Shine's antibiotics Course has ended: What now?

[Mohitgaur088]

So finally, her antibiotic course has ended! I will continue to give pro-biotics for a few more weeks. She's doing really good and all symptoms of psittacosis are already gone, except of very few bubbles in droppings which may be an indicator of little yeast as suggested by EllendD and other members. Bubbles will hopefully go away within a week because of pro-biotics, I of course want her tests to be done again so I have a few questions-
1. When to send samples again for tests? Should I do it right now or after putting her on pro-biotic for a week to eliminate any kind of yeast she's having. Though I think I should send samples asap but maybe test after one week of pro biotic will be more fruitful.
2. As only one lab here on special request will conduct the tests so what samples should I go for? Last time i believe her chlamaydial inclusions and yeast was found in a gram stain/mzn staining of sample of her droppings! Maybe eye infection bacterial infection was found in gram staining only...So should I send only sample of droppings? Will they be able to find chlamydia this time in droppings sample? Last time they did!
3. Last time I sent swab from the eye too, but don't know if they found anything in swab. Her eyes are not having any mucous now- will eye swab be fruitful?

I am again attaching her old test reports

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[EllenD]

I'm so glad that Shine is doing well...Finally!!!

I would send a Fecal sample now, the Probiotics aren't going to effect any remaining Psittacosis, and honestly since the bubbles in her droppings are intermittent and she's eating normally, I would just keep giving her a daily Avian Probiotic from this point forward. Some birds are more prone to yeast growing in the GI Tracts, and I have been giving all of my birds a daily Avian Probiotic mixed into their small daily serving of seed-mix for years, and none of them have ever been sick, and their appetites are always good, no issues at all..I take a daily Probiotic myself as well, it can only help, so I'd suggest it...

As for what swabs/samples to send, obviously a fresh dropping/fecal sample...You don't need to culture/swab her eyes at all, as the conjunctivitis was caused by the Psittacosis, not from a localized infection, so that would be futile...HOWEVER, if at all possible, I would try to get a swab of the back of her throat and/or her nostrils, because that's where Psittacosis Chlamydia likes to hide before a relapse occurs. So if you can get a swab of the back of her throat and from each nostril, I would definitely have them run a Gram-Stain on those swabs specifically looking for Chlamydia Psittaci, as it's a Gram-Negative bacterium and easily seen on a simple Gram-Stain...And those are the areas you want to culture to look for it specifically..

Again, an eye swab/culture would be futile because it was not a localized bacterial infection, it was being caused directly by the systemic Psittacosis infection. So that would be a waste of money and not tell you a thing. ***Having a Gram-Stain done on both the fecal sample and a throat and nasal swab is enough to rule-out or confirm Psittacosis...

***If possible, in addition to the Gram-Stain/microscopy on the fecal sample, I'd also want it plated to see what grows out. I don't know if that's possible for the lab you're using to do, but regular microscopy and the Gram-Stain isn't always going to show GI Fungal infections, that's why the first lab results that were done, which were only a Gram-Stain/microscopy, showed "budding and non-budding yeast", but that's all that is possible to know...It's not only "Yeast" that causes bubbles in their droppings, and "Yeast" is not even close to the only Fungal Infection they can develop throughout their GI Tracts...And the only way to diagnose or rule-out a GI Fungal Infection, and to know specifically what Fungi it is, is to have them do a "streak-plate" and incubate it for 48 to 72 hours and see what grows. Then they can properly prescribe the specific Anti-Fungal medication to treat that specific Fungi, because again, it's not always just "yeast"...And the only reason I'm stressing this is because of the large amount of antibiotics Shine has taken, and the long length of time she was on them. I'm actually surprised that she didn't have a much worse Fungal Infection than she did...

Other than a Gram-Stain on both the fecal sample and then of the back of her throat and her nostrils, and if possible having them plate the fecal sample, I don't think there is anything else that needs to be run that you can culture/sample at home...I'd love for Shine to have Blood-Work done, but I know that's not a possibility. The fact that she's eating and acting normally now makes me less worried about not having Blood-Work done...

 

[Mohitgaur088]

I'm so glad that Shine is doing well...Finally!!!

I would send a Fecal sample now, the Probiotics aren't going to effect any remaining Psittacosis, and honestly since the bubbles in her droppings are intermittent and she's eating normally, I would just keep giving her a daily Avian Probiotic from this point forward. Some birds are more prone to yeast growing in the GI Tracts, and I have been giving all of my birds a daily Avian Probiotic mixed into their small daily serving of seed-mix for years, and none of them have ever been sick, and their appetites are always good, no issues at all..I take a daily Probiotic myself as well, it can only help, so I'd suggest it...

As for what swabs/samples to send, obviously a fresh dropping/fecal sample...You don't need to culture/swab her eyes at all, as the conjunctivitis was caused by the Psittacosis, not from a localized infection, so that would be futile...HOWEVER, if at all possible, I would try to get a swab of the back of her throat and/or her nostrils, because that's where Psittacosis Chlamydia likes to hide before a relapse occurs. So if you can get a swab of the back of her throat and from each nostril, I would definitely have them run a Gram-Stain on those swabs specifically looking for Chlamydia Psittaci, as it's a Gram-Negative bacterium and easily seen on a simple Gram-Stain...And those are the areas you want to culture to look for it specifically..

Again, an eye swab/culture would be futile because it was not a localized bacterial infection, it was being caused directly by the systemic Psittacosis infection. So that would be a waste of money and not tell you a thing. ***Having a Gram-Stain done on both the fecal sample and a throat and nasal swab is enough to rule-out or confirm Psittacosis...

***If possible, in addition to the Gram-Stain/microscopy on the fecal sample, I'd also want it plated to see what grows out. I don't know if that's possible for the lab you're using to do, but regular microscopy and the Gram-Stain isn't always going to show GI Fungal infections, that's why the first lab results that were done, which were only a Gram-Stain/microscopy, showed "budding and non-budding yeast", but that's all that is possible to know...It's not only "Yeast" that causes bubbles in their droppings, and "Yeast" is not even close to the only Fungal Infection they can develop throughout their GI Tracts...And the only way to diagnose or rule-out a GI Fungal Infection, and to know specifically what Fungi it is, is to have them do a "streak-plate" and incubate it for 48 to 72 hours and see what grows. Then they can properly prescribe the specific Anti-Fungal medication to treat that specific Fungi, because again, it's not always just "yeast"...And the only reason I'm stressing this is because of the large amount of antibiotics Shine has taken, and the long length of time she was on them. I'm actually surprised that she didn't have a much worse Fungal Infection than she did...

Other than a Gram-Stain on both the fecal sample and then of the back of her throat and her nostrils, and if possible having them plate the fecal sample, I don't think there is anything else that needs to be run that you can culture/sample at home...I'd love for Shine to have Blood-Work done, but I know that's not a possibility. The fact that she's eating and acting normally now makes me less worried about not having Blood-Work done...

I'll ask the lab for all the possibilities..... Pro-biotics will be given continuously
Can you please tell me how to collect a swab from her nostrils if there's no mucous? Also, Is throat swab safe to do by someone with not much experience?

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[Morty]

What probiotic do you guys recommend?

 

[Mohitgaur088]

If you're from US I'll recommend Benebac

What probiotic do you guys recommend?

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[EllenD]

Either Benebac or Qwiko Avian Probiotic...the powder works best, just mix into either their seed-mix or pellets...

As far as a nasal swab, it doesn't have to be "wet", just like doing a skin swab, all you do is take the cotton swab and put it over the opening of the nostril and with a bit of pressure downward so that the cotton gets down into the opening, you spin it around a few time. That's it. It will collect any bacteria present...

As far as the throat swab, with a bird as small as a Cockatiel, you can actually just do a "mouth" swab, as the back of her throat is right there and any Psittacosis present will be inside of her mouth...As far as collecting it, it depends on how much you can handle her...I've done it many, many time, and been bitten many, many times, lol...With smaller birds it's much easier though, because their mouths are so small that once you get the swab in their mouth and wipe it around a bit, you're done..I always towel the bird with my left hand, holding their head through the towel so you can control it, and with the cotton swab in your right hand, approach on the left side of the bird's beak (the bird's left, so your right if you're facing the bird), and put the cotton swab against the opening of the beak on the left side, and then wiggle it back and forth a little bit until the bird opens it's mouth, and gently just wiggle the cotton swab end inside of the beak/mouth quickly until you know that the end of the swab was inside the beak/mouth for a good collection. That's it...The other way is to do a nasal-flush and then culture the flush, so this is much easier and less stressful for the bird...