Barry's new rescue

[Feefo]

My friend Barry called me today to say that he had picked up a pigeon that was just standing fluffed up in a corner. He had no difficulty picking it up. His last rescue had only lasted a couple of hours in my care and he was quite anxious about this one, hoping that it would be OK as he had such bright amber eyes.

I brought him (he is a very pale red bar with inkspots, so male) home and put him on a heat pad. When I checked up on him a while later he immediately started pecking angrily at my hand. Then he did a nice, plump, healthy poop. His keel was healthily fleshed and I could find no trace of injury or canker, though his nose cere was stained. Hmmmm....

We studied each other at a distance of two or three feet...was that an almost imperceptible tremor of its head that I saw? I couldn't be certain. I got my glasses and studied him again, he wan't completely still but he could be stressed by my watching him and tremble for that reason. However, I decided that he most probably had PMV, and wrote to Barry to assure him that if his rescue had the illness I suspected he had then he would recover with supportive care but would need to be kept in isolation. I also asked Barry to keep an eye open for pigeons that turned their heads upside down or behaved as if they were slightly drunk.

So, a while ago I took a bowl of seed for him to eat. He jumped into the bowl and started to peck, tilting his head slightly sidewards as he did so...when he picked up the seed he staggered slighly backward and "tossed" the seed away. As far as I am concerned this confirms my first diagnosis.

This is the third pigeon since Christmas that was picked up for loitering (the others were John's Holly and Jayne's Anastasia ) without visible signs of illness or injury and then turned out to have PMV. So, another reminder of the importance of isolating all newcomers, because it is the pigeon with PMV that isn't showing symptoms that can be the greatest danger to other pigeons.

Cynthia

[Skyeking]

Cynthia,

Thank you for sharing that, and the very important reminder.

I know this new bird will do very well under your care. Thank you for caring for him and please do keep us updated.

[John_D]

He is now in my custody for isolation, where he has a large Chinchilla cage as his 'pigeon cave', with mandatory brick to roost on and a couple of shelves for when/if he is able to reach them. He is situated near a west window, and likes to lounge in the sun, but has a shady section to retreat to when he chooses. If I'm home all day, or when I return from my office, he has the run of the bedroom, though he actually seems to like to be in his cave.

He exercises his wings, but cannot achieve lift-off, as we have come to expect with our PMV cases. He eats well, though he tosses a lot of food, but he has all the time he needs to get a good fill. Good poops, thankfully, and no vast intake of water, so he does not appear to have kidney problems which some of them suffer from. He has great difficulty in focusing on single items of food he has previously thrown about, and has the usual neck contortions and goes into spins now and then. He also tends to overbalance when he tries to fend off the 'evil hand' when I pick him up. As is often the case, he is at his best when he is unaware of being observed, and at his worst when excitable or stressed. He is, of course, unaware of any problem.

He is quite calm when I get down to his level on the carpet and talk to him, nose to beak. I love the way pigeons seem to listen with such attention. He is very aggressive towards the hand, though. He puffs up and threatens a wing slap every time - we call him 'Puffin' for that reason. After suffering the indignity of being picked up, he hops up onto his brick and coos triumphantly when I put him back into his cave for the night, evidently deciding he has beaten the dreaded hands

Here is a link to Puffin beating up a toy bird, after a few abortive swipes when he couldn't get his distance right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9BajlX7DV4

and how the illness affects the focus, as he fails to pick up a tic bean which he can obviously see clearly against the background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-u0wG3mEd8

"So I made a mess - what you gonna do about it, huh?"

[AZWhitefeather]

Originally Posted by John_D

"So I made a mess - what you gonna do about it, huh?"

He certainly has that look in his eye, doesn't he?

Love the attack video.

Cindy

[mr squeaks]

Puffin sounds like quite the character, PMV notwithstanding!!

He's a beautiful pigeon and Squeaks and I send him HUGS, SCRITCHES and HEALING THOUGHTS!!

Shi & Squeaks