# Help - I have a serious giardia problem in my flock.



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

My cockatiels have been struggling with giardia for too long. It started when I adopted Henry several years ago (upon his initial vet visit he was diagnosed via gram stain). My vet prescribed Metronidazole to be administered in their water, but after several week-long treatments with a 2-week break in between it proved to be ineffective. I was advised to keep their environment spotless and clean to avoid reinfection which I have done my best at. About 6 months ago my partner and I got really desperate and called a well-known avian vet out of town and he prescribed Dimetridazole, which we gave by beak to each bird once a day for a week. There have been periods where the symptoms (severe feather plucking, lethargy, diarrhea, weight loss) have subsided but it always returns full force. I have attached a photo of our girl Cheeky whose feather plucking has become out of control because of giardia. She is also a chronic egg layer and both of these factors have taken their toll on her. I am out of ideas as to how to treat this parasite and eradicate it for good so my flock can lead a happier and healthier existence. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


----------



## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

What cleaning protocol are you using? Have you treated them at all with direct oral meds, or all in their water?


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

I clean out their cage daily (change paper, wipe down any poop off of perches) and change water daily - sometimes twice daily - and always make sure their food is fresh and disinfect dishes and perches when needed. I have a special pet cleaning solution that I use to deep clean once a week. Sometimes I use vinegar. I try to minimize bird-to-poop contact as much as I can.

Years ago my vet advised me to treat them in their water (Metronidazole) but it never seemed to work. The second vet I contacted advised oral meds, which I treated them with a couple of times (with Dimetridazole). They have had diarrhea recently and bald patches under their wings has returned, with Cheeky's being by far the worst.


----------



## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

When I treated my flock for giardia a few years ago, the vet had me disinfect everything with F10 every single day that they were on the treatment (including cage bottoms and cage bars). It's extreme, but it worked for me. Apparently the issue with giardia is that when it's shed into the environment, it's very resilient, so you can treat over and over again but if you don't get it all as it's being shed, they can reinfect themselves. 

Also, has it been lab-confirmed that the current problems ARE caused by giardia? I know they have the hallmark symptoms, but I'd want to be sure, since it seems so persistent.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Did you get that cleaner from your vet or can you buy it online? I've attached an image of the cleaners I use. Do you think a mix of vinegar and lemon juice diluted in water will work too? I've read that bleach and boiling water kills giardia but I am very hesitant to use bleach.

I am 90% sure the symptoms are caused by the giardia. I've been considering taking Cheeky to a different vet (we recently found a vet in our area who is very good) to get her checked out but I haven't yet because I don't want to be told the same thing I've been told for years and have them prescribe the same meds... On the other hand I think it would be worth getting some tests done on her. Will make an appointment ASAP.


----------



## frozengirl (Nov 26, 2016)

This sounds awful, so sorry to hear about your situation. Are you sure those cleaning products are effective at killing all the germs? F10 should work, I would use f10 daily and maybe separate the tiels if possible for a week or two while on another course of treatment ( hopefully stronger treatment , twice daily if possible ) . Then I would continue vigorous cleaning for another two weeks, and see if symptoms return. The tiels that appear better I would house together after that month of quarenteen. The ones that don't I would assume their body may not be strong enough to fight it... and would ask the vet to monitor them, then do a test to see if they are better before returning to the flock. 

I know vinegar kills some germs, but I am unsure how much.. F10 is a vet level cleaner that is non toxic to birds, probably have to buy it online.

I'm no vet and never had to deal with that problem before, good luck friend, hope the new vet helps out!


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

enigma731 said:


> Also, has it been lab-confirmed that the current problems ARE caused by giardia? I know they have the hallmark symptoms, but I'd want to be sure, since it seems so persistent.


Forgot to add that it wasn't just Henry that tested positive (and he has been tested several times since), various members of my flock have tested positive for giardia over the years, the most recent one being Mabel. I took her to the vet for an exam when she was feather plucking.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

My partner and I gave the cage a full deep clean, disinfect, and rearrange today. We have a vet appointment on Monday. Will update again after that.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

The consultation went well today. Cheeky is staying overnight at the vet's. She is going to be re-tested for giardia and also for external parasites (he thought she may have mites due to the severity of her leg-plucking). We mentioned about her chronic egg-laying problem and the vet recommended a calcium supplement so we will be picking that up along with a new medication tomorrow. He said that Panacur (Fenbendazole) is his preferred medication for the treatment of giardia, which is something I hadn't heard of nor tried before. Fingers crossed.


----------



## tielbob (Mar 25, 2013)

Thanks for the news. Please continue to let us know how you're all doing.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

The vet found no trace of giardia but he found worm eggs in Cheeky's droppings so we are treating all 7 'tiels and Georgie with Panacur for 5 days. Panacur also cures giardia so if they did still have it that will be knocked on the head as well. The meds are definitely working, there are dead worms coming out and their diarrhea has cleared up. Doing a deep clean today so hopefully this will be the last of it. We are incredibly impressed with our new vet and will definitely keep him on!


----------



## ninfatiel (Jul 22, 2016)

I was at the point of loosing my flock summer before last-due to Coccidiosis (cousin of Giardia)What saved them was toltrazuril 5%-medication may be called differently but the active ingridient is-toltrazuril. I gave them couple of drops-each beaK twice a day, as I have many birds it was a struggle. Toltrazuril works against all protozoan infections and works well. Also temperature is of importance,protozoan are on the rise during hot summer months. I was expecting them this past August with bottle of toltrazuril ,baytrill at hand,but thank God they didnt return. For clening during cage deinfection I used http://degasa.com/media/Dermoqrit.jpg which was reccomended to me by vet. Now, I live in Mexico-toltrazuril is available here-not everywhere but one can find if one looks same goes for above mentioned cleaner. May be if you have someone in San Diego area they may cross the border and get some..Hope it is of some help to you
I was going to try Panacur (when I was desperately looking for a solution) but vet advised me not to,he said slight overdose will send birdie to the rainbow,while even large overdose of toltrazuril is well tolerated


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Ah ok thank you. Glad to hear your flock is okay. The dose of Panacur was 0.06ml to 100g body weight so we were able to get the dosage exact by weighing every bird. We purchased a steam cleaner which has been advised to be the best way to eradicate bugs in the environment and it worked super well on the cages/perches/floor etc. The day after the last dose there has been some vomiting and bubbly droppings which had me very worried. Honey seems to have taken it the worst, she was fluffed and sleepy all day and didn't eat or drink but she managed to eat this evening. Watching for signs of candida (she has had it in the past) but she seems to have improved.


----------



## frozengirl (Nov 26, 2016)

Aww those poor babies had worms! I hope they get better soon! Merry Christmas


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

They are all doing well now. Honey recovered and is back to her old self. There has been a huge improvement in everyone's droppings. Would highly recommend Panacur, it has done the job 100%.


----------

