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ANS II – Diseases and Parasites Pictures courtesy of Google Images WEEK 1 9/8 – 9/11 Rabies • Cause: • Virus • Description: • Zoonotic viral disease that attacks the nervous system • How it’s contracted: • Through bites and scratches of infected animals (specifically through their saliva) which carries the virus • Symptoms: • Can occur 2 weeks – 3 months after the bite • CNS abnormalities, such as loss of coordination • Extreme behavior changes, such as aggression • Prevention and Treatment: • Vaccination Rabies • Other info: • “Furious” rabies – animal may act strange and then wander off, attack and bit anything in it’s path, commonly seen frothing at the mouth • “Dumb” rabies – no wandering, but paralysis of lower jaw followed by paralysis of body and death Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Zoonotic bacterial disease • How it’s contracted: • Through the bite of an infected tick • Symptoms: • Fever, headache, abdominal pain, vomiting, muscle pain • Rash may also develop, but often absent in the first few days • Prevention and Treatment: • Tick preventative • Avoid woody areas during tick season Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Lyme Disease • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Zoonotic bacterial infection • How it’s contracted: • Through the bite of an infected tick • Symptoms: • Lameness, swollen joints, fever • Rash, distinctive skin lesions • Hives, flu-like symptoms • Prevention and Treatment: • Tick preventative • Lyme vaccination • Avoid woody areas during tick season Roundworms (Ascarids) • Cause: • Internal parasite • Description: • Zoonotic, internal parasites that affect dogs and cats intestinal systems; may grow up to 8” long when mature • How it’s contracted: • Contact with parasite in unclean environment or by female dogs to puppies • Symptoms: • Fever, headache, cough, poor appetite, pot-bellied appearance in puppies and kittens if severe • Prevention and Treatment: • Deworming pets • Good sanitation Roundworms Tapeworm • Cause: • Internal parasite • Description: • Flat, segmented internal worm that lives in the small intestines and can range from several inches to several feet • How it’s contracted: • Ingesting fleas or infected feces, animals or meat • Symptoms: • White segments of worm moving on anus/rectal area of animal or in their feces • Anal itching • May cause AHD (Alveolar Hydatid Disease) – can be fatal or produce parasitic tumors/cysts in the liver • Prevention and Treatment: • Flea prevention • Avoid feeding uncooked meat, raw game or dead animals Tapeworm Hookworm • Cause: • Internal parasite • Description: • Small, thin, blood-sucking intestinal worms that attach to an animal’s small intestines • How it’s contracted: • • • • • Migration through the placenta in utero Ingesting infected mother’s milk Ingesting larvae in the soil Direct penetration of the skin through pads of feet Ingesting an intermediate host • Symptoms: • Severe blood loss, malnutrition, bloody wine-dark or tar-dark diarrhea, anemia • Prevention and Treatment: • Deworm pets • Good sanitation Hookworm WEEK 2 9/14 – 9/18 Salmonellosis • Cause: • Salmonella bacteria • Description: • Zoonotic bacterial disease • How it’s contracted: • Through contact with salmonella bacteria which is on the skin of reptiles and amphibians as well as dirty environments • Symptoms: • Gastroenteritis (stomach upset), fever, diarrhea, vomiting • Miscarriage/spontaneous abortion in dogs • Prevention and Treatment: • Wash hands after contact with reptiles • Clean environment Ringworm • Cause: • Fungus • Description: • Zoonotic fungal skin disease • How it’s contracted: • Spread through contact with infected animal or materials exposed to infected animal • Symptoms: • Round, scaly encrusted lesions with hair loss • Prevention and Treatment: • Clean environment and supplies Ringworm Ticks • Cause: • External parasite • Description: • External parasite that feeds on the blood of host animals • How it’s contracted: • Dogs and other animals pick up ticks in tall brush and grass • Symptoms: • Blood loss, anemia, tick paralysis, skin irritation and infection • Prevention and Treatment: • Tick preventative, Lyme vaccine, avoid woody areas during tick season Canine Distemper • Cause: • Virus • Description: • Contagious, viral illness caused by the Morbillivirus • How it’s contracted: • Spread through air and direct and indirect contact with infected animals and materials • Symptoms: • High fever, reddened eyes, watery discharge from nose and eyes, lethargy, anorexia, persistent coughing/vomiting/diarrhea • Later stages can include seizures, paralysis and hysteria • Prevention and Treatment: • Distemper vaccine Canine Distemper Canine Parvovirus Infection • Cause: • Virus • Description: • Highly contagious, viral disease, which most severely affects the intestinal tract • Attacks the white blood cells, and can damage the heart muscle and cause lifelong cardiac problems • How it’s contracted: • Spread through contact with infected animal feces • Symptoms: • Lethargy, severe vomiting, loss of appetite and bloody, foulsmelling diarrhea that can lead to life-threatening dehydration • Prevention and Treatment: • Parvovirus vaccine • Clean environment Canine Parvovirus Kennel Cough (Tracheobronchitis) • Cause: • Bordetella bronchiseptica (parainfluenza virus) and mycoplasma bacteria • Description: • Very highly contagious respiratory disease among dogs • How it’s contracted: • Contact with infected animal, typically in congested/highly populated areas (kennel, clinics, pet stores, dog parks, ect.) • Symptoms: • Dry, hacking cough leading to vomiting/retching • Watery nasal discharge • Prevention and Treatment: • Bordetella vaccine • Limit boarding/kennel-like environment Kennel Cough WEEK 3 9/21 – 9/25 Canine Brucellosis • Cause: • Brucella canis bacteria • Description: • Zoonotic, bacterial infection which affects the reproductive organs of both male and female dogs • How it’s contracted: • Spread by body fluids (both sexual fluids and urine) • Airborne transmission is very rare, but has been reported • Spread quickly among dogs that are kept in closely confined areas especially during breeding times and when abortions occur • Symptoms: • Abortion in 3rd trimester of pregnancy, conception failures, inflammation of reproductive organs and lymph nodes • Prevention and Treatment: • Avoid contact w/ infected animals, test before breeding, routine disinfecting of facilities Canine Brucellosis Heart Disease • Cause: • Old age, injury, infection or genetics • Description: • Chronic, congestive heart failure • How it’s contracted: • Non-contagious • Can be caused by diet and exercise factors, old age, injury or infection • Symptoms: • Coughing, difficulty breathing, lack of energy, pacing/hard time settling down, later symptoms include swollen belly, fainting, pale to bluish gray gums and tongue, weight loss • Prevention and Treatment: • Provide proper diet and exercise Heart Disease Cataracts • Cause: • Can develop from disease, old age and trauma to the eye, but inherited conditions are the most common cause, especially with diabetes • Description: • Opacity in the lens of a dog’s eye, causing blurry vision and, if left untreated, blindness • Symptoms: • Dog’s eyes look cloudy or bluish-gray • Disorientation/signs vision difficulty • Prevention and Treatment: • Examine dog’s eyes regularly for cloudiness • Do not breed dogs with a history of cataracts Cataracts Arthritis • Cause: • Degeneration of the joints and synovial fluid in joints due to age or previous injury • Description: • Inflammation of the joints • Symptoms: • Dog “slows down” • Trouble w/ normal activities • Limping/stiffness • Prevention and Treatment: • Joint supplements (fish oil, glucosamine/chondroitin) – begin as early at 5 years old Blastomycosis • Cause: • Blastomyces dermatitidis fungus • Description: • Systematic yeast-like fungal infection commonly found in decaying wood and soil (fungus thrives in wet conditions) • How it’s contracted: • Dog inhales airborne fungal spores after contaminated soil has been disturbed from digging/following scent trail • Spores can also enter through skin • Direct exposure to pus leaking from wound • Symptoms: • Fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, eye discharge & inflammation, difficulty breathing, skin lesions filled with pus • Prevention and Treatment: • avoid areas where exposure is high risk (wood, swamps, lakes) • Avoid animals with open wounds Blastomycosis Whipworms • Cause: • Internal parasite • Description: • 2” to 3” long, threadlike worm that fastens to the wall of last part of the small intestine and the first part of the large intestine • Thicker on one end, giving them a “whip-like” appearance • Eggs can live in environment for 5 years • How it’s contracted: • Ingesting infected matter • Exposure to infected animal or materials • Symptoms: • Dog has sense of “urgency” to go to bathroom and may strain to defecate, diarrhea (can be bloody and covered in mucous), heavy infestations can lead to anemia, weight loss and lethargy • Prevention and Treatment: • Deworm pets, good sanitation, remove stool from yard Whipworm 9/28-10/2 WEEK 4 Heartworms • Cause: • internal parasite • Description: • Large worms develop from larvae in the heart and major blood vessels; can reach up to 12” in length; live for 5-7 years; can migrate to lungs • Dogs can have as many as 250 worms in their heart at a time • How it’s contracted: • Through bite of mosquito, infected with microfilaria (larvae) • Symptoms: • Incubation period: do not appear until 6 months after bite from mosquito (larvae mature) • Cough, animal becomes easily winded, loss of consciousness/passes out, death • Prevention and Treatment: • Annual heartworm test • Heartworm preventative medication Heartworms Fleas • Cause: • External parasite • Description: • Brown, blood-sucking insect that move rapidly over the skin • May develop from eggs to adult in as little as 16 days • How it’s contracted: • Contact with parasite or from another animal • Cat fleas and dog fleas may first be detected in the groin and rump area of the animal • Symptoms: • Causes irritation and extreme itching • Prevention and Treatment: • Flea preventative medication • Controlled with powders, dips, shampoos, collars, oral insecticides, foggers and sprays Feline Panleukopenia (Feline Distemper) • Cause: • Parvovirus or DNA virus • Description: • Infectious disease that primarily affects young cats younger than 16 weeks of age and has a 75% death rate • How it’s contracted: • Spread by direct contact, but also from infected food and water dishes, bedding, and litter boxes • Symptoms: • Depression, loss of appetite, high fever, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration • Prevention and Treatment: • FVRCP vaccine • Clean environment Feline Panleukopenia Feline Herpesvirus (FHV) • Cause: • DNA virus • Description: • Infectious respiratory infection shed in the discharges from the nose, eyes and throat • Cats can become carriers • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with virus • Symptoms: • Depression, sneezing and coughing, severe eye and nasal discharges with an increase in temperature, and mouth ulcers • Prevention and Treatment: • Vaccine Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) • Cause: • Coronavirus • Description: • Infectious disease that leads to organ failure • More common in domestic cats, but few actually show signs of the disease • How it’s contracted: • Cat-to-cat contact and exposure to feces • Most common transmission – infected female cat passes along the virus to their kittens • Symptoms: • fever, refusal to eat, depression and weight loss • Prevention and Treatment: • Litter boxes should be kept clean and located away from food and water dishes • Prevent overcrowding; proper nutrition • Keep cats current on vaccinations, FIP vaccine is not very effective and not recommended Feline Enteric Coronavirus • Cause: • virus • Description: • Infectious disease in kittens between 4-12 weeks of age • How it’s contracted: • Ingestion of contaminated feces • Symptoms: • Low grade fever, vomiting, soft or watery diarrhea, blood in the feces, dehydration • Prevention and Treatment: • Prevent overcrowding, daily litter box cleaning, weekly litter box disinfection, clipping/cleaning fur from the hind end of long haired cats Week 5 10/5 – 10/9 Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS) • Cause/How it’s contracted: • Improper diet (where cats are fed high levels of magnesium and phosphorous) • Low water intake that causes concentrations of various salts in the urine or possibly a virus • Description: • Non-infectious feline urinary tract disease also referred to as Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) • Very common in male cats • Symptoms: • Urinating outside of litter box, difficulty urinating, painful urination • May range from mild inflammation to blockage or the urethra, uremic poisoning, and death • Prevention and Treatment: • Control stress in cat’s life • Increase water consumption • Use of urinary diet food Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS) Feline Viral Respiratory Disease (Upper Respiratory Infections – URIs) • Cause: • Virus • Description: • Highly contagious infection that affects the respiratory systems of cats • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with infected discharge from the eyes, nose, mouth of cat • By contaminated litter boxes, water bowls, and human hands • Rarely by airborne droplets • Symptoms: • Begins with severe bouts of sneezing conjunctivitis and watery discharge from the eyes and nose fever, apathy, loss of appetite • Cat will breathe with their mouths • Prevention and Treatment: • FVRCP Vaccination Feline Viral Respiratory Disease (Upper Respiratory Infections – URIs) Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) • Cause/Description: • A retrovirus that affects the white blood cells, leading to immune deficiency • How it’s contracted: • Infected mother to kitten through milk • Contact with infected saliva and nasal secretions, but also in urine, feces, and milk from infected cats • Symptoms: • • • • Loss of appetite Weight loss Poor coat condition Enlarged lymph nodes • Prevention and Treatment: • Keep cat indoors • FeLV vaccination Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) Feline Gingivitis • Cause: • Plaque accumulation due to lack of dental care, old age, crowded teeth, soft food, diabetes, ect. • Description: • Considered the earliest stage of periodontal disease • Inflammation of the gingiva (gums) • Symptoms: • Red or swollen gums, especially on the side of the gum facing the inner cheeks • Halitosis/bad breath • Variable amounts of plaque and calculus on the tooth surface • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper dental care and diet Feline Gingivitis Wet Eye • Cause/Description: • Excessive tear production or blockage of drainage canals that drain tears to the nasal cavity causing the tears to overflow at the inner corner of the eyes • How it’s contracted: • Genetics • Nasolacrimal occlusion (the result of scarring from eyelid injuries from cat fights) • Chronic infection in the duct system and plugging of the ducts by thick secretions, dirt, or grass seeds • Symptoms: • Watery or mucus-like discharge to overflow the eyelids and run down the sides of the face, staining the hair • Prevention and Treatment: • Keep cat indoors/away from other cats that can fight Wet Eye Toxoplasmosis • Cause: • Infection of Toxoplasma gondii protozoan • Description: • Zoonotic disease • How it’s contracted: • Spread through contaminated litter or from eating raw meat or contaminated cat feces • Symptoms: • Fever, jaundice, and difficulty moving may result • Particular concern for pregnant women, as it can cause miscarriage, premature delivery and blindness • Prevention and Treatment: • Wear rubber gloves to clean litter boxes, thoroughly wash hands afterwards • No vaccination Toxoplasmosis WEEK 6 10/12 – 10/16 Cat-scratch Fever • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Zoonotic bacterial disease • How it’s contracted: • Through scratches/bites of infected cat or through exposure of open wounds to bacteria • Symptoms: • Redness and swelling at site of bite/scratch • Fatigue/headaches/fever • Prevention and Treatment: • Avoid contact with infected cats • Wash hands after contact with cats • Use flea/tick prevention Cat-scratch Fever Cheyletiella • Cause/Description: • Contagious, non-burrowing mite that lives on the skin and feeds on the keratin layer of the epidermis • Also known as “hair-clasping mite” • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with mite or vector of mite (fleas, lice, flies) • Symptoms: • “walking dandruff” • Severe scaling on the back may occur, but itching is not as severe as with other mite infestations • Prevention and Treatment: • Topical moxidectin, selamectin, or fipronil (flea preventative) on a monthly basis Cheyletiella Lice • Cause/Description: • Wingless insect • 2 types: Chewing and Sucking • May bite or suck blood from host • How it’s contracted: • Pick up from environment or direct contact with infected animal • Symptoms: • Severe hair loss, scratching and rubbing • Prevention and Treatment: • Dips, dusts, or spray • Clean environment Demodectic Mites • Cause/Description: • Small biting insect that only causes problems when overpopulated/accumulated • How it’s contracted: • Naturally on skin, but can become overpopulated due to unclean environment/lack of grooming • Symptoms: • Hair loss, reddening of the skin, crusty spots on the skin/entire body of animal • Known as “Demodectic Mange” • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper grooming and bathing Demodectic Mites Sarcoptic Mite • Cause/Description: • Mites that burrow within the outer layer of skin • Highly contagious • Result in mange or scabies which cause the animal intense irritation • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with mite • Symptoms: • Intense irritation and itching • Dog scratches and injures itself by chewing and rubbing the skin • Prevention and Treatment: • Flea preventative (fipronil/moxidectin/selamectin) Sarcoptic Mite Ear Mites • Cause/Description: • Highly contagious mite found in the outer ear canal and other areas of dogs, cats, and rabbits • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with mite • Symptoms: • Animal shakes their head and scratches at ears • Reddish-brown “dirt” or wax build-up in ears • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper ear cleaning • Flea preventative with ear mite protection/preventative WEEK 7 10/19 – 10/23 Chiggers • Cause: • Trombicula mites • Description: • Orange-red larvae stages of these mites; remain on the skin for a short time and usually do not require treatment other than something to stop the itching • How it’s contracted: • Picked up from underbrush • Symptoms: • Itchy, red rash on belly, face, feet and legs • Prevention and Treatment: • Avoid woody area and underbrush • Anti-itch medicine Enteritis • Cause/Description: • Intestinal tract inflammation • Most common cause of death in rabbits • How it’s contracted: • Stress • Unsanitary conditions • High energy feed • Symptoms: • • • • • Diarrhea stained with blood Loss of appetite Increase in water consumption Will grind teeth Death • Prevention and Treatment: • Reduce stress, clean environment and proper diet (high in fiber, low in energy) Snuffles • Cause/Description: • Contagious respiratory disease in rabbits • How it’s contracted: • • • • Stressful conditions Poor sanitation, poor ventilation Changing temperatures Shipping/transporting to shows • Symptoms: • Persistent sneezing or “snuffing” sound • White colored nasal discharge • Prevention and Treatment: • Reduce stress • Clean environment • Isolate sick animals Mastitis • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Inflammation of mammary tissue in rabbits • How it’s contracted: • Bacterial infection • Symptoms: • Swelling and redness of mammary tissue • Nursing problems/refusal to nurse • Prevention and Treatment: • Clean and disinfect nesting boxes • Proper diet Wry Neck • Cause: • Pasteurella multocida • Description: • Inflammation of the inner ear in rabbits • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with bacteria • Often found with snuffles infection • Symptoms: • Distinctive head tilt • Prevention and Treatment • Clean environment • Prevent exposure to snuffles infection Fur Chewing • Cause/Description: • Condition in which rabbit bites/removes fur from itself • How it’s contracted: • Boredom • Nutrient deficiency • Low fiber diet • Symptoms: • Patches of missing fur • Prevention and Treatment: • Attention/stimulation to prevent boredom • Adding fiber (hay) to diet • Adding magnesium oxide to diet Fur Chewing WEEK 8 11/2 – 11/6 Hutch Burn • Description: • Chapped or “burned” external genitalia of doe • How it’s contracted: • Sitting in wet, dirty, urine-soaked bedding • Symptoms: • Red, inflamed skin of genital area • Matted fur around rear end • Intense ammonia/urine smell • Prevention and Treatment: • Providing constant supply of clean, dry bedding Sore Hocks • Description: • Ulcerated area on the bottom of food pads, most often affected large • How it’s contracted: • Rough, wire cage flooring that puts stress on foot pads of rabbit • Symptoms: • Bleeding sores on bottoms of feet • Prevention and Treatment: • Avoid wire cages, instead use cage with a solid floor Enteritis/Wet Tail • Cause/Description: • Most important disease of hamsters • Wetness around tail/rear of animal caused by runny diarrhea • How it’s contracted: • • • • Poor sanitation Bacteria Viruses Diet concerns • Symptoms: • Runny diarrhea • Wetness around tail/rear • High death rate (within 2 days of symptom appearance) • Prevention and Treatment: • Cleanliness • Proper diet Common Diarrhea • Cause: • Improper diet of hamsters with too many green, leafy vegetables, materials or fruits • Description: • Loose stool • Symptoms: • Soft stools • Dehydration • lethargy • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper diet • Feed dry grains & seeds • Remove leafy vegetables Common Cold • Description: • Most common gerbil ailment (gerbils rarely get sick) • Respiratory sickness • How it’s contracted: • • • • Change in temperature Drafts Damp conditions Overcrowding • Symptoms: • Loss of appetite • Sneezing • Runny eyes and nose • Prevention and Treatment: • Clean, stable environment • Avoid overcrowding Red Nose • Cause: • Staphylococcus bacteria • Description: • Common respiratory condition for gerbils • How it’s contracted: • Direct exposure to bacteria • Symptoms: • Hair loss • Red, swollen areas of skin around the nose and muzzle • Prevention and Treatment: • Clean environment • Animal typically recovers without medication WEEK 8 11/9 – 11/13 Respiratory Disease • Cause: • Microplasma pulmonis bacteria • Description: • Bacterial respiratory infection in mice, rats, and guinea pigs • How it’s contracted: • Direct exposure to bacteria • Symptoms: • Nasal discharge, snuffling, rattled breathing, rubbing eyes and nose, tilted head, lack of coordination, circling • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper ventilation and sanitation • Remove contaminated food, provide clean bedding • Maintain draft free, constant temperature with low humidity Cancer • Cause: • Genetics/hereditary • Description: • Malignant or benign tumors that develop on/in a rodent’s body • Tumors of the pituitary gland can be related to high calorie diet • Symptoms: • Tumors/growths • Later stages include: weight loss, lack of coordination, organ shutdown • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper diet Toxemia • Cause: • Improper diet • Description: • Build up of toxins in blood that develops in late pregnancy in guinea pigs • Symptoms: • Lethargic • Lack of appetite • Difficulty breathing • Prevention and Treatment: • High quality gestation diet • Add sugar (~1/2 tsp) to water Pseudomonas aeruginosa • Cause: • Organism • Description: • Organism that causes infection in wounds and pneumonia in chinchillas • How it’s contracted: • Exposure to organism • Symptoms: • • • • • Inflammation of eyes and ears Pneumonia Intestinal inflammation Uterine inflammation Poisoning of the circulatory system • Prevention and Treatment: • Proper sanitation Conjunctivitis (Eye Inflammation) • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Inflammation of conjunctiva of the eye in chinchillas • How it’s contracted: • Exposure to bacteria • Symptoms: • • • • Redness/swelling of eye Sensitivity to light Watering/teary eyes Pus discharge or crusting on eye • Prevention and Treatment: • Clean and disinfect environment Otitis (Inner Ear Infection) • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Inflammation of the inner ear tissue in chinchillas • How it’s contracted: • Secondary infection caused by bacteria • Symptoms: • Twisting/lowering of head • Holding head to one side • Circling • Prevention and Treatment: • Avoid drafty, cool environments • Proper ear cleaning WEEK 9 11/16 – 11/20 Pneumonia • Cause: • Bacteria • Description: • Infectious respiratory disease affecting chinchillas • How it’s contracted: • Bacterial infection from poor living conditions • Symptoms: • • • • Eye infections Fever Weight loss Swollen abdomen • Treatment and Prevention: • Proper sanitation Impaction • Description: • Chinchilla’s lower digestive tract becomes blocked with food materials or hardened feces • How it’s contracted: • Poor quality feed • Stress • Improper nutrition • Symptoms: • Lack of bowel movement, followed by watery diarrhea • “Humped” look with chin resting between feet • Treatment and Prevention: • Adding mineral oil or grapefruit juice to diet Canine Distemper • Cause: • Virus • Description: • Highly contagious, viral disease that most likely ends in death of ferrets • How it’s contracted: • Exposure to virus • Symptoms: • Discharge from eyes and nose • Breathing problems • Diarrhea • Treatment and Prevention: • Vaccination Hemorrhagic Enteritis • Description: • Bloody diarrhea in ferrets • Also known as “gastrointestinal disease” • How it’s contracted: • Clostridium perfringens infection • Nutritional issues • Symptoms: • • • • • Bloody diarrhea Lack of appetite Weight loss Dehydration Death possible • Treatment and Prevention: • Sulfur in diet • Clean environment Botulism • Cause: • Botulinum Toxin • Description: • Disease caused by the Botulinum Toxin, produced from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum • How it’s contracted: • Contaminated food • Swallowing stagnant water • Symptoms: • Breathing difficulty • Paralysis • Death (can be asymptomatic) • Treatment and Prevention: • Fresh food and water supply Psittacosis (Parrot Fever) • Description: • Zoonotic respiratory disease • How it’s contracted: • Contracted by caged birds with contaminated feces • Symptoms: • Flu/Pneumonia-like symptoms • Treatment and Prevention: • Wear dust mask when cleaning bird cages • Eliminate mites/lice from environment by spraying cage and bird with disinfectant WEEK 10 11/30 – 12/4 Red Mites • Description: • Mite that crawls around feathers at night • Mostly affects the head and vent areas • After feeding, mites will crawl from bird to cracks in cage, perches and nest areas • How it’s contracted: • Climb up cages • From humans/other pets • Symptoms: • Restless and itchy • Anemia • Excessive preening • Prevention and Treatment: • Cleanliness • Dust ends of perches/nest boxes when cleaning • Sprinkle a preventative “Red Mite Powder” around cage and directly on bird Feather Mites • Description: • Small, gray mites that collect in small groupings on the feathers of birds during the day and night • How it’s contracted: • Picked up from environment (usually outdoors) • Symptoms: • Restlessness, excessive preening, ruffling of feathers, skin irritation, feather damage, anemia • Prevention and Treatment: • Regular sanitizing of equipment with nicotine sulfate, Malathion or coumaphos • Allow birds to bathe daily and spray with mite spray Scaly Leg Mites • Description: • Mites that tunnel under the scales on the legs (and face) of budgerigars, lovebirds, and canaries • How it’s contracted: • Infested equipment, housing or other birds • Symptoms: • White, scaly, thickened deposits on the legs that become enlarged and encrusted • Prevention and Treatment: • Cleanliness • Apply Vaseline to bird’s legs and equipment to prevent mite’s from climbing, to suffocate any living mites and loosen deposits Parrot Fever • Description: • Also known as “chlamydiosis” or “psittacosis” • Zoonotic bacterial disease that affects the liver and spleen • How it’s contracted: • Contact with contaminated feces, food or water • Symptoms: • Nasal discharge, listlessness, appetite loss, weight loss, greencolored diarrhea, labored breathing • Prevention and Treatment: • Cleanliness • Treat bird with chlortetracycline-impregnated seed for at least 21 days if infection is suspected Bumblefoot • Description: • A painful ailment associated with staphylococcal infections • How it’s contracted: • Staphylococcal bacteria • Symptoms: • Feet and joints become hot and swollen with thick, grayish white fluid • Not walking or clasping onto perch • Prevention and Treatment: • Suitable perches and sanitation Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease (French Molt) • Description: • Also known as “French Molt” • Viral disease that attacks the immune system • How it’s contracted: • Direct contact with virus • Symptoms: • Become evident at the first molt • New feathers do not emerge or are deformed and break off • Beak and nails may be soft, overgrown, and lose their pigment • Prevention and Treatment: • No cure • Vitamins, minerals, and control of secondary diseases through sanitation Newcastle Disease • Description: • Viral disease that has high mortality rates and spreads rapidly • How it’s contracted: • Contact with imported birds • Symptoms: • Respiratory difficulty (wheezing) is one of the first symptoms, followed by tremors, wing droop, and twisted neck • Prevention and Treatment: • Vaccine Goiter • Description: • Swelling of the thyroid glands in the neck, leading to interference with breathing • Especially prevalent in budgerigars • How it’s contracted: • Iodine-deficient seed diet • Symptoms: • Wheezing, difficulty swallowing, regurgitation, weight loss, lack of appetite, change in song or voice, seizures and sudden death • Prevention and Treatment: • Adding iodine to water