Another Victim of Canker?

[ante bozanich]

I just took in another feral who I noticed yesterday looking sluggish. Her beak looks disfigured and her tongue falling out. After putting cotton swab down her throat, there was red mucus on it, but I could barley see any white matter inside. What was the most pronounced was a very strong odor coming from her; not exactly, but a sort of vinegar like smell. I am assuming it's canker. Tomorrow I'm taking her to my regular rehabber. In the meantime, I have started her on the spartrix and want to know what any of you may think.

[Reti]

The odor sounds like canker. Spartrix has always worked great for me.
Is s/he eating and drinking?

Reti

[ante bozanich]

She seems to be eating and drinking. I found some seeds inside her mouth. How much she is swallowing, I don't know. She is very thin so I fed her by the tube twice since yesterday, 15 cc each time. Her throat is open, but I am worried about her tongue which is hanging out to one side, and also there is large hardening at the base of her lower beak. At about 2 PM today I'm taking her to an expert rehabber to get some more spartrix and to see what she thinks.

[Lady Tarheel]

Ante, thanks for rescuing this little one. Hope everything goes well for her.

[Reti]

Thanks. Please let us know what the rehabber thinks about the outcome.

Reti

[feralpigeon]

Hi ante,

Yes, sour is indicative of canker. If the tongue seems to be pushed to one side there may be a growth that is causing this. I'm glad that you found her and are
helping her, sounds like this bird needs the meds you started her on. Thanks for
helping and look forward to your update on your new rescue.

fp

[cyro51]

Hi Ante,

Poor little thing, I am so glad you rescued her. Some of the worst cases of canker are those that are not apparent in the mouth. Rehabbers tell me that there is a typical odour to canker, but I have only smelt it in a couple of birds and those were the ones with the slimiest mouths.

Be very careful when you tube feed, if the tubing needle is a hard one and the pigeon struggles it can dislodge a nodule and cause a terminal bleed. That happened to me a few years ago. So it is best to be extremely slow and gentle.

Cynthia

[ante bozanich]

I'm hoping for the best, but things don't look good. Almost half of an inch of May's tongue has dried out and hangs outside of her beak to the side. There is a large, hard nodule at the base of her lower beak which I think has made her tongue paralyzed. May also has round worms and several other parasites. Rehabbers have told me to continue with spartrix and tube feed her, and although things don't look good, we will not know how much damage has happened until canker clears out. They think that giving her any extra medication for parasites on top of spartrix may be too much right now.

[Reti]

I agree, giving a dewormer right now might be too much for poor pigie.
I do hope and pray the canker did not do too much damage. Please keep us updated on the little one.

Reti

[flitsnowzoom]

Poor baby, I hope she will recover.

[Lady Tarheel]

Me too.

Wonder if there is any way you can keep the tongue moistened to help it live? Maybe just dribbling a little water on it might help?

[KIPPY]

I'm hoping for the best, but things don't look good.

Don't give up. I have 2 pijes who had bad canker in the beak and the tongue looked bad. They are now named Jack and Darlington which are sheltered because their beaks are scissored but they pulled through.

[Trees Gray]

Hi ante bozanich,

You might give her a bit of garlic oil from a capsule, or a whole capsule down the throat if she does not have canker lesions around the throat. That will help with the bird's immune system and recovery as well as chase those pesky parasites away!

[ante bozanich]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

Me too.

Wonder if there is any way you can keep the tongue moistened to help it live? Maybe just dribbling a little water on it might help?

Thanks, I have been putting water on her tongue, and have just realized last night, after reading your post, that oil might be even better. So I've started using a little bit of all natural lysine+ lip ointment and sesame oil and this morning I am going to go get some vitamin E&A oil which might also help with the healing process.

Originally Posted by KIPPY

Don't give up. I have 2 pijes who had bad canker in the beak and the tongue looked bad. They are now named Jack and Darlington which are sheltered because their beaks are scissored but they pulled through.

That's great to know, and I'll never give up. BTW, what is exactly scissored beak?

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

Hi ante bozanich,

You might give her a bit of garlic oil from a capsule, or a whole capsule down the throat if she does not have canker lesions around the throat. That will help with the bird's immune system and recovery as well as chase those pesky parasites away!

That's a good idea. Do you mean a garlic oil capsule from a human vitamin shop? Would this be, maybe, too large of a dosage for a very thin pigeon?

[Reti]

A scissored beak is when the tips are not aligned. The lower beak is oriented to one side and the upper the opposite.
I have a dove with this, also due to canker. She does alright but needs a deep dish to be able to pick up seeds and her feathers are a mess since she cannot preen, but otherwise doing great.

With the vitamin E and A you have to be careful as those vitamins are toxic in high amounts. You can apply them every few days.

The garlic oil capsules you can give whole if the bird can swallow them, if not open it and give a few drops.

Reti