Passerine and softbill therapeutics.
Passerines (songbirds) and softbills (toucans and mynahs) are increasingly presented for veterinary care as pet owners and aviculturists recognize that successful medical and surgical treatment can be performed in these often tiny patients. Even with an increasing amount of pharmacokinetic data in birds, the use of extrapolated drug regimens continues to be a common practice for these species. The extrapolation, using allometric scaling from human, mammalian, and avian drugs to passeriformes and softbills, is complicated and limited. In this article, the choice of the therapeutic approach is discussed. Once the choice for a specific drug is made, tables help calculate the dose in milligrams per kilocalorie without using complicated formulas.
Dorrestein
G M
GM
Department of Veterinary Pathology, and  Diagnostic Service for Pet Avian, Exotic and Zoo Animals and Wildlife, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001717:Birds; D005569:Formularies as Topic; D020308:Songbirds; D019155:Veterinary Drugs
D019155:Veterinary Drugs