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My Saga with Chlamydia psittaci
- Thread starter Pixiebeak
- Start date
What a scare! I’m glad your flock was able to recover.
Pixiebeak
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How Parrot Fever Changed Public Health In America
Dr. Charles Armstrong - credit National Library of Medicine # 6222 We’ve a report today out of the UK of a suspect...
afludiary.blogspot.com
My African ringneck Cotton had chlamydia when I adopted him. He had very obvious staining above his nares, and @Pixiebeak noticed right away his eyes didn't look right in photos while he was still at the rescue. I ended up bringing him home sooner than I'd expected because he was obviously ill and was starting to lose weight, so I didn't get him in to a vet right away.
When I first met him - there was already nare staining present so he'd had symptoms for some time already. You can see his grey irises. And his dry dry skin, eek. Minnesota winters, I tell ya.
Here's the day I brought him home March 26th - see the brown staining above his nares - meaning he'd had respiratory symptoms for quite a long time by this point. And the whites of his eyes are red, with his iris barely noticeable.
I wasn't able to get a vet appointment until April 8th but I was advised to go ahead and start doxycycline in his water. I kept the living room at 85F degrees and humidity at 50% and ordered a Sweeter Heater. He'd only been eating sunflower seeds and some random nuts at the rescue so I started mixing baby bird formula into a paste and mixing it with his new seed mix. I offered a little nut butter, mashed sweet potato with ghee, pretty much anything to try to get him to eat as many calories as possible. Converting to pellets wasn't a priority at first but I did offer equal parts Harrisons High Potency, Roudybush, and TOPS. He was very scared of being handled so I weighed all his food before offered, and weighed all of it including hulls on the bottom of his cage afterward to track how much he was eating each day.
Here's how he looked by April 5th and 6th - worse; can't really see irises separate from his pupils at all in normal indoor light (I was starting to freak out a bit at this point, honestly, especially not being able to weigh him)
April 8th - in the morning and in the car in direct sunshine waiting for the vet - you can see his nasal discharge is still terrible, and even though his iris is visible in the sunlight photo because his pupil is constricted, the whites are still really inflamed and red. You can also see he's lost feathers in front of his eye due to swelling.
April 16th - I think he'd been on doxycycline about two weeks at this point, if that. His sinuses/eyes were looking very swollen and you almost can't even see the iris separate from the pupil; more feather loss around the eye itself with swelling.
We stayed the course and added as many high Vitamin A foods as possible and kept offering baby bird formula - he decided he LOVES red sweet peppers! Thankfully by May 11 things were starting to improve - iris is a little more defined; nare staining and feather loss still looks awful of course but hadn't gotten worse; eyes are starting to look less red and less swollen
His summer molt was so furiously fast and rough I totally freaked that he was working so hard to grow feathers he'd have a relapse or a sinus infection we had missed - the day I took these I tried to make an emergency vet appointment but the soonest for both vet clinics that has avian experience was two months later. Also I thought his beak was fractured (it wasn't) and assumed he'd been rubbing his face? I don't know but the poor guy was miserable and grumpy until we started him on meloxicam.
July 30th - but look how clear his eyes are in these compared to earlier photos!
August 19th - still molting but the eyes are nice and clear and normal feathering across his entire face
This is in September after a vet visit - even though it's not sunny outside, you can clearly see his light grey irises and he's fully feathered around his eyes
Here's how his face looks now with the stained feathers replaced
I hope this helps!! The eye changes especially were really subtle and I wouldn't have known what to look for if @Pixiebeak hadn't taken time to walk me through it!!
When I first met him - there was already nare staining present so he'd had symptoms for some time already. You can see his grey irises. And his dry dry skin, eek. Minnesota winters, I tell ya.
Here's the day I brought him home March 26th - see the brown staining above his nares - meaning he'd had respiratory symptoms for quite a long time by this point. And the whites of his eyes are red, with his iris barely noticeable.
I wasn't able to get a vet appointment until April 8th but I was advised to go ahead and start doxycycline in his water. I kept the living room at 85F degrees and humidity at 50% and ordered a Sweeter Heater. He'd only been eating sunflower seeds and some random nuts at the rescue so I started mixing baby bird formula into a paste and mixing it with his new seed mix. I offered a little nut butter, mashed sweet potato with ghee, pretty much anything to try to get him to eat as many calories as possible. Converting to pellets wasn't a priority at first but I did offer equal parts Harrisons High Potency, Roudybush, and TOPS. He was very scared of being handled so I weighed all his food before offered, and weighed all of it including hulls on the bottom of his cage afterward to track how much he was eating each day.
Here's how he looked by April 5th and 6th - worse; can't really see irises separate from his pupils at all in normal indoor light (I was starting to freak out a bit at this point, honestly, especially not being able to weigh him)
April 8th - in the morning and in the car in direct sunshine waiting for the vet - you can see his nasal discharge is still terrible, and even though his iris is visible in the sunlight photo because his pupil is constricted, the whites are still really inflamed and red. You can also see he's lost feathers in front of his eye due to swelling.
April 16th - I think he'd been on doxycycline about two weeks at this point, if that. His sinuses/eyes were looking very swollen and you almost can't even see the iris separate from the pupil; more feather loss around the eye itself with swelling.
We stayed the course and added as many high Vitamin A foods as possible and kept offering baby bird formula - he decided he LOVES red sweet peppers! Thankfully by May 11 things were starting to improve - iris is a little more defined; nare staining and feather loss still looks awful of course but hadn't gotten worse; eyes are starting to look less red and less swollen
His summer molt was so furiously fast and rough I totally freaked that he was working so hard to grow feathers he'd have a relapse or a sinus infection we had missed - the day I took these I tried to make an emergency vet appointment but the soonest for both vet clinics that has avian experience was two months later. Also I thought his beak was fractured (it wasn't) and assumed he'd been rubbing his face? I don't know but the poor guy was miserable and grumpy until we started him on meloxicam.
July 30th - but look how clear his eyes are in these compared to earlier photos!
August 19th - still molting but the eyes are nice and clear and normal feathering across his entire face
This is in September after a vet visit - even though it's not sunny outside, you can clearly see his light grey irises and he's fully feathered around his eyes
Here's how his face looks now with the stained feathers replaced
I hope this helps!! The eye changes especially were really subtle and I wouldn't have known what to look for if @Pixiebeak hadn't taken time to walk me through it!!
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Pixiebeak
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@Parutti thanks for sharing Cottons health journey! I'm so glad you rescued him and saved him! Definitely in the nick of time! 
I had forgotten he had a little periorbital swelling as well.
Its great to share other examples of how the iris can darken and obscure the pupil in Avian Chlamydia infection. And the congestion in the sclera you can see the changes back to normal!
I hope this can over time have a collection of eye changes examples with Chlamydia. With all the birds recovering!
Excellent examples of feathers stains. I mean we wish he hadn't. But im glad you documented . Im bummed I lost pictures of Cloudy budgies feathers stains when he had Chlamydia.
He did explode with pins! Geeze! Be interested in see his next molt now you have him eating so healthy.
I had forgotten he had a little periorbital swelling as well.
Its great to share other examples of how the iris can darken and obscure the pupil in Avian Chlamydia infection. And the congestion in the sclera you can see the changes back to normal!
I hope this can over time have a collection of eye changes examples with Chlamydia. With all the birds recovering!
Excellent examples of feathers stains. I mean we wish he hadn't. But im glad you documented . Im bummed I lost pictures of Cloudy budgies feathers stains when he had Chlamydia.
He did explode with pins! Geeze! Be interested in see his next molt now you have him eating so healthy.
Gigi’s Mom
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Your experience is unbelievable. And the care you give your birds is amazing. I am so glad they all recovered.
Here is my story.
I have been researching parrot fever since the passing of my sweet Gigi almost three weeks ago. Gigi had been battling cancer the past three years and was at the vets office every week the last six months for chemo and abdominal taps. The weeks up to her death she was actually rebounding and doing really well. Eating, flying around the apartment and living as good as she could given the cancer she had. But she suddenly took an immediate turn for the worse the week she died. It started with the classic sick bird signs, sleeping, fluffed, loose droppings. But the symptom that was new to me and shocking was she ran a fever. It was so hot that when perched on my shoulder I could feel the heat radiating off her. She looked miserable so I took her in for an emergency vet visit. They drained a little fluid from her abdomen (which was par for the course with her cancer), gave an IV shot of Baytril and sent me home with Doxycycline. They mentioned in her notes that her liver was enlarged. I did not get to talk to the vet but there was no mention of this maybe being parrot fever. I did find it odd that when I went to get her they had her up front in the reception area instead of a room. It could have been other reason but I just found that odd as they’ve never done that in years past. What also struck me as odd was why the Doxycycline RX after a Baytril shot? Doxy is not a med they had ever prescribed before. I took Gigi home, she seemed like she wasnt feeling good but still flew to me from accross the room for cuddle time. That night I gave her the first dose of Doxycycline. Less than an hour later she was making wheezing noises and seemed disoriented. I went to give her her nightly hand feeding and she refused it. Within a couple hours she had had a few seizures in my hand. It was late Friday night and no ER vets would take birds. I did my best to keep her warm, tried giving her water but she ended up having another seizure and passed while I was holding her. To say I felt helpless and just traumatized watching her pass this way is an understatement. I was in shock.
I had texted the vets during the night she died hoping someone might check after hours but no reply. I called the vets to let them know she passed and to cancel our upcoming weekly appointment. I did not get to talk to the vet but the vet asst who saw Gigi over the years and was there when I picked her up. I had even asked her that day if the vet was concerned with Gigi’s hot temperature and she got out a thermometer and took a reading on her and said birds run hot. I asked her if there were concerns of parrot fever since they had rx’d doxycycline. The asst asked what parrot fever am I talking about? I told her psstacosis sp? She then Googled it. She also Googled Doxycycline because I had mentioned that I thought Gigi might have had a reaction to it and I wanted to understand more about why they RX’d it etc. I also was very worried about the 8 other lovebirds I own. But she just suggested I send an email to the vet.
I got busy with work as a huge tax deadline was on the 31st (Gigi passed on the 20th). It was hard for me to sit down and type out what happened without crying. So I didnt email the vet. But over the last week or so Gigi’s sister Chicken (1yr older) whose cage is right next to Gigi’s in the same room, started acting off. Sleeping more, puffy, eye squint, sneezing, diahrrea and acts like her eye area is itchy. Her poops look slightly green but I can’t tell if its an alarming amount. I will try to attach a photo. But otherwise Chicken is eating, drinking and flying all over the place. She is SUPER needy and wants to be with me 24/7 which I assume is depression over losing her sister. Chicken also kept going into Gigi’s cage looking for her and slept in there the night she passed. I know I should not have allowed it, but I was really out of it. Losing Gigi, having her have seizures and pass in my hands was horrible. I loved that bird with all my heart.
So I am very concerned about parrot fever and if Gigi might have had it. The other thing the vet asst said when I told her I was worried about it is I could have Gigi’s body sent away to be tested for it. It would take weeks and cost over $300. So I didn't do it. But still nobody seemed to be concerned. The more I read about it (and reading the posts here) seems it is hard to test for but a very bad disease that spreads easily. So I am going to bring Chicken in to be checked. I am scared to give her doxy if they prescribe it. Due to Gigi having seizures within hours of giving it to her. I wonder if I can ask about the azithromycin instead or if Baytril or Cefa Drops work. Chicken has taken both in the past with no issues.
I have 8 lovebirds total and I am so worried about my entire flock getting sick and how I would be able to treat them all. But knowing it is possible from your story gives me hope. Sorry if my post is long, I am not the best writer lol
Pixiebeak
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@Gigi’s Mom
Im real.sorry for your loss of Gigi after such a long battle with cancer.
Her case is so complex. Whenever there is free fluid in the abdomen, there is rusk of that fluid growing bacteria. And that can lead to a septic burd in hours or days depending on the type of bacteria that was growing. Plus cancer and treatment can lower immunity. I.am not a veterinarian. But with you describing how hot she got snd rapid decline i would suspect she became septic. Seizures can also be caused by sepsis
Doxycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic and is used for many bacterial infections besides chlamydia. It is not unusual to give a shot of one type if antibiotic then send you home on another.
Doxycline is considered a pretty safe antibiotic in birds. But there can always be an individual sensitivity. Its possible she aspirated when given the oral. But even if she did, very unlikely to be the cause of her complications. A few of mine aspirated some during treatment..and where ok..
If chlamydia is suspected , knowing the source would be pretty hard. It could be she was a carrier herself . And the stress of her last treatment let the bacteria become active. Or if she was exposed at the vets. Or one of your other birds is an intermittent shedder.
Doxycline treatment in water as their sole source of water is very effective. And is how I treated and cleared my flock. And is widely done this way in aviary medicine. If you and your veterinarian believe chlamydia is a real possibility and decide to treat. I would highly recommend treatment of all burds st the same time. I feel comfortable with this being done as doxycline drinking water. Made fresh daily and use distilled water to mix up.
Im real.sorry for your loss of Gigi after such a long battle with cancer.
Her case is so complex. Whenever there is free fluid in the abdomen, there is rusk of that fluid growing bacteria. And that can lead to a septic burd in hours or days depending on the type of bacteria that was growing. Plus cancer and treatment can lower immunity. I.am not a veterinarian. But with you describing how hot she got snd rapid decline i would suspect she became septic. Seizures can also be caused by sepsis
Doxycline is a broad spectrum antibiotic and is used for many bacterial infections besides chlamydia. It is not unusual to give a shot of one type if antibiotic then send you home on another.
Doxycline is considered a pretty safe antibiotic in birds. But there can always be an individual sensitivity. Its possible she aspirated when given the oral. But even if she did, very unlikely to be the cause of her complications. A few of mine aspirated some during treatment..and where ok..
If chlamydia is suspected , knowing the source would be pretty hard. It could be she was a carrier herself . And the stress of her last treatment let the bacteria become active. Or if she was exposed at the vets. Or one of your other birds is an intermittent shedder.
Doxycline treatment in water as their sole source of water is very effective. And is how I treated and cleared my flock. And is widely done this way in aviary medicine. If you and your veterinarian believe chlamydia is a real possibility and decide to treat. I would highly recommend treatment of all burds st the same time. I feel comfortable with this being done as doxycline drinking water. Made fresh daily and use distilled water to mix up.
Gigi’s Mom
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Thanks for your reply and info.
Gigi had been off and on antibiotics for the abdomen swelling. The antibiotics and any meds prescribed were oral. She had been put on a course of antibiotics the week prior to her passing as the fluid in her belly was putting a lot of pressure on her other organs. The vet also did not like the color of the fluid that week, normally light clear yellow, now darker almost brown. She developed the fever after being on antibiotics for a week. It was just the sudden decline and fever after such a great few weeks I just wish I knew more.
I am going to have her sister checked out though. She is taking a nap on me as I type this. She was sneezing more today and acts like her sinuses are bothering her.
May I ask if your vet tested for Chlamydia or just RX’s based off symptoms. Also, the what was the Doxy RX for? Since it was put in water was it different RX for different birds?
Pixiebeak
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It was during lock down so we didn't send out tests.
The doxy comes in a packet and it mixed with a set volume of water. I do not remember what the mgs/ml was. It was made for all the burds the same. I guess the feeling is little burds drink less than medium size birds. All I know is it worked. I had started out treating each burd individually . BUT the stress especially on the budgies was too much and this went on for months .
So do as you and your veterinarian recommend
Gigi’s Mom
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I hope we will have access to that treatment if it turns out my lovies have it. Usually my vet RX oral meds. But I can’t imagine having to medicate all 8 of my birds. Just the thought of having to clean and sanitize like you had to do is giving me anxiety. I hope they didnt get this. I am still mourning the loss of my sweet Gigi.
Emma&pico
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I love how much you have helped him he truly found angel when you took him in
Gigi’s Mom
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So I took Gigi’s sister Chicken in for a vet visit. I told her about Chicken’s symptoms and what happened to Gigi. The vet did swabs of her nose, mouth and vent and a poop sample. Tests indicated a cocci (sp) infection of the sinuses, not systemic. She said her lungs were clear. She prescribed oral cefa drops 2x a day for ten days. She did not test for parrot fever as she did not suspect it.
We did the ten day Cefa treatment and on the day I stopped Chicken was still not herself, on the bottom of the cage, head tucked in wings sleeping and had a few really loose poops that were mostly urine (polyuria). So I extended the antibiotics for a couple more days. Today would be the last day and she seems a little better but I am going to keep an eye on her.
When I was at the vets with Chicken I told her about other flock member birds with symptoms like sneezing, loose stool, eye squint, lost weight and just not acting as usual. Since both Gigi and Chicken hang out with those birds on occasion (and esp now, Chicken wants to be with the other birds SO bad). She prescibed TMS for them for 14 days to be put in the water. I have never used this antibiotic before. Luckily I don’t have to do oral as there are 7 birds to treat. I feel bad as three of the females started laying eggs a week ago so its already a stressful time for them. I wonder if treatment will affect the babies?
Anyway that’s what we are dealing with. The vet did not suspect parrot fever. What was funny is when I went in for Chicken’s visit I sat next to a cage in the waiting room that has two rescue budgies. We always say hi to them when we go in. They both were found out in the neighborhood loose. As I was sitting there one of the budgies looked at us and let out a big sneeze! I thought of you and how your budgie was the culprit of your outbreak. So, I promptly scooted over to the other side of the waiting room
Hopefully every-birdy will be back to themselves soon.
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Icey
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What a living nightmare you endured.
I am so glad they all pulled through.
I am so big on quarantining new birds and when people disregard something that can have devastaring effects, they come off as not caring about the safety of their other birds.
Not in your case, just to be clear.
I am so glad they all pulled through.
I am so big on quarantining new birds and when people disregard something that can have devastaring effects, they come off as not caring about the safety of their other birds.
Not in your case, just to be clear.
Pixiebeak
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Oh wow I would freak with a sneezing bird in the waiting room!So I took Gigi’s sister Chicken in for a vet visit. I told her about Chicken’s symptoms and what happened to Gigi. The vet did swabs of her nose, mouth and vent and a poop sample. Tests indicated a cocci (sp) infection of the sinuses, not systemic. She said her lungs were clear. She prescribed oral cefa drops 2x a day for ten days. She did not test for parrot fever as she did not suspect it.
We did the ten day Cefa treatment and on the day I stopped Chicken was still not herself, on the bottom of the cage, head tucked in wings sleeping and had a few really loose poops that were mostly urine (polyuria). So I extended the antibiotics for a couple more days. Today would be the last day and she seems a little better but I am going to keep an eye on her.
When I was at the vets with Chicken I told her about other flock member birds with symptoms like sneezing, loose stool, eye squint, lost weight and just not acting as usual. Since both Gigi and Chicken hang out with those birds on occasion (and esp now, Chicken wants to be with the other birds SO bad). She prescibed TMS for them for 14 days to be put in the water. I have never used this antibiotic before. Luckily I don’t have to do oral as there are 7 birds to treat. I feel bad as three of the females started laying eggs a week ago so its already a stressful time for them. I wonder if treatment will affect the babies?
Anyway that’s what we are dealing with. The vet did not suspect parrot fever. What was funny is when I went in for Chicken’s visit I sat next to a cage in the waiting room that has two rescue budgies. We always say hi to them when we go in. They both were found out in the neighborhood loose. As I was sitting there one of the budgies looked at us and let out a big sneeze! I thought of you and how your budgie was the culprit of your outbreak. So, I promptly scooted over to the other side of the waiting room
Hopefully every-birdy will be back to themselves soon.
Im not sure why veterinarians didn't consider Chlamydia to be in the running, with flock wide sick birdies...but there are other cooties out there.
While I've seen tms used it's been awhile , and I haven't used it personally, so I'm not sure the cautions. Did you let your vet know you had birds on eggs?
I sure hope everyone gets better!
Thank you for the update!
I did not know this (and I work there!). That is crazy. I will have lots of fun telling colleagues about this.
Thank you for sharing your experience with this as well. Your birds are lucky to have you.
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Pixiebeak
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Thank you!
It's interesting so many humans got sick with the outbreak. While it was before antibiotics..now I rarely hear of a human coming down with it even with confirmation in a sick bird they are treating.
It was the hardest thing to go through with my flock ...I was sure I would lose Penny...
But I sure learned a lot treating so many sick birds of my own. Hopefully this lets me help others. And is a source of hope for others with sick birds. It can take time to figure out issues with sick birds, multiple consults, and some infections like Chlamydia are going to take time to clear...it was months . And support care at home after veterinarians is very
important. Warmth a supplemented warmth and support foods
GreenThing
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An absolutely astonishing, upsetting story-- I'm so glad both you and the birds pulled through, what a toll that must have taken on you mentally and emotionally! Very much appreciate you sharing this, I have tried to build an archive of parrot owner's medical experiences to have something to reference.
Gigi’s Mom
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Hahaha yes I kind of freaked over the sneezing budgie. Especially after reading your post a few days before. Normally I would not have even noticed it.
I was surprised that chlamydia was not a concern. Vet said it was more prevalent in the bird trade or pet store industry and not a concern for us. So they just tested for bacterial stuff.
I am at the half way mark of treating the other birds and I am still noticing a lot of head scratching and sneezing. Chicken is still doing it too along with really watery poops after 10 plus days on antibiotics. It is just puzzling. Other than that they seem ok.
I thought I had mentioned the egg laying to the vet but can’t remember if she said it was an issue. I have one fertile egg so I hope it wont effect the baby it it hatches. I will probably schedule a follow up for Chicken if she does not improve and ask her about that.
