I am sure our Tielfan has the answer to that, but I guess there is a way to cure it even when it's not manifesting itself?
The article says that AGY is more diffuse than we think so there must be a way to make it go away from healthy birds who carry it

They are very tired right now. Jaid threw up one seed, so it's better than the projectile stray he launched at me today. His nausea is terrible in the morning. It dissipates so he doesn't normally hurl during the day. I just gave them some more pellet mash, thyme and broccoli. I also gave them both some coconut water. They really hated that. They liked the Gatorade better. Both of them tucked again after that.

The vet did confirm it was AGY. She did a gram stain, but since that can be unreliable she did a few other tests as well. She noticed they were very underweight and gave me something for Jaid's nausea. She gave us some medicine to give to them.

We could only go so far with money. I feel terrible saying this, so please don't be mad, but we can only go so far with vet bills. I am just trying my best with what we can afford.

Don't worry, I understand the realities of life and know that in the real world there are limits to what people can do.

If they don't like the coconut water then personally I would say don't force them to drink it. They don't need any unnecessary stress right now. If you want to provide both Gatorade and plain water so they have a choice, they'll be able to satisfy their own needs.

I just read at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=3138 that cockatiels need to be treated with fluconazole because they don't respond to amphotericin B, the drug that is used on other birds. So make sure that's what you've got.

It is horrible that we bird people can't find the same level of assistance there is for cats and dogs.
I don't know about the US, but in the UK we have one charity that cures animals basically for free; the problem is, they are mainly trained to treat cats and dogs, so it's of no use at all to us bird keepers. Really unfair.
If more than one of my birds were sick at the same time I'd be in the same situation, I understand perfectly.

Thank you. I just couldn't say that at TC because I know I'd be hammered since "this is what you sign up for when you get a dependent pet bird."

I do have to tell you, Beaker looks starved. He looks thinner than yesterday. He screams for me when I leave the room, so I hold his foot and it tears me apart inside to leave the room. I think he is trying to tell me it's almost time, I'm afraid.

Do you know if he's been eating and digesting at all? If he's pooping anything that's at least partly digested, that's a hopeful sign. If nothing else, give him sugar water with a dropper periodically to give him some calories and energy. It's actually a good sign that he's screaming for you, it takes energy to do that, and he couldn't do it if he was too far gone. Is it possible that he's actually feeling a little better?

I know that vinegar is considered to be helpful with yeast in general, so I did some checking to see if it's thought to be useful for AGY and the answer is yes. Here's an article on a veterinarian's website: http://nilesanimalhospital.com/files/20 ... -Yeast.pdf

As I mentioned before, Susanne doesn't like vinegar and prefers other items to get the same results. Her remedies are posted here: http://tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua=MNW ... F7fw%3D%3D If I had to deal with this problem I would probably mix a little lemon juice and cayenne into some food or water once a day, but might not use all the other stuff. Hopefully the meds will kick in soon, but that yeast needs to be conquered ASAP.

Susanne says caprylic acid can be more effective than diflucan and nystatin against ordinary yeast. I don't know how well it would work on AGY since that's a harder microbe to kill.

Usually the people who say things like this are pretty young and have a view of the world that is idealistic rather than realistic. We all love our pets and want the best for them, but life hands us hard choices sometimes and we have to do the best we can with what we've got. I've seen people on other boards who spent $2,000 on vet bills and the bird died anyway.

Actually, unlike Jaid, aside from not eating, he is more lively at night (well, not lively lively, but, you know). It's a pitiful scream, but he still will call for me if he sees me touch the doorknob. The reason I am concerned is that he is losing weight too drastically. I'm worried he's just shedding it too quickly. I believe I read in an AGY article they can slowly starve to death. He looks pretty weak most of the time and I'm worried it's happening to him.

The main thing is to get him eating and digesting as much food as possible while the medicine takes effect. Honestly I want to say feed him butter or oil for the concentrated calories, but I'm worried that he might not be able to digest it. You could mix a little bit in his food anyway, the worst that could happen is that he'll pass it through undigested. But keep the amount small, we don't want to upset his digestion to the point he doesn't absorb anything.

Did the vet say anything about how soon you might start to see an improvement? I think the bit about slowly starving to death was for birds who aren't being treated, so hopefully he will start to regain some weight soon.