# Conjunctivitis in Starling



## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

Well here we go again this time not me but my other rehabber friend. She has 2 birds one being a Starling and the other being a fledgling House finch I think she said it was no wait a sparrow. Anyways here in Michigan we are told that if we get a bird in with that to bring it in to be put down well she said there has to be something out there to help it. Is there? The vet here says it cost too much to treat the bird which I find to be a bunch of bull pucky. Can anyone suggest something that she could get her hands on quickly? The starling is in bad shape eyes crusted over and very thin. The sparrow baby isn't as bad. Told her for now to take and keep washing the eyes out with warm water till I can get some advice so they don't crust over. I also told her to keep them away from other birds and wash her hands well. The Ex works with eyes and is coming up from PA tomorrow and I am going to ask him to bring some meds up that are coming up to expiring soon, I don't know if he will or not he can be nice one minute and a total ass the next. Is there something we can get and keep on hand for this. I know a 1/2 ounce cost $60.00. 

Cindy


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

A drop of Sovereign Silver Colloidal silver is a wonderful anti-infectent, you can put a drop in each eye. It can be found at your local health food store relatively cheap and has many uses. My rehabber and I have had lots of success using it, and she has treated many different kinds of birds as well as pigeons.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Cindy, it seems so odd that doctor's would put a bird down for having
conjunctivitis, I think what is probably happening is that they are worried about Chlamydophila/Chlamydia and instead of running expensive tests don't take chances and put the bird down.

Not all eye infections of course, are Chlamydophila/Chlamydia, but to be on 
the safe side, I would ask your friend for a few things:

1. Doxycycline
2. Metronidazole
3. Ophthalmic Ointment (Terramycin is what is sold for birds @ the supply
houses)

If you can't get Colloidal Silver locally but your friend can get it from a 
health food store, I would opt for that before I would opt for a human
Ophthalmic Ointment only because I don't know how the concentrations
compare and we do know that Colloidal Silver has antibacterial microbial
activity and is very safe and effective w/eyes for our birds.

As always, we are putting things together for the birds from here, there and
everywhere, so you'll have to see what you can come up with. All of the 
medications I've listed can be given concurrently w/the exception of the
topical eye products which you will need to pick one or the other but at
least you have a couple of options. She's gonna have to also have probiotics
on hand to give to the bird to counter the effect of the antibiotics.

fp


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Foggy memory on that one but I remember that there has been an ongoing epidemic of Mycoplasmatales in birds like that (finches, sparrows, a few in starlings and other species).

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/37/1/72.pdf

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/reallen/Thesis.html

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/DiseasedBirds.htm

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Another very vague memory that I think I have is one of Fred once treating a sparrow with crusts over both eyes. Seems like he was washing the eyes or otherwise trying to get the crust off and... <Poof!> ...the crust lifted off and the bird could see again. There is some documentation that says that they can eventually get over it on their own as long as supportive therapy (feeding and watering) is given. When it's treated, it can be treated with Tylosin and a few other less-standard medications (for pigeons, anyhow) but it's said to be pretty hard to eliminate the organism. So the topical treatments mentioned above are probably the best way to go.

Pidgey


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Hi Cindy,
I'm sorry to hear about the little Starling & Sparrow.  
I hope they recover without incident.  

I'm going to move your thread to the _'Bird Emergencies' _section in the _'Other Birds'_ forum.  

Cindy


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Cindy, read this link. Go with the protocol that Terry laid out. We went by this with the last finch we got in and it cleared it up completely. Personally, I would keep it a few weeks past the time it clears up just to make sure. Also, your winters are pretty bad so your friend may even have to winter the little guy.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=13539


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Cindy, here is another link: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=17433


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

The distressing thing about this disease is that some literature I've read said that once birds get this disease it is likely to reoccur and usually recommend PTS. It is highly contagious.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Lady Tarheel said:


> The distressing thing about this disease is that some literature I've read said that once birds get this disease it is likely to reoccur and usually recommend PTS. It is highly contagious.


Maggie, thanks for your links, I was unaware of this disease and ASSumed
that it might be something else. It is most likely as posted. The link
that Terry provided, Fish and Wildlife states that a treated bird will always
carry the disease and that they recommend that treated birds never be
released back into the wild. 

I would imagine that these birds as such would also requiring special handling
in house to ensure that nothing was passed to other birds as well. What
do you know of this aspect of the rehab process?

fp


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

fp, you handle them the same as you would any pigeon that is ill. Segregate, use dedicated feeders/waterers which are disinfected daily. Sometimes it affects both eyes causing the bird to be unable to see their food/water dishes. Then you hand feed the same as with a pigeon. Keep your hands very clean when handling them. If I have to hand feed, syringes, containers are sterilized after each feeding and then disposed of after the bird recovers. We stick to one specific area on the kitchen counter always and several layers of newspaper laid down while the bird is being handled.

I always use q-tips to apply the eye ointment and actually wipe down the ointment tube with either Novalsan or clorox each time - just in case my hand has touched it when applying the ointment. 

It only takes a few days to begin to see improvement and the bird can go back to eating on their own but you need to follow the protocol stringently.

These guys are really pitiful but it gives you a good feeling when you see those little eyes begin to emerge from under the ****.


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2007)

Pidgey,

You have a terrific memory. I had to think back to the bird you're referring to. This was a pigeon and his eyes were completely encrusted over and he couldn't see anything. I used opthalmic ointment to loosen up the encrusted feathers and exudate and put him on a systemic. In a few days, it was safe to lift off the encrustation without damaging the eyes and it wasn't the eyes that were infected but a skin infection around the eyes. He healed up fine and was released.

In this case, we wouldn't be able to tell what is going on. Sometimes a conjunctivitis is just that, an eye or eyelid infection. Sometimes, it's an infection coming from the sinuses. It doesn't have to be Chlamydia. Many times and with Chlamydia, only one eye is affected and you can actually see the swollen sinuses by looking on the forehead. I don't think conjunctivitis comes with Chlamydia too often. If it were me and the bird is not too far gone, I would use Doxycycline and an opthalmic antibiotic ointment. It's very difficult to work with these very small birds and the outcome is usually not too good but it's certainly worth a try.

Is this really a baby sparrow? It's kind of late in the year for these birds to be fledglings.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Pigeonperson,

There's a reason why I remembered that (but still vaguely)--it was during Unie's initial blindness that I went looking on the net for anything regarding blind pigeons and whether or not they could cope. There were some posts by you from waaaaayyy back and I'm pretty sure they were here on Pigeon-Talk. It was through that search that I initially found this site.

Pidgey


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

Well just an update on the birds, the unfortunate happened to both. She got up in the morning and they had both passed away in the middle of the night. She asked me to thank everyone for their support and ongoing help. I have forwarded all these threads from here so she can keep meds on hand in case she gets more birds in like these. Thanks everyone for your continued help 


Cindy


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Cindy, I'm very sorry to hear this. Who knows how long it had been since they were able to eat and their resistance was low.


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

I agree and like I told her who knows if they didn't have something else that wasn't discovered. Well I look at it this way they aren't suffering anymore and are in a better place. 

Cindy


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