Vomitting

[Bea 0]

Last week i noticed that one of my aviary budgies, Jelly, had scaley face. I treated my whole flock with ivermectin a few days ago and i assumed that would be troubles over. However, when i just went out to feed the budgies i noticed that Jelly looked SHOCKING! :budgiedance: I'm not entirely sure what's wrong but the scaley face looks worse and she's covered in goopy sticky yellow stuff. I immediately separated her from the flock and she's currently in my little spare cage just outside the back door. Dad's working at the office today (after over a week of working from home, of course he's not here the day i need him) so i can't get her to the vet until tomorrow. She doesn't feel like she's lost weight and i'm yet to see what her droppings look like and if she's eating, i'll update you all when i know but can someone confirm for me that she has been vomitting so i can give accurate symptoms to the vet when i call.

 

[Guest Phoebe]

Oh dear Bea, she doesn't look well at all, hope all works out. :budgiedance:

[Guest Shellball]

Last week i noticed that one of my aviary budgies, Jelly, had scaley face. I treated my whole flock with ivermectin a few days ago and i assumed that would be troubles over. However, when i just went out to feed the budgies i noticed that Jelly looked SHOCKING! :budgiedance: I'm not entirely sure what's wrong but the scaley face looks worse and she's covered in goopy sticky yellow stuff. I immediately separated her from the flock and she's currently in my little spare cage just outside the back door. Dad's working at the office today (after over a week of working from home, of course he's not here the day i need him) so i can't get her to the vet until tomorrow. She doesn't feel like she's lost weight and i'm yet to see what her droppings look like and if she's eating, i'll update you all when i know but can someone confirm for me that she has been vomitting so i can give accurate symptoms to the vet when i call.

 

Oh my gosh! She looks awfull. I am so sorry. I hope she gets better. Good luck.

Shell

[Bea 0]

Well she's off to the vet at 9am tomorrow morning - could've gone at 8:10am but i don't think dad would've appreciated that. Hopefully she'll get better. I got an appointment with my fav vet (the one who saw Oz when he was sick) so i trust him. Everyone cross your fingers that she gets well and no others get sick!

[Daz 0]

Bea she does look like she's been throwing up. One of my birds looked that way, well not that bad. I put her on a dose of general antibiotics and that cleared it up. Ask the vet tomorrow if it would be good to have some at home and what brand/type he surgests and let us know. I have been using one from Arstopets but i have been leaning towards vetafarm products and would be interested in what the vet says.

 

Hope the little girl will be okay.

Edited September 18, 2006 by daz

[Cheeky 0]

Aw poor little Jelly, i hope she's okay. Let us know how she gets on at the vets. ive got my fingers crossed!

[budgie_addict 0]

I do hope Jelly gets better fast!

Just a thought though,could she have an over enthusiastic aviary mate who is feeding her? My Lady had a vaguely similar looking problem a while back. The regurgitated food was on the top of her head and down her neck at the front.

[Bea 0]

She doesn't have a mate from what i've observed. That and her poops are green and not formed right - she also hasn't eaten. :budgiedance:

[CheekyChucky 0]

I hope she is okay bea and gets well fast.

[Guest eterri]

I hope the vet gives good news and she's feeling better soon. If they don't do it of their own accord, I'd request that the vet take samples from the droppings and from the crop as it could be a yeast infection or a bacterial one.

 

Daz, no matter what the vet suggests as far as antibiotics, a budgie has to be diagnosed before starting them with this sort of problem. If we just assume it has a bacterial infection and treat with antibiotics, we can get it wrong. If the infection is a fungus, the antibiotics will only make things much much worse as they clear the way for the fungal infection to grow rapidly. By the time you figured out that the antibiotics aren't working it would likely be too late to save the bird. Anytime a budgie is exhibiting signs of illness like this, it MUST be taken to the vet for diagnosis before starting any type of medication. It's just so risky. I only suggest antibiotics (a very, very tiny dose of Baytril) in a serious case, such as on another board where a budgie was bitten by a cat and the biggest risk at the point was infection (bacterial). The owner wasn't able to get the bird to the vet immediately and saliva from other animals (especially cats) is extremely dangerous to budgies.

 

Aside from this, diagnosis is always necessary with an illness as as MOST side effects a very general and can apply to any number of diseases/causes. Sometimes we can help our birds at home but most of the time, a positive diagnosis is necessary so that valuable time isn't wasted and/or more harm isn't being done.

[Daz 0]

Thanks Eterri.

 

 

Bea hope all goes well today. Is she still okay?

Let me know what the vet says about the antibiotics.

[Rainbow 0]

Oh yes, Bea, that looks like vomit. And quite a lot of it, so she would have been throwing up for awhile. She's really covered.

 

Not sure if you'd want to, but when it happens to my birds I try to clean off as much as possible with a damp (hot water-cools off real fast) Q-tip or edge of a washcloth. It will become slimey when it gets wet, but she does not have any other birds to preen it off, and as it dries it is very itchy. It will take some time to clean her, so if she stresses easily you might wait. Plus it will make her smell. If it seems to bother her and she keeps rubbing her head against stuff in an attempt to clean herself, you might want to help her if she will let you by trying to scritch some off between your fingernails if you don't want to get her wet. That might be less stressful, depending upon how much handling she will allow. Poor, poor baby.

 

How is she today?

Edited September 18, 2006 by Rainbow

[*Nerwen* 0]

Oh No poor Jelly, I hope she is okay, let us know about the vets

[Bea 0]

Jelly's been vomitting because of a bug/something called trichomoniasis, anyone heard of it? The vet took a sample from her crop and looked at it under a microscope. Then he used a crop needle to give her medication for it. I have to keep her separate and if she is still vomitting in 2 weeks she needs to go back. I'm hoping none of the others will get it because the medicine has to be force fed - taking 19 budgies to the vet wouldn't be cheap. I'm not sure of the name of the treatment but it was a quarter of a little tablet dissolved in a little bit of water. I was right when i said she didn't feel like she was underweight!! 44g!! That's more than even Ozzie and he's my little fat birdy. I haven't cleaned her up because she HATES being handled, i think having a crop needle down her throat is enough stress for one day.

[*Nerwen* 0]

Yes I've heard of it, i think it's also called cranker. If I had my health book I'ld look that up to be sure. I hope she was a good little girl for a vet and make sure you keep a close eye on the others for signs. Hug to you and little (porka) Jelly.

[Elly 0]

Oh my I just logged in I will keep my fingers crosse for Jelly.

Keep us updated ((hugs))

[Rainbow 0]

Bea, I found this if it helps...

 

http://theaviary.com/s1295-68.shtml

 

I would think it could be easily transmitted to birds in outdoor aviaries from outdoor birds flying overhead and leaving "presents". Good thing you caught it, Bea, and are able to have it treated. I'm sorry poor Jelly had to be dosed with a crop needle...poor baby. Give her a friendly scritch and let her know someone overseas is pulling for her swift recovery. :dbb1:

 

**EDIT**

Bea, maybe your vet would do housecalls if it were necessary to treat other birds in your aviary? He may have a reduced pricing structure for aviary visits, or a multiple bird discount of sorts. Hopefully it is not something you will need, but would be nice to know about just in case.

Edited September 19, 2006 by Rainbow

[Guest Phoebe]

:ausb: Now THERE'S a great idea Rainbow, good luck Bea, hope Jelly gets well soon and everybody else is well. :dbb1:

[Daz 0]

Canker: A New Answer to an Old Problem

 

Canker (trichomoniasis) is probably the most common disease

affecting pigeons throughout the world. It is wide spread in

Australian feral and domestic pigeons, both fancy and racing and is

also a major cause of death in budgies and canaries.

The disease is caused by the TRICHOMONAD protozoa. There

are different strains of the organism which vary widely in their

ability to cause disease. Adult birds are often carriers - that is,

they have the organism and spread it to other birds but look

totally healthy themselves. The organism is commonly spread

through food and water by carrier birds and passed from parents

to their young. Overcrowding, poor hygiene and other stress

factors result in greater spread of infection and debilitate birds so

that latent infections become active and cause disease. Canker

lesions often become secondarily infected by bacteria and make

the disease much worse.

 

In young birds poor growth and deaths are common. In older

birds, weight loss and weakness or just poor performance are

indicators that there is an underlying trichomonal infection.

The common crop form of canker is the one most breeders are

familiar with - the vomiting bird, the bird with froth at the beak,

the bird slowly losing weight and eventually dying even though it appears to be eating. The crop

form of canker usually results in constrictions forming in or around the crop, stopping the passage

of seed and causing the bird to starve to death. A more sinister form of canker occurs in some

cases, where the organism invades the liver and causes large cheesy abscesses full of organisms.

These birds show no symptoms until the abscesses are well established and most of these birds

die of liver failure.

 

Avian veterinarians can often find the carrier birds by doing a crop-wash and finding the organism

under the microscope. However, the bird with liver abscess may escape detection. Because the

disease is so common, breeders should look to treating their flocks to either eradicate the

organism or stop it from entering their stock.

 

Treatment of choice is Ronivet-S for budgies and Ronivet-4-Pigeons for pigeons. Unlike earlier

treatments, this in-water medication will not cause infertility, neurological problems or reduce

performance. In fact, the drug has no reported side effects (even at excessively high dose rates)

and can be used all year round including the breeding season when birds have young in the nest.

 

VETAFARM

 

 

Bea I hope this helps identify what couldhavecausedyourproblem. Bluey got Canker last christmas. The vet did what your vet did but bluey's condition was not as bad as you little one. Bluey and the whole flock was on a 10 day treatment.

Edited September 19, 2006 by daz

[Guest Shellball]

If love and good thoughts will help, she will be okay. This place is full of both. I will add mine and we will all hope together for her quick recovery. Hugs for all.

Shell

[Bea 0]

Bea I hope this helps identify what could have caused your problem. Bluey got Canker last christmas. The vet did what your vet did but bluey's condition was not as bad as you little one. Bluey and the whole flock was on a 10 day treatment.

I don't like to use in water medication. As my vet said today budgies are easily able to go for weeks without drinking water.

Edited September 19, 2006 by daz

[Daz 0]

Yes that is correct. Budgies can go over a month with out water. If you are using water soluable medication you have to monitor the usage and adjust to suit.

 

I was lucky with Bluey that he drank his water. I had him retested 11 days after starting the treatment and received a negative result to canker.

 

I hope all goes well with your little one and your flock. I have my whole flock treated at the same time as Bluey.

 

I went looking and found the post. >link<

 

Bea look what you asked Link wow what a question for now. :dbb1:

Edited September 19, 2006 by daz

[Bea 0]

I remember that! Odd thing is that your Bluey looked really sick, Jelly hasn't lost weight, isn't lethargic, don't think she's vomited since yesterday and she's not puffed up. Odd isn't it. It appears that she hasn't eaten since i isolated her yesterday, no husks in the seed bowl, i'm not sure what to do about this.

[Daz 0]

Bluey didn't throw up it was diarea that had me acting. Aparently the main effect was in his bowl not the crop.

 

Have you tried some comfort food. Some millet perhapse. What did the vet say about the feeding with the treatment she is on?

[Bea 0]

He didn't say anything about feeding. It was a one off treatment, she shouldn't need it again unless she keeps vomiting. I hadn't thought of millet! Thanks, i'll give her some right now.