Medical question

[zoo keeper]

i know this does not belong here, but my feed store closes in just one hour and no one has responded in the emergency post area. I have a bird that I think should be on antibiotics for a cat injury. The best option they have is Teramycin. Could that help my bird not get an infection from the cat injury?

[Motherlodelofts]

I allways use tinchturdIodine for such things. Normally it's hawks ripping on them around here. My cats (3) are all trained that the birds are off limits. and stray cats aren't a problem due to the coyotes keeping them in check. If you have a cat problem you need to deal with it promply so that your birds aren't being terrorized and mauled. Remember they depend on us for everything and that includes their well being.

[ZigZagMarquis]

ZooKeeper,

I found this on the web


http://members.aol.com/duiven/vet.htm#antibiotic


Hit Antibiotics and scroll down to Terramycin...

[zoo keeper]

I read on that antibiotic. Well, I guess it is safe for the pigeons. But it does not say if it will work on injuries. I see it really did not comment on any of them if they were good for injury. I feel so lost and worried about the little lady. Thanks Zig for that link

[Motherlodelofts]

You can get tinctured iodine at any feedstore or drug store. I use it often. sew up the wound if it's needed. trust me I didn't make it up LOL
P.S. it goes on the wound not down the throat

[Lee]

Lee here,
Pigeons dont get surface infections easily so just anything that you use on your skin for cuts and so on will work on them. The best i have found is ambesol the same stuff ya use on your gums ,bacetracin is good also or A and D ointment .......If you stitch up a cut them its best to keep some kind of salve on it untill it heals so it wont dry out and split open...

[John_D]

Previous posts on cat caught pigeons - and our experience in the UK - suggest strongly that the pigeon should be treated with a suitable antibiotic asap. Wounds inflicted by cats - even a skin scrape - can be infected from the cat's saliva with pasteurella. Not talking just of bird getting sick, but possibility of a fatal infection.

We use Synulox which is Amoxycillin and Clavulanic acid - called Clavamox in the US I believe.

In the UK, certainly, it is a prescription medicine only

John

[cyro51]

I would not sew up a wound on a pigeon unless it has ripped open the crop or something like that. It is best to not let the wound scab over but to let it heal from the inside out. Sealing it will trap the infection inside and can cause a tracking abscess.

I think that Terramycin can be used for infections in puncture wounds because it works on to gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, both aerobic and anaerobic. As far as I understand it doesn’t kill bacteria, it stops them from reproducing so it won’t is prevent any infection, it will only work once an infection exists.

Pigeons have a very fast metabolism and the pasteurella bacteria can cause a quick and fatal infection. This is why prompt treatment with Clavamox is preferable.


Cynthia

[zoo keeper]

Up date to my pigeon.

Well my pigeon has been inside in a cage since the injury. Yesterday was the first time I had seen the bird since Saturday due to my work schedule. The bird is up and walking with a limp. I trimmed off all its feathers around the wound. The wound is going to take a long time to heal, that is for sure. It is about 1 inch circle. There is no skin at all. I see nice clean smooth muscle. The wound was clean, dry and zero drainage, but of course no skin. HMMMM, I really feel sorry for the bird. I sat yesterday and pondered my nursing skills and thought maybe it needed a wet to dry dressing, as that is what would be done for a human if I would caring for this type of wound. But this is a bird and I somehow dont think it would want a gauze wrap around its body. What do you think the healing time on a wound like this would be? This bird has only been flying 3 weeks out of the cage. Say it takes a month to heal, will it have lost its homing ability? Its wings are intact with no injury. Just the large open wound to the muscle. There is also a lot of bruising to its chest bone. But she is up walking, eating, drinking and there is no odor to the wound.

[ZigZagMarquis]

ZK, is she on the terramyacin???

[zoo keeper]

She has been on the Teramycin, Tomorrow my Amoxicillin is to arrive and I will be changing her over to that. I am amazed with the size of the wound and with the fact that there is zero drainage. I have been cleaning it twice daily with peroxide and last night I got Epsom salt. I am going start letting her take a bath with that in the water. She looks sore and limps when she walks. Epsom salts are supposed to be good for sore muscles and aches and pains, so I think that might help. I wish I could give her something for the pain. If nothing else, when she recovers, she will be one heck of a tame bird after all the handling she has had. I do wonder if she will ever fly again, not because of the injury, but because she was a new flyer of only 3 weeks and was already an older young bird. The rest of the group will be so much farther a head of her now. I wonder if she will just become a prisoner.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Originally Posted by zoo keeper

I wonder if she will just become a prisoner.

She (or he) could become a breeder... ah, the life... ... or you could adopt her out?