(Sad Update #98) White Capped Pionus with Rapidly Spreading Skin Infection

[Coffee]

I have a little white-capped pionus named Megabyte, born in November 2000, she is heading on for 12 this year.

Other than a bit of plucking which began when we moved house in 2005, she has otherwise been perfectly healthy until 2 weeks ago ...

What started off as a small swelling, almost like a stye in Megs' top eyelid on her left eye soon turned the eyelid hard and the skin has turned into a leather-like callous. She can barely see through that eye now as it has almost closed. It then spread to her lower eyelid and is now spreading across her head where she has since lost feathers. It is very strange. It all started about 2 weeks ago and has spread incredibly fast.

Unfortunately, the vet does not know what is wrong, she hasn't seen anything like it before. The vet thinks that it may be anything from an insect bite to skin cancer.

Today we tried some mite medication as a last resort. So we are hoping for the best .. Otherwise the vet said we can consider a rather traumatic biopsy or depending on her condition, we may have to euthanize her. Presently Megs is still eating and moving about, even with one eye, so not considering this as yet.

So far the vet has given a pain killer and an anitbiotic (which Megs is still on):
Metacam suspension
Baytril (oral)

We were also given :
Terra-Cortil drops to put on the toughened skin to soften it (as far as we could tell, this actually seemed to spread the infection to the lower eyelid)

We then stopped the Terra-Cortil and have since been using Flamazine instead.

It does not seem to be spreading any further now as far as I can tell, but is not getting any better either, or so it would seem.

Yesterday we visited again and had some Ivermectin put on just in case it was mites, although the vet didn't think so as the skin is not flaky.

The vet cut away at a bit of the leather-like skin on her eye to reveal soft new skin underneath.
So still hoping that things will come right .. We have another visit booked for Monday.

If anyone else has seen anything like this before, please let me know :

 

[ortegah]

Oh no! That poor baby! Prayers that the vet figures out what's wrong and fixes it pronto.

 

[April]

Oh my goodness,I have no idea but I pray the vet is able to figure it out and help her heal swifty.

 

[wonderb]

Oh my, poor baby. Can the vet scrape it and culture it? I would look for a different vet or insist that your vet consult with another avian vet. To me it almost looks like a fungal infection and then would need an antifungal. My heart is breaking for you bird.

 

[wonderb]

It looks like it could be scaly face mites. Is she seeing an avian vet? This is a serious condition but can be diagnosed with a simple skin scraping.

Scaly Face Mites: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

 

[Birdiemarie]

Oh my. I hope your vet can figure out what's wrong.

 

[Coffee]

If it is any sort of mite, the Ivermectin administered to Megs yesterday will take care of that.

I live in Durban, South African and Avian vets are very rare here. We have one specialist who deals with the birds from the bird park and she does a fantastic job of it, she has just never seen anything like this before.

A fungal infection was ruled out as the skin has gone dry, tough and leathery, like a callous .. Rather than raw and moist, as with a fungal infection.

A biopsy would basically reveal if it was skin cancer or not, in which case, there is nothing we can do regardless. We have held off on the biopsy as the vet would need to cut a 3mm slit of skin from Megs' head, going from the bad skin into good skin for the lab to analyse. It is quite traumatic for a small pionus, we would still do it in a heartbeat however if the vet believed it would actually tell us what is wrong.. When we asked however, she said it generally comes back as an unknown skin infection or as something fatal.

Since Megs only had an anti-mite treatment yesterday, I am praying that this will now go into remission.

I would never have imagined that all this could have been the result of a very slightly swollen top eyelid.
She is still moving about a lot and is happily eating, but I also know that she is sad and have heard her crying a to herself a it at night. :~(

Ps. I realise this is posted in the "Highway" emergency forum when I perhaps should have posted within the "Diseases" forum, apologies about that.

 

[wonderb]

Your vet doesn't have to biopsy, they can just scrape some skin onto a slide and look at it in a microscope.

If it is scaly face, you will have to clean everything she comes in contact with very thoroughly or she will continually reinfect herself. I would honestly throw away everything and start from scratch. What kind of diet is she on? This is usually seen in birds with a weakened immune system due to nutritional deficiencies. Depending on what she's being fed, we might be able to give you some tips for how to boost her immune system which will help her heal and hopefully prevent this from reoccurring.

I'm very sorry you guys are having to go through this. I hope she responds to the treatment!

 

[Coffee]

Due to the skin not being flaky, the vet really did not think that it was mites. Perhaps that is why she believed that a biopsy is the only route to go.

Megs is fed daily with fresh veg : Usually 2 green beans, a pea pod, a baby carrot, half a mini corn, sometimes broccoli, a slice of apple, a quarter provita, a pecan nut, a cashew nut, 3 raisins and an almond. She has recently been having quite a bit of watermelon too and greatly enjoys the black seeds of that fruit. She does also have seed readily available, but is not a big seed eater. I also give her a daily "Kaytee Papaya Feista Healthy Toppings" treat or two, each are about 2mm in diameter, she greatly enjoys those.



She has always been a great eater and goes for her dish as soon as you set it down. She is not a caged bird, her cage is always open and she sleeps on a triangle toy which hangs from her cage. She is usually a very happy and placid bird and has always been so.



I am not sure how long pionus parrots should live till in captivity, but I thought that she would at least make 15 years, not a mere 11 and a half.

 

[wonderb]

Due to the skin not being flaky, the vet really did not think that it was mites. Perhaps that is why she believed that a biopsy is the only route to go.

Megs is fed daily with fresh veg : Usually 2 green beans, a pea pod, a baby carrot, half a mini corn, sometimes broccoli, a slice of apple, a quarter provita, a pecan nut, a cashew nut, 3 raisins and an almond. She has recently been having quite a bit of watermelon too and greatly enjoys the black seeds of that fruit. She does also have seed readily available, but is not a big seed eater. I also give her a daily "Kaytee Papaya Feista Healthy Toppings" treat or two, each are about 2mm in diameter, she greatly enjoys those.

View attachment 109333

She has always been a great eater and goes for her dish as soon as you set it down. She is not a caged bird, her cage is always open and she sleeps on a triangle toy which hangs from her cage. She is usually a very happy and placid bird and has always been so.

View attachment 109332

I am not sure how long pionus parrots should live till in captivity, but I thought that she would at least make 15 years, not a mere 11 and a half.

It looks like she is very well cared for. Many pionus suffer from vitamin A deficiencies, even if their diet includes vitamin A. Since you're in Africa, you should be able to get Red Palm Oil right? If so, I would put it on all of her fresh food. I would get the highest quality kind you can, something unrefined. It is a very good source of vitamin A, and seems to be readily absorbed by birds.

Focus on other vegetables and fruits that contain vitamin A as well. Greens, and orange fruits and vegetables are the best sources: WHFoods: vitamin A

Even if it isn't mites, this will help her immune system and over all health, giving her a better chance of survival. I hope more people see your thread and can give opinions on what it might be.

 

[Birdbabe]

Oh that looks bad, do you mind if I email these pics to my avain vet? Hes awesome and I would like to know if he has any insight for you. Im sorry your dealing with this,

 

[Coffee]

You are more than welcome to pass photos and information on, I'm really hoping that somewhere, someone has seen something exactly like this.

 

[Sierra_N_Fids]

PM Monica she is on bird channel with me. This girl knows a lot about bird diseases and conditions, she is the only person i can think of off hand that would most likely know of something odd ball like this.

http://forums.avianavenue.com/members/monica.html

 

[Sierra_N_Fids]

The mites thing that Ellen suggested looks like it to me. One of the things i noticed is that there are some seeds in her cage. Sometimes seeds carry mites.

 

[Ming-Ming]

It first sounded like mites, but after seeing it, I don't know.
I hope you find out what is wrong, and she makes a quick recovery... poor thing.
I shall post in my avian diseases fb group if that is okay...

 

[Ming-Ming]

Does she scratch at it, or rub it a lot?

 

[Coffee]

The skin is not puffy or flaky at all, as it would be for mites and this was the best that I could come up with too - Which is why on Monday, Megs was treated for mites regardless.

It is as if her skin is literally turning into leather. She doesn't seem to scratch or rub it much that I noticed, but my mom said when she visited today that Megs was scratching a fair bit. At first I thought that the red patches that were appearing were from her scratching overnight.. But I have since noticed them in places where I don't think she can reach so easily .. Therefore I assume it is obviously part of whatever this is.

I noticed this morning that her left nostril has also turned that dark red colour. I will try to post daily pics to visually monitor her progress. The images posted with this original thread were taken yesterday afternoon (17th July 2012).

The vet also asked that we begin weighing Megs daily in the morning, so far she is a constant 156/157 grams.

We have a follow-up visit with the vet on Friday the 20th July and then may go ahead with the biopsy on Monday the 23rd July.

 

[Birdiemarie]

Hi Kristy, I'm so sorry Megs is suffering with this. I just wanted to mention in case you didn't already know, to weigh her first thing in the morning after her first big morning poo and before she eats anything.

 

[Ming-Ming]

This is one response I got from a bird rescuer I know:

this looks like skin cancer to me except for one thing - cancer has a reputation for weeping instead of being so dry and hard. If it is cancer, it has not yet taken hold of deeper layers of skin tissue . I would start applying frankincense to the face ASAP, several times per day (if cancer) before agreeing to put the bird down.
But I think a biopsy is important if the mite treatment isn't working. Again, my only reservation about cancer - not wet

 

[Ming-Ming]

Have you done a swab for bacteria?
I had a friend suggest it might be MRSA.

It's a staph infection. Very difficult to get rid of without proper antibiotic care. Can be terminal without it. Also, it' is ver contagious. She should be using gloves, and sterilizing everything because it can be transmitted to humans. MRSA is everywhere, really. It's a human infection. If that is what it is, the bird will need to be on oral antibiotics as well as a topical cream antibiotic. ​