Wet Droppings Need Advice!!

[CGrillo]

Hello I’m new to these forums.
So my budgie Luke Is 3 years old has been experiencing wet droppings occasionally for a couple months and then 2 weeks ago it was pretty much every dropping that was wet so I called so many vets and most of the avian vets in my area are on leave due to COVID but I found this one place and called them to see if they would take him in. I brought him and they checked his droppings under a black light and did a gram stain and sent me home with an antibiotic called “Tylan”. The result of the gram stain was a “moderate infection - gram positive”. So the vet told me to try the tylan and see how it goes for a few days, if not he will prescribe me a new and stronger medication. So I try it and then it seemed it was getting better but after going back and forth with the vet he was on Tylan for 10 days and after 24 hrs he got was off the medication his droppings went back to being watery again. Calling this vet Has been like pulling teeth (they are closed on the weekends and the front desk is always telling me that The doctor will call me back and then he never does) so I’m very stressed out and feel hopeless over the situation because I can never get ahold of this vet and there are no other places nearby and im over $200 in the hole. I’m waiting to see if he can give him the new meds tomorrow but they are closed At the moment but this doctor also doesn’t explain much to me so I just feel so lost and confused about what’s going on with my bird. The symptoms I noticed are wet poop with mucus, he also scratches his vent with his foot which I’ve seen him do before but I feel like I notice it more and Can’t tell if it’s related or not. I’ve seen some of his droppings have bubbles but only one or 2 per dropping and most droppings don’t have them, His pile of poops in the morning have a slight odor to them, and he seems a lot more tired but he’s still pretty active. He eats Natural Select Parakeet Diet which is seeds with a couple of pellets (I know I’m trying to get him off of seeds). I usually give him spinach but haven’t given him it since he’s been sick because I don’t want to make it worse. In the attachments Are a photo of this mornings poop and this afternoons poop

Please if anyone can give me some advice or some piece of mind on the situation I would so much appreciate it. I’ve been so stressed because he’s my bird baby! Thank you

 

[Kassiani]

and Welcome!

I'm fairly new here myself My two budgie boys were on a 2-week course of antibiotics a little over 2 months ago. Their droppings were a bit watery right after stopping the medicine, but have sorted out since then. One of them, however, still had watery droppings off and on for a few weeks afterward. My vet and I are working on dietary changes to help with that. I hope you can reach your vet tomorrow! Are they eating and drinking as normal?

 

[CGrillo]

T

and Welcome!

I'm fairly new here myself My two budgie boys were on a 2-week course of antibiotics a little over 2 months ago. Their droppings were a bit watery right after stopping the medicine, but have sorted out since then. One of them, however, still had watery droppings off and on for a few weeks afterward. My vet and I are working on dietary changes to help with that. I hope you can reach your vet tomorrow! Are they eating and drinking as normal?

Thank you so much for your reply! He stopped the medication 2 days ago and he luckily has been eating / drinking normally

 

[Kassiani]

I am no expert, but it does look like the droppings still have urea (the white part), and aren’t just the brown part surrounded by liquid urine. For example, this is what I was seeing from one of my boys:

I can add that both of my boys are doing really well now. Hang in there!

 

[Mybluebird]

I have two budgie boys. Their droppings tend to be more watery in the morning and also if they have been chewing on their cuttlebone more. Since its only been 2 days since the medicine was finished, I'd wait a couple more days and watch the droppings. Good luck!

 

[CGrillo]

It’s seems that he always has the white part in his droppings. But Before the antibiotics i noticed he had those droppings without the fecal part and would just have the white urates with urine. But now they most often have the fecal part but are just very wet. I have never experienced this with any of my budgies in the past so this is all new to me too! Attached is what his droppings looked like before the vet and antibiotics. You can see there is some without the fecal part.

 

[CGrillo]

I have two budgie boys. Their droppings tend to be more watery in the morning and also if they have been chewing on their cuttlebone more. Since its only been 2 days since the medicine was finished, I'd wait a couple more days and watch the droppings. Good luck!

Thank you so much! I’ll keep an eye out on him

 

[Mybluebird]

The "before" picture definitely looks abnormal. They should have both the dark and white area. How wet they are depends upon a number of things - could be from drinking more water or eating more fresh veggies/greens. Also some medicines cause them to be wetter.

 

[CGrillo]

He hasn’t been giving him his veg as much since the vet, just because I don’t know where he picked up the infection from so I’ve been afraid to give it. It seems that he does drinking mostly in the morning and at night I can’t tell if it seems he’s drinking a little more or not but he’s currently off the meds now

 

[Shezbug]

@Lady Jane @Ripshod @PoukieBear @Budgiebonkers

 

[Lady Jane]

Antibiotic therapy can change the droppings
because they can disturb the natural flora of the gut. That is where probiotics come into play to build up that flora again. I suggest you ask your vet about this. There are several sold for birds OTC. You can also ask about adding unfiltered apple cider vinegar to the drinking water. It takes a while to have the GI system back to normal.

 

[Lori D Pert]

The antibiotics themselves can cause a watery poop. To be honest in the second picture they do look better. Is he eating and drinking? Is his energy level the same? There are many benign reasons that their poop can be watery. I would monitor him for a few days and actually keep him on seed only to see if they firm up.

 

[CGrillo]

Antibiotic therapy can change the droppings
because they can disturb the natural flora of the gut. That is where probiotics come into play to build up that flora again. I suggest you ask your vet about this. There are several sold for birds OTC. You can also ask about adding unfiltered apple cider vinegar to the drinking water. It takes a while to have the GI system back to normal.

Thank you so much! Hopefully I’ll get ahold of the vet tomorrow. i was worried about the antibiotics effectiveness because none of my birds in the past were ever on antibiotics.

 

[CGrillo]

The antibiotics themselves can cause a watery poop. To be honest in the second picture they do look better. Is he eating and drinking? Is his energy level the same? There are many benign reasons that their poop can be watery. I would monitor him for a few days and actually keep him on seed only to see if they firm up.

Thank you so much! He’s eating and drinking normally. He’s still active, playful and takes small naps in between throughout the day.

 

[CGrillo]

Sometimes he will take one of these poops is this normal? Usually there isn’t more than 2 of those in a row. Before he was put on his antibiotics he was mostly doing these poops.

 

[Lori D Pert]

Occasionally yes this can be absolutely normal. He could have just had a drink, or had a bath, or eaten green veg (which is mostly water) or even been quite active. The 2 beside this are quite normal. Droppings can run the gamut between ultra firm to very watery. They SHOULD actually change throughout the day according to what they eat, how active they are, how much they drink, etc. Seeing as how he has just come off of antibiotic therapy his poops can be watery for a few days. Small naps throughout the day are normal.

 

[CGrillo]

Occasionally yes this can be absolutely normal. He could have just had a drink, or had a bath, or eaten green veg (which is mostly water) or even been quite active. The 2 beside this are quite normal. Droppings can run the gamut between ultra firm to very watery. They SHOULD actually change throughout the day according to what they eat, how active they are, how much they drink, etc. Seeing as how he has just come off of antibiotic therapy his poops can be watery for a few days. Small naps throughout the day are normal.

Thank you
Most of his droppings Throughout the day have looked like the two beside it and sometimes more or less watery than others

 

[Ripshod]

The only thing I want to add is Luke is a granivore so you need to keep some seed in his diet - 25 to 35% is about right for a budgie.

 

[CGrillo]

The only thing I want to add is Luke is a granivore so you need to keep some seed in his diet - 25 to 35% is about right for a budgie.

Good to know! Right now luke eats mostly seeds. Maybe 25 % or less for pellets

 

[CGrillo]

So I spoke to the vet and told him about how Luke is doing and explained that He had the 10 days of Tylan but his droppings are watery since being off of the medication and so on and he told me to give him 10 days more. Does that make sense? He also said I can give him a prebiotic as well if I want and I can find that at the pet store