Kidney Failure?

[TerriB]

I gave the six birds three days of Spartrix as a preventive for canker. Four days after finishing this, Walter kept scratching at the side of his head and acting like he was trying to clear something in his throat (I checked, but saw nothing). Thinking he might be have a canker growth there, I started 14 days of Metronidazole. I assumed I needed to treat all the birds, even though Walter was the only one showing symptoms. I have been using a 100 mg tab for 780 gm Walter. The others weigh between 320 gm and 500 gm and have been getting a half tab each morning. I haven't seen Walter's "canker" behavior since day five of Metronidazole but on day six Bliss brought up what looked like a few small lumps of canker mixed with crumbs of grain. Bliss and his mate seemed off their feed. In case their crops were sore from canker growths dropping off, I started handfeeding some hemp every day (to all the birds).

The past two mornings, I saw a troublesome poop on the coop floor - what looked like small pieces of poop in clear liquid. I couldn't identify which bird produced it, but I was sure I had seen each bird produce a normal poop, so I wasn't too worried. This evening (day nine), I saw Piper produce a few small pieces of poop in a puddle of clear water. Since there was no white urate portion, could this be kidney failure? The vet gave a group fecal check a clean bill of health the beginning of July, so I think this would rule out Salmonella or coccidiosis. Could it be due to the recent hot weather, too much hemp, overmedicating? My gut feeling is to stop the Metronidazole, at least for Piper. What do you think? Thanks for your help.

[Reti]

Hi Terri,
I am not sure how kidney damage manifests in pigeons, but for sure the bird should be looking sick, quiet, and have no appetite. At least that's what my Victoria had. The kidney damage was confirmed by her test results.
If you suspect your bird has kidney damage, stop all the meds, vitamins and minerals she is taking, if necessary feed her a low protein diet for a few days and give her LOTS of fluids.

Reti

[Trees Gray]

Hi Terri,

If you suspect kidney problems or liver problems you can mix some milk thistle seed (crushed) into the seed every day. This will heal and regenerate the liver and kidneys. Also add the probiotics to the diet to build up the immune system.

Treesa

[Snowbird]

One vote for stopping the meds and going for nutrition--good probiotics especially, lots of vegetables (broccoli sprouts, spinach, kale and carrots), AC vinegar in water (TSP/GAL), some form of garlic along with a good pigeon seed mix and see what happens.

(By the way--recent posts suggesting that broccoli is bad for pigeons is disputed by the top avian scientists. and birdy provides evidence that the three day old sprouts have an incredible health benefit for all--hope you can find some).

[TerriB]

Thanks for all the advice! This gives good positive direction.

Piper doesn't look sick, won't stop calling territory even when on my hand, and wolfs down all the hemp he can beg, so I'm guessing no major kidney damage at this point. (Whew!) However, I am halting meds on the two smaller pair just to be safe. Part of the normal weekend regimen is garlic oil and probiotic on their seed, so that's covered, and ACV in the water is every Monday.

How much milk thistle seed - just a pinch? How long would you continue this?

I'll check at the health food store for broccoli seed for sprouting (I think some of the packaged seeds for planting are treated with a fungicide, so not good for sprouting). Since broccoli and kale are in the same family, I never understood why one was really good and one was really bad.

Shredded carrots will be offered as an appetizer tomorrow morning.

Thanks again!