Giardia in my parrotlet (post vet visit)

[skatingdoc]

Hey all,

I posted here before when I first got my parrotlet (I think August of 2009?), but I've long-since lost my username and password. Alas.

A little background: I've had my parrotlet for a little over 2 years now, she's about 6 or 7. When I got her, she was not terribly tame and even now she's a brat to anyone but me (especially my boyfriend unless I'm not around). She was hand-raised, but in a crappy situation. A friend of mine rescued her when she was a year old-ish and kept her for about three years. I adopted her after that.

She's really sweet, has a serious attitude (what parrotlet doesn't?), and she is very spoiled (I carry her cage from room to room because she doesn't like it when I'm home and away from her)

Sorry, I'm getting a little off-topic, but I feel weird asking for commiseration when you don't even know who I am!

Anyway, yesterday she was feeling kind of cruddy, puffed up and not very responsive, but still perched, and her poop was just mucoid and runny. I didn't have a good avian veterinarian lined up because I moved awhile ago, so I had to settle for a "vet who treats birds". 12 hours and 2 vets later, I find out she has giardia. My understanding is that she's probably had it subclinically her whole life, since it's not an organism that you just find in your drinking water. I'm a med student, though, and pretty ignorant about animal diseases that aren't transmissable to humans (human giardia is not quite the same as bird giardia)

Luckily, the vet thought she looked well enough to go home and didn't need an incubator (though I've been trying to keep her cage as warm as possible) and gave me some Ronidazole to put in her water for 30 days.

I feel like she's looking better today, but she's still sleeping a lot and puffy. She finally started eating last night. I gave her a bunch of millet (usually she has 75% pellets & proper table food, 25% seed, so she's been gorging herself on junk food, basically).

So first of all, I guess I'm looking to just commiserate with people who understand. I was a wreck yesterday, and I could hardly find someone to give me a ride to the vet because they all thought I should just wait until the next day, but I know birds go down fast and my previous, amazing vet always told me "never to let the sun set on a sick bird".

Also, do you think I should breathe easier now that she's eating more and acting a little more lively, or should I still be on full alert? Do you have any success or horror stories? Don't worry, I DO have the vet on speed dial already.

 

[Remy]

Good for you for taking her in so fast! I think you should be able to relax now, but it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out anyways.

I can commiserate with the long term thing. I have a chronic viral infection (or two) that I've been dealing with for a long time, and I didn't realize I was sick for a long time, until I was really sick. D:

 

[lene1949]

I really hope she's feeling better... Good luck with her.

 

[roxynoodle]

I also hope she is doing better and will be thinking of you both.

 

[henpecked]

Be aware that you and her can spread it to other birds.

 

[skatingdoc]

@Remy: Viruses are crappy, and they can lie latent for a lifetime until they suddenly flare up and cause big problems. I'm sorry to hear that you're sick now, and I hope you are able to manage it effectively.

@henpecked: That's a really good point, though we're a 1-bird household and I don't actually know anyone with a bird at this point. I'm really worried about her re-infecting herself though, since giardia is a pretty hard organism to kill.

Have any of you guys used diluted bleach to clean your bird cages before? I usually use Dawn (and sometimes vinegar..which is what I use to clean my house), but I feel like I need something stronger. Any tips?

 

[Mayden]

I don't have any suggestions about cage cleaning, but I think I've heard using diluted bleach and then leaving the cage to dry in the sun for a while?

I'm very glad you got her treated, you can breath easy now, just keep an eye out for the puffyness etc. She's eating Millet, take that as a very good sign. ^^

Hope you both get through this with no more bumps. x

 

[skatingdoc]

Hi again everyone! I just wanted to give an update on Leela: she is doing MUCH BETTER. She was really quiet for about 4 days, but 2 days ago as I was getting home from school and walking up the stairs, I immediately heard her usual "Padeep! Padeep!" contact call. Her poo also looked solid, and oh my gosh, has she been eating! She's been eating WAY more than usual. She finally looks like the sleek, beautiful parrotlet she is!

 

[roxynoodle]

I have used diluted bleach to disinfect a cage. You do want to rinse it very well. So I did one section at a time, rinsed the heck out of the entire cage, then the next section, repeated good rinse and so on. Definitely something you want to do outdoors or in a garage with a drain!

 

[Remy]

Hehe, thanks! I'm doing a lot better than I was. :-D

I'm glad she's feeling better! With many illnesses, there are ups and downs. It's possible she could have just had a bad day.

 

[MikeyTN]

As far as I know that giradia is contagious and it can be passed onto any animal period! Of course it's through their feces. The dog we rescued had giradia and it took us awhile to get rid of it. Most vets will prescribe Metronidazole to treat giradia, but it doesn't work that well!!!! I did my own research and found that Panacur works 5 out of 5 dogs after a 3 dose treatment. I told my vet that is what I wanted to give to my dog and sure enough I got rid of giradia. My vet warned me that to keep him away from all my animals, including my birds! Perhaps do your research and find the best med to treat giradia in birds? Every person I have helped with the giradia issue tried the panacur after I told them and it kicked giradia 100% after 3 dose treatment. I have learned many years ago not to depend on vets 100% cause I've dealt with contagious virus years ago that almost wiped out all my bird population. I did my own research and brought all my birds back to health. Good luck!!!

 

[MikeyTN]

Just read this, it is a separate parasite! And Panacur can be used on birds but it can cause issues....I hope this helps!

Giardia in Birds

 

[skatingdoc]

Hey Mikey,

So the best treatment for avian giardia is Ronidazole, although I don't specifically know the efficacy (although I know for metronidazole it was pretty low). Luckily, my vet gave me Ronidazole. She even told me to give it to her for 30 days instead of (what seems like the standard) 7. Giardia is very hard to kill.

If any of you are worried that your bird has giardia -- you need many tests before you can really assess, because a bird's intestinal tract is so short that the organism really does not concentrate in their poo very well. (I know someone said something about getting the morning "big poo", but it has to be fresh, within 15 minutes)

I'm really not sure which latest research that article is talking about, but MedScape Reference at least says that giardia is zoonotic to people, at the very least the species Giardia psittaci and Giardia ardeae. However, transmission in humans is by drinking water that has been exposed to contaminated feces, so outside of washing hands and keeping the cage clean I'm not that worried about getting it myself.

Side note: Anyone who is immunocompromised (HIV+, organ transplantation, taking a lot of glucocorticosteroids) should not have birds due to zoonotic diseases (mostly Chlamydophila psittaci that causes a walking pneumonia). I'm sure this causes a lot of rehoming as people with failing health are taking care of their long-lived parrots.

It's incredibly frustrating for me as a med student to look up veterinary stuff because it's so hard for me to find good sources -- If you start with Google, you end up with a lot of junk, and oftentimes vets work more under personal experience than extensive research.

 

[MikeyTN]

Unfortunately I don't think a lot of the vets are that great. I've been to MANY vets in 3 different states. I take them in for test but don't listen 100%. After you owned animals for so many years, you kinda know what's right what's not! I read many different site extensively as I don't go by what one site says to be true. A lot of what I know is from personal experience and from being a breeder at one point and owned birds and other animals for many years.

 

[amysaviary]

A great thing to use to clean anything having to do with a bird(Walls, cage, bowls, ex) is Pet Focus aviary and cage cleaner it kills just about everything! My vet told me about it and I love it, it is better then vinegar even! Just wanted to share

 

[MikeyTN]

We use high pressure steamer.

 

[skatingdoc]

Amy, that is awesome! I was struggling to find a good disinfectant, I don't want to use bleach, and chlorhexidine doesn't kill giardia. According to the Merck Vet Manual: "Cysts are inactivated by most quaternary ammonium compounds, household bleach (1:32 or 1:16 dilution), steam, and boiling water."

The disinfectant you mentioned is a quaternary ammonium compound, so it should be able to kill giardia. Thank you! I feel way better about that.

 

[MikeyTN]

Please do keep us updated if your bird wins the fight with giaradia.

 

[henpecked]

Yes ,we'd like to know what works best for you.

 

[skatingdoc]

Hey all -- here's the update at the 2-week recheck. Leela is doing great. The vet called her "active", which I think meant "hard to catch". She didn't find any parasites in her poop, and told me to discontinue the Ronidazole. So, success! Probably. I'm keeping the Ronidazole in case she has another flare-up.