Urgent Sun Conure Yeast Infection? Intraconazole Treatment?

[BluJay]

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read my first post.

I have a 20 year old Conure who was diagnosed with a yeast infection via stool liquid gram stain. She was first taken to the vet at the first signs of runny stools. The first vet performed a gram stain which came up gram negative (she couldn't tell me the % of gram negative to gram positive); my parrot was put on Baytril and a NSAID. I followed up again to the vet's office about 4 days later as now his stool was/is completely loose. As in draw a few lines with a pencil for the green matter; the rest liquid. This vet (who is my normal avian provider) performed another gram stain. This time it showed lots of budding yeast. The was apparently no bacterial infection present.? The gram stain for bacteria was normal. The vet advised me to stop the Baytril and put my parrot on Intraconazole along with oral Nystatin 300,000iu.

My issues are this: I am very concerned for my parrot. I have never seen his poop so watery before in the past. His water has been replaced with Pedalyte. He is drinking and eating sparingly; he is only eating safflower seeds (even though he has his favorites foods available to him [pine nuts, almonds, pistachios]). I am worried.

Has anyone had experience with a yeast outbreak cause very loose stools? Also I couldn't find much on intraconazole usage in birds; has anyone had their parrot on this medication? I am wondering if it is effecting his sense of taste. Is there anything else the community could recommend?

Thank You,

Jay

 

[BluJay]

Could anyone recommend a vet near Ashburn, VA?

 

[Deleted member 57370]

The baytril antibiotic can cause a secondary years over growth. So nearly all put on bsytril will need the nystatin while still needing the antibiotic prescribed for original infection.

Yeast infection in mine seem to cause some crop discomfort. So they prefer softer foods. You can try offering some warm mashed sweet potatoes ( not white potatoes) or some steam and minced up veggies. Some scrambled egg, or boiled egg. Add some warm water abd soften and crumble pellets. Might like eating Millett better than larger seeds. So offer millet both spray and loose millet sold for budgies. Keep offering everything else normal eats snd favorites as well. But no sugary fruits if foods.

 

[Peachfaced]

@Xoetix do you have any vets you can recommend?

 

[BluJay]

Hi again,

Although I cannot recommended not following your vets advice I have had parrots for all my life. As such I had a hunch that the bacterial infection came back. I gave my buddy some baytril last nicht. He is doing much better today. He is eating again and his poops are vastly more formed. Since it's a holiday and my vet is away I am going to keep him on a combined therapy.

Thanks @Pixiebeak for the food recommendations and @Xoetix for the vet references.

My guy is stable!

 

[Macawnutz]

Hi Jay. You have made a lot of changes in a very short amount of time.

Your sweetie had runny stools and you took them to a vet. Gram stain showed a possible bacteria infection present and your vet prescribed baytril and an anti inflammatory. 4 days later you returned to your normal vet and had the test again, this time it showed budding yeast and no bacteria.

The percentage of gram negative VS positive bacteria is what the vet will use to determine treatment. Sounds like your first vet was not an avian vet. ??? Baytril is a broad spectrum antibiotic that works well for birds when you are not sure exactly what you are treating BUT... not all birds tolerate it without issue. Often it can cause changes in eating habits and stools. It could have made your symptoms appear worse.

At the second vet we see yeast now. Nystatin alone will cure the yeast. No need to use itraconazole as that is overkill in my opinion.

However... None of these medications work in a few days time. Baytril and Nystatin should be given for 7-14 days without missing doses. If you don't use the medications as they are prescribed they will not work to kill the organisms infecting your sweetie. They will seem like they are getting better and then they will get much worse as the bacteria come back.

 

[BluJay]

His only poop today. Not eating much, drinking Pedialyte lightly, very lethargic. Doesn't want to come out of his home to play. All of his droppings have had this vivid green color to them recently. The vet didn't want to do blood work. Wondering if he has something else going on. Still only eating safflower seeds and wheat germ. Concerned it also could be fatty liver disease. Is this color normal for yeast or bacterial infections? The more I see him decline the more I research and the greater I become concerned.

I understand that medications can take time to work. However he has never declined so fast before. He has had GI bugs in the past and also solo and comorbid yeast infections, but never has he not wanted to be on me or sleep all day.

Thanks for your help,

Jay

 

[BluJay]

His only poop today. Not eating much, drinking Pedialyte lightly, very lethargic. Doesn't want to come out of his home to play. All of his droppings have had this vivid green color to them recently. The vet didn't want to do blood work. Wondering if he has something else going on. Still only eating safflower seeds and wheat germ. Concerned it also could be fatty liver disease. Is this color normal for yeast or bacterial infections? The more I see him decline the more I research and the greater I become concerned.

I understand that medications can take time to work. However he has never declined so fast before. He has had GI bugs in the past and also solo and comorbid yeast infections, but never has he not wanted to be on me or sleep all day.

Thanks for your help,

Jay

Second picture day 3 after starting treatment.

 

[BluJay]

Oh a follow-up on why intraconazole, he absolutely has been refusing Nystatin recently. He will regurgitate 90 percent of it. This is a new trend. He has no problem with it for years. As such the intraconazole goes down easy and stays down. Again sorry for the rapid posts. On my phone so I could take pictures instead of the computer so I can't see the prior responses until I complete my post.

 

[BluJay]

Sorry everyone. I'm going to stop going crazy here researching stuff. Give time for his meds to kick in. Take time to breathe and give him time to heal.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

With love,

Jay

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Jay, we would all be going crazy with worry and stress! You aren't over posting at all.. its awful to have a sick parrot. We love them so much.

Not a lot of members will post on serious health stuff if they don't have experience with what you are going through. And none of us are vets or replacing vet care here..

Fresh poop is the best to evaluate , because as it sits colors can leach out . When the urine liquid part bright green right when they pass it....it can be thst way because of liver inflammation, or because they haven't been eating much, or from bacterial like chlamydia, and other stuff I'm not an expert. I do have a good article I will link.

You might offer plain water to. Incase he doesn't want to drink the pedilyt

You might think of offering support feed with baby burd formula. I've done this with my sick burds who weren't eating much. First adults crops don't stretch like a babies. So I wouldn't try for more than 12ml max st a time for your size burd. But it's best to start off offering only 1-3ml for first feed. If they aren't drinking much my vet had me make it thinner for first couple. But I can tell you from my experience adults prefer it thicker like thick yogurt. And still nice snd warm. You can try offering it from your fingers.
Whst I did was hsve them stand with head free, and my left hand gentle on back with a finger on each shoulder. I offered from a 3ml syringe at beak tip. Not putting in mouth or trying to out dien throat or into crop no that's not safe fir untrained. I put a drop at beak tip and waited. They tasted it and liked it. Then I offered a beak full st a time. Very quickly mine would open beak to ask for more. I gave a little at a time, head free so could spit out sbd nit choke if didn't want.

My very very sick girl took 1ml.the first time. Then in 2 hours took 2mls . We worked up to about 5ml-8ml 4 x a day during daytime. She was eating zero on her own. I left her alone st night. Then when she stsrted eat more in her own I would give 7ml in morning and late afternoon. Iften right after a support feed she would go eat some kn her own
I adjusted as to offer her enough 1-4 feeds thst she was gaining back weight. She would gain back about a gram every other day.

I dtill.offer all mine baby burd formula feed if about 5ml once or twice a month . They really like it. And I want them to be used to it incase ever sick or needs medicine added to again in their life. As it was a little learning curve at first.

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Graphic content warning! Linked article contains dissection picture with internal organs exposure and such.

This article is on pigeons and pigeons poop. But very informative for birds and whst we would see with the same health issues.

Dropping Interpretation

For fanciers, often the first indication that a problem is present in their birds is a change in their droppings. All birds, including pigeons, are able to mask health problems quite well. In the...

www.auspigeonco.com.au

 

[BluJay]

Thank you for the information @Pixiebeak . He isnt losing water like in the beginning...no more diaherra. So i swapped out his pedylite with water. The first thing my guy did after getting water was to take a bath. Lol. Also thanks for being here tonight. I am going to visit an avian rescue on the 26th. She will provide me with hand feeding solution and pipettes. Also I will be able to get her opinion on lots of things. Thanks for the article as well. I will give it a read. I will give an update tomorrow. Keep warm I heard it's actually cold in FL.

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Merry Christmas!
Oh yes cold so cold record cold! In 16-24f brrrrr
You are welcome! I needed so much friendly support when I had 7 burds sick with avian chlamydia! I was so stressed! I waited way to long to offer hand feeding of baby burd formula. Then felt like an idiot because they took to it so easy. Abd its such great nursing support we can do for them. Tho I had one my green cheek who did not, she was eating on her own very well but loosing so much weight. The would take from my fingers and from a dish. And I gsve her a dab of peanut butter here abd there to boost her calories.

I hope your baby feels better soon.

 

[Deleted member 57370]

As long as this saga is , it still a shortened version of whst i went through. It was a huge war to save Penny's life. It took a long time if support care a feeds to pull her through. If you want to read

My Saga with Chlamydia psittaci

My saga with Chlamydia psittaci, a highly contagious bacterial infection of birds.. It can infect humans as well and then is often referred to as Parrot Fever. I just call it chlamydia, but I've seen it referred to recently as AC for Avian Chlamydia. That's a lot easier so for the remainder of...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Thank you for the information @Pixiebeak . He isnt losing water like in the beginning...no more diaherra. So i swapped out his pedylite with water. The first thing my guy did after getting water was to take a bath. Lol. Also thanks for being here tonight. I am going to visit an avian rescue on the 26th. She will provide me with hand feeding solution and pipettes. Also I will be able to get her opinion on lots of things. Thanks for the article as well. I will give it a read. I will give an update tomorrow. Keep warm I heard it's actually cold in FL.

If she took a bath. Then she is feeling better. They" usually " won't take a bath when at their worst as it takes so much energy to warm up.

 

[BluJay]

Update. My guy is doing getting better. No more water in his droppings. He is eating, awake during the day, and getting back to his normal self. He is even taking his nystatin without issues. Special shout out to @Pixiebeak for sharing her saga and being here over Christmas. I'll keep you all informed. I look forward to engaging in the other forums!

 

[Deleted member 57370]

what a wonderful update!!!!!!
So wonderful to hear this!
Looking forward to yiu having fun with us and joining in!

 

[BluJay]

@Pixiebeak Would you send me a message please? I can't figure out how to message you. Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 57370]

Hi. I have done so
Hsppy new year to you!