reeb
New member
- Oct 23, 2017
- 568
- 85
- Parrots
- Berry (ā Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (ā Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (ā Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
Hi everyone,
I haven't been here in a few months. A lot has been happening.
Pearl, my tame female budgie, has been on and off sick for a few months now with a gastrointestinal infection. I am fairly confident that she is FINALLY better, after 3 rounds of different antibiotics, and 1 antifungal. It was an extremely resistant bug. There was initially bacteria in the crop. The vet looked at her crop fluid under the microscope and saw a massive amount of bacteria. After the first antibiotic didn't clear it up fully (she still had watery poops etc.), she was prescribed another one.
I thought she got better after this, because there was a significant reduction in the bacteria in her crop. However, after a couple of weeks she started vomiting and I rushed her to the vet. She was admitted. They took a sample of her crop fluid and sent it off to the lab.Lab tests of her crop fluid revealed absolutely nothing - the bacteria didn't even grow so we could see what antibiotic would be effective. The vet reckoned the infection was now specifically in her stomach, and that is why the lab didn't find anything in her crop fluid. She was prescribed more medicine for 3 weeks. She has just finished this new course, and she seems to be doing okay. I am really hoping that the infection does not rear its ugly head again and cause her any more suffering.
Surprisingly, she has been alright through all of this (it all started back in early December), and has never shown the signs of a very sick bird. She remained perky, playful and talkative, even though she must have been feeling quite sick. She absolutely hated getting her medicine every day, but she was so well-behaved despite it, and somehow still trusts me.
Pearl hasn't been the only sick bird. Buttercup, one of my aviary birds (kept entirely separate from Pearl), suddenly came down with a severe respiratory infection about 5 weeks ago. I rushed her to the vet that same day I noticed. She deteriorated so much, even in the short time before getting her there. I honestly didn't think she would survive. I have never seen such a rapid deterioration in any of my birds over the years. The vet immediately admitted her, got her into the oxygen tank, and began stabilisation. Once she was stable after about a day, they started treatment with a nebuliser, injections, and crop feeding.
My vet straight up saved this bird's life. She was at the vet for 5 days, and when I brought her home she wasn't quite out of the woods yet, so I wasn't sure she would make it, even with daily medicine. As the days went on though, she perked up, and after her 3 week course of anti-fungals inside I moved her to the aviary in her cage, she was SO much better. After a week in the cage, I decided to allow her out, and she has been absolutely fine ever since, she is so pleased to be back with her flock. Active, happy, eating, playing etc. She was truly on death's doorstep, and I can't believe how much she has improved. By the way, none of the other birds in the aviary have shown any signs of respiratory infections, which I was so worried about.
But my woes didn't end there! Berry, my cockatiel, suddenly got watery poops after I was away for 2 days just over a week ago. It was not diarrhoea, just excessive urine surrounding her faeces and urates. It was also a pretty normal colour. I took her to the vet (yep, those vet bills have been HUUUUGE recently), and after a thorough physical examination and looking at her poop and crop fluid under the microscope, the vet found nothing wrong with her. She suggested that I just let her be for a couple of days and see if there was an improvement in her stool, thinking that it may have been stress due to my absence and her molting (she is going through a big molt at the moment). If there wasn't an improvement, she told me to bring her back for blood tests. By last week Friday, she still had watery poops, so I brought her in to get her blood drawn. The vet called me with some of the results late Friday afternoon - I was so relieved to hear that her liver and kidney functions are completely normal, as the vet suspected that it may be one of those. I am still awaiting the full blood count, which may reveal that she has an infection that the vet couldn't detect with her tests. Today her poops look a bit better, they seem more solid, and there is far less urine surrounding them. Not 100% normal yet though. Maybe, if it was a mild infection, her immune system is fighting it off pretty well. Or maybe she is about to pop an egg out or something, we'll just have to see!
Anyway, it is good to be back on the forums. I guess this goes to show that things aren't always easy as a bird mom. I've struggled with blaming myself for these illnesses, but I always give my babies the best possible care, and I hope that they are able to live happy and healthy lives.
I haven't been here in a few months. A lot has been happening.
Pearl, my tame female budgie, has been on and off sick for a few months now with a gastrointestinal infection. I am fairly confident that she is FINALLY better, after 3 rounds of different antibiotics, and 1 antifungal. It was an extremely resistant bug. There was initially bacteria in the crop. The vet looked at her crop fluid under the microscope and saw a massive amount of bacteria. After the first antibiotic didn't clear it up fully (she still had watery poops etc.), she was prescribed another one.
I thought she got better after this, because there was a significant reduction in the bacteria in her crop. However, after a couple of weeks she started vomiting and I rushed her to the vet. She was admitted. They took a sample of her crop fluid and sent it off to the lab.Lab tests of her crop fluid revealed absolutely nothing - the bacteria didn't even grow so we could see what antibiotic would be effective. The vet reckoned the infection was now specifically in her stomach, and that is why the lab didn't find anything in her crop fluid. She was prescribed more medicine for 3 weeks. She has just finished this new course, and she seems to be doing okay. I am really hoping that the infection does not rear its ugly head again and cause her any more suffering.
Surprisingly, she has been alright through all of this (it all started back in early December), and has never shown the signs of a very sick bird. She remained perky, playful and talkative, even though she must have been feeling quite sick. She absolutely hated getting her medicine every day, but she was so well-behaved despite it, and somehow still trusts me.
Pearl hasn't been the only sick bird. Buttercup, one of my aviary birds (kept entirely separate from Pearl), suddenly came down with a severe respiratory infection about 5 weeks ago. I rushed her to the vet that same day I noticed. She deteriorated so much, even in the short time before getting her there. I honestly didn't think she would survive. I have never seen such a rapid deterioration in any of my birds over the years. The vet immediately admitted her, got her into the oxygen tank, and began stabilisation. Once she was stable after about a day, they started treatment with a nebuliser, injections, and crop feeding.
My vet straight up saved this bird's life. She was at the vet for 5 days, and when I brought her home she wasn't quite out of the woods yet, so I wasn't sure she would make it, even with daily medicine. As the days went on though, she perked up, and after her 3 week course of anti-fungals inside I moved her to the aviary in her cage, she was SO much better. After a week in the cage, I decided to allow her out, and she has been absolutely fine ever since, she is so pleased to be back with her flock. Active, happy, eating, playing etc. She was truly on death's doorstep, and I can't believe how much she has improved. By the way, none of the other birds in the aviary have shown any signs of respiratory infections, which I was so worried about.
But my woes didn't end there! Berry, my cockatiel, suddenly got watery poops after I was away for 2 days just over a week ago. It was not diarrhoea, just excessive urine surrounding her faeces and urates. It was also a pretty normal colour. I took her to the vet (yep, those vet bills have been HUUUUGE recently), and after a thorough physical examination and looking at her poop and crop fluid under the microscope, the vet found nothing wrong with her. She suggested that I just let her be for a couple of days and see if there was an improvement in her stool, thinking that it may have been stress due to my absence and her molting (she is going through a big molt at the moment). If there wasn't an improvement, she told me to bring her back for blood tests. By last week Friday, she still had watery poops, so I brought her in to get her blood drawn. The vet called me with some of the results late Friday afternoon - I was so relieved to hear that her liver and kidney functions are completely normal, as the vet suspected that it may be one of those. I am still awaiting the full blood count, which may reveal that she has an infection that the vet couldn't detect with her tests. Today her poops look a bit better, they seem more solid, and there is far less urine surrounding them. Not 100% normal yet though. Maybe, if it was a mild infection, her immune system is fighting it off pretty well. Or maybe she is about to pop an egg out or something, we'll just have to see!
Anyway, it is good to be back on the forums. I guess this goes to show that things aren't always easy as a bird mom. I've struggled with blaming myself for these illnesses, but I always give my babies the best possible care, and I hope that they are able to live happy and healthy lives.
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