i got a bit of a fright this afternoon. i had gone over to my mums because she is going away tomorrow and have been there most of the day. i gave peanut his medicine this morning no problems.

 

but when i came home there was a message left by the vet! vets dont ring you at home for just any old problem so i phoned them back straight away. it turns out on further examination of his samples, she discovered a different type of fungal infection and phoned to tell me it is very important that he doesnt have any more of the medication he has been given until he comes in. so peanut is going back to the vets tomorrow, and the vet has ordered some different medication in for him.

 

so fingers crossed the new medication will work for him.

 

each day as it comes

Okay-we're right there with you pixie.

Julie

Sounds like you have a good vet Pixie. Fingers, toes and eyes are crossed for the both of you. Maybe the new medication will fix the problem right up

awwwwww, all the best for you and peanut !

Hope the new medication does the trick!

If anyone is gonna fight this Peanut will - and just look at his army of followers - he is one special little budgie!

awww i know he really appreciates it! he knows he is a special boy and is loved by everyone

 

well here is the medical details, for anyone interested in learning about avian medicine:

 

i had a long conversation on the phone this morning with the vet as she phoned me at home again. when she looked at his slide she thought he had a rare type of fungus, but she looked into it and it is actually a strain of megabacteria. as far as is known, megabacteria is present in the gut of healthy budgies but for unknown reasons, some budgies can develop megabacteriosis which is a very serious infection. probably peanut developed it because of his polyoma which is immuno-supressive and would allow the megabacteria cells to multiply.

 

megabacteriosis is quite controversial and not much is know about the disease. from what the vet explained to me, it appears under the microscope to be a fungus but it is not known whether megabacteria is actually a fungus or a bacteria. therefore treatment is a bit hit and miss. at the moment peanut has been given metronidazole - some reports suggest it has been effective, in other cases it has no effect. so i am taking peanut along to the vets again tomorrow for another gram stain test and possibly to change his treatment to Amphotericin B, which again has varied reports.

 

well peanut has a 50/50 chance of getting over the megabacteriosis. the Amphotericin seems to have a good success rate in seemingly healthy birds, but well peanut isnt your average budgie so it will have to be trial and error.

 

as if things werent complicated enough already! if anyone ever needed a case study for a vet med degree, peanut is the ideal candidate. you would certainly have plenty to write about!

 

oh and one more thing, i was discussing the polyoma vaccine with eterri a while ago, and i found out that there is currently no vaccination available for budgies (in the uk at least) at the present time. the is however a vaccination available for all other parrot species. and is something that i will definitely recommend to people considering the implications of polyoma that i have seen.

 

well thats it for now, thankyou for listening and learning with me.

Let's hope one of the 2 medicines works! That was very interesting to read, thanks for sharing all of it!

Pixie, try having a chat to him, and let him know he doesn't have to have a dose of everything going around

 

I found that very interesting, I'm fascinated by that kind of stuff. Thankyou for sharing, and good luck with his treatment

Welllll I guess this means we at least have a diagnosis which is good.

 

That little bird knows what a fan club he has I reckon he will thrive on on the love he is getting, Ive got big BIG hope for this little one, he wont let his Auntie Boomery down hehe.

 

Pixie, do they do the injection for Cockatiels do you know?

yes, as far as i know the injection is available for cockatiels. i wold have thought it would only be stocked by avian vet surgeries and could be a bit pricey too, but well worth it if the birds are likely to come into contact with other birds from an unknown source (like petshops).

 

you could always get your birds screened for the disease and find out if they are carriers. because there is now a dna test that can be done i think. if your tests come back clear you wouldnt need to worry i think its important to screen any new additions to a flock, where ever they came from, and it is certainly something i will do in the future.

 

at the moment it is unclear whether carriers (like casper) will remain carriers for life or whether they shed the disease intermitently (sp?). so if i ever got a new bird i would have to have them vaccinated anyway. as far as i know the polyoma vaccine must be continued every few years with a booster jab, so it is best to screen and only vaccinate birds that are identified as at risk. i dont think it is really known why some birds develop physical signs and others dont.

Edited August 18, 200519 yr by pixie25

I see, well Charlie my tiel was from a store Pets At Home, I asked tonnes of questions about vets tests and quarantine etc which they follow quite strictly but he is still in quarantine from the budgies for another 2 weeks, so I might ask our avian vet if they stock the vaccine.

 

Do you know how long it takes before it would be in full effect or is it immediate.

 

Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and advise Pixie, only wish it was under different circumstances. *Kisses Peanut*!

im not really sure of the details boomery, but its definitely worth taking charlie along for a screening and discussing the vaccine with your vet. there is some controversy surrounding the matter, so it would be best to look it up and talk to your vet about it.

 

here are a few links:

 

polyoma

 

why vaccinate?

 

you have to scroll down quite far on the second page to get to the bit about pet owners and the possible ways polyoma can get into your birds. the top part of the page explains a bit about how the disease works.

Thanks Pixie I will get chance to read through these in a bit and hopefully understand a bit more and take Charlie and his dried pineapple treats (his bribary treat) along for tests!

your welcome i will post another update tomorrow.

I have just caught up with this post. Im praying Peanut will pull through, and i was so glad to hear he came home. They are so tiny and dependant on us, its horrible when these things happen.

 

 

Sending get well kisses Peanuts way!

I am sure he will be well soon given the right treatment.

bad news today i took both birdies to the vets this morning. unfortunately Amphotericin B is very hard to get hold of. she even phoned the manufacturers themselves to see if she could get it in. but they are all out. the only type she could get was the injectable form.

 

she took a sample from both peanut and casper and she even let me look under the microscope at peanuts first sample at the megabacteria. they look long and thin like a fungus and change form very frequently, there were all sorts of shapes that they were morphing into. she said thats why its so hard to identify what the cells actually are. she said it is the first time she has actually seen it, she had only heard about it before.

 

the problem is that as they dont know what the cells are and why they behave the way they do, she doesnt know how the drugs take affect and why they kill the bug. giving Amphotericin B is very risky even for a healthy bird as it is actually TOXIC. she said she has never tried it before and she doesnt know the level of toxicity and whether it would be dangerous to give it to peanut or not.

 

she weighed him, and he is now down to 35g so he has lost another 4g in less than 2 days. she has kept both of my birdies in until tomorrow so she can crop feed peanut and she can monitor him while he has to be on his risky meds. casper stayed with peanut for some tests too.

 

it seems peanut is a bit of a guinea pig at the moment, but it really is his only chance of getting over this. if worse comes to worse, my vet will learn something from little peanut and be able to help and advise other vets on how to treat birds like peanut. well thats the way i saw it. if he doesnt eat soon he will die anyway.

 

its very quiet in my house today, no cheeping but hopefully both will be back tomorrow. i get this feeling of dread in my stomach every time the phone rings.

Thanks for letting us know pixie.

Huh Im sorry Pixie life sucks sometimes especially now for you and the guys.

 

I guess luck and some strong prayers are needed and hope that this turns around into something good.

 

Im at a loss what to say really but you DO know EVERYONE here is here for you and the guys and if there is anything at all we can do, you know we will.

 

Come on Peanut PLEASE PLEASE eat something even if its your own poop hehe!

I hope Peanut picks up being crop fed. He really has had more than his fair share of bad luck. Hope they both are able to go back home with you tomorrow.

Oh Pixie, words fail me. Consider yourself hugged