Charlie’s moult

[ladybird]

No not every day…but she is there tomorrow and is going to phone me and tell me how he is going on…

[Loz]

I would completely echo what ariella has said, it's very good advice.
Wishing very hard for Charlie's recovery here.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Praying and hoping for Charlie to get clear of whatever is ailing him. Do you think it would help for the vet to take the phone to Charlie so he can hear your voice? May be he'll even talk back to you!

[ladybird]

Thank you and yes really good advise…….as you have probably gathered I am no spring chicken and do get stressed a lot, plus a lot of health problems of my own, but little Charlie is very special to me……we all love our buds don’t we?

[tweetiepiesmom]

Have I ever mentioned how much I like the picture of Charlie in your avatar? He looks like I could put my finger up to his feet and he'd just hop up!

[ariella]

I may be playing devil’s advocate here but has the vet ruled out avian influenza? If she’s considering ABV, then I think bird flu needs eliminating too. When comparing symptoms, I feel Charlie exhibits more of those linked to avian influenza than ABV.
It only occurred to me because we had a flyer through the door a month or so ago due to the increase of cases in our county and indoor caged birds were mentioned too.

There’s an awareness campaign running at the moment to encourage people to ask medical staff ‘Could it be sepsis?’ as sepsis can be misdiagnosed so easily, but I thought perhaps the same could apply here and it’s always good practice to not to be afraid of speaking up to medical professionals, including vets.
It could be the avian vet has already ruled it out, but I was just sat thinking of Charlie and the fact he’s not eating, whereas with ABV the appetite isn’t necessarily affected, and that he seems not to show neuro symptoms and aggression but does have diarrhoea and a depressed demeanour, plus the clicking sound could be indicative of a lung infection…

I may be overthinking it but thought I’d feel better if I mooted the idea, even if it’s been ruled out, just in case. Anything to help Charlie.

[Marianne Marlow]

I have to ask though, how would an indoor bird catch bird flu?

[tweetiepiesmom]

The most common way is on people's clothes if they've visited a farm, farmer's market, etc. Where I live we are always getting warnings to wash our hands and change clothes before handling pet birds if we've been around chickens, etc during avian flu season.

[ariella]

May 24, 2022 21:38:31 GMT Marianne Marlow said:

I have to ask though, how would an indoor bird catch bird flu?

I thought the same when the letter came through. Having kept hens for a decade I was always aware of bird flu and that they had to be under cover to prevent the mixing of wild birds and free-ranging poultry. So they had to stay in a large covered run.

The letter from Christine Middlemiss, UK chief veterinary officer, states: "I am contacting you as the UK chief vet because there has been an outbreak of Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, in your area. The avian influenza strain in this outbreak presents a low risk to human health, but is highly pathogenic for birds meaning they can catch and spread the disease easily.
You have received this letter because your property is in, or very close, to a declared a protection or surveillance zone. To assure the health status of birds within the area around confirmed infections, we need to complete a survey of susceptible birds.
This letter has been sent to households within 10km of an outbreak.
If you keep poultry such as chickens, ducks or geese, game birds, pigeons or other birds, even if you only keep them as pets, we need you to take action."

So I did a bit of research on what pet birds were included and found this:


3) “other captive bird” means a bird kept in captivity which is not poultry and includes a pet bird and a bird kept for shows, races, exhibitions, competitions, breeding or for sale.
(4) “keeper” for the purpose of this Declaration means any person who is responsible for poultry or other captive birds, whether on a permanent or temporary basis.
(5) “premises” for the purpose of this Declaration means any house, shed, aviary, range, coop, netted area, yard or open area which is used to keep poultry or other captive birds and includes contiguous ancillary areas such as bird feed bins, and storage of bird manure.

A few sources stated indoor-housed budgies, parrots and the like are all capable of being infected, though more unlikely than poultry and waterfowl. I think there was an emphasis on ensuring any contact, directly or indirectly, with wild birds had to be done with care, so wearing gloves before handling garden bird feeders, potentially changing clothes before having contact with pet birds, etc. Strict biosecurity standards are to be encouraged and aviary birds to be brought indoors.

I think they were just covering any eventuality but I guess feeding the garden birds, touching the feeders or bird tables, etc., has a potential to spread indoors, however unlikely it seems. 

[criswell]

Poor Charlie. They will take very good care of him. Sometimes they do need a long course of antibiotics. When Randolph Carter was treated for Clamydia he had a 6 week course of antiobiotics.

I really hope the longer course does the trick. And I hope you feel better soon too.

[ladybird]

My goodness that’s all very interesting and worrying. We do feed the garden birds and I had never thought of disease from them. We have definitely not been near chickens though……..I will ask the vet about Avian Flu though…… Charlie does have the occasional tiny seizures, something I have forgotten to mention on here. They only last seconds and don’t think most people would even notice . I mentioned this to the vet yesterday and she said it was another sign of maybe neurological symptom.
I had thought nothing of it really as it was so brief…. I think she is trying to piece everything together that I tell her …….

EDIT…….A vet from the practice just phoned and said Charlie is a bit brighter this morning and has eaten.  He said he saw him do a strange movement with his neck last night and he has reported it to Shona, but that it could be nothing.    I asked about testing to rule out ABV and he said it involved an anaesthetic and blood test .  Charlie is so tiny that it would be dangerous in itself , she did tell me that also last night……plus they would only attempt it when he was well enough……

[Marianne Marlow]

Good news that Charlie is brighter and he has eaten.

[Loz]

Relieved that Charlie is a bit brighter. He can beat this, whatever it is!

[criswell]

I'm glad that Charlie is eating today and that he's feeling a little bit better. How are you feeling today?

[ladybird]

I am not to good today plus worrying about how to catch Charlie and dose him for a month is daunting…..The vet uses a cloth and makes it look simple……….I would be grateful of any tips anyone has?    He is very tame but absolutely hates being caught.  I don’t want to have to chase him around the cage .