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Urgent African Grey Breathing trouble

Hankmacaw

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A lot of us use F-10 biocare for cleaning and disinfecting and really like it a lot. It is used for bird, lizard and small pet disinfecting by many vets.

F10 Bird & Reptile Cleaning Disinfectant - 200 ml
Gary (Wingedvictory) has super fast shipping.
 

tracey&chyna

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Good Morning all. As of this morning we are still doing good! She seems to be gaining her weight back, a little at a time. No distress! I hate to even say we are doing good, scared I am gonna jinx us! lol We have started on the benebac gel as well. The only thing concerning I see is still this beak grabbing/pulling often. I am trying to catch it on video, but she stops as soon as i try.

I ordered to F10 this morning from Gary. I had never heard of that before...Thanks Mary Lynn!

Thank you all so very much for your help, advice, thoughts, and just kindness! You all will never know how much you are appreciated! I am very thankful to have found this place :)
 

tracey&chyna

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Not sure if I am supposed to start a new thread? I have some new questions.

I tried searching the forum for f10 but it doesnt let me (too short). but I got it in yesterday (Thanks Gary...that was super fast!!) and have no idea how to use it.
Do I take everything thats hers outdoors and clean and let sit for so long? do I rinse it? i am seeing conflicting things when I google. Somewhere even states that it should be fogged?
The instructions say to remove animals and food from the premises, and to spray and let it sit for 10 min at least and let dry. How do you all use it? Also what about her ropes?
I don't know, I am just confused and probably a little scared!

Also, we are still doing good as far as breathing, and still on the baytril. However, now (probably the last few days) its a fight to get her to eat sometimes. She even turned her beak up at her beloved sweet potato last night. She acts like she has never touched broccoli before, though that was a favorite as well. Avi-cakes are getting thrown to the dog and she would never share those before. I read somewhere that baytril can maybe cause appetite suppression, but I am not sure. We have to keep taking that until Wednesday. She lost quite alot of weight during all of this, but I thought we were gaining pretty good...until this week. Her weight had gotten down to 383g during all this. Here is the past weeks weights ( all taken before breakfast)
4/13 390g
4/14 392g
4/15 386g
4/16 395g
4/17 402g
Then she went back down to 394 for 3 days straight. And this morning we are back to 384 :( I am not sure what to do here. I tried to drop some HF formula into her lower beak...she wouldnt have any part of that..I think I was wearing most of it. I did get her to eat her egg this morning and a little wheat toast (she ate around the red palm oil...which was odd..she normally likes that as well). Just wondering if yall have any thoughts on this.
 

SandraK

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I've sprayed it on things and then scrubbed or actually washed the items with the solution and allowed to air dry or, in the case of boings or cloth/rope items, thrown them in the dryer.

I'd understand the instructions to be that you remove what you are cleaning to an area away from where your bird and food are.
 

Hankmacaw

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F10 is non-caustic and not toxic in the least. I have nebulized Jasper with it and I have a friend who bathed her bird in it (she even bathed in it herself when her son brought nasties home from school). The recommended dilution for general cleaning is 500:1 (Water to F10). Do not rinse off as when it dries it leaves an anti bacterial/fungal screen on the object. We contacted the manufacturer once a few years ago and they had to put all of those warnings on the bottles in order to sell in the USA - lawyers and agencies.

Baytril does make parrots nauseous, particularly after they have been on it for awhile, but if she isn't throwing the meds up keep giving it to her through the end of the prescription.If possible, feed her before giving the Baytril. If you aren't doing it now, you should start giving her probiotics an hour or so after the Baytril. Antibiotics kill all of the flora in their digestive system (Baytril has about an hour adsorption time) and the probiotic will replace most of them. There is some disagreement on probiotics, but my vet highly recommends them when a bird is on antibiotics.

Don't worry yourself to death about her weight, because as soon as she is off the Baytril she will start gaining again.
 

tracey&chyna

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Thanks guys!
I had never thought about putting her ropes in the dryer...I will do that while we are outside today, just cause that will be soooo loud lol!...it is supposed to be warm and nice, so I am hoping she can get a good dose of sunshine today...its been rainy and/or cold for far too long here.

Ok Mary..I am glad to hear that because I was very afraid lol! Gonna get everything cleaned with it today.
And yep, we eat before the baytril and have started benebac gel.
Thank you for saying not to worry about weight right now, I really needed to hear that...I was getting frantic..(that seems to be my normal this month!) If only you could of seen the sigh of relief I had! lol
 

tracey&chyna

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Update Please
We are still doing good as far as breathing. She ate pretty well yesterday. 2 more days of baytril after today. I hope things go good once we are off of that.
I messed up last night and gave her the benebac right after the baytril...not sure of the impacts of that. Needless to say, I have alarms set now for the meds and named them for each med.

We got all of her stuff cleaned, top to bittom, inside out!
oh...how often do yall use the f10...is it your everyday cleaner? or mainly for your heavy cleanings?
 

Hankmacaw

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I use F10 as both. I keep a spray bottle of F10 on the kitchen counter and spray anything that I prepare food on, i.e. cutting board, mixing bowl, and when I deep clean her room I use F10 to spray the whole thing. I spray the walls , floors, ceilings, cage, table availble and toys. The fogger isn't availble in the US, which is a shame because it is literally a fog and reaches everything. I use a regular 1 gal. garden sprayer which makes it much easier.

When I make her chop, I soak her veggies in a solution of water, ice and F10 for about an hour. That does two things. It kills the bacteria/fungus and gets the vegetable really cold so they don't spoil as quickly. Some may think I'm going overboard, but my birds had chronic illnesses and were susceptible to every bacteria/fungus that came along for years.

When Hank had a MRSA infection in his throat, I cleaned the entire bird room with F10 every day and he survived it. That's not common with a MRSA infection. Once she is well you can back off on the cleaning and F10 and let her immune system start working again.

 

tracey&chyna

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Great, thanks so much Mary! Oh boy, i did everything by hand! A garden sprayer will definitely make it easier!
I had been reading about MRSA, and wow.. that is pretty amazing about Hank!
I will start doing that with her veggies as well. I really wish I could get her to eat chop, I have tried so many times. She's like a child that doesn't like their food to touch :wideyed: lol
The only things she doesnt mind touching is when stuff is on her skewers. Chop would make life so much easier lol.
I did clean all of her cutting boards and stuff with it yesterday. Hopefully she will be better soon..crossing my fingers! :)
 

tracey&chyna

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Just a little update from Chyna!
The great news is...no more breathing issues have happened since all of this has started. Yay for that!

Now for the not so good news..We finished up the 2 weeks of baytril, and were doing the benebac. She tried to go off her water when I did ACV, so I stopped.
Our weight was still fluctuating up and down, and some days she wanted to eat, others was a struggle. I tried to even give her the HF formula again...that went terrible...She and I both ended up wearing more than she ate (again)!
I noticed this weekend that she was shaking her head several times, then made the regurg motion numerous times in a row. She really did not want to eat, but when she did..I noticed her closing her eyes when she swallowed. I just new
this poor baby's throat or something was hurting! She still had this random "hoarse squeak" every once in a while.

We were finally able to get in with the 3rd and final vet even remotely close to this area Monday. The baytril was great for the previous infection, but he swabbed her and checked and sure enough..yeast. I already had a feeling this was what was going on...Now we are on 1.3ml Nystatin 2x day then recheck after a week. She absolutely hates this medicine. It is a struggle giving her this one. I really hope this works, and this is the end of this rollercoaster ride.

This vet is who our regular vet recommended from the beginning..but he was on vacation when all of this started. This is the first time I have felt any of these avian vets truly listened. She's not well yet, but I felt like a ton of bricks lifted once we left there. Maybe just relieved to have someone that can help. I don't have the hopeless feeling anymore. She didn't seem as stressed out with him either. I really think he may be our new vet!

Just wanted to update you all :)
 

Lady Jane

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The most effective treatment for yeast is Amphoteracin B. Given by beak twice a day for about 10 days. Perhaps the vet did not want to prescribe this back to back after Baytril. What ratio of AVG to water did you mix?
I give my birds 2tsp .In 1 quart water and keep in refrigerator till gone. My birds get this as a precaution one week out of every month. No issues with them not drinking.
 

Hankmacaw

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Fungal infections often pop up when a bird is on antibiotics for a longer period of time. That's why many of us give probiotics while the bird is on antibiotics.

Although Amphotericin B is by far the most effective fungicide (it is the only fungal medication that actually kills the fungus), it is very, very dangerous to the liver and should not be used except in the case of AGY, significant Aspergillosis and a few parasitic infections. Amph B is dangerous and should be used only when it must be used.
 

enigma731

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I really wish we could get away from telling everyone to use ampho B for all yeast. Nystatin is perfectly fine for candida yeast and much less harmful. "Yeast" does not automatically mean AGY.
 

tracey&chyna

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Ohh, I thought I responded, I bet I walked away before hitting "post reply". I apologize! I am really not all there these days! I am just mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Anyway, He says it is candida yeast. Compared it to thrush a child would get? I asked if this was the same as AGY and he said no. We went back for our recheck today. When he swabbed her, there was a lot of mucus. He still sees yeast (less than before), last time it was budding, this time its not, so if I am understanding..that means its not growing? He has me look in the microscope and explains it all, but sometimes its over my head.

The bacteria is showing up again :( I wonder if its possible that it wasnt in the culture before because we had just finished the baytril? Maybe the baytril was just keeping it at bay? I dont know, just grasping. Waiting to hear about that. In the meantime we are keeping on the Nystatin, starting clavamox, and also metacam for the painful throat (he had to give us that on Friday). Also something called Sucralfate. This poor baby is so tired of being sick and having to take meds. I feel like this is gonna be a neverending battle.

Lady Jane, it was 3 tsp per quart...perhaps too much...I may try 2 tsp once he gives the go ahead to try it again.

Anyway, thanks for listening guys, I trully appreciate it!
 

ncGreyBirdLady

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:hug8::hug8::hug8::hug8::hug8:
 

Lady Jane

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Remember ACV with mother is not a cure. Makes the GI system more acetic and less friendly to fungus. Also any food with sugar or honey should be avoided. Yeast love sweets.
 

Love My Zons

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I am so sorry that you are dealing with this. But it seems from what I am reading is that the issue is now something that can be treated. One thing to ask about an air purifier do you have one in her room?:2cents:

The other thing I would ask is showers, mistings and or steam baths.:2cents: That can help with breathing issues. I truly hope she's healing and hugs to both of you!:hug8:

It is so horrible and frustrating to sometimes pinpoint the issue. But it sounds like she's on her way now to be all fixed up! :laughing12:

I thought that this would possibly help?

FAUNA FLORA 2 oz Bag (Formerly HealthZyme)-Harrison's Bird Foods
 
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enigma731

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Don't give ACV unless your vet has told you to. Sucralfate is a medication for heartburn/GI ulcers -- it sounds like your vet thinks the red throat is being caused by an overly acidic GI. If that's true, then the last thing you want to do is give a supplement that will make it MORE acidic. Nystatin should be fine on its own.
 
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