Mario this morning
After reading my last post, it seemed like the problem with the imported German Rollers was over. The birds look so good that I waited till the following Sunday and then at 11 am I took them off the Enrofloxyn(Baytril) and watched.
By 3 pm I could see lower abdominal breathing, especially on Mario. How could symptoms reappear in only four hours? After more research it seems that the drug peak levels last four hours.
Immediately, I put them back on the full dose. Mario was very effected showing heavy lower abdominal breathing when he had never shown any symptoms before. He also quit singing totally.
One who was very thin but had never shown symptoms before succumbed immediately to full gasping breathing and when she was not eating and puffed up and dying, I mistakenly tried to hand feed her which resulted in her death.
This is the male who was gasping before I started them on Enrofloxyn. He showed lower abdominal breathing also when I took them off the drug last Sunday.
This male has never shown any other lower respiratory symptom except weak song volume. Loss of song volume is a sign but it is possible that he never was a strong singer.
He was the one who dropped some long feathers signaling he wanted to molt. This stopped almost immediately when I lengthened their days to 13.5 hours. His feathering in the flanks is not as tight as I would like.
This is the bird with the best breeding and the only one now completely free from all symptoms since the beginning.
The capped hen who recovered from gasping during the first round. She really seems to have gotten over it.
Frustrated and disappointed I am totally focused on these birds while the others are waiting but not patiently waiting. I have spent quite a bit of time visiting and thinking out loud with Doyle and Margaret and then I left a message on the phone mail at ladygouldianfinch.com. The very next morning, Joanne called and we went all over the case and what might be done.
She was very helpful and at the conclusion of the call she said that this problem of the birds relapsing when being taken off Enrofloxyn was perplexing and one she would like to get input from Dr. Rob Marshall in Australia. She would forward my e-mail directly to him.
The very next day, yesterday, she called back and reported that he thought I should consider and rule out Toxoplasma (parasite), fungi and thrush (yeast). I had placed an order to re-order more enrofloxyn, some doxycylineMegamix (back up), and some 12% Ronex S which she was really excited about to use for breeding birds losing chicks. She is also sending me several complimentary items that Dr. Rob recommended included the KD to treat for thrush and a copy of his book. Help just does not get better than that! To personally e-mail directly to Joanne send to joanne@ladyglouldianfinch.com.
Margaret called after that and she had spent some time researching baytril use in dogs and learned that peak dosing is a very effective treatment in dogs. So I am trying that in the meantime while I wait for the package from Lady Gouldian Finch to arrive probably Saturday.
This morning I gave a second peak dose, each bird got .4 cc straight enrofloxyn in a teaspoon of egg food in addition to the full dose in the water. Preliminary results look good.
The best news is that Mario sang a little to me about an hour after this morning peak dose!!
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteI think a possible explanation would be birds already being affectaed by Atoxoplasmosis, which was not noticed in Germany, being subclinical.The stress of the journey gave an exacerbation of this which weakened the birds resulting in secondary infections, such as respiratory infection.
I would go for a sulfa drug in combination with doxy-tylosin, after which I would give a 5 day course of nystatin.
Good luk!
Christel
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeletewhat do the droppings look like? Are they pasty, chalky or watery or "normal" looking? How long did you have the birds on the Enro(Baytril) the first time? I do not see a post regarding what that first treatment was, or what the "peak dosing" that you are using now is, or what the treatment protocol was to start with origianlly.
I have a bird that is doing the labored breathing some, did Vetafarm Triple C 7days as well as Respiratory Plus with Tylan 7 days with no resolving so far, and one bird that has very chalky, orangy/whitey(not being colorfed) type droppings, and I am kind of perplexed as to what is going on, he also seems to have very red legs, so I was thinking gout, but have limited the rich stuff, and still has same issues. Any ideas?
And yes Joanne at ladygouldianfinch.com is awesome, and I highly recommend her as well. Very, very nice & helpful and knowledgable. Can't recommend her service enough.
Thanks for any help you can provide, and I will try to help with your issue as well. Good luck!
The birds are responding somewhat to Baytril, so it seems they have something that will respond to an antibiotic but that Baytril may not be the correct antibiotic. I would try what the previous poster said. Vetisulid may be an effective sulfa drug-not all sulfa drugs are as effective against atoxoplasmosis. I would also use Quiko Med daily sprinkled over soft food.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Michelle Sawicki
Question for the Blog
ReplyDelete3/27/11
I have a 2007 canary male, this morning shows symptoms of illness.
Caught him from his flight, lower abdomen to vent, enlarged, dark maroon in color, deep abdominal breathing, but not open mouthed.
Possible cause: tumor? intestinal organism?
How should I treat this - even though I feel it is too late?
He is now caged separately, food, water with electrolytes.
Any comments appreciated.
Droppings are normal.
ReplyDeleteI used tylan alone in the water 1/8 teaspoon for a few days originally and then I used the baytril in the water 1 ml to 2 cups as directed on the label.
I found it worked better putting one drop of baytril straight out of the bottle in the beak once a day.
Dark abdomen is a very bad sign. It is a sign of a reaction to toxins or numerous different infectious organisms. Isolate the bird.
ReplyDelete