> efforts. Many vets that see birds are content with saying, "It died 
 > of
 > PDS."  without  pushing for further tests because there is so much 
Hi Dianalee! How wonderful to see you here! (Folks, I've got to say that I 
visited Dianalee's store a few weeks ago and it is WONDERFUL! BTW, my birds 
won't eat the Harrison's pellets yet.....)
As you know (but others may not) other diseases look like PDS. Dr. Ritchie 
said it is misdiagnosed more often than it is properly diagnosed! I lost a 
cockatiel a few days ago (he had an honest to goodness stroke...sob) who had 
a swollen proventriculus last fall (as shown on the x-rays). He was pooping 
every seed he ate and was losing weight. Sounds like a classical case of PDS, 
right? Necropsy showed a perfectly normal digestive tract (though he couldn't 
eat seed to his dying day) (but a blood clot on the brain....)
When Panda was suspected of having PDS last fall, I was on the phone with Dr. 
Ritchie on a regular basis and learned quite a bit. Sometimes PDS can run 
through an aviary and kill everything in sight (Tony Silva had this happen to 
him a number of years ago) or it can kill an isolated bird and that's it. 
Ritchie told me of a single pet Grey that developed PDS after four years of 
being the only bird!
I think, personally, it's too soon for Kathy to sell a bird to the woman who 
just had a loss. I think a good six months of no birds, and cleaning from top 
to bottom would make for a safer environment.
See you at the picnic?
Ellen (the real one)
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