Finch leg and feet problems - Mites???

[Zebrafincher]

I'm so sorry for your little birds and for you. I had a canary, Ringo, who had underlying issues with his liver/internal organs for months - and he kept on developing paralysis/issues with one leg. They tried a variety of different medications but he eventually died from a respitory ailment at the vets. Sometimes, no matter what you or the vets do, there may be nothing you can do.

[yaut]

I know... I've spent months trying to figure out what's wrong with them, tried different vets, read all I could find online, fed piles of different medications to them and no luck... at this point I think it could be kidney failure... I found this topic on here started by Meganp99: http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21119
the very first sentence of her post describes how the legs of my birds look like: red vein running down, swolen, etc... my birds are in the kitchen, it could be something toxic in there that's killing them (or I should say killed them). I don't know but it's too late now anyways... I haven't taken him the vet yet and I'm not sure I'll be able too that, I start crying even at the thought of him dying in my hands...

thanks to everyone for support... my mind is so preoccupied with these birds that I cannot focus on anything else. it's driving me crazy. if they died suddenly overnight I'd probably wept for a day or so and forgot about it. but now instead I've spent months trying to help them, and over this period I've become emotionally attached to them more than ever before... it's so horrible... and when you think about it - it's only 3 little birds!

[debbie276]

In the pictures it looks like he has some sort of disease that causes blisters to form and an infection took hold. So sorry you haven't been able to find a vet that could help

[yaut]

the poor creature is still alive. he's not asleep during the day, not puffed up, eyes are clear and look is sharp, but I can see he is in great pain.
I took few photos his sores earlier today, maybe somebody somehow someday would recognize the symptoms...
The beak - brown mark is long time there, doesn't look painful and fading a bit, the problem is yellow mark on the bottom and sore on the side:

Underneath the wing - stange growth, looks gross I know, I squeezed some yellow puss out of it two days ago, feels hard to touch and extremely painful - he starts trembling when I touch it:

[wellingtoncdm]

Wow, I am so sorry this happened. Please get him to a vet ASAP.

[debbie276]

I totally agree with Charlie here, please seek professional help.
so sorry

[yaut]

I'm afraid my vet cannot help. I took him there last week and she was useless, just said "it could be something internal" and "most likely to die", gave some antibiotics and sent us home (it felt like - shut up and get out with your hopeless case). I mentioned that on the previous page. she's also very rough while examining - twisting and squeezing his poor legs - he couldn't stand afterwards.

[debbie276]

Is he not responding to the antibiotics?

[yaut]

I wasn't sure I was getting the right dose into them. the dosage is something like "half a drop" and the birds would swallow some and spit some out. it's really difficult to dose because the stuff itself is kinda thick and slimy. I gave them that for 5 days last week (prescribed for 7d) but I noticed them getting worse, freaked out and stopped (it could be just my imagination playing on me). if they weren't getting enough they probably have resistance to it now... oh I don't know.. maybe I should start the course of antibiotics over again...

[Sally]

It seems you have done about all you can do for this bird. With little to no improvement, and you say this has been going on for months, you have to wonder about the quality of life for this little guy. Vets often can't do much for finches, and if the vet is saying the bird won't make it, then euthanasia does seem to be a better option than continuing to try to treat him without success. It's a hard thing to do, but sometimes it is the better thing to do.

Where are you located?

[Lisa]

Yaut, I'm so sorry to hear of the long struggle you have had in trying to cure your birds. It must be even more frustrating going to the vet and not getting anywhere other than a bird that's hurting more than ever

I do agree with Sally, it's always your decision but I think it's obvious this poor bird is really suffering. My heart goes out to you.

[yaut]

I'm in Ireland. I just find it hard to believe that it's something so rare that nobody can recognize the symptoms.
It starts with red veiny legs that look a bit swollen, and get a little more scaly too, then beaks start turning red - blood vessels visible in the beaks - then they pluck their thighs bare for some reason and keep checking, picking in between their legs. then they loose their appetite, become skinny, joints on the legs start swelling up, they become very slow because it's painful to walk and perch...
the canary decided to sleep in the seed bowl last night too keep the weight of her feet - smart little thing.
the third bird is the last to show the symptoms but she's already looking sad too. she's in the early stages still, I'll take some pictures of her thighs when I get a chance. One more guess: it still can be caused be nutrient deficiency if they really had (or still have) protozoan infection.

[debbie276]

Everything you are describing says an infection. The vet gave you antibiotics but you said you only gave it for 5 days and not the 7 days the vet recommended. Also you were afraid the dosage was wrong, I'm surprised the vet didn't give you a syringe to accurately measure the medicine.
I personally would either say enough is enough, the bird has suffered long enough and have the vet euthanize it. Or have the vet give you a course of treatment and follow it fully giving the bird a chance because it is getting worse not better at this point.
good luck

[yaut]

It takes about 2-3 months to the stage where they're really bad. the canary showed first symptoms at the end of march. she kept going until 3-4 days ago when she stopped eating normally - still eats a wee bit, few seeds at the time.
I still have enough of antibiotics left and I'm going to put them back on it (they had a break of over a weak since the last time). I have a syringe but still it's a tricky matter... 0.03ml

[monotwine]

Yaut sorry to hear about your birds illness.

Is there not an antibiotic you can add to their water? Baytril can be added to their drinking water. It is very bitter and unpleasant, so I usually add sugar to sweeten it and make it more desirable to drink. This works well, instead of trying to force feed them and stand a chance of aspirating an adult. Baytril is one of the strongest best general purpose antibiotics at the moment which does not create resistance. (Baytril oral 10% at 0.4ml per 100ml water added for 3-7 consecutive days).

If antibiotics don't work I would also guess an internal issue. If it is an organ failure in all three, then I would assume it is an environmental issue affecting the birds health.
I had an un-nammed "disease" in my aviary some years back. Luckily I have a good avian vet, but we could only diagnose the problem as aspergillus. It caused liver failure in the birds affected and I could only source my problem to my seed. Changed seed suppliers and never had it again. Unfortunately those that had the illness to the degree that the liver could not regenerate died / were euthanasia humanely to end their suffering.
A necropsy is what eventually helped me find the answer as no testing on live birds rendered any results, so take your vet up on the offer. It may not help save your finch now, but it could save future birds.
It does seem like an immune deficiency with all the sores etc. and that could be an underlying more serious matter.

Good luck. Its awful when they are ill and you feel helpless.