Psittacosis

Question
My avian vet feels like my bird has his....he is having central nervous issues.....trouble walking....perching is pointless.....he loves to sleep on me.....and is just over all not feeling good.....I removed all perches....his cage is lined with a pillowcase and towel so he won't bust....which I will remove and clean tomorrow......at first we were doing doxycycline in his water..well budgies can go forever without a lot of water and mine wasn't even able to perch on his...so I try to help him get a drink here and there..and sometimes it scares him..sometime not....so wee swapped to vibmycin? (It is in the other room and I don't want to wake him....) that I give orally.....If he sees no response by Monday or so we go in for blood work which he didn't really want to do because my lil man is stresed...I have had him three weeks......He is young.....I now read I can get this...my children can......yet I can't not have contact with him..he was asleep in my shirt for two hours...(yes he does feel rotten) but he still tries to fly...and kicks up a great fussat medicine time and is eating.....can you give me a realistic approach on this...Am I going to get this and will my bird most likely pull through?  I am kinda scared about all of it.....  =(

Answer
Hi, Caroleen.

The psittacosis humans get isn't the same type of psittacosis birds get.  I don't think you need to worry about this.

Budgies cannot go forever without a lot of water.  They need clean, fresh water every day.  I don't know where you got this information.  You should have this bird confined to a "hospital" cage and not allow the bird to fly around.  This bird needs to have as much rest as possible, warmth, food and water, quiet, and meds.  Any type of med in water is not good...putting meds in water dilutes the med too much to be any good, not to mention not knowing whether the bird is drinking the water or not.  Giving meds orally, by injection or mixed in with food is better.

Is this vet a certified avian veterinarian?  If so, you need to follow his/her instructions carefully.  I'm not an avian vet and since this vet can actually see/handle your bird and has test results, you need to do whatever this vet says to do.  I don't know if your bird will pull through.  It depends on how bad off the bird is and whether you and your vet can medicate the bird sufficiently to allow the bird to pull through.  Usually by the time we notice our birds are ill, they are too sick to be helped.  Birds hide illness until they can't hide their symptoms any longer...you may have gotten your bird to the vet too late for the vet to help.  Since your bird is young, this complicates matters because birds acquire immunities to illness/disease as they grow...they are born without immunities to anything.  

Chrys