Bird bathing: mist, spray, or dunk?

I am always amazed when I ask bird owners whether their birds bathe, and they tell me that they are afraid to mist their birds, especially during winter, because they might get too cold.

Birds live outside and frequently bathe in the early morning. Even if they are outside in warm climates, it is unlikely that the inside of an owner’s home is colder than a wild bird’s environment in the early morning. So, fear of chilling a bird with a bath is generally unfounded (unless, of course, you live in the Arctic).

Birds vary greatly in the ways they choose to bathe. And while they do not generally like those fancy lavender-scented bird “shampoos” we silly humans think they should (and with good reason, because nothing should be sprayed on a bird, other than water), some birds love the feeling of the mist from a shower or a bottle sprayer, while others like to dunk themselves in a water bowl. The best way to figure out how your feathered friend prefers to bathe is to experiment with different methods, and see how he reacts. Here are some approaches you might try:

Showering: Since birds are naturally social creatures, living in flocks of hundreds to thousands in the wild, they often enjoy a taking a shower with their owners – their flock mates. Various special shower perches that suction cup to tile are available to allow birds to take part in their owner’s daily ritual. When introducing your bird to the shower, be patient, at first. Allow your bird to watch you in the shower before trying to convince him to join you. Place the shower perch outside of the shower, and then slowly move the perch into the back of the tub as your bird becomes more accustomed to the sounds and sensations of bathing. Remember to go slowly; your bird should decide on his or her own that the shower is a friendly place that poses no threat to his or her safety.

Misting: Another method to encourage your bird to bathe is misting. Many birds prefer a fine mist from a clean spray bottle. As many of the avian species we keep as pets originate from tropical climates and are not used to living in dry weather, the spray not only helps to clean their feathers and minimize feather dander, but also keeps their nasal passages hydrated. If you use a spray bottle, don’t spray the bird directly; instead, spray above your bird, and allow the mist to slowly fall on him or her.

Dunking: Some birds like to bathe themselves in a bowl of water. Many bird supply stores have fancy bird baths that clip to the inside of the cage and vary in size to match the size of your bird. Even without a fancy bird “spa,” you can see if your bird will dunk him or herself by placing a bowl of warm water in the cage and providing him or her enough room to step into it; chances are that your bird’s natural bathing instincts will take over, and he or she will be happily splashing about in no time.

Whatever method you and your bird choose, don’t rush the process, be sure the water is always fresh and clean, and don’t be afraid to allow your bird to do this every day if he or she enjoys it. Bathing is safe, great for feathers and skin, and a terrific way for you to bond with your birdie buddy.

Photo credit: Bathing parrot, photography.nationalgeographic.com

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Bathing the Puppy

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Suds over drugs: Daily bathing beats antibiotics for resistant skin infections in dogs

Are you the owner of a dog suffering from drug-resistant skin infections? There’s good news from the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando.

My year-old Scottish Deerhound, Rawley, turned out to be a dog with allergies — only my second dog so afflicted, ever. We’ve been struggling hard trying to deal with them.

And as regular readers will remember, two or three years ago my Borzoi, Kryie, had a severe drug resistant staph infection — or series of infections — that never resolved until we got her on thyroid supplementation. (Interestingly she never did test below normal on her thyroid panels, but that’s a subject for another day.)

So when I saw a session on managing chronic resistant skin infections with special reference to dogs with atopic dermatitis (the form of allergy Rawley has), I couldn’t stay away.

Board-certified veterinary dermatologist Dr. Valerie A. Fadok took us on a fast overview of the general topic of resistant skin infections in dogs, dug down into the various drug options in these resistant cases, and then presented her recommendation: ditch the drugs and bathe the dog.

I’m not quite sure what made me happier, being at a session where the recommendation was low-cost and low-tech rather than a Newer! Better! Costlier! product of Big Pharma, or being at a session where the pet owner was being given complete control of the therapy.

Dr. Fadok’s presentation was part of a series sponsored by Pfizer (also one of our sponsors here at Pet Connection), and she did mention that she was a fan of the Pfizer injectable antibiotic Convenia — just not, she said, for resistant staph infections, which are almost always resistant to this class of drugs (the cephalosporins).

In addition to her recommendation to bathe dogs daily to treat skin infections and reduce symptoms of atopy, including itching, she went over a number of shampoos, rinses and sprays she’d seen good results with — both veterinary and over-the-counter products. These included:

Duoxo (her biggest thumbs-up)
Zymox (over-the-counter)
Vetericyn VF spray

A number of chlorhexidine-based shampoos were also highly recommended — I’ll pull a complete list from the session CD when I get to a real computer.I can tell you they covered all price points.

Other important recommendations were to wash daily or, if that’s truly impossible, to use one of the more effective topical products on the whole body every day that a bath is not given.

Leave the shampoo on for 10 minutes, and shampoo the dog from head to toe every time, using a sponge to get the area around the eyes.

It’s pretty intensive, but it’s cheap, almost any dog owner can do it, it stops contributing to the emergence of resistant staph, it’s very safe, and it actually works better than the more expensive and riskier pharmaceutical alternatives.

I’m going to start daily baths with Rawley the minute I get home, and I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

One more note: She also talked about the use of desensitization for allergies, something else we’re doing with Rawley. But, she said, not all dogs with chronic skin infections and itching have allergies. Some of them are sensitive to staph itself. I’ve heard about this before, and am going to be checking around to see what, if any, research has been done on the topic.

Now, time for lunch and then I’ll be checking out some disgusting ear infection sessions — my favorite!

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