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One of my IRNs may have eaten some nurofen. I woke up to find it with the pack in its claw and one tablet on the couch with the end missing. I can't find any info on the net about effects on birds. I overloaded it with water in the shower so it doesn't dehydrate. Any other thoughts on what to do? It seems fine.

I'm sorry, but I hate calling a bird 'IT'... If 'IT' is walking around in the loungeroom with you asleep, surely 'IT' must have a name...

I can't give you any advice, because I would never leave out any medication for birds/animals or children to get to while I sleep...

If I WAS in that situation, I would call an avian vet immediately..

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but that's the way I feel...

take your bird to a vet immediately. and in the future dont leave medication where your bird can get i would also advice you to put your bird in its cage while you are asleep and not home. hope your bird is ok

Probably no harm done to the bird. If they don't like the taste of something they usually spit it out.


Lene: I very surprised you didn't get attacked by all the fluff posters telling you how rude and harsh you were. Sometimes when it comes to telling the truth some people can't handle the truth or may be it's double standards, it's ok for some to speak the truth but not for others




Donna

i think lene gives great advice

Sometimes typing gets intrepeted wrong

Hope you take your bird to the vet to get it checked.

Just to be on the safe side

Thanks for your posts. The birds are fine and vet checked. The nurofen tablets are covered in a sugar coating and that was all that was missing.

I do look after the birds, keep them locked up and medication away. My parter was home - thats why they were out, and we don't know where the nurofen tablets came from.

Sorry Lene I used 'it' because I don't know the sex of either of my IRNs and I didn't use the name because I didn't know which one may have been affected, as they travel around together. I took both Petey and Percy to the vet and treated them as though they may have been affected.

Nurofen is a tradename for ibuprofen, which is used for birds. It is used to treat breeder chickens and I know it has been used in budgies, although it is not the best nonsteroidal for them. It should not pose a threat-- I'm guessing it was a 200 mg tablet and the bird did not eat much of it (it actually tastes pretty nasty). The therapeutic dose is pretty low in birds, about 1 mg/kg, but I think you have a decent window. I would not worry too much about hydration, just keep an eye on him/her for the next few days and make sure s/he is eating and pooping normally--I think the most likely damage would be in the stomach. If you still have the remainder of the pill, you may want to hang onto it, so your vet can guess how much the bird may have eaten. If your bird seems weak or even a little under the weather, I think I would check with a vet, but I really don't think you will have problems.

It is unfortunate, and a good lesson that child proof packaging is not bird proof, but don't beat yourself up -- I think most of us have had times when only our lucky stars kept us from disaster. Please let us know how your little one is doing.

Oops...looks like you posted the follow up while I was pontificating.... never mind!

Thanks Catschair

Oh no! Hope hes ok. I would of taken him to the vet just incase. But if he did take any, it might be flushed out of the system by now. A mistake to be learned from. Child proof wrapping doesnt stop birdies!

I didnt know ibuprofen was given to birds. I'd still be cautious, humans can have some serious side effects from any pain killers. 3 years ago I went to emergency, felt like my heart was going to explode from taking codeine for a simple migraine. I'm weary of pain killers now, because the pain was unbearable when they are supposed to stop pain. Cant imagine how much stronger they would be for birds.

Ibuprofen are pain killers, They are covered with a layer of sweetness, so tht the actual contents dont feel.. i dunno like Bitter? Well if he eat more than a quarter of a tablet, i would worry, but if not, i would try and feed it watery stuff, like Cucumbers, Water Melons, etc. So that the tablet dissolves, doing no harm.