We seemed to have caught the AGY early on, as the broken feathers/falling were the only obvious symptom (no regurgitating, appetite seemed fine, still within "normal” weight range for a sun conure, etc.). The vet said that his blood sugar was low, and his food wasn't quite digesting properly (but that was only apparent under a microscope... to the naked eye it still looked normal). There was a teeny bit of blood in his stool exactly once, and that actually happened DURING his vet appointment. Because of that, he stayed overnight at the vet for observation, but the rest of his stay was (thankfully) entirely uneventful and we brought him home the next morning.
For treatment, we had him on Amphotericin B for two months, and for the first few weeks we also had him on an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial (just in case). We have kept his medicine on the proper schedule the whole time, and syringe-trained him to make it as un-stressful as possible — the first couple of weeks were difficult, but now I would even venture to say that he'll miss his 2x per day "special treat"! We’ve also been adding a bit of apple cider vinegar to his water for good measure. He made steady progress along the way for the whole two months. He is currently showing no symptoms and his weight has been holding steady ~102g (on an empty stomach) for the whole time. Also, he is VERY energetic — his wings are just now growing in (he was clipped when we got him) and he has recently discovered the joys of constantly flying from place to place around the house.
However, at his follow-up visit today, the vet still found a little bit of yeast in his stool and concluded that the AGY was "probably a chronic condition." (I don't even know how AGY becomes chronic — Did I do something wrong? Did I catch it too late? Or was it always going to be that way from the start?) No more amphotericin… she said we could get MegaBac to help treat it if we want to, but otherwise just keep an eye out for any symptoms and call if he showed any (and/or if MegaBac doesn't alleviate the symptoms).
Maybe I wasn’t asking the right questions, but I feel like I don’t have a very good idea of Newton's prognosis, or what to expect moving forward. She did say that the effects of AGY really depend on the bird — there are some she has to see every 3-6 months to manage the condition, and some who have had no issues after the first flare-up. But beyond MegaBac and "avoid stressful situations" she didn’t have any advice for managing the AGY.
So that’s my story — and here are my questions:
- Have you had any birds with avian gastric yeast, chronic or otherwise?
- How has it affected your bird over time? (weeks/months/years/???)
- What have you done to manage the illness and/or bolster your bird’s immune system? (Diet, environment, anything else…?)
- Is there anything you tried that didn't help, or made it worse?
- Are there any key symptoms to watch for that might help me catch a flare-up early on?
- Is there any hope for Newton to recover completely from AGY, or is it simply too late at this point?
Any other suggestions or experiences you can share that might help with this process would definitely be appreciated.
Virtual hugs would also be appreciated because I am doing literally everything I can for Newton but somehow still feel very inadequate.
- Jay
P.S. Ultimately this part is out of my hands, but I have also contacted the guy I bought Newton from (who, for the record, has two lovely sun conures of his own — from the same breeder as Newton — and seemed to care very much about the well-being of both his birds and the birds he sold), so he can take whatever action he feels is necessary to keep the rest of his birds safe & healthy.