I'm at my wits end here, I have a bantam BR who stopped laying and has had symptoms of gapeworms for months. Horrible gaping, violent head-shaking (no wheezing). I've treated her with Fenbendazole once and Ivermectin pour-on twice. I noticed she had some ear gunk so I've also treated her for ear infection and ear mites. No improvement.
I finally took her to the avian vet a few days ago. He was extremely busy and didn't have time to do x-rays or bloodwork that day. But he did a thorough exam including looking down her throat, and saw no obvious reason for her symptoms. A little ear discharge but said it was normal, good breathing, clean looking throat. He said she was too thin and told me to treat her with the ivomec again, and he put her on Baytril for 10 days (and a probiotic) and said if there's no improvement I can bring her back for bloodwork and x-rays of her lung area. This is day 4 of the baytril, and I see no improvement, other than her energy level seems a little better. But still gaping and head shaking like crazy. I also just treated her with the ivomec pour-on today, and that actually seemed to make the gaping and head shaking worse.
I don't think it's gapeworm because there's no wheezing or breathing trouble. And because this has been going on for months, she'd have died by now. Plus she's been treated for it 3 times in the past two months. I'm thinking maybe digestive, although her crop works perfectly. The vet seems to think respiratory. I'm sure I'll end up taking her back to the vet once the 10 days of baytril is done. He's good for parakeets and such, but he's definitely no chicken expert, so I wanted to see if anyone here had any thoughts.
I finally took her to the avian vet a few days ago. He was extremely busy and didn't have time to do x-rays or bloodwork that day. But he did a thorough exam including looking down her throat, and saw no obvious reason for her symptoms. A little ear discharge but said it was normal, good breathing, clean looking throat. He said she was too thin and told me to treat her with the ivomec again, and he put her on Baytril for 10 days (and a probiotic) and said if there's no improvement I can bring her back for bloodwork and x-rays of her lung area. This is day 4 of the baytril, and I see no improvement, other than her energy level seems a little better. But still gaping and head shaking like crazy. I also just treated her with the ivomec pour-on today, and that actually seemed to make the gaping and head shaking worse.
I don't think it's gapeworm because there's no wheezing or breathing trouble. And because this has been going on for months, she'd have died by now. Plus she's been treated for it 3 times in the past two months. I'm thinking maybe digestive, although her crop works perfectly. The vet seems to think respiratory. I'm sure I'll end up taking her back to the vet once the 10 days of baytril is done. He's good for parakeets and such, but he's definitely no chicken expert, so I wanted to see if anyone here had any thoughts.
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