Please help Interpret

[Newbie GCC]

Lab results are back. Below is taken directly from the report card she emailed to me after she called to discuss.

Chemistry and electrolyte panel are normal
Choanal Gram stain results reveal decreased numbers of normal bacteria
Fecal Gram stain reveals a mild increase in gram negative Rod bacteria, which is abnormal bacteria
CBC and manual slide evaluation reveals a slightly elevated hematocrit, normal overall white blood cell count, however a significantmonocytosis is present.

She states that he may have had some type of infection and not shown symptoms prior to the vet visit. His overall health looked great. Just wants to repeat the blood work in 6 weeks. BUT should I call her back and request he get antibiotics anyway, to make sure or wait and repeat in the 6 weeks? I am so stressed with other matters right now, I cannot let myself make a mistake in his health because I am not thinking clearly. Please help me make sense of this.

 

[Bokkapooh]

Gram negative doesnt go away, it will multiply.

Well thats what my vet has said. Birds dont naturally carry gram negative bacteria, so when they get it, it doesn't go away unless with anti biotics.

What did your vet say about this?

 

[Newbie GCC]

She really didn't say anything about that part. She was more concerned with the significant monocytosis. What causes the gram negative?

 

[iamwhoiam]

There are different types of gram negative and gram positive bacteria. Did she run a culture w/ or w/o sensitivity to determine exactly which types of bacteria? Monocytosis is indicative of an infection: could be bacterial, could be fungal? It takes awhile to determine which bacteria when doing a culture. If it's MILD gram negative vets don't always treat but I would think with a significant monocytosis there would be some type of recommended treatment but then I'm not a vet. Best thing is to call your vet and ask her to explain the test results more thorougly and also ask if she thinks your bird needs to be treated.

Gram negative: this type of bacteria does not retain the specific dye that is used to differentiate it from gram positive bacteria. Gram negative bacterias include: E-coli, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, etc. In order to best treat for specific bacteria the bacterial culture is treated with different antibiotics to determine which one is effective against that strain of bacteria.

 

[camelotshadow]

Hoping everything is OK

 

[Newbie GCC]

Thank you @iamwhoiam! I will call her today and discuss with her again today. She did not culture. Just said that since the rest of his exam looked so good she wanted to wait 6 weeks and retest.
I am scared if something is wrong, he will not show it until it is too late to fix it, but don't want to be a worry wart for minor issues, either.

 

[webchirp]

Mine would be on antibiotics. Give her a call back and tell her you don't want to wait six weeks to see if they multiply.

 

[sunnysmom]

The first time my tiel had a gram stain done, he had no normal bacteria. The vet put him on probiotics as he said think of it like a plot of dirt- if you don't plant flowers you're going to get weeds, meaning bad bacteria. He then later did have gram negative bacteria and the vet put him on antibiotics. Since your bird had decreased normal and negative, I would ask you vet about both antibiotics and probiotics.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Hoping things will be OK and let us know what the vet has to say.

 

[Newbie GCC]

She wants me to bring him in for a culture. Will not give antibiotics until culture is done for another $128, but he will leave with antibiotics and then when the culture is completed, decide if the antibiotics need to be changed. Does that sound right?

 

[gibsongrrrl]

she wants to charge you for a repeat of a test she just did before treating the bird? that seems messed up to me. Especially if she is going to prescribe the meds before even waiting for the results of the additional test. I would probably see a different vet if it was me.

 

[iamwhoiam]

It sounds as if she didn't do the culture to begin with, correct? She probably just did a fecal smear/gram stain and looked at that under the microscope.
I don't remember what I pay for cultures. My vet will do a smear and then if she finds gram negative bacteria she may or may not recommend a culture. She will send me home with an antibiotic such as Baytril and may change that antibiotic depending on the results of the culture. My previous vet would also prescribe an antibiotic and/or antifungal and then, depending on the culture results, would or would not change the medications.

 

[Sheppie]

Not to sound too negative but I am with Gibsongrrrl on this. I would too go and have a second opinion from another vet.

 

[iamwhoiam]

What happened here? Did you bring him back in or ...???

 

[Newbie GCC]

I am searching for another AV for a second opinion. I read a couple bad reviews after all of this. Talked about unnecessary tests, etc. Will probably take him to TAMU vet school and have the original tests redone. He is still not showing any signs of any kind of distress, even after moving his cage into another room and having to keep him caged during the day while everyone is at work now.
Question, though:
Do I take all of the exam paperwork from this vet with me to the new vet? Or let them do an exam without telling them findings from this vet?

 

[gibsongrrrl]

I always take mine when I go to a new vet or let them call the old vet for what they have.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Definitely take all of the paperwork. I hope things work out better at TAMU.