Association of Avian Veterinarians

Consider Brain Lesion with BlindnessAuthor(s): Chris MurphySource: AAV Today, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), p. 11Published by: Association of Avian VeterinariansStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27670214 .

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^

t?udan ?nactitio+tesi Vol. 1 No. 1 Assnrmtinn of Avian VPtPrinarians January, 1987

9*1 My experience...

The material presented as "In My

Experience.." is not refereed;

therefore, the practitioner is

responsible for any use of this

information.

IME: Conjunctivitis in Pet Birds

In contrast to raptors, whose ocular

lesions are primarily trauma-related, the

majority of ophthalmic problems in pet birds appear to be infectious in nature

by the time they are seen by the

practitioner, although these may be

secondary to malnutrition, shipping or

other Stressors.

Conjunctivitis is one of the most

common and also one of the most

potentially frustrating ocular conditions

in pet birds. Frequently the etiology is

not determined despite extensive

diagnostic testing.

During the physical examination, a

conjunctival culture should be taken,

topical anesthetic instilled, and a

conjunctival scraping performed. Because the scraping actually involves

removing some of the cells, not just the

mucous, this step must be done

carefully, as the avian lid is very thin

and delicate. Permanent damage may result from overenthusiastic scraping.

I use a platinum spatula

(approximately $90) which is very malleable for the scraping, but the back

of a sterilized scapel blade is effective.

The practitioner is advised to scrape two

to three times in the same direction (not

I back and forth), and deposit the sample in the center of a slide.

Generally 3 slides are made. One is

stained with Diff-Quik for cytologie examination; one is stained with Gram's

stain, which may assist in deciding the

most appropriate therapy; and one is

kept in reserve and submitted for special

staining if indicated (e.g., chlamydia IF A, PAS). If the conjunctivitis is

bacterial in nature, the cytologie examination will usually reveal this.

In my experience, the most common

situation where a definitive causative

agent is identified is in conjunctivitides associated with upper respiratory disease. In these cases we have isolated

identical bacterial organisms from

conjunctival and pharyngeal swabs as

well as from trach?al washes. If bacteria are not visible on the slide, the client

should be informed that a definitive

diagnosis may not be made and that

therapy may be extended.

The cause of non-bacterial

conjunctivitis could be viral, fungal,

chlamydial, mycoplasmal or parasite

related. For example, we have seen

birds in which the only clinical sign of

chlamydia is conjunctivitis. These would

require the full 45 day treatment with

chlortetracycline to clear up the ocular

condition.

Symptomatic therapy of conjunctivitis may begin with chloramphenicol

ophthalmic ointment. This broad

spectrum antibiotic is also reasonably effective against chlamydia and

mycoplasma. ? Chris Murphy, DVM, PhD,

University of California, Davis \

IME: Consider Brain

Lesion with Blindness

The practitioner should keep in mind

that a bilaterally blind bird without

ocular lesions may indeed have a brain

lesion. We have seen several cases of

budgerigars that developed acute

blindness secondary to chromophobe

adenomas, and in large parrots we've

seen granulomas in the brain that were

related to the blindness. ? Chris Murphy, DVM, PhD,

University of California, Davis

Refereed Presentations in this Issue

Campbell, Terry W.

Kennedy, George A.: Fibrosarcoma in a

Cockatiel (Nymphicus

Hollandicus).19

Ritchie, Branson W.: Treatment of

Organophosphate Toxicosis in Columba Livia.23

THE AVIAN PRACTITIONER VOL1 NO.1 1987 11

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