At their annual vet check this spring, Tofu and Kimchee were diagnosed with AGY (rod-like organisms were found in their gram stains). Neither had any symptoms of AGY and seemed completely healthy to me (active, eating well from their pellet/chop/seed diet, happy, and maintaining good weight). The only sign anything was "off" was that some of Tofu's droppings were runny, and sometimes only consisted of urates.
Our vet recommended treating them both with Amphotericin-B, which we did for 2 months. We also treated them with an antibiotic during the final couple weeks of treatment, as the vet detected bacteria-like organisms.
The course of treatment was pretty rough on both of my boys (Tofu especially). They were steadily losing weight and became increasingly lethargic. The twice daily medication routine was also taking a toll on all of us.
I did some research on AGY, and learned that many budgies can carry/host AGY yet never show symptoms or get sick from it. Seeing my little guys suffering while on Ampho-B, and considering that they never had any AGY symptoms to begin with, convinced me to discontinue the treatment when we hit 2 months. My vet would have preferred that we continue, but understood my decision.
The final checkup still showed some lingering AGY organisms in the gram stains, but since stopping the treatment, both boys have rebounded and mostly gotten back to the level of health they were pre-treatment (Tofu's just 2-3 g lighter than he was).
What do you all think - should I start up treatment again, knowing the AGY's still lingering in their systems? Or only treat when there's symptoms?
Our vet recommended treating them both with Amphotericin-B, which we did for 2 months. We also treated them with an antibiotic during the final couple weeks of treatment, as the vet detected bacteria-like organisms.
The course of treatment was pretty rough on both of my boys (Tofu especially). They were steadily losing weight and became increasingly lethargic. The twice daily medication routine was also taking a toll on all of us.
I did some research on AGY, and learned that many budgies can carry/host AGY yet never show symptoms or get sick from it. Seeing my little guys suffering while on Ampho-B, and considering that they never had any AGY symptoms to begin with, convinced me to discontinue the treatment when we hit 2 months. My vet would have preferred that we continue, but understood my decision.
The final checkup still showed some lingering AGY organisms in the gram stains, but since stopping the treatment, both boys have rebounded and mostly gotten back to the level of health they were pre-treatment (Tofu's just 2-3 g lighter than he was).
What do you all think - should I start up treatment again, knowing the AGY's still lingering in their systems? Or only treat when there's symptoms?