sick baby voorburg

[piedade2001]

I am new to this site and am looking for help with a baby voorburg. His parents I believe were shot out of the sky and I am now his mother. He is a month old now. The first two days were the toughest because of hand feeding, Then he started eating and drinking on his own, and really had quite a personality for a little guy. Now he seems to be going downhill. He cant seem to stand on his own and seems to be having trouble with one leg, it wont straighten up . he will no longer eat on his own so I am back to hand feeding,I took him to the vet but they found nothing wrong. Said it could be neorological or muscular and gave me a anti inflamatory for him. Is there anyone out there than could help ...please

[Pidgey]

Where, basically, are you?

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

There are (at least) a couple of things that can wrong at that age, but a couple of the most common ones are canker and a bacterial infection. If you've got medications that you regularly use then we better review what you've got. Otherwise, we need to figure out if you've got some resources in your area that we can tap. That might be a feed store that carries some medications, it might be a member that might have something and it might even be that same vet if you can call and beg something out of.

Pidgey

[piedade2001]

I am in Scotland, but an area that really has no resources for pigeons, the vet was no use at all . I am new to raising pigeons, just to give you some idea of what I am up against.

[Pidgey]

Then you really need John or Cynthia to step in here because they know the lay of your land, medicinally speaking. I'll go fetch them. In the meantime, make sure this little guy is quite warm.

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

I emailed and PMed both of them right after that last post but I don't know they'll show up. What part of Scotland? We've got a couple of members up there, don't know who will have what medications, though. It's too late, I'm sure, to call your vet and try to get some Baytril and Metronidazole so that's why I'm trying to think about our other members up there...

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

I also emailed Rooster2312, who's in Scotland.

Do you have any antibiotics in your possession, by the way?

Pidgey

[piedade2001]

First I would like to thank you for all your help. I am going to make sure this bird lives if its the last thing I do . At first I thought it was just a sore foot, he stopped putting any weight on it and is standing on his back legs. Then he stopped eating, and I had to hand fead him again. He pecks at seeds now but very seldom swallows any , more like he is just passing time. He still preens himself, and he is a very beautiful bird. I have him sitting next to me right now, both his feet are in front of him but up in the air. sort of strange looking. His shoulder (if you want to call it that is also protruding somewhat , I am not sure if this is because of the way he is sitting or not. What worries me is that there is something else going on besides the foot problem (if that is what it is) The vet gave me an anti -inflamatory, but not for birds , its for dogs , which worries me. The first vet I phoned when I needed to know what to feed it , told me to feed it cat food. There doesnt seem to be a vet in this area that deals with birds so I decided I needed to find an alternative.....this site.
thanks again for you help

[piedade2001]

no , I do not have any antibiotics....would I be able to get these from a vet....

[Pidgey]

Well, feel around on the wings and compare the joints--the seemingly affected wing may have swollen joints, or maybe only even one. What that would signal is an arthritic process and in pigeons that usually means a bacterial infection. Often, it's Paratyphoid, which is another name for Salmonellosis. What we'd like to see you get is Baytril, which is the trade name for Enrofloxacin. It's a cousin to Ciprofloxacin, which is a human-use form (and would work just as well, by the way). Yes, vets should have that. If we had to, we'd also use a Trimethoprim/Sulfa combination.

Pidgey

[piedade2001]

thank you , I will phone the vet first thing in the morning.
hopefully they will have it. I am glad I have a place to start anyway. When I did take him to the vet , she had no answers for me and was trying to recall what her father used to do with his racers. I knew at that time I was in trouble. I will keep you posted on his progress

[Pidgey]

Baytril in pigeons has a few different dosage rates, depending on what formulary you use. The Baytril site indicates 10-20 mg/kg, PO, QD. I use the old way of 15 mg/kg, PO, BID. You'll want to write those down for your vet, methinks. What they mean are 10 to 20 milligrams of pure medicine per kilogram of bird, Orally, Once Daily for the first one and 15 milligrams of pure medicine per kilogram of bird, Orally, Twice Daily for the second.

Here's a link to the Baytril site for dosage information in case your vet would like to see that:

http://www.baytril.com/index.php/fus..._file/kap8.pdf

Scroll down for the page on various birds including pigeons.

Pidgey

[piedade2001]

by the way, I am up in Aberdeen.

[Pidgey]

Way up there, huh? How's your weather been?

Pidgey

[piedade2001]

the weather hasnt been too bad up until today, The worst weekend of the winter is hitting us between today and sunday.But I have seen worse . I am originally from Rhode Island but have been living here for the past 5 years now.Never thought I would be raising pigeons either, never mind hand feeding one. It was really devastating to find this little guys parents torn apart in the field up the road from me. They didnt return to the loft two weeks ago tomorrow. When I went out looking for them the following day I couldnt believe what I saw. My husband said a cat or car might have gotten them , but a cat isnt going to get two birds, neither is a car. So now I just have to concentrate on the wee one.
So what kinds of birds do you have?