Anti-Psychotic Meds for Sophia?

[smile_n_cuddle]

I did some research last night on the meds Soph has been prescribed. It's haloperidol... given to schizophrenics, generally. It has serious and permanent side-effects for long-term use.

Zoos found that using it for short times (a few days) during transitions for animals has had really positive effects. A researcher and vet from a university said that they don't really mention the side-effects, but that he gets called when things go wrong.

On the other hand, he conceded that it appears to work as a calming agent for parrots. He stated that they have very different metabolism than animals...

I also read various "anecdotal" blogs and articles about parrot owners whose parrots had gone on haloperidol... it is usually a last resort, but it *works* virtually everytime it's used, with one exception that I read. (And that exception was pretty significant and obvious.)

So on the one hand, yes, it works. And it's actually really working for Sophia. It's like giving an ADD child medication--she is soooo much calmer, less obsessive in her preening... (They actually also use it for compulsive behaavior as well in humans, so maybe that's this?)

On the other hand... are we at the "last resort" phase? Her legs are bare, yes. Her chest is getting bare, but it's not obvious. I mean, she's not the mutilating 'too that I see in the posterchild pics for the meds. Are there other natural remedies we could try first? Am I jumping the gun? I mean, this is heavy duty stuff.

On the other, other hand... she's still plucking, despite allergy meds. It's true that it's caused by allergies (reaffirmed by vet who said, "Wow, I forgot she had inflammatory skin disease... so rare in a cockatoo."). She also gets herbal supplements for anxiety--I give htem all warm food before bed and I spray it with that b/c Petey's on it. No effect on Soph, but works mircales in my sweet 'too boy.

I just don't know. I want to trust my vet. She's not as "explanation/discussion" oriented as other vets I've been to, but then again, she does mostly zoo/rare species work with professionals who are fully trusting her expertise and not expecting an explanation. And then I wonder whether Soph's part of an experiment to see whether the "foot rub" of this med (formerly given orally) works better. (The oral often had side effects of excessive sleepiness.)

On whatever hand is left, is it fair to put Soph through a regime of other things that "might work, might not work" before getting to the point of just putting her on this? This wouldn't be a life-long med, just one to help her calm down and then wean her off...

I'm so mixed... She's being so well behaved I feel guilty! "What's wrong with you! Get in trouble, darn it!" ;)

Comments

[bronxelf-ag001.livejournal.com]

I'm really a pragmatist, so I'd put her on it. As you said, it's a short term medication. In the long run, assuming it works, it will be faster and less expensive than putting her onto some kind of treatment rodeo which is a lot like playing darts in a dark room.

[jourdannex.livejournal.com]

When Sooky had OCD and plucked a sore on his chest, my vet put him on some pills that when I looked them up on the net, they were anti-psychotics given to people. That worried me, but so did a hole in his chest, and they were just until he stopped picking it so he could heal. He was so well behaved but they made him so dopey I felt bad :( But he was not a plucker, I swear, he has OCD and he just gets dry skin and then....he is obsessed with his chest and picking at it. He never did it again.

With Sophie, is it her feathers or does she pull at her skin?

With my Eclectus...she never touches her skin but pulls her feathers out. The vet and I both decided after all her tests came back clear that we could put her on something but that would help with her feathers but ....it would be for no reason. It would just make her dopey. And I would rather have a plucky active bird than one who lived doped but feathered. With Sooky it was more like Sophie, it was to get her to leave it alone for a bit so he could heal.

It's a hard call, but I think you are doing the right thing. It's just short term :)

[cathubodva.livejournal.com]

I agree with what the others have said - I'm generally not a "let's save the most effective drug for the last resort" sort of person. If it's known to work, and it's only going to be a short-term thing, and it's just going to make her a little dopey for awhile, why not try it instead of putting her through medication after medication and hoping one of them *might* work.