I assume you've treated your bird with 'Psittavet'. The active substance of Psittavet is Doxycycline. This is a derivate of Tetracycline. My experience with Doxycycline is that when it is administred to the drinkingwater it will have NO effect.
There are several reasons for. First, Kakariki drink to little and Tetracyclines tend to bind with Calcium. Besides, water contains Calcium. In spite of the fact that Doxycycline has a lesser tendency to bind the result is that there are too low bloodlevels achieved.
The best result you get with sprinkling the powder over the food. Remove all Calciumblocks and cuttlebones and administre possibly Calcium free spring water.
MyGully,
Sorry about the poor spelling in the earlier post. Aspergillus is the disease I was refering to. I am not suggesting it is what your bird is suffering from but we have discovered that Aspergillus can be transmitted from parent bird carriers to young chicks in the nest. With that in mind it is posible that this bone defiency illness that also affects Kakariki may in fact be passed on from the parents to the young chicks.
From our research the disease that your fellow is suffering from, is also another form of bacterial disease. What is still unclear at this stage is whether the bacteria is transfered to the chicks from their parents or whether it is a genetic affliction that is created as early as the egg stage. Either way the disease takes time to attack the spinal cord and as such young birds do not seem to show any signs until they come into breeding condition. I think the only way to ever find the exact answers is to find a vet that is prepared to put in the time to observe and conduct tests on birds suffering from this disease. Unfortunately it just isn't a viable alternative for the majority of avian vets in this country due to their limited numbers and high workloads.
Hi, I am full of questions and what if's. Rickie has been on ibuprofen for about 3 days. He seems more determined than ever to prop himself up to do what he wants to do. What ever this is it is slow. I think I will try to use some tetracycline as well as the psittavet.
I just needed to hear the news about the water and psittavet. I am on about the 40th day for my whole aviary $$$$ down the drain, plus all the effort. I have a feeling I will have to have some of the birds tested after I finish off the course. what a mess.
My Gully,
Your last post is rather confusing. As stated previously the disease affecting your young Kakariki DOES NOT seem to be contagious. We have over 80 Kakariki in our aviaries and to date have lost approx 5 birds to the illness. NO OTHER birds (including breeding mates) have ever shown any symptoms. To the best of my knowledge other parrot species are not affected by this disease and as such I would question why you would need to have other birds tested.
Please understand I am not having a go at you. But unless you have other birds displaying the same symptoms as your Kakariki I thing you will find there wont be any problems with them.
It is always hard making decisions on sick birds. But nature has it's own way of controlling all species (including humans). Keep your chin up and dont blame yourself for the situation. As I have already said I think this particular problem is genetic and most likely inherited through particular bloodlines. GOOD LUCK with the decision you ultimately make.
Hi, thanx all,
Jack was a sad loss but life goes on. After losing three kaks this year I decided not to get any more and just keep charlie, but......today a trip to Crews Hill in Enfield for some food for my other pets and OOOOP's
arrived home an hour later with Percy a new male. We seem to be bonding very nicely day one. I sat for two hours with just my hand in his cage and he took it very well, accepted food from me and used my hand as a step so good things come from bad in the end.
I wish you good luck with rickie. These are great little birds full of character and each has its own. I wonder if this disease is any relation to something like M.S in humans it seems to have the same effects .....just my thoughts.
Hi, thank you for you posts. I didn't think you would have a "go" at me. I think that most people who post are here because they have little outside support and you are certainly helping with all of this.
-to explain, I started Rickie on the psittivet because Jim told me I should. I had one bird in my outside aviary come up with a swollen eye- I still do not know why. It frightened me and because of a conversation with the vet nurses I decided to put the whole aviary on it just in case. Now forty days down the track, Rickie is the way he is-, the other bird still has the swollen eye and the other birds are fine. I have put eye ointment in the other bird's right eye now for over two months, nothing is helping except if I do not do it her lids swell shut. I tried to call Jim again, and he will not return my call- must be very busy. I really am frustrated and getting very upset with all of this. I called Vetafarm and their vet is to call me in a couple of hours. I will go over this all with him and then try to figure out what to do. (BTW the bird with the eye problem has been isolated from the time I found her with her eye swollen)
Hi,sad news, Rickie is gone. I talked to the vet about all of this and he told me that Rickie did not have a disease if all I told him was true. There was several things that pointed to a problem like a tumor- on his spine or kidneys, he did not know where but it caused hind leg paralysis- . He was confident that if Jim hadn't been able to pin point the problem he would not be able to.
-He was sure though it was not Aspergillus and that I didn't have to continue the Psittivet, if I had a problem anywhere I had given it to them for enough days. He said that I had persisted long enough- more than enough to know that his problem couldn't be fixed. So I put Rickie to sleep. That was very hard, so very hard. thanks all for your big sholders
It is always a tough decision to make but I think you have down the right thing. Without any answers (or known cure) for this illness we can only imagine that the birds are suffering and as such the most humane answer is to put them down. If it is at all possible I believe an autopsy would be a very good idea as every bit of information we can gather will ultimately help unlock the answers needed to prevent future problems.
Is the bird with the swollen eye also a Kakariki. If so it may be that she has accidently scratched the eye whilst in the aviary. We have found this to be a problem in young chicks when there is a large clutch in the box. Kakariki have sharp claws and long legs which can sometimes result in these type of injuries.
Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:48 am Post subject: the other one..
No,the other is a superb parrot. Rickie was my only Kakariki. I will miss him greatly. She seems to either have an allergy or is rubbing it. I am going to have to hide and watch her. She has rubbed off several of the surrounding feathers. She gets really angry with me when I hold her to put in the eye medication- that is kind of funny because I really think she likes the attention.
I would love another Kakariki but I need to wait and see what I find out first.-
sorry to here about your kak , i thought i might just add stroke to the list of posable causes of your birds symptoms . stroke is far more comon in parrots than we would believe.
Dear Everyone, thanks for taking me into your hearts. I have waited for Jim the vet to ring me back - he never did. I assume he has been very busy. In the meantime I have photos of Rickie's autopsie- (not for the soft hearted let me tell you), however, since I couldn't pay for the full autopsie I had to go with this. I need help however with anyone who can to reveiw the photo's and information to help solve my puzzle. Would anyone on this board be able to look and give me their opinion?
P.S.other news. When I ceased all of the psittevet and eye ointments - (on the advice of the Vetafarm) vet the Superbs eye finally calmed down 2 days after ceasing treatment. Now to get the feathers back on her eye!
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