Sick pigeon?

[FeatherBrain]

Hi...remember, that I mentioned in my earlier intro. post how the female was a little lazy/sluggish?...well...since I had already bought her..I thought she was just scared. But its been three weeks now...she seems to just sit there in her cage, with her feathers ruffled and eyes closed. Her feathers dont seem very healthy or shiny...they are dull. And she is very small. Drake the male seems fine though... he seems happier with his new companion. Is it because maybe shes sick that we dont hav any eggs yet?..cz reading the past posts , I know that pigeons lay eggs a lot...
btw..i shd mention...I have no access to a good vet...
PS : my apologies if i wasnt able to answer ne previous posts cz somehow I cant view ne more than 2 oir 3 posts on the page. I do hope that I am able to view these.

[Feefo]

Hello,

What you are describing is a sick bird, so separate her from the male and keep her warm. Although the weather may be hot in Pakistan the fact that she is fluffed up means she is cold. If she is in a cage put a lamp next to the bars of the cage so that she can benefit from the heat of the bulb...40watts or even 60 watts should be okay.

Now we need to try to establish waht is wrong. This is what Terry posted in the emergency section on how to examine a sick pigeon. Go through each point on the list and let us know the answer:

How long have you had the bird?
Where did it come from?
Known circumstances?
Have the cages, food and particularly the water dishes been kept clean?
If a long-standing pet, have any new birds been added?
Info on the new bird, as above?
When did you first notice the symptoms?
Are the symptoms worsening?

Is the bird baby, juvenile or adult?
Weight?
What does the diet consist of?
What do the droppings look like (color, odor, consistency)?

Attitude and Posture? ( alert, normal behavior, erect posture// or still, fluffed, quiet,
eyes shut, uncaring of surroundings, slumped, drooping wings or tail)

Eyes? (clear, bright, open// or half closed, runny, dull, swollen area above, below or
around eyes)

Sinuses? (nares and eyes clean, without discharge, close-mouthed and effortless
breathing// or swollen area around eye, wet feathers around nares or eye, wet cere, from
any discharge, sneezing. Any open-mouth breathing, respiratory distress, overall body
movement when breathing. Any open-mouth breathing with slight exertion or fear.
Shoulder feathers may be matted with discharge from bird wiping its eyes)

Mouth? (beak edges and inside of mouth pink and free of discharge, lesions, trachea
clear and fully visible//or any paleness, dry membranes, swellings around beak edges or
in mouth, any clumps of yellowish or whitish growths inside mouth, any seeds or objects
lodged, any sour or other odor from mouth, weak jaw muscles)

Ears? (clean, no growths or lesions or blood)

Face and legs? (bare areas of body free of nodules//or nodules anywhere on face, legs,
shoulders under feathers, lower abdomen under feathers)

Crop area? (normal filling and emptying, no odor from mouth// or hard crop, crop that
doesn't empty, feels lumpy, enlarged)

Body mass? (plump, with fully fleshed breast area// or thin, with protruding keel,
bruising) You can check skin surface for bruising by wetting the feathers with a gauze
pad and wiping to reveal skin.

Feathers? (intact and free of parasites and parasite damage// or dull, breaking easily,
fluffed, evidence of parasites, cloacal feathers matted with discharge or feces, stress
marks on tail feathers, frayed feathers )

Wings? (held erect, symmetrical, smooth structure, folded over tail// or drooping, with
swellings or nodules at shoulders, enlarged joints)

Abdomen? (firm, flat//or swollen, masses, fluid-filled, egg-bound. Abdomen is felt very
gently. Vent should be free of feces, with dry feathers. There should be no protruding
mucosa from the GI tract.)

Legs and feet? (free of any nodules, pads of feet free of cuts, swellings, reddened
patches, or other signs of bumblefoot // or nodules, red or swollen foot pad, smooth areas
of pad surface, weak grip)

Neurological? (easy, coordinated movements and normal posture // or unsteadiness on
feet, inability to hold head erect, twisting, spinning, star-gazing, seizures, tremors,
uncoordination, head tilt, unresponsiveness to surroundings or stimuli)

Droppings? (white and dark portions clearly defined, no odor // or discoloration,
runniness, excess fluid, odor)

If we could recommend any medication would you be able to obatin that from a pet shop, pharmacy or vet?

[FeatherBrain]

She died...even before i could figure out what was wrong...I cleaned the whole cage...the bowls, the nesting box etc so that the male wudnt get infected.
The male is fine n healthy as ever..(thank God) although he looks sad. Since it was my mom that got her...she prob didnt suspect she bought a sick bird.
My cage is huge and roomy...with plants in it...and I clean n wash the bowls every day. And clean out the cage evry week (since i had only 2 birds.... now one)
Thanx a lot for the detailed reply Cyro...I'll make sure I get a healthier bird next time...(wont trust my mom)

[FeatherBrain]

I forgot to answer ur Q's...Although its no use now...she died...
I got her from de local petshop (I'm afraid they dont really keep the animals there in very good conditions...but my previous experiences havnt been so bad)..
- She was sluggish since the first day..but the sympotoms werent prominent until a couple of days...
She died within a week of her purchase.
SYMPTOMS : she was fluffed up...her poop was runny and one of her eye was halfshut with a little crust deposition.
Will it effect the male? can he be infected? does apirin dissolved in water help? If the eyes are runny , do human eyedrops (diluted) help?----Thanx a lot...this forum helps

[Reti]

Hi,
I am so sorry the little baby died.
It is hard to say what was wrong with her, it could have been a bacterial infection, a viral infection or both.
I don't believe in pet stores they take good care of animals.
What I would do now is give your male antibiotics and vitamins for prevention. He might be lucky and have not contracted anything. On the other hand he might have been infected but have a good immune system and become a carrier with whatever the female had.
If you have Baytril, you can give it to him for 7 days. Tetracycline would be good also, for just in case the baby had psittacosis, which is also contagious to humans.
Reti

[Feefo]

I am sorry about your baby, but please don't use eye drops produced for humans on an animal, the strength and ingredients could harm him.

As Reti suggested it would be wise to give the remaining pigeon a course of Baytril now, just in case he has cought or is carrying something.

Cynthia

[Trees Gray]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your pigeon baby.

I have bought a few pigeon, I felt sorry for that were at pet shops. Pigeons are unique birds with unique needs and pet shops should not be selling them, unless they know what they are doing.

Do you have any pigeon clubs where you live? If you can contact someone who breeds and keeps pigeons they would know where you could get some preventative medication and vitamins made specifically for pigeons, and perhaps help you find another pigeon.

You can feed your pigeons a little fresh spinach and kale, once in a while, along with their pigeon seed. They love it, and it supplies some great vitamins and minerals! Just be careful not to give too much.

One of my pigeons, Skye, plucks it right out of my hand, he shreds it in pieces sometimes swallowing the spinach leaf whole! It is fun to watch him eat it!

Treesa

[AZWhitefeather]

Hello Featherbrain,
I'm sorry as well, to hear of the loss of your sweet pigeon.

Cynthia, Reti or Treesa,
Along with the Baytril would a dose of Spartrix be warranted as a preventative for canker?

Unfortunately, any number of things could have caused the demise of this bird.
Please keep us posted on how the remaining pigeon is coming along.
Cindy

[Feefo]

Hi Cindy,

As far as I am concerned the main problem about advising Featherbrain what medicines to use is his location. I haven't got a clue about pigeon supplies in Pakistan, how much they cost there or even whether I can send meds over there without his incurring a fine!


Featherbrain, can you let us know what the situation is? Between us we might be able to help.

Cynthia

[Reti]

I agrre with you, Cindy, a dose of Spartrix would be good.
Why I was thinking of giving him tetracycline is because she was in the pet store where there also probably they had parrots and they can be carriers of chlamydia psittachi.
The best would be taking the baby to a vet and have him examined. I don't know if that is possible though.
Reti

[dano7]

Apparently Chlamydia can be present in very large percentages in wilder flocks either as carriers or ingfected birds (up to 70%). Free flying birds would have a high exposure in that case.

I've had excellent results in one situation I used APC Doxyvet for Chlamydia. An advertisemnet makes the following claims: This is the world-wide veterinary agent of choice for treatment of Chlamydia, the principle cause of respiratory infection. Doxyvet has greater activity, providing up to 20 hours of effective blood-level penetration as compared to four hours for older tetracyclines. It also causes less disruption to the bowels. (Australian Pigeon Company)

[FeatherBrain]

Hi...Drake, the male seems fine...though he is quieter and less noisy than usual..I figure its cuz he misses his mate?
Hopefully he hasnt caught anything cz all the while I had the sick bird (week n a half) he was perfectly fine. (I was about to seperate the sick bird, but he doesnt do too well alone..infact the reason I had to get him a mate was cz he stopped eating n was lonley...cz his previous mate had been given to someone else).
I examined him...n he is plump n healthy..eyes clear.
WE HAVE A NEW MATE FOR HIM NOW...SHE IS A BEAUTY..HER NAME IS GYPSY...BODY GRAY...WHITE TAIL...N HEALTHY!
Thanks for the info on the antibiotics...I m not really sure whether I'll find them here...but I'll check the names out at the med stores.. Yes we have a lot of pigeon breeders in Pak. Pigeon breeding is a century old hobby here...infact I saw a website of a certain breeder in my city. I'll try to search out some vetirinary help here....never know when i might need it again.
PS: thats one of the reasons i want to be a vet...either they arent good...or unhelpful..or (here) we dont really know about them. Thanx ppl.

[dano7]

One thing I would like to share with you--birds have evolved to hide symptoms of illness extremely well. This is because prey animals must hide weaknesses from predators. This makes bird ailments very hard to deal with in many cases because by the time you see a problem, the problem is often critical and you have to be quick. If you can get a good general antibiotic, a canker treatment, and some form of permethrin for external parasites you at least have a fighting chance.

[Trees Gray]

Hi Dano,

That is very interesting, and also usually when we treat them the secondary infections protrude their ugly heads!

You have to treat at the first signs, and usually you have the advantage of treating naturally if you catch something early enough. By the time it becomes critical you have to bring out the drugs, like you said. Most rehabbers here do not have the luxury of finding a pigeon with the first stages of a disease, and have to treat with the meds, and quickly!

Treesa

[FeatherBrain]

Hi All...
Ok..I have searched out a couple of vetS...aND I plan to take my pijies there for a check up afterall...I never know whether he is a carrier of the disease n may pass it to the newcomer.
As expectd, the vet doesnt really get any pijjy patients...so I'm just relying on my luck that he may be competent.
Wish me luck!