Kiki's respiratory infection

Kiki had been unwell for a while when she came to see Catherine. Her owner had noticed her putting more effort into breathing and having a nasal discharge. She had taken her to her usual vet who had prescribed a course of antibiotics but even after a long course she hadn't really improved. So she came to see Catherine. At first samples from her nostrils were taken but no bacteria could be grown, probably due to the effects of the antibiotics. So a course of nebulisation was prescribed and the antibiotics were stopped.

After she had been off the antibiotics he came back for investigation. She was admitted for an anaesthetic so that she could have x-rays and samples taken from deeper in her respiratory tract.

When the results came back they showed that Kiki had a respiratory infection caused by a bacteria called pseudomonas which was resisitant to several antibiotics, including the ones she had previously been taking. Fortunately there were a couple of options for antibiotics which the bacteria are susceptible to.

We're all hoping that the new antibiotics will get rid of this nasty infection so that Kiki can go back to being a bright chirpy bird again.

The bacteria that was found from Kiki's samples was one which is usually found in vegetative matter and soil. Kiki's owner is a keen gardener and we assume she was infected from bacteria on her owner's hands or clothes after gardening despite being so careful about hygiene. This goes to show that you need to be extremely careful when it comes to birds and potential sources of bacteria.

Update: Kiki has also tested positive for Chlamydia, this means a long course of antibiotics but we're hoping we can treat it successfully. The chlamydia has probably weakened her immune system and allowed the pseudomonas infection to take hold.