Your advice please: Giving antibiotic injections to fid.

WannaBeAParrot

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Cody-Blu, female Blue-Crowned Conure, Hatched - (approx) June 1, 2014, in a South Florida tree.

Pritti (Cherry-Head Conure) -- Fly in Peace my beautiful boy. Forever I'll love you.
Respiratory tract positive for klebsiella bacteria. My choices:
-10 days of injections, once a day in chest muscle.
or
-21 days of oral, twice per day, hidden in a dab of pudding or jam or something he'll gobble up.

The injections are more effective. But, I would have to towel Pritti once a day MYSELF and give it. In the past, there were two of us to do this and I didn't do the toweling, but I DID do the injections. I've only toweled him once or twice EVER and it was ok.

I'm not worried that I can't do it, I'm more worried about the trauma and stress to him and don't want him to get mad or distrustful. A final alternative is bring him to the vet for them to do the daily injection - which would also be stressful. What would you do -- towel and inject, go to vet (only 10 miles ea way), or go with the oral even though it might be easier, but less effective?


THanks.
 
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SandyBee

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Is there anything that you know she will eat always?
I used a small piece of toast with Bosley with the medicine on it and then used red palm oil to cover the taste. I gave it to him before he had anything else to make sure he would eat it.

Very easy if there is something that she will eat always, needs to be able to absorb the med though.
 

JerseyWendy

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Definitely the injections. You always know Pritti will get the exact amount that way, NO guesswork involved, PLUS he'll be on it for 1/2 the time compared to having to take it orally.

I've had to do this in the past with my YN Amazon Hunter, and she's always forgiven me instantly. :) As soon as the injection was done, I'd take time to snuggle with her, and she was always just fine.
 
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WannaBeAParrot

WannaBeAParrot

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Pritti (Cherry-Head Conure) -- Fly in Peace my beautiful boy. Forever I'll love you.
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@sandybee. i have hid it in a dab of jam or flavored yogurt in the past and it was fine because he'll eat every bit of it, but still - it's the easier route but injections are more potent.
@wendy. did you do the toweling and injections, one person operation?

am leaning toward doing the injections myself, and if it doesn't work out, i'll bring him there each day and let them do it. my poor geriatric baby boy.
 

JerseyWendy

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Yes, I did this by myself. However, I never even used a towel. I would grab Hunter, laid her on the couch, gently held her down with one hand, while I gave the injection with the other hand. As easy as 1-2-3, and QUICK, too. :)
 

ruffledfeathers

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I can see your dilemma but I agree that the injections are probably more "doable" than it seems, especially since you have given injections before. It's so quick and i think most birds get over things like that right away.
When i first got Gilbert and had to give an oral antibiotic, the vet had me towel him to be certain of the exact amount given at specific times. At that point....you may as well just do the injection and be done in fewer doses.
 

Kalidasa

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Poor pritti! Please keep the forum updated on his progress! I hope everything goes smoothly. I have no experience with injections, just offering very heartfelt moral support!
 

Mayden

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How is he with syringing meds?

People are saying you can't guarantee dosage etc, but Merlin laps up any syringe'd stuff without hesitation and so I'm 99% sure he'd get the correct dosage each time. I'd be more comfortable doing that with my guy at least, my rabbits are being medicated at the moment though and I'd have much prefered injecting them, but they've got skin I can pull up and away from their body to inject, unlike with birdies...

I'd opt for vet visit or oral, unless you're very very comfortable injecting him yourself because one wiggle could cause all sorts of problems and since it's just you...
 

Robinrae

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I would do the injections hands down. Way more effective. I have given my eclectus injections by myself. It was a little tricky especially since she does not enjoy the human touch much! But it is doable. My vet has always had me give injections twice a day. What are you giving?
 
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WannaBeAParrot

WannaBeAParrot

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Pritti (Cherry-Head Conure) -- Fly in Peace my beautiful boy. Forever I'll love you.
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@mayden. syringe is as much torture for him as injections in that he has to be toweled. His wildness really comes out. He can be VERY stubborn and independent. When I do oral meds, I hide them in dabs of foods that are not the best for a bird, but such a small amount of jam or the like that it is better than the towel torture.
 
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WannaBeAParrot

WannaBeAParrot

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Pritti (Cherry-Head Conure) -- Fly in Peace my beautiful boy. Forever I'll love you.
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@robinrae -- how did u do the ekkie injections?

So I picked up the meds -- there are 10 syringes and med, plus the oral anti-fungal and syringe. When I was nearly home, I started to have second thoughts and began chickening out. I had thoughts of -- hmmm, what time would we go to a-vet each day for hte shots, and i'll just bring the meds there.

Now that i'm home, am deciding do I go in and wake Pritti up from nap and get it done now before he eats, or do i wait til the morning. Hahahaa. If I wait til the morning to even try, I'm pretty sure we'll be on our way to the vet for the shot. Call me chicken little.
 

Mayden

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@mayden. syringe is as much torture for him as injections in that he has to be toweled. His wildness really comes out. He can be VERY stubborn and independent. When I do oral meds, I hide them in dabs of foods that are not the best for a bird, but such a small amount of jam or the like that it is better than the towel torture.

Ah fair enough, I can then see the appeal of injection vs oral for you then. But I'd still rather be safe than sorry because of the high risk of him wiggling when you're trying to poke him with it.

I vote vets then, Merlin is also a fantastic traveller, so that for me would be an easy option too, not sure how your guy is though.
Also, does it not cost for each visit for the injection too?
 
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WannaBeAParrot

WannaBeAParrot

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Cody-Blu, female Blue-Crowned Conure, Hatched - (approx) June 1, 2014, in a South Florida tree.

Pritti (Cherry-Head Conure) -- Fly in Peace my beautiful boy. Forever I'll love you.
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Okay everyone. WE DID IT !!!! ONLY 9 MORE TO GO :eek:

Put him in the tub and sat in there blocking off most of it. Got good hold of him 2nd try, grabbed the filled hypodermic and DONE. He did give a little yelp from the stick. Then we kissed and made up and he's sitting on my shoulder preening himself and me, in between throwing kisses.


HERE'S MY BIG BOY AFTER THE DEED.

wannabeaparrot-albums-pritti-being-pretty-random-photos-picture8615-post-injection.png



WARNING: PG 13 RATED PHOTO DUE TO PARTIAL NUDITY:

wannabeaparrot-albums-pritti-being-pretty-random-photos-picture8616-screen-shot-2013-05-29-7-15-42-pm.png
 

crimson

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well done!, gosh you have nerve, I could never do that.
here's hoping the rest go as easily!
 

Mayden

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Glad it went well, fingers crossed for 9 more easy goes :)
 

BoomBoom

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Wow, well done. I would not have the coordination or guts to pull this off.
 

MonicaMc

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He's freakin adorable! :D

I would say to go with whatever method you are most comfortable with, and it sounds like you chose one! I hope the next 9 go smoothly!



When I trim Charlie's beak, he sits in my lap as I hold his head and trim with a dremel. No toweling. It's a lot easier for me to trim his beak than it is to do his nails! With his beak, at least he'll sit still, for the most part, while I trim it, but his nails he screams like a little girl!

My bourke parakeet I have to give occasional flushes to since she has a sinus blockage (checked for infections, she's not sick!), and I also feel as its done without a towel. She's small enough that I can easily hold her in my hands when I flush her nostrils.

I choose the methods that work best for my fids and I and what I feel would be the least stressful on them. If I am unsure of how to do something, I'll have my a-vet show me how before I do it alone.
 
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WannaBeAParrot

WannaBeAParrot

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Cody-Blu, female Blue-Crowned Conure, Hatched - (approx) June 1, 2014, in a South Florida tree.

Pritti (Cherry-Head Conure) -- Fly in Peace my beautiful boy. Forever I'll love you.
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@Monica. he's had that too with the sinuses on one side. some years ago they were flushig one side multiple times a day. that looked like THE MOST uncomfortable of all the treatments. He looked like he wanted to cry, like he was being waterboarded. He does have some sticking sounds lin that "nostril" even now, but he does some self care things to attend to it. And if it seems like it is getting annoying, I'll get him in a nice warm bathroom with shower running, sometimes with a shower for him too. The shower seems to help that.
 

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