| SUBMISSION
OF SAMPLES FROM A DISTANCE FOR DIAGNOSIS
Making the most of your avian vet
“Do you like my tie?”
By Dr Colin Walker BSc, BVSc, MRCVS,
MACVSc (Avian health)
Many fanciers live a long way from an avian vet and even those who
live close by can find it hard to physically find the time to get
to the vet. However from the vet’s point of view it’s
virtually impossible to make an accurate diagnosis and therefore give
real advice that is going to help the fancier without having a pigeon
or samples presented for testing.
Sometimes fanciers ring or email our clinic with very non-specific
signs such as the birds are reluctant to fly or some are a bit quiet
and fluffed. They ask have I got an idea or any theories as to what
the problem might be. It’s a bit like ringing a motor mechanic
from home with the car parked in the garage and saying the car won’t
start and asking what could it be. A veterinary friend of mine when
in this situation asks the client over the phone if he likes his tie.
The fancier says “I don’t know, I can’t see your
tie”, to which the vet replies “and I can’t see
your bird”.
A real diagnosis enables accurate and correct advice and also enables
the development of an understanding of the problem so that measures
can be taken to prevent the problem occurring again. And so how does
a fancier who cannot get to an avian vet get an accurate diagnosis?
The answer is to submit the correct samples from a distance and these
days it is not that hard. Submitted samples can include droppings,
a canker pouch, a Chlamydia test, and dead or live birds.
The most important and common diseases in pigeons are canker, coccidiosis,
Circo virus, worms and respiratory infection. These days all can be
diagnosed from submitted samples. And so how is this done?
1. Coccidiosis and Worms – To diagnose these problems
dropping are posted to the vet. Simply go out to the loft (late afternoon
is best because this is when coccidia eggs are shed in the highest
number) and collect 6-10 droppings from different perches (so they
are from different birds) into a single water tight container. Include
any that are green or watery. A bank coin bag with a press seal works
well. Put this is an overnight bag and mail to the vet. The vet can
check these droppings for coccidia and worms. Sometimes other problems
such as Hexamita, yeast and bacterial infections can be found.
2. Canker – Wet canker is the most common and serious
disease of racing pigeons and stops good pigeons from performing well.
And yet often nothing is visible to the fancier in the loft. If a
bird is in the clinic, saliva can be aspirated from the throat and
examined immediately under the microscope to check for these organisms.
If there is a delay in examination the organisms die making their
identification difficult. These days canker pouches are available
that can be mailed to the vet. Essentially these are small plastic
bags with a clip seal full of a nutrient solution that keeps the canker
organisms alive. Simply get a clean cotton bud and wipe it around
the inside of a pigeons throat and then dip it into the fluid in the
bag and stir (not unlike stirring a cup of tea). Remove the cotton
bud and seal the canker bag. It will look to you as if there is nothing
on the cotton bud but if canker organisms are present there will be
many, many of them there and they will be easy for the vet to detect.
Repeat the procedure with as many birds as you like and then mail
the bag to the vet in the same way as the droppings.
3. Respiratory infection – The most common cause of respiratory
infection in pigeons is Chlamydia. To see if birds are infected a
fancier can send a drop of blood and/or some cells collected from
the eyelid or throat. This may sound difficult but in fact it is really
easy. A Chlamydia test kit contains only 3 things – a needle,
a fine strip of blotting type paper and a small clip lock plastic
test tube. The bird is pricked with the needle at the end of the toe
at the base of the claw. When a drop of blood oozes to the skin surface
it is wiped off with the paper and the paper is then put into the
test tube and the lid clipped closed. This test tube with the paper
inside is then mailed to the vet. In the early stages of infection
Chlamydia is found in the membranes lining the throat and eyelid while
later in the infection it appears in the blood. This means that if
the fancier wants to be particularly thorough he can wipe the paper
over the roof of the birds mouth or place it between the eyeball and
eyelid and let the bird blink a few times before putting the drop
of blood on the paper. Once the paper is submitted to the vet with
a few cells and blood on it this can be incredibly accurately checked
for Chlamydia. (the Chlamydia DNA is checked for using a test called
a PCR)
Doing this test means that if the birds are, for example, sneezing,
reluctant to fly or panting after moderate exercise – signs
that may or may not be due to respiratory infection – enables
the fanciers to know whether his birds have a respiratory infection
or not and will or will not benefit from a course of antibiotics.
This test has the big advantage that other diseases in particular
Circo and Herpes viruses can also be tested for off the same sample
particularly in young birds.
Doing these tests takes the guess work out of treating your birds.
Fanciers often ring saying their mates said their problem could be
this or that while another friend said he should try a particular
treatment. Following up on these guesses or trying these suggestions
rarely works and just wastes time. Even if the birds appear to improve
what caused the problem is not really known and if you don’t
know what caused it you don’t know what to do to stop it occurring
again. These days there are no excuses for not doing accurate tests
on your birds.
Submitting droppings, a canker pouch and a Chlamydia test through
the post to your vet enables him to test your birds for the common
diseases and make real suggestions to improve their health. Fanciers
should include the cost of several such health profiles throughout
the racing season as part of the inherent cost of keeping a race team
healthy and in race form throughout the season.
Australian fanciers wishing to have canker pouches and Chlamydia test
kits mailed to them simple need to phone our clinic.
More serious diseases
More serious diseases require either live birds to be couriered to
the clinic or dead birds to be sent to the clinic. Pigeons are not
delicate birds and they do not die easily. If a bird dies at home
it’s body can be posted to a vet for autopsy. Do not freeze
the body as this destroys all of the tissues for diagnosis. It is
important however that the body is chilled and posted as quickly as
possible. Decomposition in pigeons starts in 4 hours. A good idea
is to dip the body into an icy bucket of water containing a detergent.
This enables the cold water to flush through the feathers and come
in contact with the skin. Let the bird soak for 1-2 hours, then wrap
it in several layers of newspaper, place in an overnight bag and mail
to the vet. Dead birds are always worth mailing but after 12 and 24
hours the level of diagnostic accuracy starts to decline. It is usually
routine and surprisingly economical to courier in unwell live birds.
Fanciers should ring their local vet who will be able to advise them
of the couriers usually used.
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