Hi all, haven't been here in a while other than to read. Lots of things going on. I'd love to get some advice though, and pick some knowledgeable brains here if that's ok.
Going to try and make a long story short here.
My babies have had (probable) psittacosis. This all started in March of this year. First vet said respiratory infection and put them on Baytril. It worked but they relapsed. That's another indicator (I was later told) that can point to psittacosis. Cultures grew nothing, gram stains showed no infections. Vet #2 an hour from here (supposedly "knows his stuff") wouldn't treat for psittacosis, even though Tweety (one of my 'tiels) would have red eyes at times. Had to wait for an appt. 2 hours from here with a vet that finally did treat for psittacosis and they started to show improvement. They had been on several other antibiotics with little to no improvement.
An avian and exotic vet clinic recently opened here in town (thank goodness) and the vet there is wonderful. He has many years experience and listens to the clients who know their fids best.
We recently lost our precious Piglet. She had no quality of life. She eventually stayed fluffed and tail bobbed most of the time. Pathology from the necropsy showed liver and kidney damage. Most likely from the infection (or possible from all the antibiotics) as psittacosis can cause organ damage.
Tweety (my other 'tiel) still has times when he doesn't feel well. He'll sit and start to close his eyes then jerk all over. Got the results today of his latest blood work on Friday. Everything was normal except low total protein. Albumin was low. Uric acid was normal.
The vet said this could be from kidney damage (he said definitive damage won't show up on blood work until 70-75% of function is lost) or it could be from G.I Disease causing him to not utilize nutrients properly since the gram stain on Friday showed a "sterile gut" from all the antibiotics even though I'd had them on a probiotic. He added benebac. He said either kidney damage or the GI issue is causing him to have protein leakage and that could cause low blood pressure and make him weak. His grip isn't as strong in his feet as it once was.
He's also on Aloe Detox (vet approved this) and red palm oil (vet suggested this).
My budgies are fine, no after effects at all. I think that's because once they started showing symptoms it was only a couple of days until treatment began on all of them, not as much time had passed for more organ damage to be done.
This isn't so short after all is it? Sorry!
My vet wants me to increase Tweety's dietary protein using non animal sources. I thought kidney issues required lowering protein? Or does it depend on the type of protein? A while back he'd had me to switch to 70% pellets. I was never sure of that so I didn't do it for very long. I've never fed that many pellets. I always fed a variety and used pellets to cover any vitamin/mineral they may not get in their diets. Plus, all those synthetic vitamins concern me as far as liver and kidneys. Especially in the smaller birds.
They get a lot of exercise and Tweety is feeling better from being on the natural supplements, although at times he still closes his eyes and jerks all over. He is once again flying all over the house, following us from room to room and is making those sharp turns into rooms again.
I'm really confused on what to feed now. Do I up the protein? He won't eat beans, although I guess I could hide them in birdie bread. Also, one of the things I feed is germinated Totally Organics all in One Seed Mix. All the ingredients have 15% protein, although I did cut this back when I shortly had him on 70% pellets as the vet suggested.
Any advice, suggestions diet wise and natural supplement wise would be much appreciated.
Also, can kidney issues (if that's truly what it is, which is a high possibility since Piglet also had damage) be halted? reversed? Or will this considerably cut his life span?
Oh, the test for psittacosis was negative, there can be false negatives. Piglet was never quite right as far as acting like she felt totally well but nothing was ever found. I really think she brought it in. She was "a mile a minute" for the most part but would have times she would stop and fluff like something was bothering her. I've also read that psittacosis is a normal part of a bird's GI tract but stress can bring it out? Anyone else ever heard that? I'd never heard that before. I found one article online that said that. All the others I read said it was a contagious organism and not a normal part of the GI flora.
Thank you so much!
Going to try and make a long story short here.
My babies have had (probable) psittacosis. This all started in March of this year. First vet said respiratory infection and put them on Baytril. It worked but they relapsed. That's another indicator (I was later told) that can point to psittacosis. Cultures grew nothing, gram stains showed no infections. Vet #2 an hour from here (supposedly "knows his stuff") wouldn't treat for psittacosis, even though Tweety (one of my 'tiels) would have red eyes at times. Had to wait for an appt. 2 hours from here with a vet that finally did treat for psittacosis and they started to show improvement. They had been on several other antibiotics with little to no improvement.
An avian and exotic vet clinic recently opened here in town (thank goodness) and the vet there is wonderful. He has many years experience and listens to the clients who know their fids best.
We recently lost our precious Piglet. She had no quality of life. She eventually stayed fluffed and tail bobbed most of the time. Pathology from the necropsy showed liver and kidney damage. Most likely from the infection (or possible from all the antibiotics) as psittacosis can cause organ damage.
Tweety (my other 'tiel) still has times when he doesn't feel well. He'll sit and start to close his eyes then jerk all over. Got the results today of his latest blood work on Friday. Everything was normal except low total protein. Albumin was low. Uric acid was normal.
The vet said this could be from kidney damage (he said definitive damage won't show up on blood work until 70-75% of function is lost) or it could be from G.I Disease causing him to not utilize nutrients properly since the gram stain on Friday showed a "sterile gut" from all the antibiotics even though I'd had them on a probiotic. He added benebac. He said either kidney damage or the GI issue is causing him to have protein leakage and that could cause low blood pressure and make him weak. His grip isn't as strong in his feet as it once was.
He's also on Aloe Detox (vet approved this) and red palm oil (vet suggested this).
My budgies are fine, no after effects at all. I think that's because once they started showing symptoms it was only a couple of days until treatment began on all of them, not as much time had passed for more organ damage to be done.
This isn't so short after all is it? Sorry!
My vet wants me to increase Tweety's dietary protein using non animal sources. I thought kidney issues required lowering protein? Or does it depend on the type of protein? A while back he'd had me to switch to 70% pellets. I was never sure of that so I didn't do it for very long. I've never fed that many pellets. I always fed a variety and used pellets to cover any vitamin/mineral they may not get in their diets. Plus, all those synthetic vitamins concern me as far as liver and kidneys. Especially in the smaller birds.
They get a lot of exercise and Tweety is feeling better from being on the natural supplements, although at times he still closes his eyes and jerks all over. He is once again flying all over the house, following us from room to room and is making those sharp turns into rooms again.
I'm really confused on what to feed now. Do I up the protein? He won't eat beans, although I guess I could hide them in birdie bread. Also, one of the things I feed is germinated Totally Organics all in One Seed Mix. All the ingredients have 15% protein, although I did cut this back when I shortly had him on 70% pellets as the vet suggested.
Any advice, suggestions diet wise and natural supplement wise would be much appreciated.
Also, can kidney issues (if that's truly what it is, which is a high possibility since Piglet also had damage) be halted? reversed? Or will this considerably cut his life span?
Oh, the test for psittacosis was negative, there can be false negatives. Piglet was never quite right as far as acting like she felt totally well but nothing was ever found. I really think she brought it in. She was "a mile a minute" for the most part but would have times she would stop and fluff like something was bothering her. I've also read that psittacosis is a normal part of a bird's GI tract but stress can bring it out? Anyone else ever heard that? I'd never heard that before. I found one article online that said that. All the others I read said it was a contagious organism and not a normal part of the GI flora.
Thank you so much!