Another Sick Feral Pigeon Needs Help

[ante bozanich]

Should I mix it with the tube fed formula or just put it down her throat with the dropper?

[Pidgey]

I'd give it to her straight, without food.

Pidgey

[ante bozanich]

Thanks! Let's hope for the best.

[Lady Tarheel]

Ante, best wishes on both birds. Keep the faith with the PMV pigeon. As others have said, they can recover but it does take a bit of extra dedication to get them through this bad time in their life. We hand fed one over a year.

I'll mention again that there is something really special about the PMV birds - don't know if it is their overall neurological problems, but we have found they are extra sweet and gentle. Every little improvement seems like a blessing and you're ready to cheerlead!

[ante bozanich]

Yes, this morning I saw her pluck on some seed before she had started to turn her beak upwards. Also, right now she is lying peacefully with her head only turned to the side a little instead of having it twisted around and up all the way. So this is definitely good to see and is a blessing.

I have given my new rescue first dosage of 0.15 ml of Baytril. His poops do not look good. Mostly it's clear liquid with some green in there. I am wondering if maybe this is the beginning of PPMV with him also? Should I start hand feeding him?

My appointment with the rehabbers is at 2:30 today which is three and a half hours from now.

[Pidgey]

Unfortunately, there are several different shades of green that they can poop and you can kinda' tell what might be wrong with them (which way to turn, anyhow) based on some of the different shades. You can hold with the Baytril until actual PMV symptoms show up.

Pidgey

[ante bozanich]

I've put some of green stuff in a small plastic container and refrigerated it. I am taking this with me when I go to see rehabber in a couple of hours. They will do the lab work. For right now, I am not going to give him any more Baytril. Do you think I should tube feed him the formula before I go there?

[Pidgey]

I suppose I would.

Pidgey

[Charis]

Definitely feed the bird before you go. If the bird is vomiting start with a smaller amount.

[ante bozanich]

I have not seen him vomit. There is a lot of clear liquid on the floor of the cage which I think is his poop. I am giving him 15 ml of thin formula mix which is hopefully going to replace some of the liquid he is been loosing.

[Charis]

I don't think the bird is getting enough substance. I would thicken the formula. How many times each day are you feeding?

[ante bozanich]

I usually try to tube feed pigeons, who can't eat and drink by themselves, at least three times per day about 17 ml each time. On top of tube feeding I've been also giving my PPMV pigeon some large seeds.

Anyway, unfortunately I forgot to take the stool sample with me when I went to rehabbers. There was some we were able to get from the bottom of carrying box. The only serious problem they could find is that there is blood present in his stool. As far as they could tell from a rather small sample, there were no parasites no bad bacteria just a lot of yeast. I forgot to mention this to them, but I had given him one or two Brewer's Yeast tablets during the time he's been with me. Could this be the reason that they think there is too much yeast in his stool?

They have given me Sulfa-Tri (antibiotic) and Nystatin (for yeast) to give to him.

I am not sure what to do. My feeling is that this is the first stage of PMV as you Pidgey have described the case with one of your PMV victims above. I am finding a lot of "liquid urine" and I think the blood in his stool may be from "ulcerated GI tract" as you say your pigeon had. If this is the case, would giving him this antibiotic be a good idea? I understand I could be totally wrong about him having PMV.

Besides this "liquid urine" and general weakness he looks good, is alert and his eyes are bright.

[Charis]

Parasites don't always show up in stool samples and so the pigeon could have worms. It could also be coccidia or giaridia. Was the blood visible to the eye?

[Pidgey]

If you're not seeing any PMV-specifc symptoms, then your best bet is going to be to follow your rehabber's instructions and give the medications. If the bird has Coccidiosis, then there could be some blood. If they looked through the scope at a poop sample, then they should have a better idea what's going on than anybody else.

Pidgey

[ante bozanich]

First I want to tell you that I can't express how much I appreciate your responses and your help. These are very difficult times here.

Charis,

No, blood is not visible to the eye. Actually now that I have been feeding him the formula, the poops are still all clear urine with a little beige (color of the formula) in the middle.

Pidgey,

The problem is that the rehabber was honest and has told me that she has no idea what is wrong with him, and that she did not know why there are blood cells in his stool. I think she has given me the antibiotic for a possible infection due to a possible internal bleeding.

May I ask you... did the PMV pigeon, who you've mentioned above during his initial stage with a lot of urine, had any other symptoms besides this.