# My dove has the respiratory infection chlamydophilia psittaci



## Tourterelle (Jan 16, 2008)

«i,ve spent an hour trying to send detailed messages about my sick dove and am at the library, having no home internet. The computer won't send ;my message and now the library is closing in 5 minutes. Had to drive all the way into town for nothing.

Please, no time to rewrite.

My bird has chlamydophilia psittaci and is not responding to doxycycline treatment so far. I have two other birds, old birds who are not sick but also taking treatment, all for six weeks. the library is closing please give advice thanks


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Tourterelle said:


> «i,ve spent an hour trying to send detailed messages about my sick dove and am at the library, having no home internet. The computer won't send ;my message and now the library is closing in 5 minutes. Had to drive all the way into town for nothing.
> 
> Please, no time to rewrite.
> 
> My bird has chlamydophilia psittaci and is not responding to doxycycline treatment so far. I have two other birds, old birds who are not sick but also taking treatment, all for six weeks. the library is closing please give advice thanks


I have sent a message to the only person I see on line that might be able to help. I wish I could help you.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Be very careful about keeping your birds separate. Wash your hands after handling the Dove. Wash all dishes you use for the Dove separately from the dishes you use for your other birds.
Don't stop the medication. Keep the Dove warm.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

http://www.aza.org/AZAPublications/2006Proceedings/Documents/2006AnnualConf7.pdf


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Many years ago I had a Quaker parott that contracted the same thing from a sick pigeon someone had brought me. You need to be aware that the prolonged antibotic treatment can be very hard on the birds. It's your only option though.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

If it's not responding to the treatment, then how do you know it's Psittacosis?

You might try shifting to another drug like Baytril in case it's something else. Also, what are the symptoms?

Pidgey


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

It took my Quaker about 7 days before he started acting better. By acting better, I mean not so puffed and eating on his own. His recovery was a long process.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I think the library may have closed and Tourterell didn't log off.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I expect that we won't hear back until Monday when the library opens again unless Tourterelle can find another Internet connection between now and then. I read Tourterelle's few posts and see that they have access to a good vet. As difficult as it can be to diagnose that disease (Chlamydophila) for a certainty, it might be a possibility that it's something else.

I think we can all ante up on what we've seen of that particular disease. I've never seen it up close and personal. I know that Terry's friend, Bart, actually had many hundreds of birds die of it within 72 hours and he got sick himself. That said, I think it can be quite deadly and possibly more chronic.  If the bird's suffering respiratory symptoms, though, it could be something else like maybe a mycoplasmatale.

Pidgey


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Tourterelle, I hope you will get access to a computer some time before Monday. 

I've had great success curing respiratory infections with a mixture of Tylan and Doxycycline, the brand sold by the Australian Pigeon Company as Doxy-T. Baytril didn't work as well on my pigeons for respiratory problems. Doxy-T is available from Siegel Pigeons.com. Best of luck with your sick dove. 

-Cathy


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## xxmoxiexx (Oct 2, 2006)

Pidgey, what did he get, Bart? Did he get chlamydia himself? Wow, that many birds died, how common is this?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

xxmoxiexx said:


> Pidgey, what did he get, Bart? Did he get chlamydia himself? Wow, that many birds died, how common is this?


Bart tested positive for psittacosis and had to go through a course of Ciprofloxacin. He had more than a hundred ringneck doves that started showing signs of severe illness, and all but a few died within 72 hours. This happened during Exotic Newcastle Disease, so the ASSumption at first was that it was END that killed the birds, but that was not the case.

Terry


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## Tourterelle (Jan 16, 2008)

Thank you, everyone, for your answers. I've been away from internet for a long time.

I'm back today to at long last give you an update. First of all, there was a positive diagnosis confirmed by my avian vet after we got the lab results back from a complete respiratory profile we did on my dove, Sam. Everything else but this one microbe came back negative.

My vet said to start a six week treatment with doxycycline on all three birds, even though only Sam was showing any symptoms. And yes, it is infectious and I have to keep using a spray bottle with Virkon disinfectant. 

Well, after six weeks, Sam was doing a little better, but still sneezing, although he stopped having secretions within the first week of treatment.

So I've had a few talks with the vet. She said that my other two birds seem to have an immunity to this microbe, although she feels that they are most likely carrying it. She said that often what happens is that a bird with reasonable immunity will store this microbe in the bone marrow, where it does no harm and is not infectious. But unfortunately, if the bird at some point has less well functioning immune system, this microbe will emerge from "storage" and can become active.

However, this particular strain of microbe is rarely fatal. She said that it is possible for birds to continue living their lives even with this type of chronic infection. She said that there is a similar disease in rabbits, and they just go around sniffling and sneezing, but carry on their lives.

So finally, she said that if Sam was not too bad and there were no secretions, he could return with the other birds since they seemed to be immune. However, she said it is good to separate him at night, putting him in a small "hospital cage" and providing him with extra heat in the form of a large plastic bottle filled with hot water. I use a very large Welch's grape juice bottle, covered with a pillow case and some paper towels. This bottle is square, and Sam likes to sleep right on top of it.

My vet said that I need to watch Sam carefully, and if his symptoms start getting worse again, to bring him in, and that he would likely need to be treated from time to time. And so over the past week Sam has been getting worse again, after three months of doing better. Over the past week he had begun sneezing a lot more, and there were a bit of secretions from his nostrils. Yesterday, he saw the vet, who decided to give him a nasal flushing with a saline solution laced with the antibiotic Baytril, to clear out the mucus that had accumulated. The vet said he should take Baytril this time instead of doxycycline, and only for two weeks instead of six. And of course, to remove him from the other birds and keep him in the hospital cage for the whole two weeks. Since he has been moulting recently, the vet suggested that this extra strain on his system may have been responsible for his recent relapse.

I will speak to my vet the alternative antibiotic, Doxy-T, that was suggested by Cathy.

This is such a drag. But the vet said there is no need to think about euthanizing Sam, and that he can still carry on a fairly normal life most of the time. But it is a big drag.

Again thank you for your replies.

I hope my message gets through this time. 

Tourterelle


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## Tourterelle (Jan 16, 2008)

I'm back again. I've been reading through the link posted by Lovebirds, and find it interesting. I will try to get a copy printed to take home and read through carefully.

It seems as though there are various forms of this infection, and I guess I'm lucky that Sam has one of the more benign forms, since his only real symptoms are a lot of sneezing and nasal mucus, similar to symptoms of a common cold or allergy.

I'm going to study this document and it might be good to give a copy to my vet.

Again, thank you.


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

Perhaps you can make the symptoms appear less frequently if you start adding garlic and Apple Cider Vinegar to his water once a week. For dosages and information about how it can help (research and proof articles) pm me your email address for a free copy. I think it would reduce your vet visits for the little guy.


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## Tourterelle (Jan 16, 2008)

Thanks, philodice, for this info. I just sent you a private message with my e-mail address, but do not know it my message got through. I have to keep signing in. . . every time I click the mouse on this library computer to go somewhere or perform an operation, I become disconnected, and have to keep signing in again. This is perhaps not my day. . .

My dove has been on Baytril for nearly two weeks now, and I do not notice much of an improvement. While he is not really acting sick, he just keeps sneezing all day long and occasionally his nose runs a little. And he is definitely not enjoying life stuck in a little cage where all he can do is sit there and watch the other two birds from a distance.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You know, some of what you were saying applies to Chlamydophila and some sounds almost more like Mycoplasmatales. Those are ones that generally don't cause primary illness. Chlamydophila running rampant in a loft can definitely kill and false positives are also possible.

Pidgey


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