# Grit issue



## Chiki (Dec 22, 2010)

I have an Eared dove living with me permanently, his name is Palomiti (which is a modification of the spanish word for "little dove", not very original haha). About two months ago, he started doing something that could be interpreted as a long yawn. He streched his neck and open his beak WIDE, sometimes repeatedly.
We took him to the vet, everything seemed normal, so he ordered some xRays. When we had the results it turned out that he had an inflamation on the proventriculus due to ingestion of cat litter stones, apparently my cat played with her stones, accidentaly passing them under Palomiti's "bedroom" door, and she ate them (Palomiti flies freely in my (his) bedroom during the day).
The vet then told me that he ate those stones because he needed grit, so we bought it. 
A couple of weeks ago I put the grit inside the cage, and the next morning Palomiti was doing the exact same gesture he had done that time.
So, my question is: Is grit really necessary?

Thanks for your time


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Chiki said:


> I have an Eared dove living with me permanently, his name is Palomiti (which is a modification of the spanish word for "little dove", not very original haha). About two months ago, he started doing something that could be interpreted as a long yawn. He streched his neck and open his beak WIDE, sometimes repeatedly.
> We took him to the vet, everything seemed normal, so he ordered some xRays. When we had the results it turned out that he had an inflamation on the proventriculus due to ingestion of cat litter stones, apparently my cat played with her stones, accidentaly passing them under Palomiti's "bedroom" door, and she ate them (Palomiti flies freely in my (his) bedroom during the day).
> The vet then told me that he ate those stones because he needed grit, so we bought it.
> A couple of weeks ago I put the grit inside the cage, and the next morning Palomiti was doing the exact same gesture he had done that time.
> ...



yes, it is what the gizzard uses to grind the grain so they can digest it better..it is sort of like their teeth.. when they wear down and get rounded they pass them and eat more grit.. usually they will pick small stones or grit in the wild.. is there a reason this wild dove is not released.


----------



## Chiki (Dec 22, 2010)

Yes, I found him when he was only 15 days old, he had broken his keel bone and his head was bumpy (took a big hit). It took him 6 months to start eating by himself. So his flight capacity is not that good due to his keel injury (he flies correctly but cannot fly more than a few seconds without becoming very agitated), that's the main reason he stayed with me, but he also got really attached to me, it has come to a point where he won't pay attention to other birds of his kind, he'll simply ignore them and fly straight to my head.
In fact, his name is not very original because I didn't put much thought to it, thinking that he'd soon be free.
I'm afraid he had to stay with me, but he's a very pampered boy, I love him very much.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Chiki said:


> Yes, I found him when he was only 15 days old, he had broken his keel bone and his head was bumpy (took a big hit). It took him 6 months to start eating by himself. So his flight capacity is not that good due to his keel injury (he flies correctly but cannot fly more than a few seconds without becoming very agitated), that's the main reason he stayed with me, but he also got really attached to me, it has come to a point where he won't pay attention to other birds of his kind, he'll simply ignore them and fly straight to my head.
> In fact, his name is not very original because I didn't put much thought to it, thinking that he'd soon be free.
> I'm afraid he had to stay with me, but he's a very pampered boy, I love him very much.


what a lucky bird... yes you should let him have his grit.. unless he eats too much of it and has problems.. do you think it is a male? any laying of eggs?


----------



## Chiki (Dec 22, 2010)

No eggs so far, he does this dance sometimes when I enter the room, someone told me it's a male behavior.


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Yes, grit is very important. The best mix is crushed granite (for digestion aid), crushed oystershell (for calcium), and bits of activated charcoal (detoxes the system - may be good for him after eating the cat litter!).
If you think eating any kind of rocks will irritate his stomach again, even if it isn't litter, then you may want to get him on a pellet diet. Pellets have everything they need in them and are very easy for them to digest. So they don't need grit if all they eat are pellets.


----------



## Chiki (Dec 22, 2010)

Thank you Mary, I'll try to find out where I can get these pellets (I'm from Argentina)


----------

