How to Treat Macaw Wasting Disease
If a vet diagnoses your macaw with wasting disease, ask them about giving your bird non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to help it feel better and antibiotics to manage any secondary infections. You can also give it an easy-to-digest diet of pellets or a liquid slurry to help prevent malnutrition. If it needs extra help digesting its food, talk to your vet about using drugs to stimulate intestinal movement. Additionally, you can support your bird's immune system and help it stay healthier overall by keeping it in a quiet, low-stress environment.
Recognize gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms of PDD. Macaw wasting disease or proventicular dilatation disease (PDD) can be recognized by a range of digestive and nervous system malfunctions. Your bird may start regurgitating food or simply look very depressed. In some species, such as macaws, the gastrointestinal symptoms show up first and it takes a while for neurological symptoms to arise. In cockatoos, you see the neurological signs first. Look for the following symptoms: Undigested seeds in your bird's droppings. Appetite loss. Weight loss. Diarrhea. Muscle weakness. Lethargy. Depression. Head tremors. Inability to perch. Paralysis. Seizures. Loss of muscle mass. Use X-rays to observe the dilation of your bird’s stomach. Radiographs or X-rays are the most effective tool for diagnosing PDD. X-rays allow you to see the dilation of the bird's stomach, which is one of the most obvious signs of PDD. Do tests to rule out other diseases. Because many of the signs of PDD are also symptoms of other diseases, your veterinarian may do a series of tests to check if it is PDD or another disease. Ask your veterinarian about blood work or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that could help in diagnosing the disease. Get a biopsy of your bird’s crop. Your bird would need to go under a general anaesthetic and may take a lot longer to heal, especially if they have PDD. Choose other diagnostic tests, such as X-rays, before getting your veterinarian to do a biopsy. You may get a false negative with a biopsy. In other words, the biopsy may say that there is no PDD, but the results could be incorrect due to a number of factors. You will rarely get a false positive with a biopsy. If the effected tissue is shown to be infected, your bird has PDD. Exercise caution if you choose to do a biopsy on the bird, since birds with PDD will take a much longer time to recover from any surgery. Remove the infected bird from your aviary. Because the avian bornavirus infection that causes PDD spreads easily, remove the infected bird from your aviary. Put them in a separate cage. After removing the bird from your aviary, keep a close eye on the other birds to make sure they haven't been infected with PDD. Take healthy carriers out of the breeding group. Since the avian bornavirus can be passed down from bird to egg, don't breed with healthy carriers of PDD. By breeding only healthy birds without the virus, you can stop the spread of the disease. Scrub your aviary with a bleach solution. Avian bornovirus certainly spreads easily but it is not too tough, so you should take the time to scrub it off all of the surfaces in your aviary. Mix a strong bleach solution with a 1/4 cup (62 milliliters) of household bleach and 2 ¼ cups (562 milliliters) of water. Dip a sponge or brush in the solution and scrub all of the surfaces in the aviary. Avoid contact between your birds and carriers of avian bornovirus. Take measures to avoid contact between your healthy bird and possible carriers of avian bornovirus, such as other birds, animals, and livestock. For instance, if you go away on a trip, get someone to watch your birds in your home rather than boarding them with other birds. Avoid taking your birds to events like bird shows. Don’t euthanize healthy birds carrying the virus. As long as your bird isn't showing symptoms, it could easily live a normal lifespan as a carrier of the disease. So don't take this action unless you have consulted with your veterinarian and it is absolutely necessary for the health of your aviary. Do keep in mind that infected birds that are otherwise healthy can still transmit the disease to other birds. If your bird starts showing symptoms, the prognosis changes dramatically. Your bird may only live for a few more months or a year, although treatment options are starting to improve. Try non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Although there are unfortunately no cures for PDD, you can take measures to reduce suffering and improve the overall health of a bird with anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Some birds treated with NSAIDs have lived a few years longer than expected. Currently, there are no drugs that remove avian bornovirus. However, antibiotics can help treat secondary infections that birds develop because of their weakened immune system. Feed your bird a nutritious and easily digestible diet. Since birds with PDD are often unable to digest food and can suffer from malnutrition, give them an easily digestible and nutritious diet. If your bird is suffering but can still eat whole food, feed it a nutritious and digestible pellet based diet. If your bird is unable to consume solids, feed it a liquid diet. Pellets can reduce the amount of regurgitation. For a liquid diet, you can feed them a slurry made from pellets. Pro-kinetic drugs may be able to help your bird digest food better by stimulating contractions in their gut. Keep your bird in a relaxed environment to support its immune system. Because PDD is caused by the response of the bird's immune system to the avian bornovirus, it's a good idea to support your bird's immune system and reduce stressors. For instance, place their cage in a relaxed environment away from windows and ceiling fans and keep them in a dark room so they can get lots of sleep. 
Recognize gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms of PDD. Use X-rays to observe the dilation of your bird’s stomach. Do tests to rule out other diseases. Get a biopsy of your bird’s crop. Remove the infected bird from your aviary. Take healthy carriers out of the breeding group. Scrub your aviary with a bleach solution. Avoid contact between your birds and carriers of avian bornovirus. Don’t euthanize healthy birds carrying the virus. Try non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Feed your bird a nutritious and easily digestible diet. Keep your bird in a relaxed environment to support its immune system. 