Amantadine for parrots

[hunnyvikki]

My sun conure is being treated for gout, and after two months of medication (gout medicine and nutritional supplement for liver), he got a generally clean bill of health, as his uric acid levels are back to normal. However, the vet wants me to continue the nutritional supplement and also prescribed amantadine.

I looked on the Web for information on amantadine and found that in Western countries its use is limited to humans. It has been used on chickens in China to combat avian flu, which has led to concern over its effectiveness against avian flu in humans, but I can't find any mention of use in parrots. In humans, it is also used in treating Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and ADHD, but none of these apply to my bird.

I should mention that my vet specializes in avian medicine and is highly regarded. I will call him to ask about this tomorrow, but I thought I would see if anyone else can shed some light on this. I'll pass along what I learn in the additional comments.

[Kim]

There are a number of 'human' medications that are regularly used on parrots & have been for a number of years. Most of these meds are never mentioned on the net as a regular use for parrots, especially if they're not used often.

Did you ask what this med was specifically for with your sun conure? If you're in doubt about it you can always phone one or two other avian vets & give them your birds vet care info & ask them what they think of this drug being used on your bird.