Poppers had another real bad episode

[Hawk12237]

Right now I'm being so careful abput Bebe's dishes. The only one that is left In his cage is water dish, all the others come out, get washed with dawn dish soap, rinsed in hottest water from the tap. Then I have a little bottle white vinegar in shelf above the sink, spray them down inside and outside to disinfect. I have separate drainer for his dishes too. The water dish comes out first thing in morning, dumped and vinegared until I can wash it.

That's good practice. I never leave food over night in their dishes. Especially chop or fresh foods. It's pulled about no more than an hour after I place it. Fruit flies are attracted to food left out, and fruit flies do carry bacteria to the food. I
The tinest Nick and cranny in a cage can harbor bacteria, dropped food that is forgotten birds can pick up later which could be highly contaminated with bacteria. It's easy to miss something when doing a clean, and a bird will always find it!
I practice checking everything. Trust me I've been beating myself up silly wondering what I overlooked, or maybe missed when it came to poppers infection. I thought I was very clean, obviously I overlooked something somewhere that I missed. Not going to happen again. Guarantee that!

 

[Hawk12237]

You know, reading the 911 thread over the year
I see some people are totally unprepared for emergencies with their birds. Many can't afford the costs. I get that. I spent $ 2300 so far this year on them at vets. Not exactly pocket change.
But what I've always done, I have a can ( coffee can) where over the years, put in 20- 50 bucks a month ( or more of you can) into can for birds emergency. It adds up and is a life saver.
I have seen sadness in rescues that needed vet care, but owners could not afford it. You really have to make a budget for the birds. You never know when you'll need it. It came in handy for me.

 

[Hawk12237]

@Hawk12237 A change in voice with a bird is one of the first symptoms of Aspergillosis (a fungal infection), but can be an indication of other issues. Hank was outside on his perch one day and his voice came out as a squeak. I was sure that his Aspergillosis had come back, so we went right to the DR. Come to find out he had a MRSA infection in his throat. It took a full four months of medication to cure it and it was touch and go for awhile. MRSA, when it gets a foothold grows very quickly. We had the Dr. and all of his staff and myself swabbed and cultured and no one showed any signs of MRSA. I may have brought it home from store on my hands or clothes - this town is a hotbed of MRSA.

It may be time to take her back in for a swab and culture to make sure the fungal infection has not regenerated.

MRSA is some really nasty stuff. They had an outbreak a few years back around here. All fairs canceled 4-h for any fowl, bird stores wouldn't let you bring bird in unless approved, vets offices were being cautious, bird shows cancelled.
Yea it was bad...But took every precaution with my birds. Luckily they never caught it back then.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Extreme cleanliness does not guarantee no illness in your bird. They like us they have ups and downs in their general well being and state of their immune system. Once a bird has a serious illness, as Poppers has had, their immune system is suppressed and it takes time to get it back to an effective level. Their are things that you can do and things that can be fed to assist in the recovery of a parrot's immune system.

The immune system is difficult to understand and not much research has been done on the parrot's immune system. I'm not crazy about Wikipedia for information, but it was written in the most understandable language for a layman.

Avian immune system - Wikipedia

It took a couple of years to restore Jasper's immune system after she went through several years of one illness after another, one infection after another and two bouts with Aspergillosis. One thing I have used that I'm confident has made a difference is "DMG" a supplement that supports rebuilding and maintaining the immune system. Amazon.com : Vetri-Science Vetri-DMG Dog & Cat Supplement (3.85 oz/114 ml) : Pet Supplies

Dr. Margaret Wissman has written a comprehensive review of DMG.
Exotic Pet Veterinarian

 

[Hawk12237]

Extreme cleanliness does not guarantee no illness in your bird. They like us they have ups and downs in their general well being and state of their immune system. Once a bird has a serious illness, as Poppers has had, their immune system is suppressed and it takes time to get it back to an effective level. Their are things that you can do and things that can be fed to assist in the recovery of a parrot's immune system.

The immune system is difficult to understand and not much research has been done on the parrot's immune system. I'm not crazy about Wikipedia for information, but it was written in the most understandable language for a layman.

Avian immune system - Wikipedia

It took a couple of years to restore Jasper's immune system after she went through several years of one illness after another, one infection after another and two bouts with Aspergillosis. One thing I have used that I'm confident has made a difference is "DMG" a supplement that supports rebuilding and maintaining the immune system. Amazon.com : Vetri-Science Vetri-DMG Dog & Cat Supplement (3.85 oz/114 ml) : Pet Supplies

Dr. Margaret Wissman has written a comprehensive review of DMG.
Exotic Pet Veterinarian

True, extreme cleaness doesn't guarantee a bird getting sick, but every little bit helps.
How much (ml ) of the DMG do you give?
Would have to be a small amount based on the weight right? That DMG is interesting.
I'm not a big fan of Wikipedia, as any one can write anything on there. It's not always cited.
One good verifiable source I use is science daily, all article are cited and verified, written by university studies. Professor 's, scientists, researchers.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Jasper weighs 1,100gm and I started out with 1/2ml twice per day for two weeks. then .25ml twice per day forever - as recommended. I think the bottle gives pretty detailed dosages for birds.

 

[Hawk12237]

Jasper weighs 1,100gm and I started out with 1/2ml twice per day for two weeks. then .25ml twice per day forever - as recommended. I think the bottle gives pretty detailed dosages for birds.

Oh, ok....Will look into getting some. Read that article and looks quite good in boosting the immune system. I like that idea. Thanks!

 

[Hankmacaw]

Let us know what the vet says today - ok?

 

[Hawk12237]

Let us know what the vet says today - ok?

Got canceled and rescheduled to monday.
Truck quit on me out of the blue....with parrot in truck with me in her carrier.
Thank God for full coverage and road side assistance! They towed truck to mechanic Took me back home with poppers. heck of a day!!I

 

[Hankmacaw]

Aww shucks.

 

[Hawk12237]

Let us know what the vet says today - ok?

She's doing super though!! Gained 14 grams over last two days, so her weight is gradually going up. yeay!!! I swear mary, her eye sight returend!! She never pinned the one eye that was bad during episode last 4 weeks, now she has in last couple days. She is very active now, and a far cry from just a few weeks back, laid on her side, eyes half closed, unable to hold head up....I thought she was going!
Presistance, good care, and lots of prayers!!!
She made it!

 

[Hawk12237]

Aww shucks.

Yea... I said that too! Along with many other words! One of those days!

 

[Hawk12237]

Aww shucks.

Here she is up from a nap...

 

[Begone]

 

[Hankmacaw]

I don't know how to say this gracefully, but don't back off now just because she is getting better. Like you said persistence, constant attention and good nursing does an awful lot. I have been told several times with both of my birds that they probably weren't going to make, but I never accepted that prognosis without a big fight. Hank lived 15 years longer than expected and Jasper has lived 18 years longer than expected.

Poppers was a very sick bird. I get very worried if my bird loses 10% of it's weight and Poppers had lost 1/4 of her weight. She will need special care for a long time.

 

[Rain Bow]

Wanting to know over here too!

Re: Plaques mentioned...
Finally found out what's in Buddy's present & future, Fat caused Plaques w/in.

The new vet (OM Goodness he seems great, BTW) He said the issue w/ his eyes were sadly as I surmised, Plaque from 20-25 yrs of an all seed diet. These plaques are in him making him a strong candidate for:
Atherosclerosis later in life.
The vet is sure of this, even though he did not do an Xray. He said just as he can guarantee in people when they smoke/smoked have these plaques, that in a bird w/ high levels of high fat seed for any long duration like Buddy has... Especially to the point where there are physical plaques on/under the lens of the eye which are showing like he has (actual dead zones on vision in 1 eye). No need for that costly Xray, he definately has it, even though his heart sounds ok. This was very interesting (I thought)
Because his diet is what it needs to be now, that it shouldn't shorten his life too much.
AS Long AS he stays on his current diet!

I want to add here, that I'm not bragging in any way...

His fecal test was clear, & mouth looked OK. We're going back in November (I believe) for a beak & nail trim & a complete blood work up (as neither were appearing emergent), as long as fecal came back OK.

 

[Rain Bow]

Sorry, posting was partially done earlier before truck update.

 

[Hankmacaw]

That's too bad that Buddy's sight has been affected. We had one xray of Jasper that showed the atherosclerosis very plainly - but she has extreme atherosclerosis. It has gotten worse over the years, but slowly. Her diet has been very controlled and she has had constant medical attention from a Dr. who loves her.

The one thing I didn't do until recently, that I should have done all along, is fly her. I fly her 4 days and give her one day off. She wears a harness and is on a line and flies about 800 feet. She has improved her breathing and activity level..

 

[Rain Bow]

That's too bad that Buddy's sight has been affected. We had one xray of Jasper that showed the atherosclerosis very plainly - but she has extreme atherosclerosis. It has gotten worse over the years, but slowly. Her diet has been very controlled and she has had constant medical attention from a Dr. who loves her.

The one thing I didn't do until recently, that I should have done all along, is fly her. I fly her 4 days and give her one day off. She wears a harness and is on a line and flies about 800 feet. She has improved her breathing and activity level..

Buddy couldn't fly when he came. He couldn't even really open his wings, or hang upside down, was so sad. I've worked hard w/ him to get to do these things. My husband & I have worked together to get him flying a bit indoors. It's not even touching his natural habits. I don't harness train him because we have all the prey birds around here, falcons, hawks & eagles. I pulled this off of google.

"From bald eagles to peregrine falcons, ducks, geese and over 19 species of gulls, Niagara Falls USA is a birding paradise. And with plenty of vantage points, birders can enjoy this ever-changing activity year-round at Niagara Falls State Park, along the Niagara River and Lake Ontario."

Hawks fly around my neighborhood everywhere. All you usually have to do is look up & you can usually see one gliding in the sky, checking out different farm land & wooded areas for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Buddy also seems to have wing pain either severe arthritis or his "genetic defect" causing this. If I push too hard for him to fly, it can make it worse. It's a juggling act. I have this on the list of things to talk further w/ our vet about but it was seemingly insignificant compared to the WD's possible issues @ the time. Next will be more about the atherosclerosis & diet & pain in his wings. I'm about dying to know his blood test levels.

The favorite thing about this vet was that "We" handled him. No tech wresting him while the vet poked & prodded him. He also handled him alone & didn't seem to worried about Buddy eating him, the old vet did too but not to the same level. I wish I had trusted my initial judgement of the 1st vet sooner but w/ a completely new type of pet, I didn't trust my gut.

 

[Karen]

Michael, I saw in an earlier post you mentioned a voice change. Has your vet done an Aspergillus titer test ( ELISA test) and a protein electrophoresis?