mega bacteria

[sarah]

hi,
Does anyone have any experience on treating megabacteria in budgies?we have
just lost one due to what we are convinced is this awful disease,we took her
to the vet who were very good but didnt have much clue other than the usual
infections and sadly we lost her before we could get her to a specialist
vet.
we have other birds thiugh they were seperated when she started becoming
unwell and are very worried about it.
i have heard that megabac s is a treatment and was wondering whether it was
available to get without seeing a vet incase we need to start treating
before we can get the birds seen.
many thanks
sarah

[Richard]

Hi, I'm not a vet, but I've had two birds diagnosed with it by a vet,
and I did some reading on it.

One died two days after purchase, and was diagnosed at necropsy-
the poor guy was full of the bacteria/fungus. He was extremely
underweight although he was eating all the time (since he was eating
lots, I thought he was fine), which I understand are classic symptoms.
The vet showed me the slide under the microscope, the slide was filled
with it.

My budgie right now has it (the vet took a stool sample and looked
under a microscope for the microbe), I am treating him right now,

The symptoms can be any combination of: weight loss, vomiting,
difficulty swallowing, eating without food going down, or no symptoms
other than poor weight gain.

The only treatment known to work is Amphotericin B, a prescription
antibiotic. If an avian-certified vet is available, having the bird
checked is certainly preferable to possibly misdiagnosing it.

In an emergency, you could ask your nearby vet to consult with a
board-certified avian specialist. I have a local board-certified avian
specialist who always fits me in that day if it's serious.

I bought a gram scale to watch his weight.

I see that this is an old e-mail, how did your budgie do?