Why must this happen?

[Stinch]

Great, Lucky has beeen re-infected with scaly leg mites and now he has Stage 2 Bumblefoot (Possibly Stage 3). Even Worse, I can't afford a visit to the vet. One of the society finch chicks laid 3 (, but luckily they were...) infertile eggs. Do Elderly Society Finches have scaly sheddy scales? I also found some yellow bumbs on the Male and Female Society Finch. I'm allowed to build a small flight, but I need the money... And now I urgently need money for a visit to the vet and some other things. WELL ISN'T THAT GREAT?! I clean their cages, change their water daily and blow the husks from the feeder and occassionally give them greens and eggs. One thing I can definitely say, Lucky is not lucky. Vet checkups are expensive and the clinics that treat birds are far away.

At least I have 4 bucks, 496+ more to go. (Price including medication/supplements, flight building materials, pellets and estimated price of vet checkup)

[lovezebs]

Magnificent BirdMan

I am sorry, that things have not been going well for you and your birds . We all go through difficult times with our feathered friends, so I can sympathize with you.

Keeping birds, is not a cheap hobby, especially when things go wrong. Avian Vet visits, are very expensive here as well.

I wish you the best of luck.

[Smurf]

If the're having problems with bumblefoot i'd have a look at changing the perches as they are often the cause, in meantime to help her bathe the foot in a mild antiseptic/disinfectant such as Savlon, also wrap some kitchen paper around perches with a bit of masking tape to hold it on to make them more comfortable on the sore feet.
Older birds do have scalier legs+feet than young birds.

[Jen]

I have a canary that had bumble foot that would reoccur as soon as I got her well. I read about using betadine so I tried that. I dipped her feet (both of them even though she only had it on one foot) in the betadine solution twice a day. After her feet were dry (I left this solution on to dry) I smeared a little antibiotic salve on (like Neosporin) and kept her in a hospital cage by herself until well. I put the Neosporin on several times a day in between the betadine dips.

It reoccurred one more time, so I followed the same routine as above and now it is gone! It's been many months now and she fine. (I do not use the "sand paper" type perches). I found the betadine solution in the pharmacy area of Walmart and it was inexpensive for a large bottle. (So you can keep it on hand for any reoccurrence).

Best of luck! Keep of posted.

[Stinch]

Need about R$140 to solve some problems. 70 for the mesh, 30 for some medications (Not including pellets and supplements) and 40 for some lumber. This does not include the vet visit for the kittens and their mother. Which R$50, not incuding shots. Their mother has been vaccinated, the mother isn't mine though. The mother has mange and the kittens MIGHT have it. And a vet visit for the birds will vary from R$150-R$500 depending on the clinic I'm going to that treats birds. Out of all the clinics I know of (About 20 to 25 or so), only 5 treat birds. Including the Zoological Garden/Zoo Vet. (Yup, I can bring my birds to the Zoos' vet.)

Bumblefoot is a little bit worse now, but he seems to move normally which suprises me a bit. Scaly Leg mite infection... Only Lucky has it though. Almost got enough money for some more mesh.

What should I get first, Mesh or Medication? If I get the mesh the society cage will be disinfected and "de-rusted" and turned into a hospital/quarantine cage, but if I get the invermectin and anti-biotics. I only solve 2 problems for a few months, since they're still going to be in the same cage... But if I get all the money I need, I'll transfer Lucky to the hospital cage and treat him and release him into the flight/aviary. I'll also treat Jewel, just in case... They live in the same cage, who knows if she has Knemidocoptes.

[lovezebs]

Magnificent BirdMan

Regarding your Cat Mama and kittens:
There are different treatments for Notedric Mange (otherwise known as Feline Scabies ) which is highly contagious, so if your Mama cat has it, the kittens have it as well. It is a severe skin infection, which will cause inflammation, severe itching, discomfort, and hair loss.
Descussing it with your Vet, would be your best option.

However.... if this is not an option.......
If you can get your hands on a product called EcoSpot, it might be helpful. It is made for dogs, but apparently is safe to use on cats as well.
It is sprayed on twice daily, then allowed to dry. Treatment I believe , needs to continue for a month, to make sure that you get rid of all the eggs, etc.

Good luck

Regarding the birds, I would treat their health issues, before worrying about a new cage. What good is a new cage, if you lose your birds to some illness? Right?

[Stinch]

I'm bringing the cats to the vet. I'm picking up the cats Wednesday or Friday. The mother has a balding neck and she continues to lose fur, the original owner already gave her some shots, but he kittens were born 3 weeks ago. There were orignally 5 kittens, 3 starved. Now there are only 2 left, they're pretty emaciated and seem a bit lethargic so I have to get them as soon as I can. Which is Wednesday, because they live in my Music Teachers school and I suppose it will open tomorrow or Wednesday.

---

The flight is mostly for the Socies, but when I get my hands on the necesarry medications to treat Luckys' bumblefoot I might put him with the others. Mites are a pain in the butt to remove. At least Invermectin stays in the blood-stream for 3 weeks, maybe enough time to scrounge up some lumber and more mesh. Now I feel silly for asking such an obvious question... Dowels are pretty cheap and aren't used, unlike perches and cages in certain stores. I'll check the lumber prices to see if it will be cheaper or more expensive than I guessed, can I use Acerola and Mulberry Branches in a cage? (After disinfecting and drying. With dowels as well.) If not, I'll use Guava, Eucalyptus or Pinus branches and/or some dowels.

I also got around to cleaning out the finch stuff. I threw away some vitamin boxes that were empty, threw away the dirty and nasty brooding bowl and I'm cleaning some feeders and treat cups in a weak bleach and water solution.

[debbie276]

Invermectin stays in the blood-stream for 3 weeks,

Ivermectin only stays in the blood stream for 7or 8 hours

[Stinch]

Cleaned all the un-used wooden feeders in a bleach solution and are now drying. Saving them for the flight. I might get the lumber this week or next week. Finished the Blueprints and still saving for the Invermectin and Anti-Biotics and will ask my mother to bring the kitties to the vet when I pick them up.

I have been lied to then. Dun, DUN, DUN.

But in all seriousness now, I now see why. On the description of the medication it say something similar to this: Only one application is necesarry, but if the infection is very severe apply a second time after 15 days.

Can you explain to me how invermectin works?

[debbie276]

Ivermectin is the active igredient found in products such as S76 and IVERLUX. Here are the directions:
Treatment with S76
Remove all other water sources including greens, fruits and vegetables on the days of treatment with S76.
Remove all drinkers the night before each S76 treatment. Using this technique will prevent the birds from drinking in the morning before you have a chance to place the S76 in their drinking water.
Mix S76 Fresh each morning. Only mix the amount you will need for the day.
S76 is potent for only 7 to 8 hours once mixed in water.
Initial treatment is S76 painted on daily for 7 days and in the drinking water for 2 days. Apply undiluted S76 directly to the affected skin using a Q-tip each day for one week and S76 in drinking water for 2 days. Repeat S76 drinking water treatment and one application topically each week until all signs of mite have disappeared (recovery varies from 2-8 weeks depending upon the severity of infection.) Usual cure time is 3-4 weeks with mild infestations. Keep away from eyes & nostrils.

Moxidectin, the ingredient of Scatt remains active in the birds blood stream for three weeks.

Not sure what your product is called but if they say it's active for 3 weeks I would say the ingredient is moxidectin and not ivermectin.

[Stinch]

I confused 3 weeks with 2 weeks and 1 day. I'll check the chemical composition of the medication then when I get a hold of it.

[Stinch]

When I want to pick up the kittens, the mother ran away and the kittens died after the day I found them. I feel guilty not picking them up when I had the chance.

At least I got the stuff I need for my birds. I just need A few more meters of mesh and a bit more lumber.

What is the reccomended way to disinfect diseased cages? I also want to mention the existence of lice on all my birds. I'm cleaning every bird cage accessory and treating the birds for scaly mites and worm them soon. (Invermectin is a wormer...) How long should I let the cage dry? How much bleach is necesarry for each litre of water? Metric system is prefered if you don't mind. Should water bottles be cleaned with a bleach solution? How long should I let everything dry? (Perches, Cage, Water Bottle, Feeder, Etc...) I'M SUCCEEDING IN BEING A BIRD OWNER, THE EXICITEMENT! More or less...

The Invermectin label says 1 drop for 5g of live weight of the bird. It says Zebra Finches weigh on Average 10g-15g, but I have Society Finch and Gouldians. I'll go see if I can find a scale. Metric System by the way, just mentioning so I don't confuse anybody.

[Stinch]

I was trying to apply the invermectin on my socies. feathers flying everywhere to sum it up... On the package it said to put it on the birds nape/neck area, it was nearly impossible to do so. So I tried applying it on the breast area, I only treated 2/6 Society Finches properly, they kept figgiting and trying to escape. I try it in the next 2 1/2 weeks just in case I got a little drop by accident on one of the other birds while trying to apply. This would be so much easier if they were either bigger (To make it easier to put on their necks) or calmer birds (This one is obvious enough). It was a nightmare.

[Sally]

Get someone else to help you, so you can hold the bird while the other person applies the medicine. Use an eye dropper, so you can control the amount. Try holding the bird as is shown in the video in this article on nail clipping. This lets you control the bird without hurting it. You can also apply medicine to the inside of one thigh, which would be easier to do while holding the bird like you would for nail clipping. You can pull out one leg just like you are going to clip the nails, but have the other person apply a drop of medicine to the inside of the thigh while the bird is in this position. It is ALWAYS easier to do these things with two people.

http://www.finchinfo.com/health/trimmin ... _beaks.php

[Stinch]

I applied it to the brood patch, the stuff works in a few hours. My female gouldian finches eye looks funny... The right eye seems to be looking back exposing the grey color of the eye, she only does this when looking at me. With her right eye only, and it looks a bit weird. Is it just moving (bird eye movement is limited) or could it be an infection? I cleaned and bleached most my bird stuff. Going to put it to dry. How much time is recommended for bleached stuff to dry?