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Fluconazole

MrPink

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Does anyone have experience with fluconozole?

We've been dealing with an avian gastric yeast nightmare.
One by one my birds have gotten infected. We started with amphotericin B, which has definitely helped them, but the yeast is partly resistant.

After trial and error, we figured out that a fluconazole/amphotericin combo is really effective for my zebra finches. I'm nervous about giving fluconazole to my bourkes parakeet though, since it's toxic to budgies.
The vet said she hasn't seen issues for any other species though.

At this point he does need it though since his symptoms have worsened.
 

iamwhoiam

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Have used fluconazole in the past with birds who had fungal infections but none of them are Bourke's. I remember that one of my birds did not do well with that medication. Made her nauseous and caused decreased appetite.
You may want to re-contact the vet and express your concerns again.

Sorry that your Bourke's is ill and hope he will get better soon.

I believe that @Lady Jane has dealt with Avian Gastric Yeast with budgies, not Bourke's though.
 

Hankmacaw

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Fluconozole is the most benign fungicide and Amphtericin B is the most dangerous. I don't know about budgies being sensitive to fluconozole, but no other species should be. This treatment of your birds will take a long, long tim e.

Good luck.
 

Birdie Mama

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hi and welcome. Hope your babies feel better soon...

@Hankmacaw Quick question, how do you know if the bird is nauseous? It’s like me who turns green and holds my tummy! :lol: Can not figure that out and I see it mentioned a lot but no symptoms that would indicate it. Thanks:)
 

Hankmacaw

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They won't eat. Also sometimes regurgitate or acts like they want to.
 

MrPink

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Have used fluconazole in the past with birds who had fungal infections but none of them are Bourke's. I remember that one of my birds did not do well with that medication. Made her nauseous and caused decreased appetite.
You may want to re-contact the vet and express your concerns again.

Sorry that your Bourke's is ill and hope he will get better soon.

I believe that @Lady Jane has dealt with Avian Gastric Yeast with budgies, not Bourke's though.
Thank you!! The vet is aware but believes the risk is low (except for budgies, I guess?). We've had the birds on amphotericin for months but it isn't completely working. Combining the two seems to be the only thing that works at this point.

When your bird became ill from the med, did they recover right away once it was stopped? And which med did you switch to?
 
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MrPink

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Fluconozole is the most benign fungicide and Amphtericin B is the most dangerous. I don't know about budgies being sensitive to fluconozole, but no other species should be. This treatment of your birds will take a long, long tim e.

Good luck.
Thank you for the reply. We've been treating this since March, so it definitely is a stubborn disease. None of them have had side effects from the ampho, and it did help them somewhat. It just doesn't work 100% in our case.
 

Lady Jane

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I have lost two Budgies to AGY.
It is not a pretty road to recovery. My first budgie to get it was on ampho B and another anti nausea for 30 days. Also just about all of the holistic things that were suggested to me. But her never responded and entered into the wasting stage which is where the birds drop weight dispite eating as no nutrients are being absorbed. They die from malnutrition.

I did alot of thinking as to what the cause would be. My vet said most of the time it is inherated from the birds parents. I fed corn on the cob regularity as the breeder said it was good for them. Not so. Corn has alot of sugar and a thin membrane for each kernal. I now advise budgie people to feed no fresh corn and I avoided bird foods that have it which are many. Goldenfeast has no corn in their foods.

During the time my bird was not responding to treatment I contacted Dr. Brian Spear a well known avian vet. Sent him an email and he responded quickly. He suggested and talked to my vet about adding pain medicaltion as AGY can be painful to a bird. This did happen but I wished I had contacted him sooner. I wish your bird healing from the yeast.
 

iamwhoiam

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Thank you!! The vet is aware but believes the risk is low (except for budgies, I guess?). We've had the birds on amphotericin for months but it isn't completely working. Combining the two seems to be the only thing that works at this point.

When your bird became ill from the med, did they recover right away once it was stopped? And which med did you switch to?
The other antifungals she was on were Nizoral (Ketoconazole) and Sporanox. Sporanox was the hardest on her system compared to Nizoral and Fluconazole.
She did not have AGY but was diagnosed with aspergillosis. I was provided her with water infused with ginger to help with the nausea/vomiting and she was also getting
vetri-DMG and Reglan (aka metoclopramide...used to decrease vomiting).
 

MrPink

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I have lost two Budgies to AGY.
It is not a pretty road to recovery. My first budgie to get it was on ampho B and another anti nausea for 30 days. Also just about all of the holistic things that were suggested to me. But her never responded and entered into the wasting stage which is where the birds drop weight dispite eating as no nutrients are being absorbed. They die from malnutrition.

I did alot of thinking as to what the cause would be. My vet said most of the time it is inherated from the birds parents. I fed corn on the cob regularity as the breeder said it was good for them. Not so. Corn has alot of sugar and a thin membrane for each kernal. I now advise budgie people to feed no fresh corn and I avoided bird foods that have it which are many. Goldenfeast has no corn in their foods.

During the time my bird was not responding to treatment I contacted Dr. Brian Spear a well known avian vet. Sent him an email and he responded quickly. He suggested and talked to my vet about adding pain medicaltion as AGY can be painful to a bird. This did happen but I wished I had contacted him sooner. I wish your bird healing from the yeast.
That's awful! I'm sorry you went through that. Did they ever try Nystatin or any other antifungal added with the amphotericin? Just curious.

I'm honestly surprised that my finches are alive since they were severely sick with it, to the point where I was handfeeding them to keep them alive. All of the birds are stable now, KNOCK on wood - but now it's a matter of really getting rid of it. We're pretty sure it was introduced into my flock by my one and only Mr. Pink.
That's really interesting about corn. I've heard different sources say it's not great for birds.

Have you eradicated it from your flock at this point?
 

MrPink

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The other antifungals she was on were Nizoral (Ketoconazole) and Sporanox. Sporanox was the hardest on her system compared to Nizoral and Fluconazole.
She did not have AGY but was diagnosed with aspergillosis. I was provided her with water infused with ginger to help with the nausea/vomiting and she was also getting
vetri-DMG and Reglan (aka metoclopramide...used to decrease vomiting).
I've never heard of those! Poor baby.. I hope she's alright now?

That's a relief to hear that the fluconazole wasn't too hard on her.
 

Lady Jane

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@MrPink i no longer have any birds due to lung complications and life I’d so much different without chirping budgies . The budgies that had AGY only vomited in the beginning. The vet stopped the antiemetic. Thanks for your kind words and hope your little birds stay well.
 

iamwhoiam

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I've never heard of those! Poor baby.. I hope she's alright now?

That's a relief to hear that the fluconazole wasn't too hard on her.
She passed away in 2008. Went through 8 years of her getting better, getting sick again, getting better, getting sick, etc.
Lots of testing, lots of different medications.
 
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