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Parrots

11 years ago•14 Replies

I have an african grey parrot I love dearly, she is a tonic, and makes me laugh and cry! So is she bad for my COPD then??

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dirose

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14 Replies

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elian11 years ago

Feather dust etc., can be bad for someone with breathing difficulties dirose but if you haven't noticed your breathing deteriorating then there's no reason you shouldn't keep her, I should think

dirose in reply to elian11 years ago

thank you

libby782711 years ago

Hi Zulu, but they can cause lung irritation in those with copd, they certainly did with me when my son was looking after two little birds for a month. I actually posted a blog on this yesterday - here's the link:-

blf.healthunlocked.com/blog...

Libby

libby782711 years ago

Hi dierose, if you are not noticing any deterioration in your breathing then maybe you'll be ok. I think the main prob is in their faeces and the dust amongst their feathers but no expert. Did you see the thread yesterday about this, you can read about other peoples experiences:-

blf.healthunlocked.com/blog...

I have a cat and although I don't appear to suffer any ill effects, her fur is very fine and I am sure it must irritate my lungs from to time, but no way would I get rid of her! Libby

Gordon5711 years ago

It's possible to get allergy checks done if your GP requests them from the hospital. When I went for mine they didn't have them all available so I didn't get the ones I thought may be triggers - dog and budgie... I was positive for dust mites, but they said nearly everyone is.

Norweigan Blue parrots can be terrible, depending on what kind of sawdust they've been stuffed with (how many of you instantly thought of John Cleese then ?)

libby7827 in reply to Gordon5711 years ago

Not me, but it did make me pine for the fjords. Polly? Polly?

in reply to libby782711 years ago

Yes ?

Sorry, I was just resting after nibbling cuttle fish.

libby7827 in reply to 11 years ago

LOL !!!!

dirose11 years ago

Thank you for this, I found it most helpful, must buy an air filter unit.

11 years ago

when i was told i had COPD i was told if i have any birds i would have to re-home them as the dust in their feathers can cause exacerbation - i had saved and saved to buy myself a macaw and only had about £500 to go - imagine how peed off i was !!!!!!

dirose in reply to 11 years ago

Oh! well I have not been told to re-home my African Grey, they are very dusty birds. I love her and need her, so would not re-home her anyway. I don't think she contributes to my problem, as much as pollens, perfumes, cleaning products, all these in supermarkets, set me of. I keep her and her cage as dust free as possible. spraying her regularily, and she 'showers herself' too. haha! But maybe your case is different.

11 years ago

found this for you Dirose

upatsix.com/chats/bird-chat...

have a read - just take care tho xx

dirose11 years ago

OoooH thank you!

dirose11 years ago

this is so useful, but very hard to access link, I had to come back to your mail on here to get back to the article again. Having copied and pasted it, it didn't work, couldn't get back into it, but am here now at the beginning thank yoiu very much.

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