Going light

[lorri]

Hi all!

I don't know if you had heard of this disease it's a weight problem.
unfortunately there isn't a cure.

The symptoms are lose of weight, the bird keeps eating and when being handled it's very thin like all bones.

Some of my hubby's bird suffered from this and they don't live for very long. Considering there is no cure (well not what I know of) you just have to take nature as it comes.

This is not nice to know if your a bird lover like me and you.

[tstmard]

Is there any known cause of it?

Edit: Here's a link for a article I actually just found on it.
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_goinglight.mgi
I think this is a okay link because I don't think it's really a forum.

[aka.pody]

I've never heard of that. Could it be some kind of cancer that the bird has? Maybe something he was born with.

Do you have any more info about it?

edit: I was just looking at the bird diseases sticky and it's shown there as megabacteria.
One of my budgies, Blue (r.i.p.) had megabacteria. That's what the vet told us anyway. I can't remember the name of the med we gave him. It needed to be refrigerated. That's all I remember.
He had lost weight because he was vomiting a lot.

[atvchick95]

Is there any known cause of it?

Edit: Here's a link for a article I actually just found on it.
http://www.ladygouldianfinch.com/features_goinglight.mgi
I think this is a okay link because I don't think it's really a forum.


reading that - makes it sound an awful lot like Tape worm! When humans get it they get skinny(or stay skinny) no matter how much they eat, because the Tape worm is eating what they're eating before the body gets to use the food!

same thing when it's a cat or dog with tape worm - it has been known to kill healthy looking dogs and cats, and birds can get worms just as well! not sure if tape worm is one of them but the symptoms sure are the same.

Symptoms

Often no signs or symptoms
Most people who are infected with tapeworm don't show symptoms.
Signs and symptoms of intestinal infection
Most likely, you won't have any signs or symptoms with an intestinal infection. It's possible you might notice segments of the adult tapeworm (proglottids) in your stool. Other possible signs and symptoms include:


Nausea
Weakness
Loss of appetite
Abdominal pain
Diarrhea
Weight loss and inadequate absorption of nutrients from food

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tapeworm/DS00659/DSECTION=symptoms

[ronsig]

Here is a good article on it:
http://www.birds-online.de/gesundheit/gesinfektion/gls_en.htm

It is a terrible disease:(

Sigrid

[aka.pody]

Here is a good article on it:
http://www.birds-online.de/gesundheit/gesinfektion/gls_en.htm

It is a terrible disease:(

Sigrid

That's a great article about the disease. When my Blue had it, the vet told us that he could have been born with the disease. That it's entirely possible for the mother to pass it on to her babies. He also said that it can lay dormant for a long time then suddenly show up. It's highly contagious so any bird in the pet store or breeders cage can carry it. And yes, it's almost always fatal.

[lorri]

Good work sigrid.

Will any of you will try this herb method I would like to give it ago it will keep going light at bay.

[mskimber]

when mine were sick they kept checking stool and couldn't find it but i really believe that's what they have, vet did say it can be passed from birth on. sangria will still pass seed ocassionally- it is very worrisome.

[lorri]

I have never seen my hubby's canaries been sick with going light they are forever eating and not gaining weight.

[BlueBirdsMom]

The symptoms of the disease you describe also matches the most insidious disease for all Avians called Proventricular Dilation Disease. PDD aka macaw wasting disease aka "going light". I am all too familiar with PDD. I used to have 6 African Grey Parrots LONG before my budgies. I had lost every single Grey, one by one over a period of 4 years. PDD is a disease that must be known about for bird owners, what's so insidious about this disease is that there is no test for it, no cure. The only diagnostic measures that are 99% effective in diagnosing this illness is a complete histo and necropsy on a dead bird suspected of the disease. PDD is often suspected in a bird who continuously eats large amounts of food, but continues to lose weight. You can't always tell weight loss in a bird due to the swelling in the proventriculas and crop from undigested food that sits causing endless bacterial infections. PDD affects the nerves of the digestive system and the brain. it's a slow death where the digestive tract including ventriculas, proventriculas, crop all become thin walled, and lose their ability to absorb and move food and nutrients through the body to the intestines. Therefore a bird basically slowly starves to death. If affecting the brain , the nervous system becomes involved causing seizures, head twitching, and slow loss of muscle movements including the ability to perch. Some of my birds had neurological involvement and some had digestive only. Some had both. it's the most dreadful disease to have to go through.

Diagnostics used to suggest PDD with Dr. Micheal at The University of Guelph were Xrays to show enlarged and the thin walled crop, proventriculas, ventriculas. Barrium testing to indicate the slow movement of dye through the system , if it moves at all. Crop Bioposy is only
effective if it so happens you capture affected nerves. You can have a false negative and it's a very invasive operation on a bird. ( we didn't do this testing as it's not effective in giving a secure test result ). Regardless, if PDD is suspected, it's simply fatal. The only thing you can do is feed soft foods, take drugs for mobility and continuous drugs for the bacterial and yeast infections caused by rotting food in the system. Often Metacam is prescribed for discomfort and to reduce the swelling of the muscles around the nerves. It was suggested that by taking metacam it would slow down the damage and prolong life, but this doesn't work for all birds.

Quarantine is not full proof, meaning, that even after a 90 day quarantine there is no guarantee that your new bird doesn't have the disease. The other horrible thing about this disease is that some birds directly exposed to sick birds can survive and never show symptoms, yet become carriers. In my case. every bird was exposed and some lived longer then others. Whole flocks have been wiped out by this disease and others have possible carriers in which they will never know if they will develop the disease . You can never have another bird with any surviving PDD exposed birds. Some birds after exposure die within week sor months, some live for up to 10 years before eventually dieing from the disease and others may be carriers. We don't know enough about this disease to be able to clarify whether it is a virus or bacteria, however current testing suggests it is a virus.

To read more about PDD visit:

http://www.multiscope.com/hotspot/pdd.htm
http://www.stoppdd.org




All Avians can be afflicted by this diease. Something to keep in mind when thinking about new birds, quarentine and exposing your birds to others at shows etc.\\

[lorri]

I don't thimk many people ever heard of going light I'm pleased I've brought it up for the of all bird owners.

[Budgiebreeder11]

So I have had birds die of this. I have 13 budgies that are all in the same cage. Does this mean they will all contract this ailment?

[ozzie]

How long ago did your birds die of going light.....if its been years then I don't think your budgies would be infected..but i would disenfect everything just in case! and if any bird shows symptoms you should quarentine him/her.

[lorri]

Carly I only got the one budgie but my hubby has many canaries cos he is a breeder and exhibitor. That I'm not too sure of but they live up three or four weeks from having the disease.

[Budgiebreeder11]

I have disenfected everything right after the event so everything should be fine. Do we know what causes (going light?)

[lorri]

Going light is just a symptom of starvation. The reasons for the bird not eating can be wide and varied- ranging from an injury resulting in infection, through to a hen bird sitting so closely on eggs she does not take care of herself properly. This is a common problem in poultry but rare in pigeons and doves as the cock bird usually takes over incubation duties during the day.

The most common cause of "going light" is a gut flora problem. The stomach and intestine walls are usually thickly lined with bacteria which is vital for the digestive processes. This lining provides a protective barrier against harmful bacteria, which the bird encounters on an every-day basis. Lets face it - we all know pigeons will pick among their own and other bird's ***** while foraging, no matter how hygienic we are at keeping their living quarters clean!

I hope this was helpful Bridget :)

[2many]

Very interesting. Over the years I have lost finches, canaries, and maybe even budgies (and grass keets?) to illnesses where some of these symptoms were present. All seemed very thin despite eating a lot. One of the canaries even had a necropsy and nothing was found. Nothing undigested was ever found in their droppings, just very thin and always at the food dish :( .

[fritz]

This is a very old thread, but very interesting!! I'm a tad lost between Giardia, Chlamydia, & PDD...Felix & Leo has lost weight, both cages being 5 birds in all have some green -grayish droppings leaning to Chlamydia, but Giardia also has similar symptoms..Man, PDD..I've had Felix & Leo for almost 2Years now, I can't see it being PDD, God no! There must be a cure for this thing or some herbal foods should help..Anyway, I was doing more research and sure enough a TB thread came up..LOL Keep us the good work on your SEO!!! Keywords work ;)