Hi everyone,

 

My budgie Jeffrey has been sick since around mid-June. He goes through periods of seeming tired and quiet and will vomit up his seed. This is usually in the afternoon and then the next morning he seems okay - until it happens all over again.

 

We’ve took him to the vet near us who diagnosed a bacterial crop infection (way back in June) and prescribed a course of psittavet (water soluble medication) for 10 days. We followed this direction and he appeared to get better, but as soon as we stopped the medication, he got sick again. So we went to the vet again who gave us more of the same and said to continue the treatment for 20 days. Which we did. He got better again and as soon as we took him off it again, the vomiting started again. So then we went to the vet AGAIN and were given more of the same medicine and told to keep on it until it ran out. That was on the 20th of August. The medication was finished on Thursday so Jeffrey has been on normal water for nearly two days and has started vomiting again.

We have two other birds who aren’t sick - although from what I read they could be carriers but not actually sick from it. One of them does like to feed him, but we have been keeping him separate from the others since we started the last course of medication.

He’s a pretty fussy eater as well and is scared of most food that isn’t seed (he’s also scared of the dark, such a little weirdo) so I’m not sure whether a change in diet will work and the only way I’ve been able to get him to drink the medicated water is by dipping my finger in it and he’ll drink it off my finger.

 

After flicking through the forum topics on here, I think I have a rough idea of what the problem is but naturally I want to take him to get properly diagnosed. Which leads me to my question - does anyone know of an avian vet in the Central Coast NSW area? The vet we’ve been taking Jeff too doesn’t specialise in birds but it’s the closest one that we are able to get to. I suspect that we are probably going to have to take him somewhere in Sydney, but it’s a bit difficult for us to get him to these places (why no vets are open on Sundays I will never understand).

 

In the mean time, would anyone happen to have any suggestions for his care? He’s fine when he’s off water, so I don’t know whether it would be too bad for him to keep him off water and just allow him a little bit every couple of days, although that sounds really cruel - particularly with the weather starting to heat up. Another thing we thought of is to maybe boil the water to remove bacteria from it and allowing it to cool before giving it to him, as the drinking water seems to be the big problem. Or should we just go back to the same vet for the same medicine until we can get him to somewhere else?

 

Sorry for the essay!!

Heather

Antibiotics do ruin the natural flora of the digestive tract. Some people give some form of yogurt I heard but I would wait for suggestions from people who have had this problem as to what kind. Also I have heard they use apple cider vinegar to aid the crop. This site does speak of the problem. http://ocw.tufts.edu...urenotes/832349

 

Also I had a problem with water and a person suggested aviclens. I opted for using bottled water because we already have to drink bottled water so there is always some on hand. I would not deprive a sick bird of water but that is just me. I would maybe boil it and let it cool if I had no option. I always shake the water vigorously before, I don't know if it's a myth that boiled water looses oxygen but I was told it gives tummy aches. I haven't verified this scientifically, at any rate shaking the water in a bottle can't harm it.

 

Your idea of separating him is probably good. Although I know how you feel one of my birds has a problem and I don't want to separate her from her guy because I do believe he takes good care of her. It's not the same problem though and you may have a bird who is a healthy carrier passing an infection to him as you suggested.

 

Keep in mind I am probably newer at this than you.

Edited September 28, 201311 yr by Phoebes

I was just doing a bit of research and just wanted to add this page. I have often heard of people giving lactulose to birds. It really surprised me because I have a cat with constipation issues (a now very expensive cat) who takes lactulose.

 

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_lactulose.html

 

My cat is huge and I give him about a cm of the stuff in a syringe given to me by the vet. On the page you will see in the second paragraph they speak of what it does to the intestines and that it is good for birds with liver damage. I would ask your vet about the birds liver function having been on antibiotics quite a bit. I can't imagine what kind of a dose would be okay for a budgie.

heatherc3

I guess the first things I would look for are husbandry or environmental causes. Look at the basics. Once you have ruled out husbandry look at the total environment. Things like are there any plants near the cage that he may be nibbling on. (pretty regular cause vomiting budgies) consider water quality in the area. Mid Nth coast water has a notoriously PH level. There are a few people in know on the mid north coast are using water softeners to lower the PH of the water they give their birds. Not definite answer but something to look at seeing, from what I understand, he seems to get sick when he is given plain water. Another thing that comes to mind is that you bird may be having reactions to additives present in your drinking water. On my last trip through the area i did notice that tap water was heavily chlorinated and gave me runns. Possibly you could try offering filtered water or bottled water as suggested by Phoebes and see how he goes with that. Seems the vet your seeing is treating a symptom and missing the cause

Hope this helps

Paulie