Eye Infection

[hveusnthbrige]

It's now apparent that Mirek has an infection in his left eye. He acts normally, eats normally, and there's no other symptoms. He's been keeping it closed for the last few days and this morning upon waking he has a small line of puss collecting. I thought initially he had fallen while playing and dinged his eye off a lower perch. Here comes another expensive vet visit...

 

Anyone ever had to deal with this before? Eye drops I'm guessing.

[judygram]

Yes, Geoff, a vet visit is a must, you don't want to take the chance of him losing his eyesight, and don't delay.

[Talon]

Yes, A vet ASAP! And please keep us updated...:dry:

[hveusnthbrige]

I'll try to take him in today. Depends if the avian vet can be there. He's content and making lots of noise as usual and right now its obviously nothing critical.. my other 2 have nothing wrong with them as neither is favouring their eyes so it's not an epidemic.

 

He needs to go for a 1st check up anyway so might aswell give him the 2 for 1 deal.

 

I did some researching through my books and on the net; its likely the treatment is adding something to the water. Plus a decent disinfection of his cage and stuff he touches often. On a regular basis I soak all their bowls in bleach solution every 2 weeks and scrub their grates at the same time.

 

I'm confident all will be well in a few days. I can't help but love my flying money graveyard. He's dumb as a post right now being so young but just so entertaining to watch and spend time with as he matures. Now I just have to teach him to do my class work...

[danmcq]

Hi Geoff,

 

I am Sorry to hear about Mireks Eye. :-(

 

I hope your vet visit goes well and that Mirek heals rapidly.

 

I guess he will be a little slower now reading your reading assignments until his Eye is well :-)

[hveusnthbrige]

So the vet visit today went smoothly. The vet was terrified of Mirek biting him but was rather surprised by his behaviour. He said that was the most well behaved parrot he had ever dealt with, no biting, no screaming, no drastic panicking while being toweled and manipulated.

 

He was asking me, what I did to make him act this way and remain calm while being handled! Also when he weighed Mirek and found him to be 451 grams, he immediately thought the bird was severely over weight as he's used to about 390-400 average in a Grey this size. To his amazement he found no fat and was rather impressed by how toned and muscular Mirek is. So I'm feeling rather flattered by all this praise from my vet lol.

 

As for the eye, it does have a mild infection. Besides being one of the most common minor problems associated with birds he treats, he says it is caused by something like food getting on the eye, and allowing bacteria to localize before the bird has a chance to clean it off. In about 1% of these cases the debris will become lodged behind the eye lid and will need to be removed before the infection can be cured.

 

For visual symptoms, his eye was slightly inflamed, continually being kept closed, the inner lid was bright, deep red and excessive scratching around that side of the face. The vet also stained his eye and then used ultraviolet light to check for scratches in the cornea but there was nothing wrong.

 

For treatment in the affected eye I was given Ciloxan 0.3% which is an eye medication mostly for infants. 1 drop every 12 hours for a week. Second I need to give him 0.36 cc of Baytril antibiotic orally at the same time as the drop. The oral med is quite powerful smelling and is strongly flavoured of strawberries.

 

It should be cleared up in 1 week and if isnt then likely theres a piece of junk under his eye lid which will have to be removed.

[Guest Lidia]

Why didn't the vet look under the eyelid and wash it out? It seems that me that this should have been done, rather than leaving a potential problem to get worse over the coming week. If the problem hasn't gone next week and the vet has to wash out the eye, by then he will probably have to administer an antibiotic.

[danmcq]

Hi Geoff,

 

It's really good to hear that Mirek has been diagnosed with a minor irritant and infection of his eye and treatment is simple.

 

It sounds like all your hard romping play times with Mirek has really payed off, in terms of being able to handle him in most any way and not have a fearful Bite reaction.

 

I am doing the same with Dayo to ensure he is used to being handled, held restrained and with towels as just a normal daily occurence. :woohoo:

[hveusnthbrige]

If anyone knows the name 'University of Guelph', they know this is the absolute best veterinarian college in the world, hands down, no argument. So when their vets make a claim about my Mirek... I believe them to the fullest. My vet is very experienced with birds and in particular he knows much about Greys. What he is not familiar with is a Grey that doesn't bite. I can quote him, "That's the first Grey that hasn't tried to bite me!" Mirek not only did not bite him, he never even tried to bite the vets hands; this is what impressed him the most. A few times he held on to his skin for balance but he knew already what that difference was.

 

I'm so lucky to live only a 2 minute drive from the UofG's small animal clinic. Truly a fantastic stroke of luck for any aviculturalist in the area.

 

As for not washing out his eye lid for possible contaminants, we decided on that together. To do that he would need to be tightly toweled and gassed to sleep and would prove very stressful for him. He only scratched his face every 2 hours abouts, so we knew this infrequent itching suggested there was nothing stuck in there. Plus I'm not made of money and spending $180 to very likely solve it 99% as the vet said or $450 to absolutely solve it was my choice. Plus if there is something in there, the exam and medications I already paid for will not need to be re administered.

 

Looking at him now tonight, he is back to normal keeping his eye open regularly with only 3 drops applied. The puss buildup on his lower eye lid is gone and the cornea no longer seems glassy. The swelling is still present but you can only tell by looking straight at his face and comparing it for a couple seconds to his healthy eye.

[danmcq]

Wow Geoff, You are very fortunate to live next to such a highly esteemed Vet College!

 

That is great news on Mireks Eye responding so rapidly :-)

 

I'll bet you both feel better today as life with Mirek gets back to normal.

 

Thanks for the update and also the info on your attending Avian Vet.

[dblhelix]

Good news all around! B) Goes to show that sometimes its easy to make erroneous assumptions w/o additional information. Most importantly, glad Mirek is responding well and that you are confident with the vetrinary services you are receiving (and not doubt paying for!!)...

[judygram]

Thanks, Geoff, for the update on Mirek, I am glad it is only a minor irritant, and you are fortunate to live where you do, most of us would love to be so lucky. It is easy to jump to conclusions when you don't have all the facts and now that you have explained it, it makes perfect sense to me.

 

Keep us updated on his progress and hope he gets over this very soon. And thanks for handling this difference of opinion in a very mature way.

[hveusnthbrige]

Ahh it's not a problem ever guys! I'm glad the people on the forum are interested in learning about these things. I knew I would have to deal with this type of problem someday... just not during the second month he was home!

 

As for administering medication, toweling him for both the topical and oral meds is required. One might believe the eye drop to be more difficult but it really isn't. I just tightly hold him with his head exposed then get a drop started and wait for him to stop moving, then drop it. Most of the drop seems to just fall off. Then I realize I screwed up and did the right eye and flip him over to do the side that actually needs it on the left... done that twice now. :pinch: Vet said if I mess up though it's ok as there's a slight chance the infection could ride his toenail to the other eye, that type of situation is prevented this way.

 

The oral med, I'm not familiar with syringe feeding and I dont want to aspirate him so I just dribble it in front of his tounge into his lower beak. He shakes his head and some flings out. After about 2-3 hours his poop clearly has the red dye in it so I know he swallowed it.

 

My Mom now calls him the $3,400 parrot... He was the $3,200 parrot on Saturday, but Sundays vet bill got tacked on to the running total. Right now the $7,000ish dog is still winning.:lol: 14 years old to make it to 7 grand and 3 months to get halfway and 5 to 6 times the lifespan... we might just have a new race leader. My family has strange games.. I wonder how much money is secretly on my total... :blink:

 

 

Oh I forgot, I was gonna add on a link to the UofG's Vet college practice: http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/

This is the actual vet practice I go to: http://www.petsandvets.ca/avianexotics.shtml

My vets, Alison and Marco at this location are responsible for Mirek. They both informally teach at the OVC. Fantastic people!<br><br>Post edited by: hveusnthbrige, at: 2007/08/14 04:44

[danmcq]

Ha Geoff!!

 

Your as bad as me, damn wrong Eye ;-)

 

When you say you need to towel Mirek, is he actually trying to bite or is it for better control over legs and wings?

 

This is great information you are giving us all. I am sure when one of us has a situation where dispensing of meds are required, we will remember your post. :-)

 

Of course you know we are all rooting for Mirek and his speedy recovery!

 

He's one of our extended Flock members :laugh:

 

I am glad I do not keep track of what $$$$$ amount I have spent on my Animals and Birds. I would probably be in shock and awe :ohmy:

 

But then, there is never a price you won't pay for someone you love.

[Talon]

Geoff, I have had to give Talon oral antibiotics this past winter. It was the most hated time of the day in this house. It is very hard, but it sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing.

Someone on another forum had recommended soaking a few cheerios in the measured amount of medicine, and having him eat it them as you hand feed them to him. I tried it, but Talon never liked cheerios, so it didn't work for me. Just a thought!

[Guest Lidia]

Geoff,

To get Mirek to get used to be syringed, try getting a large (say, 50ml syringe) and feeding him baby food with it. It is a quite useful thing to get them to like doing and saves on worrying about aspiration because they open their mouths wide, then, to get the food from the syringe.

[hveusnthbrige]

Alright Lidia, sounds like a good idea there. My breeder sells baby feeding supplies and I need to go tomorrow to get the tiels little toes filed. I'm sure he could show me what to exactly do.

 

I think the most powerful factor with allowing him to accept the meds easier is the fact that hes still so young and immature. I'm so close to not needing to have to towel the oral part. He just doesnt quite stay still enough while on his perch and the vet didnt give me much of the Aunt Jamima stuff to waste.

 

I'm glad you guys are enjoying reading the details of what I'm doing. Likely it will help to better the know how of all, and if I'm doing something wrong someone would likely notice.

[Guest Lidia]

You need to get him used to all of this now, while he IS young and malleable. As soon as he is a little bit older, you will not get the same reaction from the vet. Mirek will not be so biddable.

[lovemyGreys]

I'm so glad to hear that Mirek's eye is getting better You are doing a great job.

 

Just a tip for anyone who has to give oral medication, i still give my greys a spoon feed once or twice a week, usually a puree of fruit or veg,my thinking behind this is if the need ever arises & they have to oral med i can administer it with the spoon feed

[judygram]

Thats a great idea, and another reason why I am glad I continued with the spoon feeding in the mornings, will come in handy if I need to give meds.

 

Geoff, we appreciate you keeping us informed as to how you are handling this situation with Mirek, this will be invaluable for other members to know to get thru a similar occurrance.

[lovemyGreys]

hveusnthbrige How is Mirek doing ?

[judygram]

Geoff, we need an update on Mirek, how is he doing now?

[hveusnthbrige]

He's fine now. Eye problems all gone. He no longer is keeping it closed and only now I noticed it but he was sleeping quite a bit more with the eye problem.

 

On an unrelated side note; I don't see it worthy of its own topic.. I am pretty sure he has started to produce noises and reactions to some noises. For example I always kiss him on the neck and make kissing noises and he will make several similar sounding sounds in succession. He also does it when he thinks he might get kissed. It sounds kinda like light, soft laughing.

 

Also I greet him with "hello" often and find myself saying it upon returning to the room. My Mom and I both seem to notice a small reaction to saying hello out of the blue unexpectedly. Yesterday I got a very obvious result while watching tv. He was drifting off into a nap and the tv went quiet for a bit. Then suddenly the next scene in the show had someone say hello; he jumped awake instantly and made a big "Ooooohhhh-aaaaHHHhhh" noise. Maybe it was my surprise or maybe the daddy effect but it sure seemed like he was responding. The sound he made had the essentials of the word beyond any doubt. So there's no guessing that he is certainly attempting to communicate.

[danmcq]

That's great news Geoff!

 

He sounds like quite the character and swiftly on his way to speaking his first word. It sounds like he is calibrating his speech! :-)

 

Thanks for taking the time to post, I know you are cramming now in school and wish you the best.

 

Keep em coming, we love em :-)

[judygram]

I'm glad to hear that Mirek is all better now, you took great care of him.

 

Sounds like he is beginning to attempt speech, I know you are excited about that, you will hear more and more in the coming weeks and months. He will delight you with all kinds of words soon.

 

Thanks for updating us on Mirek, we know you are busy but we like to know that our flock is ok.