Is baytril safe?

So Edgar my BG Macaw went to the vet (for sneezing head shaking and not eating much) and he ran cultures that have yet to come back but prescribed Baytril (tablets) and Bene-bac plus in the meantime and also gave him a shot of Baytril before he came home. He threw up for a few hours after coming home but then stopped after giving him rice when the vet decided to see if he could keep it down.
Also I've heard that with antibiotics you should have an anti fungal too( random online post) which I wasn't given.

So I guess my questions are Is baytril safe? and should he have an anti fungal before I give these to him.
any help would be much appreciated.

If administered correctly and at the right dose, Baytril "should" be safe, yes.

As for antifungal, you can offer Edgar some joghurt (plain, organic), or you could give him an antifungal supplement such as this:
Avitech AviPow Antifungal Supplement 4 oz - AVITECH by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

Did the vet say how long it will be for the test results to come back? I would hate for you to be giving Edgar antibiotics when there is no need for them.

JerseyWendy said:

If administered correctly and at the right dose, Baytril "should" be safe, yes.

As for antifungal, you can offer Edgar some joghurt (plain, organic), or you could give him an antifungal supplement such as this:
Avitech AviPow Antifungal Supplement 4 oz - AVITECH by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

Did the vet say how long it will be for the test results to come back? I would hate for you to be giving Edgar antibiotics when there is no need for them.

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He said a few days or so and that was yesterday, I'd hate to give them to him too for no reason or see him get sick again I was worried sick he threw up everything he was eating and couldnt keep anything down until i gave him cooked long grain rice. I'm going to get some yogurt for him today and hopefully th test will come back by tomorrow.

I want to tell you about Baytril , I dont know why vets who say they treat birds use this . My Macaw almost died last year [we used alot of baytril ] from July to October. She was at deaths door . When I took her to another vet all he did was use the right medication [It was Doxycycline]. I was told Baytril is not strong enough to EVEN TOUCH MOST BIRD ILLNESSES. Harlow was a definate example . Today she is cured [Thank God] I would start researching yourself ,watch if he gets worse .If it does be ready to question your vet on it. I think they use Baytril so much because they know it will be safe. But if they dont know beyond that and keep taking money [Shame on them ] Sorry for my rant. I just want to help people not have what happened to Harlow.

IMO, most vets prescribe baytril as a "knee jerk" reaction to any health issues. It does work when used right but tables are not right in this situation. I:M NOT A VET. Tablets are more for dogs. In your situation ,if baytril was needed , nebulizing would be more effective.And YES i would offer probotics AFTER a round of Baytril. No i have never had any bird react to Baytril like yours did. Are they the 22 mg tablets? How much of a tablet was a dose?? IMO you need an Avian Vet. Yours is hoping for a cure.

My vet just prescribed baytril after a round of shots. He used the shots for a bit more aggressive approach and then the oral baytril liquid. She did not throw up.
I used doxycycline on my own f or two days and while I think it may be what kept her alive it wasn't curing her. The first antibiotic was claforan injection.
She's fine now.

Pinkbirdy said:

I want to tell you about Baytril , I dont know why vets who say they treat birds use this . My Macaw almost died last year [we used alot of baytril ] from July to October. She was at deaths door . When I took her to another vet all he did was use the right medication [It was Doxycycline]. I was told Baytril is not strong enough to EVEN TOUCH MOST BIRD ILLNESSES. Harlow was a definate example . Today she is cured [Thank God] I would start researching yourself ,watch if he gets worse .If it does be ready to question your vet on it. I think they use Baytril so much because they know it will be safe. But if they dont know beyond that and keep taking money [Shame on them ] Sorry for my rant. I just want to help people not have what happened to Harlow.

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Im starting not to trust my vet Ive had him there three times since i got him about 4 months ago the first time it was for the sneezing and he just sent me home and told me to use a humidifier then again because his beak was peeling and I though it was too much. then on Tuesday because he was still sneezing and shaking his head. and he did one throat culture and sent me home with the baytril and bene-bac and told me hed call with the results. Edgar was puking non stop. not normal regurgitating just profusely vomiting. I called the vet and he just told me that since it had stopped when we gave him ricwe he would be fine and to give him the tablets of baytril today after his stomach had time to calm down well about an hour ago I just gave it too him and he had the most watery poop I've seen and now I'm keeping my eye on him to see if he starts throwing up again. hes the only vet that does birds within a half an hour from my house and Edgar hates car rides so I'm sitting here panicing about what to do. Not to mention he's had so many problems since I got him and I'm convinced its because of the pet shop he came from needless to say I'm extremely worried frustrated and panicked

henpecked said:

IMO, most vets prescribe baytril as a "knee jerk" reaction to any health issues. It does work when used right but tables are not right in this situation. I:M NOT A VET. Tablets are more for dogs. In your situation ,if baytril was needed , nebulizing would be more effective.And YES i would offer probotics AFTER a round of Baytril. No i have never had any bird react to Baytril like yours did. Are they the 22 mg tablets? How much of a tablet was a dose?? IMO you need an Avian Vet. Yours is hoping for a cure.

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they are 22.7 mg. and Edgar is about 1 pound. He is supposed to be avian and exotics

I'm sorry you are going thru this!...
I think you should seek another avian vet, one you feel more confident about.

your inner voice is trying to tell you something, go with your instincts.

hopefully there is another one near you.

crimson said:

I'm sorry you are going thru this!...
I think you should seek another avian vet, one you feel more confident about.

your inner voice is trying to tell you something, go with your instincts.

hopefully there is another one near you.

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I found one that's an hour away but he seems much more reliable than the one I see now He's strictly exotics and helps run 3 avian friendly practices so I'm going to call tomorrow and make an appointment with him

Good ,Im glad your checking out another vet [I drove hours with Harlow ] .Im so glad I went !! You dont want to mess around with time IMO . Good Luck

I think a second opinion is a good idea.

Antibiotics can certainly cause nausea, especially on an empty stomach. With humans, they say to always take them with food for this reason.

I think a lot of vets do prescribe baytril at the drop of a hat, just in case. One time I took Darcy to the ER because he sneezed and I got scared, and the woman (not a specialist, but only one available that treated birds at that hour) just gave me baytril and said I could use it at my own discretion. I didn't end up using it because she didn't seem sure, and he continued to sneeze about the same (a couple times a day). When I took him to a an avian specialist, he was like "oh, it's just from the dry air here)", which makes sense, because I sneeze for the exact same reason.

I hope you find the answers. A good vet is worth the drive. I hope your guy feels better soon.

Also, probiotics are generally a good idea after antibiotics. Antibiotics kill good bacteria which keep the fungus in the body under control, so it's important to replace them. There are avian probiotics. If you go with yoghurt, make sure you use PLAIN, because added sugars feed the fungus.

My first vet (definitely not avian! but treated birds) used Baytril. I no longer think it is as good as many people seem to think it is. It's a broad spectrum antibiotic, and could potentially make things worse, not better. A specific antibiotic is better than a broad spectrum.

As for an antifungal? Not required unless either your bird has a weakened immune system and is prone to getting sick (i.e. if you treat for a bacterial infection and your bird gets a fungal infection because the antibiotics destroyed all the good and bad bacteria in the birds system allowing for yeast to bloom and cause a fungal infection) or your bird actually has a fungal infection.



Did you get the new a-vet? And how's Edgar doing now?

Years ago when my birds contracted a virus of some sort, the vet took a swab culture and blood sample. She viewed it under the microscope in the clinic and showed it to me. She prescribed Baytril and she had them all mixed and told me the amount to feed them. It cured ALL my birds from the virus but I also did some stuffs on my own. I had them all enclosed in a room where I run a humidifier and heat at a high temperature. I also fed them yogurt as the vet told me to do as well and I started making my own batch of high protein formulas to feed them. That was 16 years ago and I felt she did a great job as I used bring all my animals to that same clinic.

Baytril is good, but its not good for everything. and most animals it does nothing for. baytril is the pennasylin of the animal world, over used and not often effective, that being said if it is being used for what it is ment for then it can be very effective. My work takes our sick animals to an ¨exotics¨ vet and I personally after dealing with them would never take any of my animals to them.

Baytril is very strong and shouldn't be prescribed unless the vet does cultures on the bacteria to see what strain it is. Baytril kills only certain aerobic bacteria and all the good bacteria in a birds digestive tract. Anerobic bacteria need other meds and are very hard bacteria to be rid of.

My vet prescribes Trimeth-Sulfa for crop infections. It has less side affects, easier on the organs too. And its a low form so if you get cultures back and need something different it won't make the birds body go crazy due to abruptly changing the meds. But its pretty affective for crop infections.