she is becoming obsessive-compulsive. Such cats are generally distressed by something that has changed in their environment. Perhaps the cat was once let outside, then moved to a place where it is not allowed out. A new person or animal may have moved into the home. The pet may have been removed from a home with multiple cats and put in a single-cat household or may now be left alone more often. Sometimes it is very hard to determine just what is upsetting a cat, but relieving the environmental stress is the best way to resolve the problem. Sometimes a temporary regimen of medication can help. In general, if the cat is not mutilating itself or showing the strange behavior extremely often, accept it as normal play-hunting behavior.

Some veterinarians feel that feline hyperesthesia syndrome is a form of seizure disorder or a muscle disease, especially if humans are being attacked. But this probably accounts for only a very small number of cases.

My eight-year-old bulldog has developed a small skin growth on the edge of his eyelid. He occasionally rubs the eye with his paw. Should I be concerned about this growth?

Yes. The growth can rub the eye and create a corneal ulcer, answers Nancy Cottrill, D.V.M., an ophthalmologist at Rowley Memorial Animal Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, a division of the MSPCA/AHES. Bulldogs are prone to several eye problems, including low tear production, extra eyelashes that rub on the cornea, and eyelids that roll in and cause pain. The eyelid mass should be removed while it is still small, as long as the dog is a good anesthetic risk. About 75 percent of eyelid tumors in dogs are benign, but they can still cause problems that affect the eyeball itself.

My two-year-old Shetland sheepdog has developed pink, raw areas on her nose that sometimes ooze and scab up. My friend thinks she has "collie nose" and that it's a reaction to sunlight. What exactly is this?

Nasal solar dermatitis (collie nose) is a phototoxic reaction occurring in poorly pigmented skin, explains Richard Anderson, D.V.M., a dermatologist at Angell Memorial. The lesions are found principally at the junction of the haired and hairless skin of the nose. Initially, the area that was devoid of pigment becomes red, and hair loss develops. Oozing and crusting are common, and ulceration may appear later. The lesions grow larger with the passage of time but progress is especially rapid during periods of prolonged exposure to intense sunlight.

A further possibility is discoid lupus erythematosus, the technical term for an autoimmune dermatitis of dogs that is usually confined to the face and is frequently made worse by exposure to ultraviolet light. It is likely that many dogs previously diagnosed with nasal solar dermatitis really suffer from discoid lupus erythematosus. Shetland sheepdogs are a breed predisposed to this condition.