Help! my bobwhite has stopped eating and seems to have reflux

[Quail lady]

Hi all,
I have a nearly 2 year old female house bobwhite quail who yesterday started doing a neck wriggle like something is stuck in her throat. She seemed a bit miserable too. Her crop seems empty, and she is still pooping normal poops. She is lethargic and seems to have reflux (liquid coming up into her mouth). She's not keen on eating or drinking this morning so giving her ACV and or olive oil are proving very difficult. I've even tried sitting (not allowed, but always trying to steal) butter in front of her as a olive oil substitute.
Not sure what to do... She is a treasured member of our family.
Advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[Quail lady]

So I was at a loss as to what to do so I took her to the vet. He seems to think it's a reproductive tract infection and she is on a course of antibiotics... I had never heard of this before. Is it common without noticing any vent issues?

 

[JensChickies]

So I was at a loss as to what to do so I took her to the vet. He seems to think it's a reproductive tract infection and she is on a course of antibiotics... I had never heard of this before. Is it common without noticing any vent issues?

A reproductive tract infection??? I suppose anything is possible. How did the vet know it was that? I'm just curious.

 

[Quail lady]

Well I had eliminated sour and impacted crop and she hasn't laid an egg in over 6 months... Honestly don't know, but I felt he has sensible theories about how when the system has to expand to deal with an egg every once in a while it is fairly easy for infection to go the other direction... Like a urinary tract infection in humans, you need to have frequent flow towards the outside.... She has also gone from over 200gs to 150 over the last 6 months...
Honestly would love some insight from some more bird gurus!

 

[JensChickies]

Well I had eliminated sour and impacted crop and she hasn't laid an egg in over 6 months... Honestly don't know, but I felt he has sensible theories about how when the system has to expand to deal with an egg every once in a while it is fairly easy for infection to go the other direction... Like a urinary tract infection in humans, you need to have frequent flow towards the outside.... She has also gone from over 200gs to 150 over the last 6 months...
Honestly would love some insight from some more bird gurus!

Hmmm very interesting. What kind of antibiotics?

 

[Sill]

Does she ever have access to the ground? If so she might need to be wormed. Parasites can cause weight loss among other things.

 

[Quail lady]

Baytril 50 is what I read on the bottle. She is doing much better.
And yes she does have ground access so perhaps when she is stronger I'll worm her

 

[JensChickies]

Baytril is good stuff. I'm glad she's doing better.

 

[dc3085]

Use a q tip and carefully open her beak. Swab the back of her throat gently. You need to reach as far back as you can without choking her. twist the q tip gently. If it comes out with red stringy lines that look kinds of like blood, she has worms. Having treated her for something else I wouldnt worm her without being able to verify parasite infection or as a last resort.

 

[dc3085]

What else can you tell us about her symptoms? Hows her breathing? Any rattling or wheezing? How is her balance and ability to walk? Is she eating her regular food? What does her refluxive discharge look like?