Aspergillosis diagnosis

[Asmith]

Hello all!
This my first time on and I have many questions. Hopefully someone can help me. About a month ago I lost my 30 year old Amazon from Cancer and a necropsy was performed. I decided to take my b&g macaw and my eclectus to my avian vet to do all bloodwork and she decided to do an aspergillosis test on both since my eclectus was plucking. They both came back positive for aspergillosis and we went through at least 100 questions to figure out the cause. The only thing we can assume is from either a humidifier we use in the winter or from a bag of diamond mixed nuts from Walmart. They both are showing no signs of illness but the vet started them on a concoction of itraconazole and terbinafine for at least 6 weeks. Here's where my questions start.
Could this be a case of false positives?
Is there anything else I can do?
Is there a foolproof method of giving the meds,because my b&g is onto me?
I should also add that there were no spores found in my amazon.
Everything I've read on the Internet is scary. I feel as if I'm in a losing battle. Thank you for reading I hope you can help me.

 

[mandolynn]

I dont think its very likely its a false positive, sorry wish it was. Lots of things can be contaminated and cause this horrible fungal infection. Thank god you caught it before they appeared ill, hopefully with treatment they will recover. Aspergillosis is scary and can have severe long term affects. My advice would be to be even more vigilant about cleanliness and the quality of your food. Giving meds to a macaw isnt easy, how are you giving the medecine now?

 

[Spiritbird]

So sorry for you are birds. That was a very good decision to get them tested. I am not qualified to answer all of you questions but do have some suggestions.

Do not buy anything at walmart for your bird.
http://www.parrotchronicles.com/features/aspergillosis/aspergillosis.htm
Buy organic when possible.
Consider a quality air filtration system such as Rabbitair.
If you give your birds peanuts please stop.
Avoid any bedding material.
Do not purchase any food for you bird from open bins.


I would ask the vet about false positives.

On more suggestion is to look into getting the air ducts cleaned out in your home on a regular basis.

 

[Asmith]

Right now both birds eat zupreem that I bought out of a bin at pet land. I use newspapers to line the bottom of the cages and they are changed every night. My eclectus will eat almost anything so I mix it with baby cereal or oatmeal. My macaw can "smell" it as soon as I give it to her. I would give it by mouth but it's a lot and she stresses very quickly in a towel. And no peanuts are allowed but I did give unshelled pecans,walnuts,and almonds. When my vet mentioned nuts I looked at my supply and noticed some blackness on the outside of some of the almonds.

 

[Spiritbird]

I feed shelled nuts also and inspect them first for any sign of rot. I store them in the freezer and take a few out at a time. Mold spores and all around us. I have a severe allergy to them too. I once worked in an old cottage that was being restored into an office. When the construction began I had to actually take off work because I could not breathe. Nasty stuff.

Newspaper is fine in the cage bottom. Most of us use it. I was speaking more of the stuff they sell in the store that is more like hay or something else.