pbfd

Question
my partner and i brought a 15 wk old medium sulphur crested cockatoo about 3 years ago. with in 3 months blood spots appeared on her feathers. at 1 year old she was diagnosed with pbfd now 3 years on she is completly bald but a happy little soul. she eats twice as much as our other 3 parrots and loves nothing more than a good long cuddle with mummy or daddy. the vets said the best thing to do was have her put down, but she doesnt seem in any pain and is always playing and getting into mischieve. is there anything we can do to help her? and is there any chance she will re-grow her feathers, or get better?
yours hopefully debz

Answer
Hi, Debz.  Thanks for posting.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cockatoo.  I know how hard it is for you to see your bird suffer with this disease.

I haven't kept up over the years with the latest research on PBFD.  There was an avian vet, Dr. Brandon Ritchie, University of Alabama, I believe it was, who was performing major research on PBFD and making major strides in his research, but I haven't kept up.  There's much information on the internet.  

From my understanding, there isn't anything you can do once a parrot has this virus (viruses in general can't be cured), except treat symptoms as they come up.  There is a vaccine, but this must be administered before a parrot has the virus and when a bird is young preferably.  

I guess there's always a chance your too will get better (albeit a slim one), and I seriously doubt her feathers will ever grow back.  Your vet should know more about this than I do if s/he keeps up with current research on PBFD.

I wish you and your too the best of luck.

Chrys