Bacterial Infection – 10 Shots for 10 Days

[koko30]

I just brought my yellow nape Amazon. Kokomo (30 yrs old / laid an egg for the first & only time on Nov 2017 ) to an Avian vet. Her last visit to a vet was about 15 years ago. The only reason why I brought her to the vet was that I hadn’t in years, and I had the money and time. The doctor took blood, everything was good, her weight is normal and he did an oral culture and found out she has a bacterial infection called Pseud. aeruginosa.

Treatment: They want to give her a shot of medication a day, for 10days.
Not missing a day. Is this normal? Sounds like a lot of stress for my bird to endure that for 10 days or oral medication, twice a day for 20 days.

What I would like to know…
1. Ten shots normal?
2. Could Kokomo have this bacterial infection for years?
3. Can you die from Pseud. aeruginosa?

I also wanted to just mention that she strictly an inside bird. That's only because I live in a condominium and I don't have a patio. Occasionally I’ll take her outside. I Did forget to mention in the beginning, that my parrot does self-mutilation to herself about 2-3 times a year. She bites at her feet. I’m currently using Terbinafine Hydrochloride AntiFungal Cream 1% on her feet subscribed by the doctor and that seems to help a lot.

Thanks,
Scott

[Pajarita]

Well, I'll tell you that, personally, I do NOT like to give my birds any injections whatsoever (the damage to muscle tissue is too great and it's terribly stressful to the bird which will make things worse instead of better as stress = depressed immune system) BUT pseudomonas do have a history of being antibiotic resistant AND to come back after a while and that's a consideration...

Having said that, if it was found in the choanal area (the back of the bird's throat), it had either just started or the bird has had it for a while and has beenb fighting it on its own -not enough to actually eradicate the infection but enough not to allow it to advance. And that's important because, although pseudomonas can kill, they only do when the infection becomes systemic (meaning when it spreads to other or all areas of the body - the internal organs being the ones that, once they get it, the infection will kill the bird). It's impossible to tell which one with any certainty BUT, if your bird's blood work came back normal -meaning white cells not elevated- one could conclude that he has just gotten it and not that he has had it for some time I've never had any of my birds come down with this infection but I know about it from canary breeders having it in the entire aviary. By the way, you need to thoroughly disinfect everything: cage, perches, bowls, toys, etc.

Now, if this was my bird, this is what I would do - you decide what you want to do with yours. I would ask the vet to give it three weeks of a high dosage of an oral antibiotic (cipro would do but any fluroquinolone works) and give it strong physical support by keeping the bird warm (heating pad under cage), and as stress-free as I can manage (super strict solar schedule, good full spectrum lights for during the day, daily fresh food diet, lots of out-of-cage and one-on-one time, etc) and bring him back for another choanal swab after the three weeks to see how the whole thing is going. IF the infection is still there and still as 'strong' as it was before, then I would do the shots - but only after trying with the oral antibiotics.

[koko30]

I dont know if she has ever had it. Fifteen years ago was just a regular checkup. No pseudomonas was ever found.

[Pajarita]

I SERIOUSLY doubt she has had it for 15 years. I would think that, if she had, it would have spread already because her immune system would have been able to keep her healthy all this time if there was an infection for so very long. The thing about pseduomonas is that it's kind of like aspergillus, it's pretty much ubiquitous in nature but you only get the infection if you are exposed to large doses of it for a long time OR if your immune system is not working well -which is ALWAYS the case with pet birds because the conditions we keep them under are so very unnatural (they are undomesticated species so they haven't 'adapted' to living with humans) that their immune system is always compromised by the chronic stress of captivity. We know that undomesticated species kept in captivity always suffer stress but, when it comes to parrots, it's worse when they are kept by themselves (no bird mate or companion), at a human light schedule (instead of a solar one to keep their endocrine system in good working order), fed wrong (free-feed pellets or seeds instead of a fresh food diet), alone for hours (human works full time), no flight (clipped or simply not allowed flight regularly), etc. We all like to believe that we are keeping healthy and happy parrots but the sad truth is that none of us do... we certainly did not do them any favors by making them our pets.

[koko30]

Hi, I want to thank everybody for your well wishes, advice, and expertise. I've decided to bring Kokomo to the vet and board her at the vet for 10 days while she gets her shots every day & at the same time because there’s a couple of days I’m not able to bring her in until later in the day. I spoke to a couple of parrot experts at my local pet (bird) store and they assured me that she was safe and the vet is doing the right treatment. The shots aren't as bad as we think they are.
Thanks again,
Scott

[Pajarita]

The decision on what to do with your bird is yours to make, of course, but there are NO parrot experts (you can find canary experts but not parrot experts) and, if there were, they would not be found at a store where they are regarded and treated as merchandise. Think about it...

[koko30]

Just letting everyone know that Kokomo is home. She finished her 10 shots in 10 days. The doctor said she did really well. Kokomo is adjusting and happy to be home again.

[Pajarita]

Good to hear! Let's hope there are no lasting consequences to all those shots...