Meds in italycs
Symptoms in red
I have a breeding pair of Pacific Parrotlets that have no identifiable problems. I have had them for 2 years, and they have had babies a few times, and no babies have had any problems until now.
In their last clutch they had 3 babies. 1 baby had noticeable "gunk" in 1 eye while still in the nest.
1) I thought it was maybe an injury, so I applied Terramycin for 10 days. It seemed to go away.
My friend took the babies to handfeed. The eye problem came back, and spread to a sibling also. So I took them to the vet.
2) The vet prescribed eyedrops, Neomycin & Polymyxin B Sulfates & Dexamethasone Opthalmic Suspension USP.
This didn't stop the "gunk" from coming out of the eye, and the gunk was so sticky that when the bird tried to rub it off, she would just end up with her own feathers stuck to her eye. This happened repeatedly so _I_ had to pluck every feather that got stuck. The skin is so loose, I couldn't trim because I might cut the skin. So my friend took them to another vet.
3) The vet prescribed eyedrops, Necain (spanish label): Neomicina, Dexamethasona 21 fosfato, Vehiculo c.b.p.. Almost the same thing as the 1st vet.
This seemed to fix the SECOND bird in 3 days (has never reoccurred), but NOT the ORIGINAL bird. The "gunk" in the eye by now had started to cloud and solidify over the eye, blocking vision. It's extremely sticky and I need a tweezers to pull it off the poor bird's face, 1-3 times a day. I took the bird to a 3rd person.
4) The 3rd person said the Neomycin (1st vet) was correct, but I had bad application instruction, so he suggested I do it again correctly.
This didn't seem to fix anything on the original bird. I went to a couple avian specialists (not vets) who suggested I try:
5) Duramycin-10: Tetracycline Hydrochloride Soluble Powder. I tried this for 10 days with no effect.
At this point I started noticing the nostrils were crusted shut. I'm not aware If this is new, or I missed it in the beginning. I also tweezed these open, and began draining the nostrils of gunk every time I uncovered the eyes, 1-3 times a day.
6) Next I tried Koryn Triple (spanish label): Sulphametoxipiridacine, Trimetropine, Tilosine, Excipient c.b.p. for 10 days.
Surprisingly, this MAY HAVE cleared up the nostrils, but the eyes still gunked over, a few times a day (same rate as before). A few days after I stopped, the nostrils started getting gunked up again.
7) I'm supposed to try Colloidal Silver next, but it's still in the mail.
I asked for a culture, but the vet seems to think I will be wasting my money at another $300-$600 + exam fees, on a bird that they think will pass soon. This has all happened over 2 months. After the Koryn Triple, I noticed the "cheeks" were swollen, red, and actually protruding on both sides. I can gently squeeze them, and gunk starts coming out of the nostrils in very small quantity, but NOT from the eyes. Since vision keeps getting constricted, the bird is not eating as much as she should be, and begs to be handfed still. I feed her twice a day, and this also makes her nostrils push out some gunk. Gunk in eyes and nostrils is white/clear wet, and yellow dry. Whatever this problem is, in _MY_ opinion, it seems limited to the head, and the bird is otherwise very energetic.
I would love to get some more opinions, or experience on what this may be, and how I can deal with it. I can do more tests, but it will be a shot in the dark without some guidance. I don't want to wait for a necropsy. I even tried the vet college nearby, but my contacts are gone, and new one's are not interested in a mystery case.
Parents are still okay. Two siblings are still okay. Birds in cages nearby the parents are all okay. As a precaution I tossed the old cage (EVERYTHING) and nestbox. Previously, I had only been hardcore cleaning and disinfecting the cage/nest after a clutch. So she STARTED in a sanitary situation. No idea how this all originated.
This bird is quarantined, and I Kennelsol each time I finish with her to keep from contaminating anything else.
- Screenshot 2015-11-19 at 1.29.17 PM.png (224.52 KiB) Viewed 3743 times
^recent with swollen "cheeks"
