# Urgent: Azithromycin for Pigeons/Doves



## Picollo30 (Oct 18, 2011)

hi guys my dove is having an upper respiratoty tract infection, Baytril was not working for the infection so the vet prescribed 0,17 ml of Azithromycin orally once a day for 10 days with the possibility of continuing the treatment after that depending on how she reacts.

My brother works in a drugstore and he says Azithromycin should only be given for 3 days!!!

Does anyone have experience with treating your birds with Azithromycin, are 10 days a lot? are there any side effects for my dove?

she's not eating so i'm hand feeding her, she sneezes, makes some hiccups sound (?) and scratches face a lot and has 2 very very small white dots in her throat that the vet thinks is an abscess and maybe that's why she's not eating her seeds (tested for canker and nothing). she is also having an infection, the white blood cells count should be between 10.000-30.000 max and they are 43.000.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

In all honesty, I never heard of it. There is a scientific study of its use for Chlamydiosis (Psittacosis, Ornithosis) in Cockatiels, evidently with good effect, and for a much longer period. Whether you can relate that to your case I don't know.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20496604

The white spots could be (but obviously I can't say for sure) a fungal infection rather than bacterial. White spots on the curtain of the back of the mouth rather than right in the throat can mean evidence of a past infection rather than a current one.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

I don't know what is the size of white spots but if its not canker and size is equal to/ smaller than size of a millet and they are hard then they could be salivary stones. They are usually harmless.
In respiratory infections, changing the environment helps a lot. Fresh air,water without drafts help. In respiratory problems I have used doxycycline with other drugs,Azithromycin for chlamydia in pigeons. But I have read somewhere that azithromycin can be used for chronic respiratory problems for longer durations. If the avian vet is qualified and experienced then go for it.


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