Bird Biotic - Doxycycline Hyclate can be used for respirtory, systemic and local infections in racing pigeons, pet and exotic birds.
One of the most common presenting problems in birds is respiratory infection.Birds on presentation display a variety of symptoms, including sneezing, red watery eyes, discharge from the eyes and nostrils, and swollen sinuses. Treat with doxycycline. Do not use other tetracyclines as they maintain too short blood levels (eg oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline, about 4 hours) for effective treatment and their absorption is significantly interfered with by a variety of mineral salts and other substances that are routinely ingested by free-range pet birds. Doxycycline maintains circulating blood levels for approximately 20 hours after medication and its action is affected to a lesser extent by mineral salts.
More than 80% of respiratory infections are associated with either Chlamydia or Mycoplasma. Most birds carry these organisms in their system all the time and are passively infected by their parents in the nest. In otherwise well birds, these organisms rarely cause disease but rather the ongoing low level of exposure to the organism enables the development of a strong natural immunity that is sufficiently high to provide protection from disease in most birds by 6 months of age and in almost all birds by 12 months of age.
Birds are treated until they are well, with treatment courses of 5 - 20 days being common. In theory, if birds are treated for 45 days with doxycycline, it is possible to clear Chlamydia from their systems. However, it is probably not in the birds’ interest to consider these long treatment courses. Birds need ongoing low-grade exposure to the organism to maintain immunity. If the Chlamydia was cleared, the bird’s level of immunity would quickly wane, leaving it vulnerable to disease if it ever re-encountered Chlamydia. Given the ubiquitous nature of the organism, if it ever came in contact with another bird or bird dropping, then this is likely. Sometimes birds are pulse treated. Here birds are given shorter follow-up courses of medication (often 3 - 4 days every 2 - 3 weeks) after their initial longer course of medication. This protocol keeps the organism under control while the birds establish their natural immunity. Often after several treatments medication can be withdrawn with the birds remaining well. In some pet birds, repeated handling for medication causes significant stress and the risk of injury and here water-based medication is an efficient easy owner-friendly way of providing treatment. Where larger numbers of birds are involved, water-soluble medication is the only practicable treatment. In these instances, the water-soluble powder Bird Biotic is recommended.
***************Discontinued******************
