13/06/2019
Blood is made up of solids (cells, proteins) and liquid (water, and compounds suspended in water). When we put blood through a centrifuge, it separates into two main components - cells (the dark part) and the plasma (the liquid on top).
On the right is blood from a healthy cockatiel, who eats a combination of vegetables, fruit, pellets and seed. On the left is a cockatiel that is offered only seed, and of those seeds this individual likes to pick out the sunflowers. (Both are fasting samples).
What you're seeing is the cholesterol and fat proportion of this bird's blood sitting on top as a solid chunk of fat. The individual's blood cholesterol was off the chart. The bird presented for collapse, head tilt and stroke-like behaviour, which is no surprise given how sludgy this blood would be passing through the heart and brain.
Seed, especially sunflower and safflower seeds, are high in fat, and lack many vitamins. A bird eating only fatty seeds is basically eating "fast food" for their whole life. Seed has its place in the diet but should not be the majority. Birds in the wild will eat dry out grass seeds when it is available in summer but they also eat leaves, sprouts, nuts, fruit, flowers and other fresh food, which we try to replicate in their domestic diet as vegetables and fruit. They are also flying many kilometres to find food unlike our "couch potato" buddies that fly under a few metres (if that, when confined to a cage). We use pellets as a supplement to fill in gaps where some components might be missing from a vegetable rich diet, and like all else it is just a component of a well rounded diet.
The most common source of avian diseases in our clinic would be at its core due to an unbalanced diet. Lack of proper nutrition leads to all sorts of problems - liver problems (such as fatty liver), heart issues and brain (like us they get artherosclerosis and strokes), kidney problems (from processing too much protein), respiratory problems (from lack of vitamin A), reproductive issues (like egg binding, from lack of calcium and vitamin D), plucking problems (from dry skin, lack of vitamin E), shortened life span and poor immune system leading to other illnesses. They may love certain junk foods but like us they need their veggies too!
