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B&G macaw

Razd

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Raz dv
I don't know if this supposed to be here or somewhere else but I had to try
So on 26 December my African grey died a sudden death after being with me for two months I bought him and b&g male from the same breeder at the same day.
I had a b&g female a year before I bought the male..
So I took the male to the vet checked for diseases
And general test . He was ok didn't have Chlamydia nor beak and feather and not polyoma.
So I thought if he was healthy then the African grey from the same breeder should be ok too so I didn't check him. After two months he died a sudden death. I run to the vet with my macaws checked them for Chlamydia and they are fine .
My female was clipped before I bought her.
And I tried to make her fly over months I built her chest muscles and her flight confidence.
In the last month she finally flied to me over long distances within my house !
But then after the African greys death I gave her Doxycycline under the vet recommendation for almost a week in her water one capsule per 750ml of water ..

Till we had the blood test results and she didn't have Chlamydia at all so I stopped with the antibiotics more than a week now but she still doesn't fly...

I tried to force her to fly like we did in our training routines and I noticed that she can't ascend properly like she is falpping with no power at all...


I already took her to another vet and he found out that she has fungal in her droppings so now she is taking itraconazole for almost a week but still can't fly .. and she is always tired pls help

She is getting the best food parrot can have..

P15 nutribird always
Veggies every other day
Fruits every other day
Egg with shell once a week
She has many toys and another parrot with her
Anyone has any clue what could cause that ?
Cuz she took the Doxycycline just for few days no way it happened because of that...
Oh and I forgot to mention I weigh her on daily basis she is between 940-960 grams . And it didn't change ... Thanks !
Oh another thing , she is not shouting for a week no and not talking at all she was doing those things on daily basis...
 
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Hankmacaw

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Fungal infections are difficult to cure - generally much more difficult than a bacterial infection. One week is a very short period to treat a fungal infection. Aspergillosis generally takes 3 months plus of treatment to cure. Did your vet say what kind of fungus she has?

Itraconazole can make a bird feel pretty down - it is the best medication for Aspergillosis. I'd sure let her have more time to get well.
 

Razd

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Raz dv
Fungal infections are difficult to cure - generally much more difficult than a bacterial infection. One week is a very short period to treat a fungal infection. Aspergillosis generally takes 3 months plus of treatment to cure. Did your vet say what kind of fungus she has?

Itraconazole can make a bird feel pretty down - it is the best medication for Aspergillosis. I'd sure let her have more time to get well.
He didn't mention a specific kind of the fungal infection he just said that it's not risking her life and she should take itraconazole for two week then I should send him her droppings again to make sure she doesn't have it anymore.
In your opinion all of these are itraconazole side effects ?
Being so weak that she can barely fly or scream?
Or is it the infection symptoms? Tnx
 

Hawk12237

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He didn't mention a specific kind of the fungal infection he just said that it's not risking her life and she should take itraconazole for two week then I should send him her droppings again to make sure she doesn't have it anymore.
In your opinion all of these are itraconazole side effects ?
Being so weak that she can barely fly or scream?
Or is it the infection symptoms? Tnx
All fungal infections carry a risk. Much depends on the severity of the infection. And type of infection your dealing with. They, in some cases can be beat. It does wear a bird down.
The thing to watch for with fungal infections is the ability to spread to vital organs. It's crucial to have frequent vet check ups to closely monitor the infection. And never miss medication.
 

Hankmacaw

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@Razd
I sort of missed you statement that she had not been vocal for some time. A loss or change in the voice is one of the first and most noticeable symptoms of Aspergillosis. Aspergillosis is a severe fungal infection generally caused by the organism Aspergillosus fumigatus. Asper has a high morbidity rate and is not something to fool with. Here is an article about Asper that gives quite a lot of information.


Please take your girl back to the Dr. and ask him to do an Asper Titer survey and an xray. From there he should know which additional tests to take or he may determine that she does/doesn't have Asper from those two tests.

In the mean time, DO NOT ALLOW HER TO FLY - PERIOD. Keep her quiet and warm and make sure she is eating/drinking. KEEP UP WITH THE ITRACONAZOLE. Your girl seems to have many of the symptoms of Asper. She may or may not have it - but I think that there is a high liklihood.

I fought Asper with my two macaws for years and it is no picnic. Please keep me informed as to what is going on.
 
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Hawk12237

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@Razd
I sort of missed you statement that she had not been vocal for some time. A loss or change in the voice is one of the first and most noticeable symptoms of Aspergillosis. Aspergillosis is a severe fungal infection generally caused by the organism Aspergillosus fumigatus. Asper has a high morbidity rate and is not something to fool with. Here is an article about Asper that gives quite a lot of information.


Please take your girl back to the Dr. and ask him to do an Asper Titer survey and an xray. From there he should know which additional tests to take or he may determine that she does/doesn't have Asper from those two tests.

In the mean time, DO NOT ALLOW HER TO FLY - PERIOD. Keep her quiet and warm and make sure she is eating/drinking. KEEP UP WITH THE ITRACONAZOLE. Your girl seems to have many of the symptoms of Asper. She may or may not have it - but I think that there is a high liklihood.

I fought Asper with my two macaws for years and it is no picnic. Please keep me informed as to what is going on.
I agree with Mary here, take your bird to get and have asper titer testing done. I missed that part where it's not vocal as well. That's one major symptom.
 

Razd

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I agree with Mary here, take your bird to get and have asper titer testing done. I missed that part where it's not vocal as well. That's one major symptom.
She is just being tired and talking less than usual her voice is t lost or changed at all . I dont think she has Aspergillosis because the vet said she should take itraconazole for two weeks and from what I know in case of Aspergillosis she would take it for few months
Anyhow I'll call the vet 2mrw and ask for the specific fungal name.
 

Greylady1966

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Nikki's first sign of aspers was her voice one morning. Very harsh sounding. We'd only had her for 3 years. She was only 18 when we lost her. She fought hard and was my world but we lost the fight.
 

Razd

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Raz dv
@Razd
I sort of missed you statement that she had not been vocal for some time. A loss or change in the voice is one of the first and most noticeable symptoms of Aspergillosis. Aspergillosis is a severe fungal infection generally caused by the organism Aspergillosus fumigatus. Asper has a high morbidity rate and is not something to fool with. Here is an article about Asper that gives quite a lot of information.


Please take your girl back to the Dr. and ask him to do an Asper Titer survey and an xray. From there he should know which additional tests to take or he may determine that she does/doesn't have Asper from those two tests.

In the mean time, DO NOT ALLOW HER TO FLY - PERIOD. Keep her quiet and warm and make sure she is eating/drinking. KEEP UP WITH THE ITRACONAZOLE. Your girl seems to have many of the symptoms of Asper. She may or may not have it - but I think that there is a high liklihood.

I fought Asper with my two macaws for years and it is no picnic. Please keep me informed as to what is going on.
I uploaded two videos since she can't fly and looks like she is sick she doing this in place falpping like she is checking if she is able to fly she does this everyday before bed time :)
Heres the videos and u can hear her voice too ;)

 

Hankmacaw

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I'll show you something that is very telling about a sick bird flapping. Hank had had numerous rounds with Asper and had developed granulomas in his lungs and airsacs - these made him feel like he wasn't getting enough air (and he wasn't), but because of the mechanics of their breathing, flapping helps expand the lungs and air sacs (remember birds do not have a diaphragm to push their lungs). This time it wasn't a granuloma, but a tumor from his thyroid gland that had grown and was invading the pericardium of his heart - basically pushing against his heart and not allowing him to get enough oxygen. Very much the same as a granuloma or highly occluded lungs or air sacs.

This is an excellent video about the respiratory system pf birds.
 

Razd

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Raz dv
I'll show you something that is very telling about a sick bird flapping. Hank had had numerous rounds with Asper and had developed granulomas in his lungs and airsacs - these made him feel like he wasn't getting enough air (and he wasn't), but because of the mechanics of their breathing, flapping helps expand the lungs and air sacs (remember birds do not have a diaphragm to push their lungs). This time it wasn't a granuloma, but a tumor from his thyroid gland that had grown and was invading the pericardium of his heart - basically pushing against his heart and not allowing him to get enough oxygen. Very much the same as a granuloma or highly occluded lungs or air sacs.

This is an excellent video about the respiratory system pf birds.
I don't think that's my birds case because she is doing for 2-5 mins at the same time and she doesn't have any trouble breathing. Except of flying and screaming she is acting normal , it seems like she has the same regular behaviour but with extra tiredness lol
 

Hankmacaw

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I certainly hope you are right. Asper is terribly hard to cure.
 

Razd

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I certainly hope you are right. Asper is terribly hard to cure.
I'll ask the vet 2mrw , I don't think he would give me itraconazole for two weeks if that's was the case ..
Also I asked him what can cause that he said
It can pass when I kiss her or when the food is contaminated .. so I guess that's not how she could get asper lul..
 

Hankmacaw

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Yes she could get it from food that is contaminated.
 

Razd

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Raz dv
I'll ask the vet 2mrw , I don't think he would give me itraconazole for two weeks if that's was the case ..
Also I asked him what can cause that he said
It can pass when I kiss her or when the food is contaminated .. so I guess that's not how she could get asper lul..
Oh and another thing . I took my male to the vet with my female just to check him up . He didn't pop so the vet couldn't test his pop yet the vet assumed that if my female has this fungal then the male has it too , so he decided to prescribe me the med for both of them the male takes 0.25cc
Per day and the female takes 0.3 based on their weight.
I know that asper isn't contagious so this is another reason that I believe it is not the case :)
I'm pretty nervous till 2mrw I gotta know the exact fungal name , maybe I'll find out that the vet meant bacterial infection which makes more sense why he gave it to male and said that I could pass it to them
 

Hankmacaw

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Yeah but Itraconazole is a fungicide and specific for fungus - it would not do a thing for a bacterial infection. Candida is also sometimes treated with Itraconazole.

Although Asper is not infectious it can be communicable. Like if your birds eat out of the same bowls or if they feed each other.
 

Birdbabe

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Nikki's first sign of aspers was her voice one morning. Very harsh sounding. We'd only had her for 3 years. She was only 18 when we lost her. She fought hard and was my world but we lost the fight.
:sadhug2:
 
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