Aspergillosis - has anyone ever had a bird survive?

ali13kat

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Feb 5, 2013
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I'm afraid this may be a long story. But please read and comment if you have the time. I already feel like a horrible, irresponsible person, so please be kind.
My darling Buster is a Red-Front Macaw :green1:, and almost 8 years old now. I purchased him from an incredible breeder after being on a waiting list and lucking out with a cancellation. I am lucky enough to be a part time teacher and a freelance artist, so I spend most of my days with him playing happily on his tree next to my computer desk. His cage is palatial, when I purchased him I had grown up with a large Green-wing Macaw so I purchased a cage appropriate for that size bird (my Mom's and 32 years old now); I had no idea how small Buster would be in comparison.
I met my husband 4 years ago, and we moved in together after a year. Buster is such a special little creature, and immediately took to the idea of our flock growing, he loves my husband, especially when I do something unspeakable to him such as clipping his claws.
Since moving in to my husband's (older) Condo town-house I have struggled with many respiratory infections. I have mentioned more than once that with my asthma, I tend to be very sensitive to molds, and that I suspected the house had a mold problem. The HOA is terrible. They sent some contractor to look at a wall, but he was no expert, and he simply opened the wall, said it was dry, patched it and left. Please understand, this recession has hit us very hard. My husband works more than one job that pays too little. He has a Master's degree and still cannot find a suitable work situation. We would love to have sold and left ages ago, but with the market collapse in California, he would lose a very large investment to just unload it. I work, but teaching jobs are hard to find, and I am lucky to have a very stable part time situation these days. My part time teaching job pays double what I would earn full time at a retail store, and I hope that my perseverance will lead to a full time position eventually. All this explanation is to clear up why we have not been able to afford to take matters into our own hands concerning the mold in our walls that the HOA is responsible for, but doesn't care.
Over the weekend, Buster stopped talking and started sleeping during the day. We had come in late on Friday night and I thought that he might have had his sleep disturbed initially, but the next day, the sleepiness continued. He excitedly chowed down his food like normal, drank like normal, his poop looked normal, but I knew something was not right with how he was acting.
The minute Monday working hours arrived, I made an appointment with an AAV certified vet that my favorite macaw people recommended, and drove an hour into town to see her (the only AAV certified vet closer was on vacation till Wednesday). After an x-ray and praise from the doctor on what an incredible bird my little Buster was (her exact words, "we don't see many macaws this well behaved. You have done a wonderful job with him"), we received the diagnosis of my worst nightmares with air sacs cloudy and a bit misshapen, she is fairly certain that it is Aspergillosis. Blood tests are in the process of lab work, but the X-rays looked like my recent bout with pneumonia . . . I knew this was no good. Upon her suggestion, he is there in an oxygen bed with heat and a nebulizer (I think that's what they use, it's what I've used, so I might have terms totally mixed up). She's taking a very aggressive position, and I am comforted by that, but oh my it's so expensive. I feel like such a heel (I feel much worse, but I'm trying desperately to be polite) letting my little angel be the canary in the coal mine. We will do anything to give Buster a fighting chance, but I have not seen one post anywhere that gives me any hope at all for his survival.
I was just reaching out in desperation. I never post in forums, I am always so afraid of being judged. Please be gentle. I've always been so careful. I've been much more paranoid than my mother with my boy's diet, and environment. I feel terrible that I didn't fight harder about the mold in this house. All I hear in my head is the thundering voices of why and how could I not realize that the mold that was making me sick was probably killing my bird.

Has anyone got even one story of hope for me? Does any bird stand a chance of recovering? The vet said it was not the worst she has seen, but that offers me little comfort. I can't believe I didn't do better by him . . . my poor little Buster.
 
It may take a while but many birds survive. At the same time many don't. In the book Alex the African gray she survives a pretty bad infection of asper, and I know of many other birds who survived. Just make sure to keep on top of your medication and listen closely to you avian vet. It will be a hard few months - several years until your red front is 100% better.

Keep us updated on Buster, I know we will all hope your friend gets better as soon as possible.
 
So sorry to hear this news, I hope that the blood work comes back negative, I'll be crossing my fingers for you!

And please don't be too hard on yourself!
 
So sad to hear =( I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you guys <3 Don't beat yourself up, we can all see how much you love and care for your little Buster! Stay strong =)
 
Good Luck and praying for the best.
You are doing everything you can, don't beat yourself up too much.
Hind sight is 20/20, thank you for posting your story, hopefully it will save someone's bird one day.
 
Don't beat yourself up. If it was me I would invest in a good air purifier that catches mold spores and put it next to his cage.
 
Sorry about Buster! How is he doing? Does he have any respiratory symptoms? Why I am asking bc my Sun Conure has been sick for almost 3 weeks now that started with sneezing, but now mainly wet noisy breathing especially after flying. He is eating well, active, and happy, just sounds terrible. My vet isn't sure what it could be, he has been on a antibiotic for about a week and a half now. I was wondering about aspergillosis or psittacosis.

I would also buy a good air purifier. We had a pervious house with mold and after cleaning up the mold, the spores can still be airborne. I would put that buy his cage to catch the mold spores!
 
I ,ve been lucky and haven't had any of my birds suffer from aspergillosis , not so as i knew. I have rehomed birds who have suffered in the past,. The biggest issue as i can tell is giving the bird steroids in the future. Birds treat aspergillosis like we humans deal with TB. They wall off the infection in their lungs, some steroids cause the wall on these cyst to rupture causing a massive infection. They can recover , but are compromised and can succome later in life. That's my understanding of how it works in birds.
 
In TB its the organism itself that encapsulates which renders it impossible to destroy until it opens back up again. Thats why it takes 9 months to treat in humans.
 
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:green1: My little guy is finally home!

Buster's lungs are looking clearer. He has been at the vet's since my last post. After the first week his lungs got much worse, and we switched his anti-fungal to Voriconazole. The improvement in his X-Rays with this medication was wonderful. Weekly checkups are in order for a while as we make progress to eradicate this mess from his life (*fingers crossed*).

The vents in the house have been radically cleaned, and a new furnace installed with a UV filtering system that is on at all times. Even my allergies have cleared up significantly.

It's wonderful to have the green pigeon back, and I will keep updating. Thank you to everyone who wrote in with their support. It really makes a huge difference when faced with such a terrifying illness to know that we are not alone.
 
Good to hear that he's doing better! Still sending good vibes your way until he's fully recovered (and even after that)!
 
Glad to hear he's doing better! I hope he makes a full recovery!
 
I am so sorry for your RFM's lung problems! Poor Buster. Like other form members have written please don't beat yourself up about your RFM illness. It seems that it is going to be a long road for Buster with his recovery. Give him lots of love and care.

Your story touches me because I too have a RFM who I just got in December. Valentino is 6 months old and I already love him very much. I have waited since 1997 to be able to get a RFM and I too got Valentino from a very reputable breeder. It took me a year and half to purchase him. My heart goes out to you because I would also do what is in my power to help my parrot.

I pray that Buster will recover and get strong. Your fast response with getting Buster help probably saved his life. Please take comfort in that.
 
Hi, how is buster doing. Don't give up hope. My African grey pepper was diagnosed with aspergillosis over 12 months since and he's doing well. He had some medicine and he has to have a nebuliser twice a day for 30mins a time. It's time consuming and sometimes a pain but I wouldn't have it any other way for him to get better. It could take 18 months or more for him to be fully recovered but hopefully he will be. So to answer your question yes they can survive given the correct care and plenty of love and affection.
 

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