Anybody's bird got a cataract?

[roxynoodle]

I do want to add a few things for anyone reading this who may be concerned about Borna due to the lack of up to date information on the internet about it:

They now believe it is only transferred from hen to eggs. Not from feces or other intimate contact with an infected bird.

At this point they think it may not be related to PDD at all and are currently discussing taking the words "PDD" out of any article about Bornavirus. I was extremely concerned about Merlin having PDD due to her absolutely huge poops, and after discussing this with others on a Grey forum, they confirmed my worst fears saying her intestines were probably weakening and that is why her poop is this way. I suspected that already due to what I had read online. But, after discussing it with my vet, I found out that isn't true. It is a common presentation in Greys, when they are hormonal due to the enlarged ovary or teste. That is one of the reasons she is getting shots to tame down her hormones.

Some people on the other forum made comments about how breeders need to stop breeding birds that have it. Well, the problem is of course that many birds never show symptoms at all, or they don't until their middle years. And testing for this disease is very difficult and sometimes there are false positives as well.

Many mammals show the approximately the same percentages as parrots as far as who is carrying this virus. So it is now believed that it's not contagious like originally thought otherwise it would be wiping out entire flocks of wild birds. And it's not. The populations seem to remain stable at the 30-40% range as far as how many birds are infected.

 

[roxynoodle]

I just got him a Java tree, I was hoping to keep him out of the cage most of the day, now I'm wondering if I should....does he have enough time to get used to it and know his way around?? No worries about flying he has been clipped almost all 15 years of his life~ also they had a VERY fresh feces, but I thought that was being used for other test, so I'm not sure if they used blood or feces for the Borna virus~ my bill states PCR Borna virus screen- PDD avian

Do you know where they sent it? If they sent it to the University of Tennesse then they used blood.

If they sent feces, well, I hope they were able to look at it fast enough for you. My vet didn't even want to bother with the feces test based on her years as a researcher and her experience with how unstable the virus is. She talked to her former colleague in Tennessee and sent him blood instead to see if he could find it in her DNA. That isn't 100% either yet, but she said he is the only person who can do it at this time. I'm sure in another year or two that test also will become better and more will be able to use it.

My vet just decided Merlin probably had it and decided to start treatment.

 

[roxynoodle]

As for the Java tree, let him play on it. Blind animals and people learn to cope surprisingly well. I was very worried at first about Merlin being acrobatic and what not. Now I just sit back and let her do what she wants to do. There haven't been any accidents

 

[triordan]

Vet just called, only some test results back
1. CBC, showed slight WBC elevated, no major organ malfunction
2. Giardia- negative

I don't understand why the test results are taking soooo long~ wonder where they sent them??

 

[roxynoodle]

Another reason I'll be sticking with the vet I have, for as long as she is practicing anyway. She can run a CBC, full blood panel and gram stains right there as I wait. I haven't heard on my Borna DNA test either that went to Tennessee.

 

[Floppy]

Hi, I´m new in this forum. Yesterday I discovered that my 44 years old Amazona Aestiva got a cataract in his left eye. The vet did not indicate any treatment, he told me that surgery is very unusual and difficult in birds. Is there anything I can do?
thank you

 

[roxynoodle]

He probably has it from old age. There are very few doctors who can anesthitize a bird well and remove it. My vet is only recommending one in the US.

 

[goalerjones]

Vet just called, only some test results back
1. CBC, showed slight WBC elevated, no major organ malfunction
2. Giardia- negative

I don't understand why the test results are taking soooo long~ wonder where they sent them??

sometimes the docs wait to send a batch of tests rather than one at a time to keep shipping costs down, also there is time to get there, and then u wind up in the labs order they place u in, so it can take a while. also, the lab will run larger batches together to use their machines more cost effectively.

And re: cataracts, the eye's normal drainage pathways become clogged so the normally circulating fluid then pools up and causes the cloudiness you observe when looking at the eye. So anything that will help to keep these pathways patent helps with cataracts.

 

[Crunchypretzel]

Hey there really sorry to comment on really old post. But I too have a bird who's only about 9 month old developing cataracts as well as some other behaviour changes

I don't suppose you ever managed to get it sorted? Or if anyone has the contact details for the vet who studied avian bornovirus

 

[Laurasea]

This could be poor genetics, poor nutrition, or infection, more of the non bornovirus kind. How was the bird weaned, abd have you been to an avian vet?