| Update on the latest bird found in SF |
[Oct. 4th, 2006|10:38 am] |
From Tammy:
I spoke to Dr. V today. He's a really nice guy. He was on at [vet]
when the bird was brought in. He took him home after giving him
fluids and tubefeeding him. He asked if he could 'keep him' or if we
'wanted him back' ;)
I gave him [Dr. F]'s number for advice on proper treatment and he's
going to call her. I think the bird is very lucky (his wife was
devastated when they lost their last CH rescue so she was really hoping
to keep this little guy and work with him). I asked him to please keep
us updated on his status and then I called [Dr. F] to let her know he
would be calling. She'll let him know which anti-parasitics are best.
So, looks like this one won't be coming through Mickaboo, but is in very good hands. I hope he survives! If I hear more, I'll share here. :)
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| Another intake |
[Oct. 2nd, 2006|07:04 am] |
The very first email I read this morning, from one of our volunteers:
Hi - Don't really know who to send this to, but thought someone out
there might know what [sic] to do.
I caught (and by caught I mean picked up off the sidewalk) a SF conure
today by the Fillmore Steps. As I was walking up the street with him
wondering what the heck I was gonna do the SF animal patrol came by.
They took him from me, said they would take him to Pets Unlimited and
then someone would probably contact Mickaboo.
So - just so you know - there was a conure found today - don't know if
he will survive - he seemed all loopy and injured. Tried to fly away
and couldn't, and gave up and went limp as soon as I had him wrapped
in my t shirt.
Sounds like another one with the neurlogical illness. *sigh*
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| Necropsy results for Harrison and Spice |
[Sep. 29th, 2006|07:06 am] |
Exerpts from emails discussing the results:
I got a call back from [Dr. F] yesterday about the outstanding necropsy reports. Basically, every single one of the birds in question (cassandra, spice, harrison) had abnormalities stemming from 'larval migrans' :-(
The only different result was for Tara who apparently died from hemorrhage resulting from a toxin. Unfortunately, they were unable to identify the toxin but my bet would be rat poisoning (warfarin). Isn't 'wild' life glamorous? :(
I'm still not convinced that any of the babies have had issues related to the worm problem. The symptoms aren't the same. Last year, when Peter came in, he couldn't use his legs, but it was due to a physical trauma. The rest of him was fine. The worm infected/neurologically-challenged conures have full system failure, including head-tilt and inability to control all their limbs properly.
This makes sense to me, though. Babies in the nest aren't being exposed to the same worm-contaminated source (my best guess is water at the moment) that the parents are. The worms may also only exist in high concentrations at certain times of the year (my best guess for this is Spring). I am basing that on the fact that we get most of our adult conures with these problems in June/July. We also got in many more adults this year than normal, and had quite the rainy Spring.
And here is my suspect for this crime: Racoons carrying Baylisascaris Procyonis.
"Baylisascaris procyonis is a common intestinal roundworm of raccoons that causes central nervous system disease, known as neural larval migrans, in many species of birds and mammals, including humans. . . When a non-raccoon host ingests eggs passed in the feces of infected raccoons, larvae migrate through visceral organs and frequently enter the spinal cord and brain ... In addition to human cases, neural larval migrans caused by B. procyonis has been reported in more than 90 species of mammals and birds, and extensive losses have been documented in domestic and research animals. Outbreaks have been documented in prairie dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, and pheasants in research and commercial facilities. All of the bobwhite quail kept in a pen previously occupied by infected pet raccoons died from larval migrans. Recently, B. procyonis larval migrans killed a group of 10 pet parrots. All of these cases resulted from using litter, pens, or feeds contaminated by B. procyonis eggs in raccoon feces."
http://tinyurl.com/pz8ee
I talked to [Dr. F], and (a) Tara did *NOT* have evidence of worms in her brain, (b) Taylor's symptoms are not worm related, and (c) she's interested in following up with my Baylis theory by getting another "specimen". So we're now looking for another very sick conure that we lose before we do any worm treatments.
I'll be following up with SFACC about this, and also plan on talking to the SF Zoo about their Baylis problems to see what they are doing that is different from our treatments.
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| More on the neurological illness |
[Aug. 14th, 2006|10:06 am] |
After sending an email to one of our volunteers about Harrison's death, she sent me this:
Seizures seem to be the last symptom of the parasitic brain damage. I spent 24 hours listening to Fillmore screaming while having them. She was so weak and was having them so often that it was obvious it was time to end it. Even huge doses of valium didn't help. I remember feeling so bad for her when I drove her to Dr. F's that I put her in a towel in my favorite salad bowl and held her in my lap while I drove so I could pet her when they hit since they were about 4 minutes apart at that point.
Each loss of one of these precious guys is a real blow. Makes me even more committed to finally getting Geneva and Tara full-time on pellets.
Something to remember to watch for. . . the seizures start out very subtle, in the form of tiny head twitching.
I'm starting now to put together a page of information for any of our volunteers who take in one of these guys - as I gather more info, I'll update it so they'll have some idea of what we've learned so far.
It hurts so much to try so hard and still lose them.
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| Cassandra's necropsy results |
[Jul. 31st, 2006|11:35 am] |
I got this email today from the head of our rescue. My comment/edits are in brackets [ ]
We got necropsy results back on Cassandra/Apple (the Cherry Head we got in from SF on the same day as Harrison) [Apple was the name they used at the vet's office - not sure why]. The necropsy clearly showed 'larval migrans' (sp?) which basically means that they found 'tracks' left by parasites in her brain (I know, sickening!) but they were unable to find the actual parasite. So, [Dr F] is convinced their problems are caused by a parasite but still doesn't know which one(s). The histopathologist suggested that we get the word out to others who might have access to these birds (SFACC, Mark Bittner) to send remains to [Dr. F] immediately if they ever lose one who hasn't been on any treatment (they will be much m ore likely to find the nasty bugs in a bird who hasn't been treated with anti-parasitics) and, of course, we will continue to treat every bird we get in with every anti-parasitic necessary to cover the possibilities.
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| More on the neurological illness |
[Jul. 26th, 2006|08:54 pm] |
As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, we have no idea what causes the neurological illness that affects some members of the wild flock. Recently, one of our vets tried a new treatment for deworming the birds which seemed to have some good results. This topic was recently discussed in a Mickaboo forum, and the woman who has hospice care of Serge had this to say, on June 29th:
All we really know right now is that when Fillmore had to be put to sleep and was immediately necropsied, [Dr. F] found nematodes in her brain and a few other parts of her body. Since then (last September), we've been deworming any new conures that come in using a variety of medications. She's added a new one to the mix this week, Levamisole, and it is what caused Cassandra and Harrison to immediately begin recovering.1
I also suggested that she give the same treatment to Serge yesterday because I found this online:
http://www.theveterinarian.com.au/clinicalreviewcve/article300.asp
It suggests that regurgitation and vomiting can sometimes be caused by worms in the proventriculus. If other conures are showing up with worms, he might still have them too since I don't believe he was ever dewormed when we got him in. I am crossing my fingers and praying since he's been vomiting more again in the last week.
Oddly enough, Levamisole has a boosting effect on the immune system, too. It is used in combination with other drugs to help fight colon cancer in humans.
http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/HPI/DrugDatabase/DrugIndexPro/Levamisole.htm
That's all I know right now.
1While Cassandra eventually had to be put to sleep, we believe that may have been more due to her body just not being able to handle all the stress it had been put under due to her illness and the condition she was in when she was found.
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