My pigeon is dying

Looks like he's gotten pneumonia...possible stuff in his lungs from throwing up. He's on his way out. I have him wrapped in a baby blanket in the warm garage and I have a rice cooker going for steam with Vet RX drops in it. I started him on Baytril, but I think it's way too late. With him being so underweight and run down...he cannot survive this. I worked so hard on him for 8 days now...I thought he was going to pull through.

My poor baby Should I put his mate in there to say goodbye, or will that be too hard on him?

[Reti]

OMG, I am so sorry. This is so sad.
I don't know if it is good to put his mate with him, I have no idea.
But please don't leave him alone.
Thank you for making him confortable.

Reti

Hi Reti...I have had a hard time deciding where I want to put him. He's still hanging in there but very weak. He loved the steam. I have 9 dogs believe it or not and inside birds that are noisy. I wanted him to have a warm and quiet place. It's been hard to find that for him and close enough for me to check on him. I have periodically held him, but the last time I did, he looked like he just wanted to die and be left alone. I laid him back in the cage with the baby blanket and he was clsing his eyes. Two hours later, he's still here. He's defintely as comfortable as he can be.

I tend to hold birds under my shirt when ill and it seems to do wonders. AS soon as I finish my animal chores, I will do this for a while, unless you guys think he's just best left where he is. I worry so much and go back and forth with what I should do. I think too much handling is just going to stress him more. He is not a very tame pigeon.

P.S. This is the same pigeon I was posting about in another thread, who quit eating/drinking on his own 8 days ago.

[Reti]

This is so heartbreaking. If you think it stresses him out when held, I think it is enough to just be there and talk to him, so he knows he is not alone.

Thank you so much for doing everything possible to make this poor sweet baby comfortable.

I am so sorry you have to go through this.
Sending prayers your way.

Reti

[Skyeking]

Donna,

I'm so sorry to hear about the bird. I know you have been thru alot with your pigeons. I know myself what it is like to nurse a very sick bird.

You have done a lot for this bird, and continue to comfort and keep the bird warm, it gives him peace and security.

Does the bird have something contagious that his mate would catch? If the bird is very weak it may be better to keep him in quiet hospice environment.

I had a very sick hen who stopped eating after she was egg bound and had a major infection. Once she started getting better I thought it might perk her up to see her mate, but when she saw him she fluffed up all her feathers and started pecking at him viciously, so that was not a good idea. She acted like he was a total stranger.

Sending supportive thoughts and prayers to you now.

Treesa

Well, I don't want to get my hopes up. But he's got his eyes open and is standing up now. He was looking very droopy eyed/closed eyed, and wanting to sit on his belly earlier. I think he really enjoyed the steam.

I'm going to do this periodically for 10 minutes at a time. I've got him in a 2 x 2 ft. cage with towels draped all around to keep in the heat/steam and to keep it dark. It finally got more quiet when the neighbor quit mowing his lawn (dogs were barking outside). Jeez..just when you need it to be quiet.

I think it was best I left him alone in his hospital room. I did let him go visit his mate everyday for a bit, but they did act like strangers after the last two times....probably just too much for him. I talk to him when I go out, but sick birds need lots of rest. I think he's in a good place right now. But now my dilema is ..do I try to feed him some liquids again....I hate to stress him out. I think I will try maybe after it's been three hours after the Baytril. This bird is still hanging in there...it's amazing. He must want to live.

[Skyeking]

Donna,

Keep up the good work. Indeed, let him rest and keep him warm as he is regaining some energy and strength.

Why don't you start slowly and administer a few drops of water with a dropper and see if that stays down. From there you can add a little more each time.

Have you started him back on the Bayril or has he been getting it all this time? I would be very careful at this point on giving him any drugs, without the guide of an avian vet or rehabber.

Treesa

My vet said that when they see a sick bird with respiratory or suspect bacterial, they always start with Baytril. My thinking is this:

1) ONe, we know he's vomitted frequently. And now he's sounding croupy...and was fluffed and cold to touch. I figure pneumonia was setting in from bacteria/fluid in the lungs.

2) As I'v ebeen tube feeding him, I mayhave started up canker sores in the crop which will be prone to bacteria upsets.

3) He was dying. I felt I had to do something quick.

I know it's a gamble...it always is, even with Docs. But in an emergency situation, you can only use your best judgement. If he gets better with the Baytril, I feel I should continue it for the five days. Pneumonia will kill a bird quickly. I studied some this morning and concluded that Baytril will knock out more things, so I chose that.

I think I will try the syringe for a while and give his crop/esophogeal lining a break from the tube. But I hate that 1 cc syringe, because you can only get one cc of fluid in them at at time. He's been taking about 11 cc's pretty well with the tube. But the last several times, he's been gagging and that's risky..so I'm thinking it's hurting him. So another dilema.

Man this is exhausting. I have company coming Thursday, my house is a total wreck, bills unpaid, lawn unmowed. This weekend was to tackle all those things and I've spent hours on this bird, then all the others I"m treating. I don't know how I will get it all done. I will keep you posted! Thanks for all the replies and help and support.

[Lin Hansen]

Donna,

Prayers to you. Good Luck.

Linda

[Reti]

And more prayers to you and your bird.


Reti

My poor baby just couldn't hang in there any longer. He was looking very weak and ill early tonight. I had been out running errands and told my husband that I just feel that he's dead. We got home and he was hunched over but still alive. I felt that he was perhaps waiting on me to let go. I took him in a towel and sat on the front porch and let him listen to the locusts and crickets and see the sky. He sat content for about 15 minutes. Then he stood up as if to say "I'm ready to go now". I looked at him, he layed down and his head dropped...he was barely breathing and he died less than a minute later.

This is killing me...the time I put into helping him...seeing him hang in there for so long...I just knew he had the will to beat this and to live. Yet logically, I knew he couldnt' survive long on just the liquids. I have so many regrets....not having them on the right wormer...not treating him for maybe cocci/thrush as Snowbird mentioned. JUst as with Boyfriend and MIghty Bird...I couldn't save them. I let his mate see that he died and she's with him now. I will remove him after I write this. I did see an ulcer way deep into the throat, which could have been from the syringe, tubing or even thrush.
He definitely had canker...I am still suspecting this was the problem and probably having the tapeworms, it just depleted everything in him. My sweet angel....at least we had our time together while you passed and you were in my arms....I guess you knew it was time to go.

P.s. I've seen this before...before they die, they look better and then they just give up. It's true with people too. And that is what I was seeing this morning. He did look content towards the end.

[TAWhatley]

I'm very sorry for the loss of the bird, Donna. You tried, he tried, and it was not meant to be. Thank you for all your love and effort with this bird.

Terry

THank you Terry. I'm just bawling right now...you really bond with a bird when he's ill. I feel comfort in knowing he died with me. I just hope I don't lose anymore. This really sucks.

[ddpowell]

My husband just told me, that right before I took him outside on the front porch, that he went and held the pigeon and talked to him. HE told him "we want you to live, but if you don't think you can, I want you to know it's okay to leave...and I want you to soar the skies, and teach me how to fly as well". He said the pigeon looked up at him, as if to say, "okay". He said it was very touching. He had no idea that he was going to die, but when I told him...he said "no way". He found me crying at the computer and said "you need to know what happened earlier". sniff, sniff

[Morgan Nic Greg]

I'm so sorry, that's so sad. I have a ill bird at home as well... and I've lost them too. I feel for you.