New little guest

[Lady Tarheel]

Got a call yesterday from a young lady at a store in a small shopping center. There was a pigeon in front of the store that couldn't fly and appeared to have a broken wing. We were already committed to go to friends' house for dinner and I asked her to take it to our after hours clinic and let them know we'd pick him up today.

It was a broken leg rather than a wing. Lovely, sweet adult but we think this year's because of the gentleness. We tried her out first in a nest box but switched to a donut towel which is working like a treat. She is on Baytril and Meloxicam for 7 days. It is difficult for her to eat with the towel and although she did eat a few seed from my hand, we decided to give her formula to just make things a little easier on her. When I cupped her head in my hand and rubbed her head, she nibbled my fingers and leaned into my hand. That just makes it all worthwhile plus knowing she is not suffering as much nor out in the cold. It was about 25 degrees this morning.

I am so grateful this lady was compassionate and wanted to help her. This is a shopping center where we have picked up sooooo many over the years and they do everything they can to get rid of pigeons.

[jazaroo]

Hi Maggie,

Glad to hear your new little guest made it safely to your hands, she sounds like a very nice bird. I am also glad she is out of the cold, comfortable and on the mend.

Please keep us updated and good luck with her.

Ron

[kittypaws]

Maggie,

What a lucky pigeon. Its nice that the lady at the store called you. I am sure that you will be able to assist this little birdy and she sounds very sweet!!

Tania x

[John_D]

Excellent stuff, Maggie.

An injured bird sure does not need to cope with low temperatures too - warmth and comfort is bound to work wonders.

John

[pdpbison]

Hi Maggie,


Good going...!


I just tried a new one recently - I cut off and rounded the edge of a few inches of plastic 'to-go' Spoon Handle, bent it over a Zippo, and made a Leg Splint...taped it on with 'micropore tape' ( I think it is called...does not stick to Feathers, yet sticks well enough for binding Wings or Splints and so on ) just removed it this morning and he seems really excellent, tentatively walking on it already...everything alined nicelt and everything.

It had been broken clean across in the upper third portion of the Tarsometatarsis.


Good luck with yours!

What do you like for Splints?


Phil
Las Vegas

[Trees Gray]

That is a nice Easter story.

The lady was compassionate enough to call and take the bird out of the cold to the clinic to be treated and the bird showed you instant love and kindness in return for your wonderful supportive care and room and board. This is a great rescue all around.

Happy snuggles little one, you are home.

[Lady Tarheel]

Thanks everyone

She is resting very well and is still so gentle. I thought yesterday I may have heard a squeak but can't be sure. I am not sure where the break is. The clinic was so busy yesterday that Lewis had to wait over an hour for the vet to draw up the Meloxicam (they drew up 7 syringes for us - pretty nice of them) and he never got a chance to find out where the break is. Of course, we keep Baytril on hand at home but not the Meloxicam.

This is a remarkable place. They are open from 5 pm until 8 am every day and on weekends they stay open around the clock. They have a team of vets who rotate. They are self-supporting for the most part but do take donations for caring for wildlife. They do not charge for any part of the care of wildlife - x-rays, medicine, splinting, binding, etc. Some of the vets there fill in for our regular vet when she is off so I know several of them pretty well. Of course, we're the ones they call when they have a pigeon to rehab. They have been here many years. I remember we had to take our dog Missy (a min-pin) over there a few times and once I know they saved her life. It is a shame there are not more places like this and we are very fortunate to have them.

Phil, I don't do much splinting simply because we have this place as well as 2-3 vets that we go to for help. We have done a few splints using popsickle sticks and microfiber tape (I like that stuff because it doesn't stick to them) but for the most part I am more comfortable taking them to any of these places.

Treesa, I think you may have named our little one for us - Easter. I had not thought of that.

[mr squeaks]

What an UPLIFTING EASTER STORY, Maggie!!

I will certainly watch for updates on Easter! And, of course, goes without saying that h/she has found the BESTEST home! You are, indeed, MOST fortunate to have that type of help! Sure wish we could "clone" 'em and place around the world!!!

Well done, PHIL ("Dr. D.")! Then, again, I am not surprised and would have expected nothing less. Bless your heart!

HUGS and SCRITCHES to ALL on BOTH sides of the U.S.!!

[Lady Tarheel]

This one turned out to be a young fledgling, not an adult. She started squealing so we knew it was a young one, plus, she didn't know how to eat. We named her Easter Bunny but of course call her Bunny most of the time. She is still a really nice little bird.

Seemed like it took forever to train her to eat but she is now on her own and doing very well.

We do have a problem though. When we took the splint off, she could neither stand nor move except on her tummy. The broken leg was oddly shaped and the good leg seemed to give out on her. We were pretty upset because at the time it seemed like she'd be badly handicapped. For about 3 weeks we have been working with her, manipulating both legs and she can now stand almost fully erect but the original broken leg is still oddly shaped. She spends at least half a day in the aviary and is doing really well, moving around, flying and perching. At first the other pigeons picked on her but that has stopped now.

I don't know if the leg was not set right at the clinic or what happened but in any event she has a home. This is how she looked tonight when we brought her in from the aviary. The leg you see in the picture is the one that was broken.

[mr squeaks]

That leg sure is odd, Maggie! Thank goodness Bunny has a forever home! If she IS a hen, I'm sure she will have NO problem finding a mate! She is a beauty!

You and Lewis are the BEST!!

Love, Hugs and Scritches to all!!

Shi
& Mr. Squeaks

:

[Reti]

I have to agree, the leg doesn't look right. As long as she is ambulating and has a home it's ok.
In time it might get better. My Krames had surgery for a hip fracture, when we first took the pins out, the leg was all rotated and he had a terrible limp, he was even falling over. Within a year he learned to walk almost normal.

Are her leg feathers plucked?

Reti

[feralpigeon]

You're right Maggie, that leg doesn't look right does it? I was noticing the
toes on that same leg and they seem not to 'spread' the way they should.
I wonder if fashioning a shoe from a small piece of cardboard and taping the toes out into their natural position might be of therapeutic help for her?

fp

[Lady Tarheel]

Reti, I believe the vet plucked the feathers when he did the splint.

fp - I think she just had that one toe under the other at that particular time. They spread pretty normally.

I think the leg was just set incorrectly but she has made such improvement in a few weeks you wouldn't believe it from the way she was when we took the splint off. Depending on how much more she progresses she may still be releasable.

[feralpigeon]

Wildcare in San Rafael will cut the foot off in it's entirety and still release the
pigeon back to the location where it was picked up at as long as the bird is
otherwise healthy. If your bird can still take off pretty quickly and fends for itself well otherwise, I guess I'd release it especially if it were into an area where I knew the flock was "supported". Too bad about the 'setting' but good
thing the pij is getting the follow up PT w/you guys .

fp

[pdpbison]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

Thanks everyone



Phil, I don't do much splinting simply because we have this place as well as 2-3 vets that we go to for help. We have done a few splints using popsickle sticks and microfiber tape (I like that stuff because it doesn't stick to them) but for the most part I am more comfortable taking them to any of these places.

Treesa, I think you may have named our little one for us - Easter. I had not thought of that.

Hi Maggie,


Yahhh...I do not do much splinting either, or, I have splinted every Broken Leg that came my way, and thankfully these are not frequent.


But the Zippo-flame-bent-plastic-Spoon-Handle-section worked out very nice.


His break was clean across, and right below his 'knee'...so, I feared that to use a straight splint would make for the muscles pulling the break into an angle...while the bent splint, I made to fit how he had it in a relaxed position.


Healed up perfectly, and you'd never know he'd ever broken it.


Phil
Las Vegas