Sinus infection photos

[Garden Peas]

When the area between the beak and the eye is pressed, fluid and or debris will sometimes exit the choanal slit. That is how I was able to get this out:


That was lodged somewhere in the sinuses, but it came out of the choanal slit when pressure was applied here:


Make sense?

-Kathy

The choanal slit area (what a great term!) looks much better than it did on Tuesday. Things were icky brown in there, but are back to a more normal color. I rinsed the area (trying not to drown bird) during the irrigating process. I like @KsKingBee 's suggestion about holding pressure up in that area while milking the sinus towards the eye -- will try that next time I go over if it doesn't continue clearing with what we are already doing.

 

[KsKingBee]

Well that's a scary list for sure! Neither one of those cases had the pseudomonas as anything more than "intermediate" to enrofloxacin, and resistant to nearly anything we commonly use.

Oddly, the second case was susceptible to Neomycin -- I don't think we've ever discussed that medicine here -- and it jumped out at me because I happened to notice a bottle of Neomycin on the shelf as I was cruising the vet supply store today picking up stuff for my neighbor's peahen. Also odd that it was susceptible to dimethox, but not susceptible to the trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, since the TMPS is sort of a souped-up version -- I guess it goes to show how narrow the effectiveness can be sometimes.

I don't know if Neomycin is something we might think about for these stubborn cases, but heavens, those cases would have been a complete nightmare without lab studies.

Hugs, @WestKnollAmy , sounds like you are just having an awful time of it trying to pull these little guys through

Here's hoping the Baytril gets there quickly, and that it works!

You really might try another round of Tylan while you are waiting, if it holds the line at all, it might buy you some time.

When I was fighting the Pseudomonas we sent samples to three different labs. The reports that Kathy posted may have been from the same bird, I am not certain now, but if it wasn't it certainly was the same infection. So the two reports are from different labs hence, the different list of antibiotics tested.

In the end, my vet gave me a choice of two drugs to use, one, the bacteria is more susceptible to, but needs to be administered daily, the other, Zactran, was her first choice as it can be administered once and good for five days. At the time, I had many birds that needed treatment, too many to catch every day for shots. So, my vet wanted to cause less stress on the birds and me and opted for us to use the five-day drug. Zactran is about $2.00 per ml but only 0.60 ml is needed per treatment which makes it more reasonably priced.

 

[KsKingBee]

-Kathy

If you enlarge this picture you may see ear lice drinking at the eye.

 

[Garden Peas]

Thanks @KsKingBee Zactran (gamithromycin) is new one to me - so good to know there's another option for these really hard cases.
@WestKnollAmy a lot of our livestock vets out here are pretty lenient about dispensing meds to ranchers and horse people who all have huge medicine cabinets full of more stuff than even @DylansMom lol. Would one of your "farm vets" be willing to prescribe or sell you a bottle of zactran to keep on hand in case you get a sudden outbreak of brd (bovine respiratory disease) or srd (the pig version)?
(Of course if you have to buy a calf first, that will be a bit more complicated...)

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Here is an enlarged view:


-Kathy

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Thanks @KsKingBee Zactran (gamithromycin) is new one to me - so good to know there's another option for these really hard cases.
@WestKnollAmy a lot of our livestock vets out here are pretty lenient about dispensing meds to ranchers and horse people who all have huge medicine cabinets full of more stuff than even @DylansMom lol. Would one of your "farm vets" be willing to prescribe or sell you a bottle of zactran to keep on hand in case you get a sudden outbreak of brd (bovine respiratory disease) or srd (the pig version)?
(Of course if you have to buy a calf first, that will be a bit more complicated...)

I did ask one of my local vets that I worked horse farms with but he said with all the regulations he pretty much has to see the animal first and even then he can't sell it for use off label. I was supposed to get a calf this year to raise for meat but the guy never came through. I don't have horses anymore either but I do have dairy goats and sheep. I was hoping one of the vets would be able to help through that channel but they all are nervous. Especially since I am part of a local group that makes politicians and our state Ag office walk the straight and narrow. We got into it recently when a politician tried to make trouble for us and though we won the fight, the battle is on. Farmers are quickly becoming a minority here.
So, as much as i can I find otehr ways to procure meds. There are a few that still have big farms and we are working up a big order. I did ask about the Zactran so I hope to get that on hand soon.

Thank you all for the tremendous help and support. I woudl say the peas thank you but right now they are not speaking to me and hate to see me coming. I may never make them tame again. Poor dears.

 

[heritagehatch]

Hello;
We have had this in our peafowl. Treated it successfully with Azithromycin PO ( Oral). ( Human z-pak). Alternately, you could go with an IM Naxcel and Penicillin combination over 5-7 days. Aithromycin is well tolerated in Avian species and while broad spectrum against gram Negative and positive it is a macrolide family class drug and effective against mycoplasma as well. Dosage is based on weight. Refer to your " Plumbs" veterinary medications handbook. We did drain and lavage the sinus abcess as well. Relocated the effected bird to an isolated enclosure and disinfected the pens with bleach. We hope this helps!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have started treatment with the Enrofloxyn but getting the extra infection out is not working so well. I don't have a capable holder and though I do wrap them in beach towels and try to work on them, I am all thumbs with these little bird heads. I got some out and it looks a little better. I never did get photos though because of my stress, the peas stress and inability to get a clear photo quickly.
I will try again but for now I am trying to feed, water and keep them under less stress. I moved the other peas to another pen since I feel this one was already contaminated and will need cleaning after these are well out out of there.

 

[heritagehatch]

At this point in the infection, I am not certain that you will achieve the tissue saturation needed with Baytril PO ( Enrofloxacin Oral). YOu can either run the course of treatment and see where it gets or try another class of antibiotics. Baytril is a fluoroquinolone. I stand with my original recommendation of choice of antibiotics for this issue.

I know it can be overwhelming, but try not to be timid with handling these big birds, just knuckle down and get to it. They are tough and highly intelligent, enough to know when they are intimidating anyone who is trying to handle them and they will the full advantage of that. Towels are great after you get them pinned to pick them up. Once off the ground, hold them on their side with both legs in one hand and away from your body. Hold their body close and tightly to your body with your elbow clamped over their wings. Once you assert your dominance over the bird with a firm hold, they generally will yield and cooperate. I would not hesitate to introduce holding a warm compress on the sinuses for a few moments before trying to expel or express any infected matter. ALWAYS wear surgical gloves when doing such tasks!! Q-tips pre set up in warm water with a very mild Novalsan solution can also be useful in these tricky areas.

 

[casportpony]

Hello;
 We have had this in our peafowl. Treated it successfully with Azithromycin PO ( Oral). ( Human z-pak). Alternately, you could go with an IM Naxcel and Penicillin combination over 5-7 days. Aithromycin is well tolerated in Avian species and while broad spectrum against gram Negative and positive it is a macrolide family class drug and effective against mycoplasma as well. Dosage is based on weight. Refer to your " Plumbs" veterinary medications handbook. We did drain and lavage the sinus abcess as well. Relocated the effected bird to an isolated enclosure and disinfected the pens with bleach. We hope this helps!

Don't know about azithromycin, but I don't think Naxel and penicillin are effective against pseudomonas. Not saying that his bird has it, but if it does, one would need a drug that it's sensitive to, and KsKingBee's labs showed that it was not, and those labs were from different birds.

-Kathy