Urgent Birds Sick for Months, Can't Figure Out What It Is (Have Been To Vet)

[Azellia]

Hi, everyone. Just a very small update. Vet visit coming up in a few days. However, I'm worried about my one bird as, out of nowhere, he seems to have gotten conjunctivitis. I will probably have to rush him to another vet early if he doesn't improve by tomorrow, I'm guessing.

I'm wondering if there's anything I can do in the meantime? The conjunctivitis is only in one eye. Would getting him to bathe be good? He bathes pretty rarely, so if there's any irritation in the eye, I imagine that would help? I believe I have birdie eye drops somewhere I can rustle around for.

 

[Azellia]

Oh... I just thought of something. Could pieces from a shred toy possibly get in the eye and irritate it? I am very worried this is related to their illness & will monitor and act appropriately, BUT I also bought them some sola, mahogany pods, and yucca to play with a few days ago, as these are their favorite toys! They've been shredding up a storm.

Also, another small update that I forgot about. Sneezing is back down again. I hear maybe one or two sneezes in the morning now, and NOTHING the rest of the day. This is encouraging, but one bird is still acting a bit sick, and of course, we now have the conjunctivitis, so I'm not sure what's happening there.

 

[Azellia]

I can't find my bird drops. Would a human nasal spray/eye drop/contact solution containing ONLY saline (no other ingredients) be safe? Or is that too risky?

 

[Azellia]

Wait, false alarm! False alarm! I just checked his eye again and it looks SO MUCH better, swelling and redness almost completely gone. I think he just went a little too hard on his mahogany ball.

Sorry! I'm paranoid about everything now thanks to this darn illness.

 

[Dona]

I read your whole thread and I have nothing to suggest or add, but I really hope your birds get well. You've all been through such an ordeal.

 

[Azellia]

Hi, everyone. Small update after the vet.

I really like this new vet. He's much nicer and seems much more knowledgeable than the others I've visited. He wasn't able to tell anything based on the previous tests + the physical (both of which, picture perfect) but he wants to try a few things.

For one, he wants to try a full course of doxy-the birds have been on doxy before, but only for very short periods of time, never the full 45+ days it would take to clear an AC infection.

He's also running two new tests. An Avian Bornavirus test for my one bird-the sickest one, the one that's been shaking his wings. I really hope this isn't what he has... but with his unique symptoms, it could realistically be a possibility.

He's also, most importantly, doing a CULTURE! He was pissed that the other vet practices I've visited never bothered to do one.

I should get the results for both tests within a week.

So, for now, we're doing doxy with a probiotic. He also gave me a holistic medicine to try that, in his experience, can ease respiratory symptoms in birds. I suppose I'll update again in a week once the results are back.

 

[Azellia]

And if the doxy doesn't help, and the culture/Bornavirus test are unremarkable, we'll likely have to consider asper.

 

[Azellia]

Yikes, a new development today. One of the birds has biliverdinuria. Two of them have had tinted (yellow) urine since the start of this illness, but never green.

Maybe this IS Avian Chlamydia. They're on doxy now, so I suppose we'll see if this improves.

If not, might need to ask for liquid Milk Thistle. I have a powdered version at home all birds have been getting on their food for a while, but I haven't really seen any improvements in their urine on it so far. I think a lot the powder falls right through the food to the bottom of the bowl.

 

[Azellia]

Today has been a very bad day for my sickest bird. I'm so frustrated... the past few days, he was actually doing pretty good. Was more active, more vocal, more playful than usual. Even did a few big zoomies, haven't seen him do those since December!

But his wing holding out/twitching has been very intense since morning. I noticed he's stretching his wings back a lot as well. He's been eating and drinking a little but less than I would consider normal. I moved him to a hospital cage, and since then, his wing behaviors have calmed down a bit. But he really hates the hospital cage and has been panting from the stress of being in there.

The new vet we just visited doesn't do emergencies... so if I want to get him in I'll have to call one of my past vets, who haven't been able to do anything for him or his brothers. I'm so stressed. I feel like there's nothing left I can do for him.

Other three birds are okay as of now. Very light sneezing. Otherwise seem fine.

 

[Pixiebeak]

Sorry to hear turn fir the worse. It sounds like you have a great plan with new vet tho ! I hope you get answers and your birdie feels better

 

[Azellia]

Hi everyone. Baby boy is at the emergency vet. They're keeping him overnight. Vet believes he's having partial seizures-he doesn't lose consciousness during them or fall off the perch, his wings just flip uncontrollably.

We're thinking these seizures may potentially be fear or stress-based. He didn't do the wing flipping at all on the ride there (he was covered in his carrier), nor in the exam room. But as soon as they brought him in to see me, he started it again. It could be that he's so scared of me because of all the vet visits and handling for meds that being near me puts him into high stress mode and sets him off.

Of course we don't know this for sure. There's a chance it's PDD. Or another issue. They're going to monitor him overnight and run some tests once he calms down. Both vet and I are worried about the liver/kidneys since he's been on so many meds for so long, and he has polydipsia, polyuria, and discolored urine/urates. So those are two things they really want to check.

I'm also worried about an environmental issue again... he didn't sneeze at all during the ride to the vet, or during the visit. I'm considering taking the other three to my relative's house... we did this in the past, but only for a few days. Maybe I can take some days off work and stay there with them for a week.

Vet also said the sneezing could be a Vit A issue, but if that's the case, the damage to their respiratory system is done and they may have sneezing issues for life?

This is all so confusing and stressful. I just hope the previous vet or the emergency vet can finally find something. Culture results will probably be in tomorrow or the day after, and emergency vet of course wants to run some stuff tomorrow as well.

 

[Pixiebeak]

Sending love so sorry you sbd your baby are going through all of this !

 

[Azellia]

Update from the vet. Seizures are most likely emotion based. Vet says that when she watches him from afar, or over the cameras, he's fine. No wing twitching whatsoever. As soon as she gets close, he starts twitching and seizing. But she's not sure if it's fear-based, or excitement-based, or just general nervousness, because he chirps and perks up (like he's happy) when she gets close-very very odd. But for now he's stable.

Other birds are with me at relative's house right now. They were sneezing pretty intensely when I got home from the vet. Nothing since we got to relative's place, though it's only been a few minutes. Their sneezing is always the worst first thing in the morning and late at night, so I'll see what they're like tomorrow.

 

[Azellia]

Emergency bird coming home today. He ONLY does the wing tremors when someone there approaches him-when left be, he's fine. The vet is no longer sure it's seizures, just erratic wing activity, probably caused by stress. It could be that it's chronic at home either because of environmental stuff, or he's just constantly nervous.

They did run more tests. Another X-ray and more bloodwork. Both perfect. Even his liver and kidneys are fine; which makes his polydipsia, polyuria, stained urine/urates all the more unusual. I'm very glad to hear the meds haven't wrecked his poor organs, though.

A few sneezes from the birds at my relative's house. But not many. Not as bad as at home. No coughing so far; that's been intense at home lately. Bird at vets hasn't sneezed at all since arrival. (Though he did sneeze a ton at the vet office we visited Friday?)

Maybe this is environmental... but if it is, I don't know where to look. I've cleaned a ton, removed a ton of potential irritants from the house since they first fell sick. Given the chronic nature of their respiratory issues... I feel like if it's environmental, it HAS to be mold somewhere? Or are there other good-at-hiding irritants that can cause chronic issues? We don't use Teflon, harsh cleaning chemicals, aerosols, etc. the stuff that's normally touted as bad for birds. We did check for leaking gas/carbon monoxide in the past, too-all good there. Changed furnace filter not too long ago. We have an air purifier that's on 24/7, I change the filter on that often as well.

 

[Azellia]

If this is Chlamydia-could being in the house where the bacteria is in the environment make symptoms worse? And taking them to a cleaner environment would immediately help symptoms? I feel like that's unlikely, but IDK.

 

[Azellia]

You know what, I thought of one more thing that could potentially be causing issues. Three months before the birds got sick, I bought some cage cleaners for the first time from A&E-before that, I just cleaned with hot water and vinegar. And I wasn't ridiculously vigilant about cleaning by any means.

The A&E cleaners are supposed to be bird safe, but they do have a light fragrance. After the birds got sick, I started cleaning pretty much daily with Dawn detergent, water, and F10. Plus occasionally the A&E cleaners in the beginning, no longer use those though. I didn't notice it at my own house, but now that I'm at my relative's, I notice their cage has a nice scent to it. Very very subtle but it's there.

When I took my bird to the vet last Friday, he sneezed there. I had cleaned his carrier with soap and water earlier that day. But when I took him yesterday (after the carrier had time to sit for a few days), no sneezing. They're sneezing at my relative's house in their usual cage. When three out of four of them were hospitalized in December, and I took the last one to my relative's in a temporary cage... no sneezing there.

I feel like this might be risky if they are sick, especially with something like Chlamydia, but I wonder... if I were to rinse their cage and all perches in just water/vinegar, and keep cleaning to a minimum for a few days until the scent goes away... maybe that would do something for them?

 

[Azellia]

Got the Avian Bornavirus test back... my sickest bird did in fact test positive.

 

[Azellia]

My guess is that they'd all be positive at this point... they've all lived together for 4 years.

With sickest bird's tremors, I'm really worried about PDD. They do only seem to occur when he's under stress, but...

 

[Azellia]

Culture is still pending. Probably another day or two on that. AB doesn't cause sneezing as far as I'm concerned, so no clue what's happening with that still.

 

[Azellia]

And right after getting the results... his bad tremors are back. This is probably PDD, isn't it? I don't know if he's going to live. Isn't PDD contagious, too?