Ladybird (diamond firetail finch) Gasping

[queenb]

Finch friends, I need some serious advice. I have thirty finches in an aviary. Only two newbies (button quails) but they have been there for 6 months. Two months ago, lost my owl hen (male was sick, too, but recovered sort of), then last month (treated flock with invermectin) my beloved strawberry finch (six years old) died. Similiar symptoms have hit my male and female diamond fire tail finches. They are fatigued, slightly soiled vent, although resolves itself with antibiotic (3-C), applied Scat for mites, provided heat lamp, but female is breathing hard after exertion, beaks w/o sound, droppings dark, eyes dull, beaks perch-but not often. Male has weak vocalization..female-no response to him. Berry lost weight and died slowly, same with owl...gasping (not a temperature issue)..broke my heart. Here is a video of her beaking/gasping. You can see she is active..the male is in the sick cage behind her.

Thank you for your help.

http://youtu.be/aQqdvKxScMo

[cindy]

could it possibily be Coccidiosis

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/featur ... diosis.php


It could explain the breathing and not hearing clicking, the bird is weak so flying is an effort.

[queenb]

Hmmm...Cindy..quite possibly. That's one disease I thought would hit some other flock..not mine. And, I know many recommend coccivet as preventative medicine.

I researched the infection and found,"The tissue damage caused by coccidia results in lower feed intake, interference with normal digestion and nutrient absorption, dehydration and blood loss." Wonder if that points to the symptom of dark droppings.

I have coccivet, and since their response has been mediocre, I'm thinking to start that and treat the rest of the flock. One thing I may say, is that the birds that died, were my weakest. But Ladybird and Mr. Man are my strongest..outdoor birds..never been sick. I hope to hear from a few more voices to confirm our suspicions, and start treatment...today.

Many thanks for your input.

[6finchfriends]

I'm -ing you can save your beautiful birds! Your firetails are stunning!

[cindy]

I found this on ladygouldian.com it is for treatment of coccidia.

http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/product_ts.php
Trimethaprim/Sulfa 20%

[queenb]

Dang, just brought in a puffed up green singer..another finch that hasn't been sick in 4 years.

Immediately have the flock on coccivet. Anyone know if continuing the Triple C (E.coli (Enteritis), Mycoplasma spp. (Chronic Respiratory Disease), Chlamydia psittaci (Psittacosis)) on the most impacted birds, concurrently..is a bad thing? The first two to get sick, only mildly responded...but they did (without coccivet.)

I'm in a bit of a panic since I don' t have that med...I do have sulfur (homeopathic) I could add. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[cindy]

You said your birds are outdoors...is there any chance of exposure to anything toxic...mice bait, fertilizer, etc?

[queenb]

No..nothing toxic...seems to take awhile..weeks..then takes a bad turn in the last 4 days...At this time, the birds are still on their perch and eating (or appear to!) I have their favorite millets they can't resist.

[cindy]

are their stools still blood tinged?

[cindy]

How are they this morning (Sunday)?

Have you tried contacting Laraine at http://ladygouldian.com/?

She may be able to talk you though what is wrong and help you with a cure. She might also be able to get meds to you overnight.

I do not honestly know much about homeopathics medications.

Keep us posted...hope they are better today.

[queenb]

Dear Cindy, et. al.~ thank you all for your help, ideas and concern. They all are quiet and stable..still on their perches, albeit a bit unsteady. I have put out the beacon for assistance, and will keep you posted.

[queenb]

Just a little follow-up.

After treating the infirmary birds and flock for 8 days w/coccivet, I began treatment w/Ronivet-s combined w/Amytl. After three days, I saw some improvement. After 8 days, the Strawberry was able to return to the aviary, three birds remained in the infirmary. The female diamond finch responded well, is eating, droppings okay. I'm leaving her in the infirmary for moral support to Mr. Man. The owl and male diamond finch, after 5 days of treatment had started to improve, but began to backslide. The male had diarrhea, wet vent, was sitting on bottom of cage, wouldn't vocalize, but still active when I tried to grab him to clean him up. (He's one strong bird!) The male owl had wet, matted feathers under the beak, vocalizing (don't they all!), but a bit fluffy.

I took Mr. Man to a highly regarded avian vet in Manhattan Beach, Dr. Rosskoph, and he was impressed with the treatment plan. (thanks to my fellow finch friends) Without prohibitavely expensive testing, he believed they had had a viral infection (beaking, lackluster energy, puffy) which developed into a bacterial infection, so prescribed liquid baytril (I feel better having the concentrated solution) for the owl and male diamondtail finch. In retrospect, this makes perfect sense. At that time, it was a blurry panic. I appreciated my friends at http://www.allbirdproducts.com, that were available for meds and assistance. I highly recommend their services. I buy all my supplies from these folks.

Trying to decide if I should give their systems a rest and start the flock on probiotics and guardian angel (will follow-up the infirmary birds after baytril treatment) or start the worm-out gel treatment. Thoughts?

Remaining guarded regarding Mr. Man. He has lost a considerable amount of weight, and at night he is sitting on the bottom since perching takes too much energy. Nonetheless, he was able to wiggle out and get loose on the vet, and they both did the same to me!

The lesson learned was; to have more medication on hand, broaden my routine preventative medicine regimen to add worm out gel and coccivet. I have always read preventative medicine is the most cost efficient, effective treatment plan and this experience brought that message home loud and clear.

Special thanks to Cindy for caring!

[cindy]

Glad to help...and glad that they are doing well/better. I hope that they all become healthy and strong again to be able to return to the aviary. Continued best wishes. Do keep us posted.

[nixity]

Glad to hear they are doing better! Hopefully the improvement continues.
I have never heard of vets giving anything other than baytril to finches.. seems to be the only thing they prescribe

[cindy]

My Gray got Baytril...rough getting it down, I had to put it in Cranberry juice or yogurt....he lapped every bit of it down.