Bad News

[Muse]

Well, I guess I was way too happy about the cages coming in...

 

One of the budgies that were rescued locally, little Snowflake, died on Monday, Dec 1 after being ill for the past couple of months. We had a necropsy done and I got the results this week. The findings, while officially "inconclusive" went on to mention crop lesions that were "consistent with PDD" (Proventricular Dilatation Disease, aka Macaw Wasting Disease). Unfortunately, PDD and macrohabdus basically cause the same symptoms - the bird will eat normally but fail to thrive, losing weight and basically wasting away (hence the name). Snowflake was being treated but not responding appropriately to treatment and she exhibited these symptoms, so this makes it possible that she did have PDD (caused by avian bornavirus). So this week, we took the remaining seven from that cage in to be tested. At the doctor's suggestion, we aggregated blood from all birds into one sample, and they also submitted choanal and cloacal swabs of each of the seven. The vet was extremely kind in how they billed this and the whole thing INCLUDING seven FULL (very thorough!) VET EXAMS only came to $300! I love our vets!

 

The sad part of this is that these birds will now never seen the aviary we've worked so hard to provide nor the enclosed porch outdoor flight. The vet feels they should not be mixed with other birds. The disease is devastating, and the risk too great. And testing is not 100% reliable for this disease so they could test negative and still be carriers of the virus.

 

We have decided to try to find permanent fosters for these birds -including all the birds in that quarantine which means also two cockatiels and two parrotlets. They came from unsanitary conditions so the vet advised that potentially all could have been exposed, as the virus is likely transmitted in droppings and there were a LOT of accumulated droppings. Any fosters will have to be birdless and remain birdless. I am not sure how easy that will be to find. By doing fostering instead of adoption, we could still cover vet care and it would be at our discounted rate. I want to see to it that these birds are taken care of.

 

Sometimes I wish I'd just hit the lottery so we could just build them their own room and aviary. I just don't want to see them spend the rest of their lives in tiny cages. I will figure something out, no matter what happens. Please pray for us.

[SRSeedBurners]

Hrrrmmmm....as you know we lost Raven to PDD. Also before we knew what we were up against Greycie was exposed. I quickly found out the vets don't know **** about PDD and we ended up consulting with the head of the program down at Texas A&M where they are researching it. We ended up coming back to our vet here and basically telling her what we wanted done next, scripts, etc... That went on for 7 months before we finally lost her.

 

 

For a while we were just waiting for Greycie to go downhill after all we had 'heard' about transmission etc. I finally came to the conclusion through my consulting with A&M that it really is just a disease of opportunity. If something causes a high long-term stress event, then the virus may get a hold and spiral out of control. Otherwise, with good diet and care it's highly unlikely. As we were told nearly every bird is *probably* a carrier. Some species of parrots are more susceptible. We may be wrong on that but no one knows for sure right now. I decided not to live in a box and just went ahead got two more birds.

 

Good luck with them.

[Timbersmom]

So sorry to hear about your loss and what a horrible thing to have hanging over your head with the others. God bless!

[birdhouse]

That's such a shame! But maybe there's another alternative ...a home that's already infected/exposed. Like Murfchck's. NOT that I'm suggesting you send them south [cuz that'd get me in some deep doodoo! lol] But maybe you can find a similar situation. I don't think anyone can say those birds are anything to be pitied.

[katana600]

We lost Juno and Kopi our baby grey and his brother to PDD. At that time our first beloved red bellied parrot had been definitely exposed as well. We decided since Gilbert was in dire straits and potentially at risk she could join us as well. It's an insidious disease and "diagnosis" is just guessing until necropsy. Fostering is a great idea to find loving homes with families who can use help with vet discounts.

[Muse]

We have a second opinion, and I think we may do further testing if the foster situation doesn't work out (no one's jumping to take 11 potentially sick birds so far). At this time all are in very good health, so I feel maybe Snowflake had something else going on. Or perhaps the symptoms were truly related to macrohabdus, which also causes crop lesions. We will continue to look for more information, and alternative ways to care for these babies without risking the entire flock. I just pray for the wisdom to make the right decisions.