Deworming YES OR NO ???????

[antoinette]

Caught on to AD joke, love his humor.
BUT they honestly looked like Chinese noodles, now I am put of noodles for life.
Bye for now

 

[antoinette]

Forgot to tell you all something really funny.

The vet told me a great story.

A parrot guardian brought her African Grey in named "Peter"
She had had him for over 33 years. Never did a DNA on the bird.
Was adamant he was a male.
Said he was having difficulty breathing and, had put on a tremendous amount of weight.
He examined "Peter" and found "Peter" was carrying an egg !!!!!

She fainted in his rooms. When coming around she asked him if he was sure.
"Peter" had to have surgery to remove the egg.
Well at least she found out the sex even if it took her 33 years. LoL
Later

 

[Chaos_1.0]

^lol. So what your saying about deworming is it should be done every year even if the bird doesn't have worms? So that would mean you don't have to go the the vet the see if it has worms right? So I can just buy the powder and follow the instructions to give it to the birds?

 

[antoinette]

Yipe deworm the bird once a year. More than one bird in a cage, two to three times a year.
Please check the instructions very carefully, exactly the dosage required etc.
I mixed the deworming powder into Mishka's cereal. No problem with the taste, she eat it all.
Kept a close eye on her yesterday, checked her droppings, all okay. No changes in her behavior, eat and played as usual.
Thanks for the link, very informative.
Bye for now

 

[Riley's mom]

I do gram, direct and floats on my birds every few months to make sure everything is okay. And I also do a 45 day regime of Doxy in the water 2 times a year. Never have seen any kind of parasite. I also do fecals on my dogs and cats every few months checking for anything. I've only had to deworm my dogs one time. And I have never had to deworm my kids. Not sure I'm understanding post #2. I believe I will pass on the deworming.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I'd love to get input from other avian veterinarians on this as well.RM, did you ask about this at work? (ie whether preemptive de-worming was a good idea).

Many medications have side effects, some medications are almost as dangerous as the condition they treat. The medications are still good and needed - when the condition is present. But preemptive treatment (in general) is almost always a bad idea. This is different that PREVENTIVE measures. We can prevent diseases by keeping a clean environment, controlling interactions with other animals, etc.

De-worming powders are not preventative however, they are a treatment. In point of fact they are a toxin. It's a toxin that targets invertebrates so it works when needed... but it's a bit like chemotherapy for cancer: It can kill all cells, its just faster at killing cancerous cells. It's not a good idea to take when not needed.

But again I'd like to here form other vets as these are just my thoughts. Perhaps there is very good reason to suspect that all parrots are exposed to worms and need regular treatment.

 

[Riley's mom]

AD, I'm going to ask both of them tomorrow about it. I was going to do it on friday, but not a good day. Black friday, if you know what I mean. Very rough day. With all of the birds we do, that has never come up. There is alot of stuff ( meds) from the pet stores that I would not even think about having my birds ingest. When you see dogs and cats that get very sick or even die from these over the counter flea shampoos and dips and other things, and they are hardier then birds, it's very scary. Giving birds this dewormer without them actually having worms, would be like giving panacur to dogs just for the heck of it. Dewormers are treatments, not preventatives like heart guard, interceptor, sentinel, etc. I will let you know what I find out.

 

[Spiritbird]

It makes me wonder why avain vets do not include this or suggest this in their routine exams. I have seen two different vets with Rosie and nither one suggested or even mentioned de worming parrots. Like you AD I will ask next time we go.

 

[Riley's mom]

SB, if they do fecals and do not see anything, they are probably not going to suggest something like that. Like I said, dewormers are treatments, not preventatives. When we do fecals on dogs, and they are completely normal, we are not going to suggest a dewormer just because they could go to a dog park and may pick up parasites. They are dewormed when needed. If your worried about the possibility of them getting worms, the key is to have fecals done regularly and treat if needed.

 

[Riley's mom]

AD - I checked with my vets and also a vet that is strictly an avian vet. All said NO. Especially to using store bought dewormers should they, by chance, have parasites. Breeders might want to have their birds checked more often, but they recommend just having fecals done on pet birds every so often, and treat as necessary. There just hasn't been the problem here. Like SB said, maybe in Africa, there is a parasite in birds issue. Hope that helps.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Thanks.

Does make sense that this is a bit location specific, and Africa probably gets some of the worst parasites. Though probably less so in SA than central.

 

[Riley's mom]

I brought that up to them and they said the same thing. That old saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, applys here in my opinion. I really hope nobody is offended by all of this.

 

[antoinette]

Hi there
The vet did mention that heat and humidity in South Africa, can help the bacteria and parasites spread and grow.
He did say that vets world wide, opinions would differ.
Take care

 

[westwood]

So you Are Married to an avian Vet ?
Awesome LOL .

I was actually looking that up last week .
thinking hmm i wonder about flea's and tape worms found out birds can get tape worms from fleas but flea's wont bite birds .
Weird huh . Tammy

 

[antoinette]

So you Are Married to an avian Vet ?
Awesome LOL .

NO NO NO

I am not married to an avian vet LoL
My youngest son Steven, said after the visit to the avian vet, that we should get married. We have so much in common, very compatible and have a great love for birds.
I reckon if I was looking he would certainly be a great catch haha
Mishka is my sole mate !!!!!