# Protozoal infection - need advice, please



## guatemama (Jan 30, 2010)

Willie's droppings have become even more watery, so made another trip to the vet today and he definitely has some kind of protozoal infection. He's on Metronidazole for 10 days (higher dose than the first time), and the vet said to step up the cage cleaning. Additional complications - my new baby budgie, Ginkgo, has been here for 2 weeks - cage is in the same room but 20 ft away. Also awaiting the arrival, possibly this weekend, of baby tiel Beaker, who will have a separate brand new cage. How should I clean Willie's cage, and how often, to make sure his infection doesn't return? How might the other birds catch it? Should I put budgie boy and baby tiel in a separate room? (that's already the plan for baby tiel - but should I move Ginkgo out as well?) How long is the protozoal stuff contagious?


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

OK...what I would do is phone the city water department and ask if you can have you water tested. I'm not sure if Home Depot sells water testing kits.

The protozoa has to be coming from somewhere, and the most common source is from the water. To be on the safe side you might ask the vet about treating all the birds. I have found that many times tiels do not like the taste of the Metronidazole, especially if it is in the water...thus they don't drink enough in the amounts needed for the meds to be effective. this results in treatment failure. I have found that (do an internet search) Ronivet-S works alot better, and has no nasty taste that puts the tiels off from drinking. Therefore treatment succes is better.

the problem with these treatments is that after treatment you will have to follow up with an antifungal and probiotics. The meds mess up the intestinal flora and can contribute to a secondary yeast infection.

As to cleaning, you might ask your vet as to the best thing to use for a cleaning agent. I have used a bleach solution, and then placed all everything cleaned (including perches, toys) out in the sun for several hours. the sun is the best disinfectant after washing surfaces.


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## guatemama (Jan 30, 2010)

Thanks! The metronidazole is a suspension - I give him 1 cc "by beak" twice daily - he does OK with it - not thrilled but OK. I'll try to find Ronivet-S for the other two birds. I have some probiotics that I put in the water last time he was on antibiotics.


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## kfelton0002 (Mar 12, 2010)

I don't know if your bird is infected with the same protazoan, but we have had huge problems in the past with coccidiosis b/c of our turkeys and chickens. They get it from wild bird droppings. Coccidiosis is a protozoan infection of the intestinal tract and is common in fowl. It is transmitted to birds and other animals when they come into contact with an infected animal's feces. My cockatiels have never picked it up, but my dog got it when she was a pup from eating chicken poop in the yard. I know that for our poultry we treat them with tylen-50 and LS-50, sometimes liquimycin which we buy at our local farm supply store, but the vet gave my dog flagyl (metronidazole) and she was fine. As far as cleaning the cages, use bleach and soapy water to clean everything thoroughly. Once the round of flagyl is complete your bird should no longer be contagious, however if he has come into contact with your other birds in any way then you may need to get them all tested and treated as well. Keep him quarantined off from the rest of your birds to prevent infection if it hasn't been transmitted already. You definitely need to keep little Beaker separate from the other birds until the infection is completely gone b/c coccidiosis is hard on younger fowl. A young bird's immune system isn't as strong as an adult so be careful. And wash your hands between handling each bird to prevent transmission that way. Hope everything goes well and congrats on your new baby tiel!


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