Pteppic/Ptracy the pigeon...

[Lani]

Hi everyone - I'm so glad I found this board! I work for a vet hospital and was brought in a baby (around 20 days old from matching with racing pigeon pictures). I didn't mind taking him/her on for future release, since I've done it before (though not where I currently live). However, after examining him/her it looks like the left leg is swollen at the hock. It causes the baby no discomfort, but he/she is unable to flex it very much. He/She also cannot grip very well with the toes, though they move a little bit. The vets have palpated it and conjecture that it may be a break that healed or an infection - though it doesn't feel warm like most infections. A joint infection would also be a bit more difficult, since they are not easy to treat unless the joint can be accessed. We haven't done radiographs yet (rather expensive on my salary, even with discounts) but I can see if that may be doable...

I really don't have the facilities to keep a pigeon for life - so my plan for now is to just keep feeding/raising and hopefully the foot/leg turns out OK. If not, I was wondering if any had suggestions on finding a placement for him/her. He/She is a typical feral pigeon - grayish/black in color. Healthy otherwise, though I plan to deworm and delouse if necessary (any suggestions for this is welcome).

I know we have a pigeon club here in Portland, OR, but I don't know how they feel about feral pigeons or about helping me find a permanent home for him/her. So any contact suggestions would be very appreciated.

I will also try to post pics soon - pics are always so much fun!

[Pidgey]

On that lump, is there a watery pocket at all? If so, you might try using a fine needle & syringe and aspirating a tiny bit. Put it on a slide and see if it's an extraordinarily clear fluid (synovial fluid) with perhaps a few red blood cell nuclei left in. If that's the case then you might be looking at an arthritic Paratyphoid boil (Actually a form of Salmonellosis that has landed in the joint) and it may require a month's treatment with Enrofloxacin (Baytril) at 15 mg/kg, BID, (of the pure medicine--you have to figure the actual dose based on the formulation). It'd be better to give orally as the injectible tends to necrose the muscle at the point of injection.

Pidgey

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by Lani

So any contact suggestions would be very appreciated.

You might try the following link and see if you can locate a wildlife rehabber who rehabs pigeons to help with the long term care, if they don't maybe they can refer you to someone who does.

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactN.htm#or

[Lani]

for the quick replies!

Pidgey the lump is not watery at all. It is hard and actually yellowish in color. The skin color on the other leg joint is the normal dark pink/reddish. I can still see if a vet is willing to aspirate. I will bring up what you have suggested about the salmonellosis, but the vets I spoke to mentioned that any joint infection would do best if the medication can be delivered directly, since bloodflow to swollen joints can be very minimal. Of course, they don't treat many birds, so they are not necessarily up on possible bird issues. If you have any reading recommendations for in depth medical info I would be happy to look it up.

Trees Gray thank you for the contact information. I am happy to have any possible help. The reality is even after working in the animal world for a while (most of my stay here) there still aren't a lot of folks interested in helping feral pigeons.

[Trees Gray]

if it is dry it is possible that the youngster has a severe case of Pigeon Pox. I have only seen light cases of it after my birds were innoculated. It can be treated with a homeopathic product called THUJA (given orally), and you can apply tea tree oil or thuja oil, topically on the lesion. These things work very effectively.

I have never had a bird with canker, but that may also be a possibility, though I can't imagine it being on the leg.

Others will be along qith their thoughts on this.

[Lani]

As he/she is getting older the leg is flexing more and seems to have more gripping ability, but I can notice the limp. The lump is still the same. I will look up pigeon pox, but otherwise he/she seems to be doing well. I do wonder if it is a fractured leg that healed badly - but only radiographs will tell.