Sick Kakariki, sticky mucus in beak

ruckage · Member Joined: Oct 09, 2008 Posts: 5

Hello,

My pet Kakariki Bandit has become quite ill the last few days. He started producing a clear sticky mucus in his beak (which I'm guessing he is regurgitating). He's still eating and drinking but it's clear it's making it difficult for him to swallow and is irritating him as he's constantly rubbing and clawing at the inside of his beak. I'm very worried about him and it's heartbreaking to see him like this.

I have visited an Avian vet and she has taken a swab but the results won't be back until the end of the week at the earliest (maybe even next Monday) and as he's eating and drinking she felt it best not prescribe him anything yet as she said it would just be guessing at this stage. She also said that his breathing was slightly wheezy and he has had some sneezing fits the last few days.

A week is a long while and I really want to do anything I can to help him. The vet suggested trying some natural yogurt but she's not convinced it's a yeast problem as she couldn't see any signs of it but couldn't completely rule it out either. I've also added a small amount of cider vinegar to his water as that seemed to be recommended but I'm not sure on the dosage as advice seems to vary, at the moment I'm just adding 5ml to 500ml of water. Anyone else had similar problems and is there anything else I can do to try to at least make him feel a little better.

He's 13 years old (nearly 14) but has seemed happy and in really good health until now. He has a varied diet and has completely free reign of the house only being confined to his cage to sleep or if we need to go out.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

A week to get results back for a bird???
Birds tend to hide any symptoms, and when they do show they are very sick. Sry but what is the vet thinking???

ruckage · Member Joined: Oct 09, 2008 Posts: 5

Thank you for the reply. I will contact the vet tomorrow. Can you link me to some information on crop worm as I can't find any. And how could he have got them? He's the only bird we have and he's kept in the house (I'm in the UK if that's relevant.)

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

We had a house parrot.. crimson wing..that had 24/7 freedom around the house, even while we where on holiday... with the cat who had free entrance via a trap door in the bottom of the hall cupboard.
Symptoms, exactly as you described
We have a very relaxed relationship with our local avian specialist vet...Who is rather hands on.
A relationship that extends to, open discussion, and even being in the lab while he dyes swabs, samples, shows us what we a re looking at and why in his microscope.
Which includes that crop worms have to be treated VERY different to gut type worms.

How our bird picked up the worms is open to speculation...At the time we did have cat...thats a maybe at best... or a wild bird that may have come into the house.. house is open most days, and a couple native birds a regular visitors.. fantails... or maybe a visiting neighbours cat?
Or something off our shoes picked up off them or the floor???

ruckage · Member Joined: Oct 09, 2008 Posts: 5

Thanks. If it is worms I think picking them up on shoes would be the only possibility as we have no other pets and no other animals can get into the house.

I did phone the vet twice today and hard a long conversation with her. She said she had examined the sample herself under the microscope before sending off a sample for further testing and it showed a small amount of yeast and bacteria but said that small amounts of yeast are quite normal. I asked her directly about crop worms but she said worms in the crop were quite a rare occurrence. I also asked if antibiotics could be prescribed but said she was reluctant to do so before the test results were back as if the wrong antibiotic is used or if it isn't a bacterial infection it could cause more harm than good.

She said canker was a possibility as were a bacterial or a yeast infection deeper in the crop and hopefully the results from the sample will be back on Friday and she'll know more. She offered hospitalisation but he would only be fed and hydrated until the results are back so I thought it best that he stays with me as it's less stressful and I can make sure he's still getting enough food and water.

If the results don't show anything then the next step is a crop lavage, x-ray and blood tests but she said he'll need to be sedated for those as it's too stressful for him.