Yeast infection, Bubbles in poop

[ashley0910]

Hi Everyone,

I have some issues here with my lovebird. So Around a year ago, I discovered that my lovebird has a lot of bubbles in its poop (ard 10). He is also kinda lethargic.
We bought him to the vet and the vet can't seem to find any issues with him so he is given probiotics and vitamins.
Soon, he recovered and is back to his normal self though the bubble poop is still there, but lesser.

This week he seemed really sick with a lot of bubbles with his poop, a bit of diarrhea and he loses his weight from 45g to 43g. Although he only lost 2 grams, I could easily feel his middle bone sticking out....
So we went to the vet and did a poop test, the vet found a lot of yeast in his poop. We were given nystatin and Scourban to be given to him for 7 days (once every 12 hrs).
One qns: Is Scourban a common usage? Will it cause any gastrointestinal issues?

So right after we went home from the vet visit, fed him the Scourban and Nystatin, he started to have dark coloured poop... ranging from dark green to literally black.
This lasted the first 2 days of the medication. Just wanted to know if Scourban will actually cause a reaction to produce dark colored poop? Wondered if it is the same as humans, when we have antibiotics, it will strain on the gastrointestinal functions?

2 days later his poops are back to normal (green nicely formed) but with bubbles.
However, it seemed like he is not getting better? He is still lethargic looking.... He stills eats but his appetite has largely decreased. I had been feeding him poly aid plus to try to let him gain back his weight.

Tomorrow I was thinking to bring him back to the vet again for another review.
Any suggestion I should mention to the vet?

Thank you so much all for your time.

 

[ashley0910]

To add on, no he does not vomits. He is just having a lot of bubbles in his poop and being lethargic.

Also, will having yeast infection caused labored breathing? At some point I might find him having labored breathing (like the tails moved when he breathes hard).
But that only lasted a few seconds.

Thank you all so much once again

 

[sunnysmom]

I'm sorry that your bird is sick. I will tag some people: @Lady Jane @Hankmacaw @Zara ?

Also, after the infection gets taken care of, maybe ask your vet about keeping your bird on probiotics. My cockatiel Sunny, who was 15 at that time, had bubbles in his droppings. The doctor said although he didn't have an infection at the time, his good bacteria level was low, which made him more at risk for infections. He put him on probiotics and it helped. But a month or two after, he got sick (bacterial infection though, not yeast). He got medicine and probiotics and then a couple months later it would happen again. This went on for a year. Finally, my vet and I decided to just keep him on probiotics and it made a huge difference. My vet thought that because of his age, he just needed help with his immune system.

 

[Lady Jane]

Nystatin is not the most effecting medication for avian gastric yeast. Ask your vet about amphotericin B. It is an oral antibiotic given by shringe. Nystatin is antibacterial and antifungal that is also prescribed by vets. Did the vet do a swab of the crop for gram stain?

 

[ashley0910]

Hi there, thank you for your reply. Today I brought him back to the vet, the vet wanted to do culture on the poop as he did not vomit. So the initial plan was to send the send the poop for culture and then prescribe a new antibiotic since the one prescribed is not working.

The vet gave him minerals supplements to be added to his food as well as vitamins to be given 3 times a day. I have also added ACV into his water (2 teaspoon per litre).

I gave him water with ACV at 7pm and at 10 pm he ate some seed and I gave him vitamins. Also I gave him his antibiotics at 6pm...

And then he vomited!!!! He had been on and off vomiting till now which is 12 midnight. I wondered did he vomit because that he might have Avian gastric yeast(the vet found a lot of budding yeast in his poop). Or is it that he had too much supplements? Cause I heard ACV contains vitamins too...

Just now I fed him some water hoping to dilute whatever he have if it had overdose him (though I don’t think so). And now he’s trying to sleep on and off vomiting and I am keeping an eye on him...

He does not vomit anything out though, no saliva nothing, it’s dry vomiting.

Tmr I will be rushing him to the vet first thing in the morning.

Any thing I can do for him during this period?
He’s heat lamp is on (no light) and I just gave him some mouthful of water. Anything to stop the vomit?

 

[ashley0910]

I mentioned to my vet about amphotericin b, but she said that she had not use this medicine for a lot of years and this is only available through injection and not medication.... maybe the resources she have in the clinic is not as wide....

 

[Lady Jane]

Are you in the US? The ampho is available in liquid. I got it from my vet a few years ago. Is this vet avian certified? I don't understand the need for vitamins but I am not a vet. Vitamin B is an appetite stimulant. Did the vet test for vitamin A deficiency? I would have been a blood test but some avian vets can go by the symptoms. The ACV vinegar for budgies is 2 tsp. per quart. per my avian vet. There are Antiemetics help with the vomiting. Your doing just fine and I hope your bird gets better.

 

[ashley0910]

Hi there, i am sorry for the late reply.

So, what happened that night was that he tried to vomit every 2-5 minutes but there is nothing coming out, it seemed like he is just feeling nauseous. So until 2 am I decided to feed him his nystatin which is in liquid form as that is his medication time.
So when i feed him, he vomited a whole lot of stuff, bubblish saliva, undigested food (probably from his crop). And miraculous the vomit stops! All is well till the morning. So I was wondering is it because of all the gas he has in his crop causing him to be nauseous.

Nevertheless, we went to the vet the next morning, did a crop culture and a poop culture. I didn't update because I was waiting for the culture result to be out and I am feeling much stressed with the situation.

The vet just called me, both the crop and the poop culture show negative to any bacteria that is abnormal... The vet was saying probably something in his digestive system is causing a lot of gas (which is why he has a lot of bubbles in his poop) but it is not caused by any bacteria or yeast. Previously his poop test shows that he has budding yeast and was prescribed nystatin. This poop culture test is one week after the nystatin, the yeast probably went off. The vet was suggesting to see from his diet if any food is causing him to have indigestion.

One concern I have is whether he will have parrot fever or rather Chlamydia psittaci (psittacosis). Right now his poop is different from what we have when we sent it to the lab for culture. Right now, his urine and urates seemed to be a little yellowish, it gives out a milky odor.
But this yellowish urine and/or urates are not constantly. Sometimes his urine is clear and there is no odor. He is still feeling sleepy sometimes but as compared to 1 week ago, he seemed to be more alert, and his appetite increases though he has not gained much weight.

I am not really sure if he has parrot fever or not, should I call the vet for a second poop culture test? But the vet thinks it is not caused by any bacteria, rather it is his indigestion.

Do you think he will have any liver disease?

I have attached a photo of his poop. Do you guys think it is normal?

I am so sorry to be asking here, I don't live in the US and an avian vet here is hard to find but this vet had been my go-to vet for the past 10 years since I got my first birdie, This vet works in the bird park as a vet previously so I think she should be certified?


Thank you so much for your time and I appreciate it.

 

[sunnysmom]

If there's not bad bacteria or yeast, I would ask your vet about probiotics. As I posted above, my tiel had bubbles in his droppings, no bad bacteria, but not enough good bacteria. Did the vet say by any chance if his good bacteria level was normal?

@Zara ?

 

[Hankmacaw]

Probiotics are a good idea. I give them to may birds once or twice a weeks, just for the heck of it. Most important is that your vet run some tests. One specific for Chlamydia and a CBC ( completer blood test) and a Chem Panel. These tests will give enough information (including about the liver and kidneys) to give your vet a direction to go in. The next step after these tests (if they don't give a definitive answer) is an xray.

I always prefer to get the tests done rather than fool around for weeks and try one thing, then the next - while the bird may be getting sicker and sicker. Expensive - yes.

 

[Jennjenn]

Ashley, did you ever figure out what the problem/diagnosis was with your lovebird?

 

[Jennjenn]

Hi Ashley,

Thank you so much for your reply. Thank you for taking the time out to write such a thoughtful response. I received your reply in my email’s inbox but I don’t see it here in this forum; and I can only reply to you here.

I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that. I don’t know what to say. Truly, my heart pains for you.

 

[krupali]

I'm sorry that your bird is sick. I will tag some people: @Lady Jane @Hankmacaw @Zara ?

Also, after the infection gets taken care of, maybe ask your vet about keeping your bird on probiotics. My cockatiel Sunny, who was 15 at that time, had bubbles in his droppings. The doctor said although he didn't have an infection at the time, his good bacteria level was low, which made him more at risk for infections. He put him on probiotics and it helped. But a month or two after, he got sick (bacterial infection though, not yeast). He got medicine and probiotics and then a couple months later it would happen again. This went on for a year. Finally, my vet and I decided to just keep him on probiotics and it made a huge difference. My vet thought that because of his age, he just needed help with his immune system.

I know this an old post but what were sunny's symptoms when he got the infection? Do you have any good recommendations for probiotics. I have the Morning Bird one and it's what i put in my birds food.

 

[sunnysmom]

@krupali

Vomiting was the main symptom. He acted pretty normally other than that. Other symptoms can be being lethargic and fluffed up. He didn't do that though. I got my probiotics directly from my vet in a prescription bottle. So I don't remember what the name actually was. Is your bird sick?[/QUOTE]

 

[krupali]

@krupali

Vomiting was the main symptom. He acted pretty normally other than that. Other symptoms can be being lethargic and fluffed up. He didn't do that though. I got my probiotics directly from my vet in a prescription bottle. So I don't remember what the name actually was. Is your bird sick?

[/QUOTE]
Yes he is fine. He's still having bubbles in some of his poop. I took him to the avian vet about 2 months ago and he said my bird was very healthy and his poops looked perfectly normal. I showed hin pictures of the bubbly poops and he said since he only has it occasionally, it is perfectly normal. And also explained why it happens. I don't remember exactly what he said but it had to do with the sugar and waste and thick slimy layer on top of the droppings. I insisted on getting a gram stain but he said nothing will come out. I trust this vet alot. He's very compassionate and knowledgeable. He's done a blood test on Luka before and was very thorough explaining us the results. He's one of the best in the state that I live in. But I'm a huge hypochondriac and Im constantly worried about luka. He's a very energetic bird but what if I missed something and what if he does have something and I have no idea? Some days, I check his poops every 15 minutes.‍ its exhausting. Not all of his poops are bubbly, maybe one or two but the bubbles go away in a few seconds. Story of my life :l
I just want to safe and sound and provide him the best care. So starting yesterday I'vd been adding probiotics in his food.

Sorry for the long post

 

[sunnysmom]

Yes he is fine. He's still having bubbles in some of his poop. I took him to the avian vet about 2 months ago and he said my bird was very healthy and his poops looked perfectly normal. I showed hin pictures of the bubbly poops and he said since he only has it occasionally, it is perfectly normal. And also explained why it happens. I don't remember exactly what he said but it had to do with the sugar and waste and thick slimy layer on top of the droppings. I insisted on getting a gram stain but he said nothing will come out. I trust this vet alot. He's very compassionate and knowledgeable. He's done a blood test on Luka before and was very thorough explaining us the results. He's one of the best in the state that I live in. But I'm a huge hypochondriac and Im constantly worried about luka. He's a very energetic bird but what if I missed something and what if he does have something and I have no idea? Some days, I check his poops every 15 minutes.‍ its exhausting. Not all of his poops are bubbly, maybe one or two but the bubbles go away in a few seconds. Story of my life :l
I just want to safe and sound and provide him the best care. So starting yesterday I'vd been adding probiotics in his food.

Sorry for the long post
[/QUOTE]

So initially when Sunny had bubbles in his poop, he didn't have a bacterial infection. But the vet did a gram stain and throat swab and found that he had no good bacteria either. He said that basically, it's like an empty plot of dirt, if you don't plant flowers, you get weeds. So we had to get his good bacteria level up and started with the probiotics. However, in Sunny's case, he just couldn't maintain the good bacteria level and eventually would get sick after stopping the probiotics. But sometimes there are just bubbles in droppings. However, Sunny's would pretty consistent - like not every dropping, but every day- so that led me to be concerned.

 

[krupali]

Yes he is fine. He's still having bubbles in some of his poop. I took him to the avian vet about 2 months ago and he said my bird was very healthy and his poops looked perfectly normal. I showed hin pictures of the bubbly poops and he said since he only has it occasionally, it is perfectly normal. And also explained why it happens. I don't remember exactly what he said but it had to do with the sugar and waste and thick slimy layer on top of the droppings. I insisted on getting a gram stain but he said nothing will come out. I trust this vet alot. He's very compassionate and knowledgeable. He's done a blood test on Luka before and was very thorough explaining us the results. He's one of the best in the state that I live in. But I'm a huge hypochondriac and Im constantly worried about luka. He's a very energetic bird but what if I missed something and what if he does have something and I have no idea? Some days, I check his poops every 15 minutes.‍ its exhausting. Not all of his poops are bubbly, maybe one or two but the bubbles go away in a few seconds. Story of my life :l
I just want to safe and sound and provide him the best care. So starting yesterday I'vd been adding probiotics in his food.

Sorry for the long post

So initially when Sunny had bubbles in his poop, he didn't have a bacterial infection. But the vet did a gram stain and throat swab and found that he had no good bacteria either. He said that basically, it's like an empty plot of dirt, if you don't plant flowers, you get weeds. So we had to get his good bacteria level up and started with the probiotics. However, in Sunny's case, he just couldn't maintain the good bacteria level and eventually would get sick after stopping the probiotics. But sometimes there are just bubbles in droppings. However, Sunny's would pretty consistent - like not every dropping, but every day- so that led me to be concerned.
[/QUOTE]


So I've been monitoring luka' poops for the past couple of days. I've noticed that his poops when he eats zupreme pellets (fruitblend) he gets more bubbly poops. So I stopped giving him zupreme because of high sugar content.

I would say his dropping have improved and the ones with bubbles disappear in a few seconds. The bubbles Im seeing are only noticeable in his perfectly round poops. I wonder if the pressure when he is releasing is whats causing the bubbles - Because they only last for a few seconds.