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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 8, 2016 16:15:52 GMT -5
A few hours ago Bishop started having breathing trouble, he was sneezing, and his nose was running and making "snot bubbles". We immediately called our local vet who said he could see Bishop almost immediately. Right after we called the vet Bishop started acting fine though but we of course took him anyways. He continued to make me look crazy and show no signs of being sick when we were at the vet. He was friendly to the vet (he didn't bite once!) and flew around the room several times and mumbled a few things to the guy, surprising the vet with how active he was. Then after the vet on the way home he started dropping his wings and sneezed twice. The vet gave me some antibiotics to give him. I have a few questions for those of you who've taken your bird to the vet before. I hate to admit but he's never gone before and neither have I. He's never had a need and I know yearly checkups are advised but it's easier said than done with the price of a vet visit. First of all I was expecting testing to be done. Is that how it usually is for you? Like blood tests and fecal samples. We haven't really got any avian vets within 2 or so hours away so we had no choice to take him to the local vet who I don't think is certified for avians, just exotic animals. I heard one of the vet assistants say behind the door to the vet than they've never had a bird before. That worried me. I was in the animal hospital for no more than 20 minutes and most of that was in the waiting room. The vet asked a few questions about drafts, candles, and his food. I just started him today on Harisson Pellets so the vet said give him the old food instead for a few days. Then he used a stethoscope to check Bishop and that's it. A few questions and a stethoscope then told me to remove the new food and give him the antibiotic lincomycin "just in case". No testing; nothing to figure out the appropriate medicine or what the problem is. I'm afraid not enough was done but I wanted to check with those more experienced with visits to the vet. I also looked up this antibiotic firstly because I saw it had expired (called the vet and they said it's a misprint) and there is very few things on it. I know different avian medicines from research for the pigeons when they are sick and this one was unfamiliar. Two sources said it is only effective against skin infections, bumblefoot, bone infections, and gram positive bacteria. Bacterial infections such as a respiratory problem are gram negative bacteria. Another source said it has only been tested on finches for mycoplasma (a respiratory disease) and has to be paired with another antibiotic to be effective. The last source didn't even have this listed in the list of effective and safe avian antimicrobials which would include antibiotics since they are a subcategory of antimicrobials. Have any of you heard of use of this medicine in parrots at all? I'm going to give it to him for now because I don't want to risk Bishop getting more sick but if he isn't showing signs of being better in a few days and if what this vet did wasn't right then I will find a real certified avian vet not just someone who says that they will care for them.
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Post by easttex on Jan 8, 2016 18:26:11 GMT -5
I'd be suspicious of that antibiotic, too. I read that it has generally been replaced by safer, more effective drugs. In my experience with both chickens and parrots, when the source of the infection is unknown, and often when it is, Baytril is used. It's still a very effective broad spectrum antibiotic.
In addition to my very expensive vet at a wonderful facility in Houston, for lesser problems I go to one in Shreveport. She is not avian certified, but she is a member of AAV, which suggest to me that she stays current with bird issues. If I come in with a sick bird, she runs tests. She has several parrots herself and sees quite a few in her practice. A vet can't make a living with just exotics outside of large markets, and she doesn't have a lot of bird-specific equipment, but she knows her limitations. If you could find someone like her, I think you'd be way ahead of where you are now. I don't think I would be returning to that vet with a bird.
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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 8, 2016 18:53:58 GMT -5
I'd be suspicious of that antibiotic, too. I read that it has generally been replaced by safer, more effective drugs. In my experience with both chickens and parrots, when the source of the infection is unknown, and often when it is, Baytril is used. It's still a very effective broad spectrum antibiotic. In addition to my very expensive vet at a wonderful facility in Houston, for lesser problems I go to one in Shreveport. She is not avian certified, but she is a member of AAV, which suggest to me that she stays current with bird issues. If I come in with a sick bird, she runs tests. She has several parrots herself and sees quite a few in her practice. A vet can't make a living with just exotics outside of large markets, and she doesn't have a lot of bird-specific equipment, but she knows her limitations. If you could find someone like her, I think you'd be way ahead of where you are now. I don't think I would be returning to that vet with a bird. I feel baytril is overused way too often in too high of a dose when it isn't necessary. I know it is good for bacterial infections though, I use ciprofloxacin which is the human version of baytril that is believed to be safer to use. Unfortunately I am out of cipro after using it on the pigeons. The AAV website lists a woman who is only half an hour away so I will see if she can see him if he doesn't seem to be getting better. |
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Post by aaron on Jan 8, 2016 22:09:52 GMT -5
I'm not an expert, but I agree that I feel like more should have been done. When we have taken Cupcake to the vet they have always at least done a full physical, and often run tests... I think the course of action would differ depending on symptoms so I'm really not sure what to expect, but what you describe sounds like a very minimal amount of investigation. I don't know anything about the antibiotic but I think your instinct to get Bishop to an avian certified vet (or at least one with some bird experience) is a good one. Probably sooner rather than later.
I hope Bishop gets better soon!
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jan 9, 2016 4:06:22 GMT -5
My vet tests the poos as soon as I walk in the door with the birds. Then he will do a culture which takes a couple of days. However, he can usually tell just by looking at the bird what is wrong with it. Having said that, I pay a fortune for vet visits but am happy with the testing, etc. done on the birds. I really think you need to be looking at an avian vet as general vets don't know very much about birds. Hoping Bishop gets better soon.
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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 9, 2016 4:13:43 GMT -5
It's 3 am, I haven't been able to sleep much. I just checked on him and he's sleeping on his perch so he seems fine. I was afraid to wake up and find him gone. This is almost exactly how I lost Alex a few years ago. She had a respiratory bacterial infection and couldn't be gotten to an avian vet so I was told to get ciprofloxacin. We searched store to store in several towns but nobody had it or any bird safe antibiotics so we had to order it and it was going to take 2 days to arrive. She died that first night before we could get the proper medicine. She was showing signs that Bishop was. They didn't seem too serious, just sneezing and a runny nose. I'm thinking I'll try to get him into a proper vet even if he is acting fine just to be safe. He's coming up on 10 years old and never been to a vet, I feel he should at least get a checkup to make sure everything is fine. I know respiratory troubles are a sign of an enlarged fatty liver and he spent 8 years on a seed diet until we found out that seed was bad and high in fat. I'm going to make sure he isn't overweight when he gets up in the morning and if he is I'm definitely having a vet check for liver problems. Just the fact he's been on seeds for so long has me worried about liver disease.
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Post by easttex on Jan 9, 2016 6:12:54 GMT -5
It's a good idea to go ahead and get him seen before he actually looks sicker. It can happen so fast with them. If it turns out that nothing is wrong, you'll at least have a little peace of mind and a relationship with a vet who can treat Bishop.
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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 9, 2016 9:33:43 GMT -5
Well Bishop continues to look fine. I called the place and of course with my luck their avian vet isn't available. They gave me a number to call a Dr. Mohan who is an avian specialist, unfortunately he is at Ohio State University which is not nearby but if he is available then I'll make the drive.
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Post by Caseysmom on Jan 9, 2016 9:54:43 GMT -5
Glad Bishop is doing ok, maybe you won't need to make the drive. Hope he continues to improve.
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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 9, 2016 10:05:11 GMT -5
The soonest the vet was available was on Tuesday. We made an appointment so hopefully Bishop is okay until then.
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Post by aaron on Jan 9, 2016 10:15:59 GMT -5
Glad to hear little Bishop is hanging in there. I hope you don't need that appointment but it seems like a good idea to go regardless, just to be sure. Keeping our fingers crossed for you guys!
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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 9, 2016 10:34:12 GMT -5
Glad to hear little Bishop is hanging in there. I hope you don't need that appointment but it seems like a good idea to go regardless, just to be sure. Keeping our fingers crossed for you guys! I plan to take him whether he's still fine or not. He could use a checkup to make sure he's healthy. |
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Post by aaron on Jan 9, 2016 21:47:49 GMT -5
Glad to hear little Bishop is hanging in there. I hope you don't need that appointment but it seems like a good idea to go regardless, just to be sure. Keeping our fingers crossed for you guys! I plan to take him whether he's still fine or not. He could use a checkup to make sure he's healthy. Good plan. I hope it all works out!! Keep us posted. |
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Post by wsteinhoff on Jan 11, 2016 16:05:16 GMT -5
I am still taking him tomorrow but I am pretty I have just found the problem. He must be allergic to something in Harisson Pellets. The vet I had taken him to said to put him back on his old food for a few days just in case that was it but he said it was unlikely since Harisson is such high quality food. I had started him on the new food that day that he started displaying the symptoms. I waited until today to try it again and after a whole weekend of being fine he started having breathing trouble again. So he's now back to eating the old food. On Friday I had compared the ingredients in his old food with the Harisson food and didn't notice anything different or that he hadn't had before but I'll have to check again because I must've missed something. I'll ask the vet tomorrow if he has any recommendations on a new food because I have been trying to get him on better food that was free of any dyes and had figured what better to try than the highly rated organic food. The pellets in all of the pet stores around here are colored except the macaw sized ones. It can't be that the bag of Harisson food was bad, I checked it for mold and smelled it. If anything were wrong with it Skye and Casey would be sick too because they have been eating it. It's got to be something in the food.
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Post by julianna on Jan 11, 2016 16:48:34 GMT -5
I am sorry that I do not have any vet experience as yet. I can only say that I wish you and Bishop all the best... Best wishes are with you.
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