I think everything you said sounds "right on" and you are doing all the right things for her right now. My problem in this would be with your vet. I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that you are not dealing with a Certified Avian Vet or at least one who has a ton of avian experience. All the avian vets that I have ever dealt with do the majority of their own lab work, right there, on premises. Things like testing a stool sample or a throat swab, they should not have to send off to a lab. They, of all people, know birds cannot wait around like that for results. Good grief, AvianBioTech can get most lab results back to you sooner than that and that's a mail in situation. They can send you a result by email and follow up with the paper work. Since I'm not a vet and even if I was, cannot see and test your bird, I'm going to have to give you my best guess, based on symptoms. I feel like maybe you are dealing with one of the megabacterias but other possibilities, including something viral, cannot be ruled out. If you cannot locate a vet who is very knowledgeable with avians, there is one alternative. You can go online at avianbiotech.com. You can order test kits for many situations. In yours, I suggest one for a fecal smear. It costs nothing to order the kits. You only pay when you return your sample, based on what you want them to test for. If you do that, you want a fresh sample of course. My vets have always said "fresh from the bird" is best. Not a sample we carry in, not one dropped in the carrier on the way to the office. If you get a positive gram stain result, then antibiotics are likely to be in order. The only ones I've had experience with are Metronidazole, Fluconazole, and Nystatin. All needed a flavoring agent so I was not "torturing" the bird, causing all kinds of damage to our bond, not to mention, making a sick bird feel even worse because of the fight to get it down. You may still need to get with a vet at some point because even if you can get your hands on any of them, you may need guidance as to doseage, based on weight, etc. If you need to use antibiotics, you are probably already aware of the need for a probiotic as well. Obviously you are a very well informed bird owner and I'm not sure just how much extra help I can be beyond what you already know and what I've said here. The only causes I can think of for what may be going on is possibly some bacteria got started in some wet food or her water dish. For future reference, a bit of Apple Cider vinegar in the drinking water from time to time can help her keep "in balance". Only a few drops is sufficient. Another good product for keeping things in good order is a product called GSE. That is grapefruit seed extract. It's a pricey little bottle to buy but it's highly concentrated. For my flock, who are all on bottled water, I add about a teaspoon to a gallon of water and I do it about once a month. I hope that some of this is helpful to you but if you have any further questions, I'll do my best. Patricia
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