Vet Visit

[ParrotsForLife]

Just back from the vet, He didn't do any tests to check if they had lice he just gave them the treatment with no cost, It was in a syringe and he dropped it on their neck and he said it enters the bloodstream and will kill off any parasites including worms if they had any and he gave me another drop in a syringe to bring home for Tiko because she didn't come with us and little Mango tried to take the syringe from the vet lol.I don't have to worry now if they did have lice because now I know if they did they will all be gone and any other parasites.

[EllenD]

What treatment is it that he gave you? Sounds like Ivermectin, and if so yes, it works very well and usually gets rid of all bugs with a single treatment.

[ParrotsForLife]

What treatment is it that he gave you? Sounds like Ivermectin, and if so yes, it works very well and usually gets rid of all bugs with a single treatment.

He didn't say and I didn't ask but I had an idea what it might be

[Pajarita]

No, it couldn't have been ivermectin because it would not work with worms as it only works with animals with exoskeletons. But what made you think that your birds had mites? Indoor birds never do - where would they get them from? And putting poison on a bird without actually making sure the bird really needs it or making sure that the bird is healthy enough for it seems a bit irresponsible on the vet's part, if you ask me.

[ParrotsForLife]

No, it couldn't have been ivermectin because it would not work with worms as it only works with animals with exoskeletons. But what made you think that your birds had mites? Indoor birds never do - where would they get them from? And putting poison on a bird without actually making sure the bird really needs it or making sure that the bird is healthy enough for it seems a bit irresponsible on the vet's part, if you ask me.

Not mites, Lice and because they had the symptoms and feathers were looking eaten, They are always outdoors nobody knows what else could have been where they do be perched.What do you mean poison?

[EllenD]

Most treatments for lice, mites, fleas, ticks, etc. are all literally poisons. I agree with what was said, which is why I asked what medication the vet used. You should absolutely never yourself or let a vet put a poison on your pet without 100% verifying what the parasite is, and making sure the correct medication is used.

You are correct about Ivermectin, but I believe it would be used for mites, like quill mites or mites around the beak...I'm trying to remember the natural flower extract treatment that my vet used for feather lice in addition to the Ivermectin for quill mites, I believe Permethrin? I know he uses a combo medication for lice and mites both, as is usually used, and it's Ivermectin combined with a natural flower extract..

Either way, your vet should have easily diagnosed feather mites and feather lice, first by shining a light up to the bird's wings, then by using a comb to get a sample to look at under a scope. But again I totally agree that you really must be careful when using any of the prescription treatments for any parasites because they are all quite literally poisons, and I can't imagine an avian vet just spotting a small bird with a poison if he's not 100% sure it's necessary or even the correct poison for the bug your bird has.

[ParrotsForLife]

Most treatments for lice, mites, fleas, ticks, etc. are all literally poisons. I agree with what was said, which is why I asked what medication the vet used. You should absolutely never yourself or let a vet put a poison on your pet without 100% verifying what the parasite is, and making sure the correct medication is used.

You are correct about Ivermectin, but I believe it would be used for mites, like quill mites or mites around the beak...I'm trying to remember the natural flower extract treatment that my vet used for feather lice in addition to the Ivermectin for quill mites, I believe Permethrin? I know he uses a combo medication for lice and mites both, as is usually used, and it's Ivermectin combined with a natural flower extract..

Either way, your vet should have easily diagnosed feather mites and feather lice, first by shining a light up to the bird's wings, then by using a comb to get a sample to look at under a scope. But again I totally agree that you really must be careful when using any of the prescription treatments for any parasites because they are all quite literally poisons, and I can't imagine an avian vet just spotting a small bird with a poison if he's not 100% sure it's necessary or even the correct poison for the bug your bird has.

He wasn't an Avian vet and he told me of two that I should go to if anything serious was to happen, ill remember that next time.

[ParrotsForLife]

There should be a lot more Avian vets around so that means if something serious did happen I would have to bring the birds on a long hours train ride or even longer car ride to an Avian vet.Ill be an Avian vet soon so ill be able to treat my own birds

[Pajarita]

Well, lice don't eat feathers, they suck blood so, if you saw damaged feathers, it had to be feather mites (mites do not feed on blood, they feed on protein sources like skin, feathers, etc). Feather mites are easy to diagnose because they eat the little barbules and barbettes leaving holes in the bottom of the feather and just a 'naked' shaft so all you have to do is open up the wings and look at the base of the remiges (flight primaries) and, if you see holes there, the bird has feather mites (actually, you can even see the mites AND the eggs if you look closely) but they don't make the feathers look raggedy because they only affect the part of the feather that is next to the skin (well, unless you have a super infestation in which case, you would actually see the mites crawling even on your hands when you handle the bird). You do use ivermectin for feather mites, quill mites, red mites, bird lice, ticks and air-sac mites (these are the six kinds of common parasites birds have) and it can be administered either through the skin (as the vet did) or internally but it should never be used unless one knows for sure that there are mites because ivermectin is a kind of poison (all insecticides are).

[ParrotsForLife]

My mam was thinking that when we were there "isn't he going to do a test first" and so was I and he told us he wasn't a bird specialist and to see the Avian vet if anything serious ever happens.