Posted July 2, 200618 yr We have had a trip to the vets today with Kens birds.........diagnosis, as we suspected, is psittacosis. He has lost half his aviary of birds over a month and we now have the answers. The best avian vet around has confirmed what we thought. It is isolated to Kens aviary and has not affected my budgies in any way. We have to catch Kens scarlets and put them in a smaller enclosure so they drink their medicine and not get moisture from plants and dew etc. It is a 6 week treatment. Then we scrub and disinfect the aviary the scarlets were in. Further to this story is I have been having symptoms of psittacosis for 3 days.....fevers and chills, headaches, dry cough, breathing problems, muscle aches and tiredness. I am to be tested in the morning. The vet assures me I CANNOT transfer it from me to my birds IF I have it and treatment for me would be instant if I have it. I will update. Edited July 4, 200618 yr by Bubbles
July 2, 200618 yr "words that are not allowed on this forum". Hope all goes well with the disinfecting process and that you are okay.
July 2, 200618 yr Author Ken is hoping I have just caught a chill, but the vet gave me a knowing look and said I must be at the doctors first thing in the morning.
July 2, 200618 yr Oh my. You WILL be at the doc's, won't you? And you will take your medicine like a good little girl? I hope it is just a cold, but better safe than sorry. Disinfecting Ken's aviary - oh my, you have a job and a half there! Having seen it, all that wood, soil, etc! Oh my, glad it's not me
July 2, 200618 yr Oh goodness, I'm so sorry to hear that Ken's birds have psittacosis. sorry that you picked it up too. I hope you get better soon girl! what a bummer on the aviary though having to disinfect it, but I guess it's good that you guys caught it now before you started to split your aviary and swapping over!
July 2, 200618 yr oh my goodness how awful!! you make sure you go to the doctors okay!! hope you and ken's birds are okay.
July 2, 200618 yr Oh Karen i do hope you are feeling better soon.. and its sad kens birds are not so well, just look at the bright side... as you are disinfecting the aviary, you can be working on your plans of the great cage switch too Moving plants, replanting, putting in your dividers etc etc and then when you do get to switching over, you will know you have a wonderfully clean cage to transfer your birds into Make sure you update us on the Dr's visit and I really hope you feel better soon Best wishes Una
July 2, 200618 yr Author Oh Karen i do hope you are feeling better soon.. and its sad kens birds are not so well, just look at the bright side... as you are disinfecting the aviary, you can be working on your plans of the great cage switch too Moving plants, replanting, putting in your dividers etc etc and then when you do get to switching over, you will know you have a wonderfully clean cage to transfer your birds into Make sure you update us on the Dr's visit and I really hope you feel better soon Best wishes Una You are right Una...great opportunity to change everything while the aviary is empty. We will get rid of all perching and replace with new branches , ....Structural wood can be cleaned and disinfected or replaced. Paths scrubbed, disinfected and repainted. Woodchips removed and replaced with new and fresh. All dusts vacuumed up and removed. Also of course, the divisions can start. I haven't had a fever since this morning, but have all the other symptoms. Can be mistaken for flu symptoms but I havent had flu in 17 years so I know its not that. Test should show and yes I will go first thing tomorrow. Did you know that psitticosis is a form of Chlamydia?? Not the other kind and some doctors have to be told.....no, don't send me to an STD clinic for tests ...is the other kind. Some doctors ...the vet said....will try and send you to a STD clinic for normal chlamydia test and have to be re educated. You may have to insist they phone the laboratories for instructions he said. oh my goodness how awful!! you make sure you go to the doctors okay!! hope you and ken's birds are okay. Thanks Cheeky...I will be on the doctors doorstep in the morning...Ken is fine. He spends less time in the aviaries than I do. The vet said we may lose more of Ken's birds before its over though. Thanks god it hasnt got anywhere near my budgies. There is 7 metres between site of possible infection and the budgies. Oh my. You WILL be at the doc's, won't you? And you will take your medicine like a good little girl? I hope it is just a cold, but better safe than sorry. Disinfecting Ken's aviary - oh my, you have a job and a half there! Having seen it, all that wood, soil, etc! Oh my, glad it's not me Thanks Lin....Yes I will go to docs first thing. We will replace a lot of perching so less scrubbing. Good to empty the aviary to fix it all up though. Best thing is the budgies arent infected at all. Sad for Kens birds though. He is very disheartened over it. Oh goodness, I'm so sorry to hear that Ken's birds have psittacosis. sorry that you picked it up too. I hope you get better soon girl! what a bummer on the aviary though having to disinfect it, but I guess it's good that you guys caught it now before you started to split your aviary and swapping over! Thanks Cheeta........I may not have it but symptoms seem to fit. Time and tests will show. Good opportunity to start with a fresh clean aviary though. Lots of work to do. Edited July 2, 200618 yr by Bubbles
July 2, 200618 yr I second Nerwen dear! I hope you get better fast! Thats such a terrible thing for such a nice lady to go through! Please get better, and i wish you the best of luck in the morning, Ill be asleep as it will be my nighttime, but my thoughts are with you, and ill be praying for you. Sorry about all this ordeal, i guess Ken must learn now the quaranteen is NECESSSARY! I feel bad for him aswell, poor guys birds keep passing away, your sick now, he must feel terrible. Give him some kind words from all of us, and tell him we wish him the best of luck with the birds during treatment, and with future birds.... Bye for now, good luck tomrrow! Kirby
July 2, 200618 yr Author I second Nerwen dear! I hope you get better fast! Thats such a terrible thing for such a nice lady to go through! Please get better, and i wish you the best of luck in the morning, Ill be asleep as it will be my nighttime, but my thoughts are with you, and ill be praying for you. Sorry about all this ordeal, i guess Ken must learn now the quaranteen is NECESSSARY! I feel bad for him aswell, poor guys birds keep passing away, your sick now, he must feel terrible. Give him some kind words from all of us, and tell him we wish him the best of luck with the birds during treatment, and with future birds.... Bye for now, good luck tomrrow! Kirby Quarantine yes. But we have also learnt it can come though wild bird droppings through mesh ceiling of aviary and wild birds....our is half open mesh and soon to be changed.
July 3, 200618 yr ***Waiting patiently for Karen to get back from the doctors office... Looking at watch
July 3, 200618 yr Me too! I have to go to work soon! Don't know if I can wait! It's just past 9am here in WA, she might have got the first appointment...
July 3, 200618 yr just got on-line and read this wow is all I can say, I hope all is well with your and everything with your aviaries.
July 3, 200618 yr Author Well, I am back from the docs. Had a 10 am appointment but it takes 45 mins to get there. Tests are sputum (throat swab) ...takes 3 weeks for results and a blood test (tomorrow)........Blood test has to be done after fasting and I had had a morning coffee. So I go back tomorrow for that. But according to positive diagnosis on the birds and my symptoms fitting all the way down the line and the fever I had when I got there.....I am being treated for psittacosis. The birds ( Kens ) are on doxycycline in their water and I take doxycycline tablets too. I cannot transfer this to any birds or people. My symptoms are....headches, fevers and chills, dry irritant cough, trouble breathing, muscle aches, and tiredness. Easy seeing why it can be mistaken for flu. But I never get flu (havent done in 17 years) so it's not that.
July 3, 200618 yr Hi Bubbles, even though you aren't positively diagnosed yet by culture and serum it is very good news that you are being treated. Hope you feel MUCH better, VERY soon! And Crystal is looking FANTASTIC!
July 3, 200618 yr Author Hi Bubbles, even though you aren't positively diagnosed yet by culture and serum it is very good news that you are being treated. Hope you feel MUCH better, VERY soon! And Crystal is looking FANTASTIC! Thankyou I have yet to check the babies today ...Crystal included. Will wait till the headaches and fever goes a bit.
July 3, 200618 yr Oh Bubbles take my advice and go down to the shop and get the following. 1.Avicleans for your tea. Stops thoughs terrible bugs. 2. Calcivet for your coffee. Good for the teeth and bones. 3. Moulting Aide for your Hair... Just in case. 4.Probotics for a balanced digestive. 5. Soluvet to keep up your vitamins 6. Sparks when your feeling down. 7. Well just in case. 8. .... Well this may help with Ken you never know it might help. Get well soon
July 3, 200618 yr Daz, your such a dag It's great that you are being treated, it can't hurt even if all the tests come back negative. How on earth did you catch it? I know little about the disease, as I'm sure others do as well, so a bit of info would be lovely
July 3, 200618 yr Author Daz, your such a dag It's great that you are being treated, it can't hurt even if all the tests come back negative. How on earth did you catch it? I know little about the disease, as I'm sure others do as well, so a bit of info would be lovely You catch it by inhaling the dust from the droppings of infected birds and handling the infected birds. I guess since I do most of the aviary work as I am at home, my chances of catching it are higher than Ken's. Also I hospitalised the sick birds in a hospital cage so was handling them too. You gotta love Daz's sense of humour, eh ?!
July 3, 200618 yr Glad you are getting treatment Karen and hope you feel better really soon... and Daz as for you...GOLLY GOSH what can i say :hap:
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