Owl with MBS
Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), also called Rickets, is a condition where the bones do not develop normally and either become soft/bowed/deformed or are brittle and prone to fracturing. MBD does not have a singular cause. While it is usually diet related and due to nutritional deficiencies, there are also genetic conditions that can cause or contribute to MBD.
MBD is much more common in birds raised under human care than it is in wild birds. Nearly every baby admitted to our hospital with MBD is one that was being kept and fed by a member of the public prior to being brought to professional care. Baby animals have very specific nutritional requirements in order to develop properly. These needs vary between species. Raptor species need a proper mix of muscle meat, bone, organs, and fur for their diet. This balance changes between species and with age as the baby grows.
This is just part of why it is so important to get a baby animal to a licensed professional right away if you ever find one. Wildlife Rehabilitators have the knowledge needed to provide appropriate care for the animal, including essential nutrition. While mild cases of MBD may be able to be corrected if caught in time, severe cases are non-reversible and mean that the animal has to be humanely euthanized or live its whole life with limited mobility.
We've already received 2 baby Great Horned Owls this year that had MBD. Sadly, both had to be euthanized as neither would ever be able to stand correctly due to severe bowing of the bones in their legs. One was the most severe case we've ever seen and we suspect an underlying condition that contributed to poor nutrient absorption or bone formation, as this bird was not fed by humans prior to intake.
Oh wow
The response so far to this post is a bit better than I anticipated.
I find this stuff very interesting, just because I like to learn as much esoteric stuff as possible, plus now getting to be around animals in purpose it takes on a bit more relevance even if I'm not the actual person treating them. I feel it's not what a lot of folks come to this community for though. I assume the great majority want the cute and happy stuff, which I don't blame them.
Something like this is just so crazy to me though, that bones can get so pliable. The difference in photos is so dramatic and stark, one doesn't need any medical knowledge to see how not right it is. And it really highlights how fast these animals have to grow up and how little time it takes for damage to be done, especially if someone without proper knowledge intervenes. There's just too much amazing stuff to not share it here, even if it's not always a good amazing.
People don't always like to hear they shouldn't give wild animals they find food or water, but it's things like this that hammer home why we shouldn't get involved in medical things we don't understand. I think it would be worse to try to help and make something worse than to just wait and ask people that do this stuff for a living.
On phone so I will be brief but I think its good that you show us both the gorgeous pictures and also the vet visits and injuries, I think it helps us remember that animals get hurt too and that nature isn't like immortal? I had this phrased better and in a more uplifting way this morning but I don't remember it now
I think I follow. When I started sharing here, owls were kind of a mythical thing since they're mainly out in the night and I saw them more in representations than real owls. But now that I have gotten to learn a bunch about them and interact with them, they're something more tangible, and they live complex lives, in a harsh world governed by natural dangers, and a whole heap of ones thanks to us. I can still enjoy the mystical image of owls, even though I know how inaccurate that is, but their real lives are at least as interesting, if not moreso.
Yeah exactly