Button's vet visit

I had to take Button to the vet for her second shot of doxycycline.

Last week I noticed her eye was red. I called the vet immediately. This had happened before in October. Her eye was bleeding as well as her throat. Her throat culture showed she had spirochetes. Spirochetes are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that are spiral shaped. The vet said it is unusual for a cockatiel to get a spirochete infection.

The question remains how did she get it ? Where did it come from?

There are basically six genera of spirochetes.

It is generally found in sewer or dirty water.

Treponema denitcola is found in the oral cavity known to cause periodontal disease.

Treponema pallidum is syphillus.

Borellia burgdorferei is lyme disease.

All of these are nasty!

The doxycycline cleared up the infection right away. But this was the second time she had this problem. The question also remains is what genera of spirochetes did she have?

I've caught her on the sink digging at crud around the edge of the sink. Could that have had spirochetes?

She bites at my mouth. I pride myself in keeping a clean mouth with constant flossing and brushing. This, however, does not eliminate the possibilities that my mouth isn't a swimming pool for potentially infectious spirochetes. Oh yucko!

Could she have been bitten by a tick?

Could it be my water supply? Patches was sick with another water borne infection last September. I double filter my water but that doesn't mean that bacteria and viruses don't slip through.

It remains a mystery.