Badly-injured bird - please help me save him!

[Aria]

When I got him today I found a pigeon at the bottom of the stairs obviously injured. I quietly talked to him to get him into a corner without moving the wing so I could pick him up and bring him inside. Having rehabbed a shot pigeon with my dad when I was younger (I think he might have hit the guy who shot the bird for fun - my dad didn't put up with hurting wildlife like a game), and she got better, I couldn't just walk by and do nothing for this one.

I took him into my sewing room, the room the dogs and cats aren't ever allowed into, and gave him a bowl of mixed grains, black-eyes peas, chick peas, and a few other things, and a bowl of water.

An hour or so I went back in to check his wing and to see why it was out of whack, to find out of it was broken, dislocated, or what. With his fine wing immobilized, I carefully moved the injured wing around and what I saw made me gasp. Under his injured wing, toward the rear of where the wing connects to the body, is a deep gouge, almost looking like the wing partially tore away from the body. With an injury like that, I'm sure any vet would just put him down, and possibly a rescue would do the same. I don't want him to die. I also saw a fly and blew it away. I've also got a sick 23yo cat. It's heart-breaking the thought of two animals so sick and I'm not sure how much I can help either of them at this point with limited funds left (and the vet said just have to with it out with my kitty).

Please tell me what we can do, how to best clean this kind of injury, what to watch for, how to thoroughly clean the bird in case the fly laid eggs on the birdie. I know how to immobilize the wing, how to wrap it, but it needs to be cleaned first. I'm alone right now until my husband-to-be gets home from work, and this will be my first attempt at bird-rehab without my dad around.

I've read mention of Metacam in some threads when looking through trying to find anything like this. I've got Metacam on hand! Can Pidgie have that to help him not hurt?

I wish my dad was still alive because I'd be able to get his help with this. Please help me save this bird.

[feralpigeon]

Thanks for helping this badly hurt pigeon out. Can you tell us your general
whereabouts? There may be someone close to you that could help.

fp

[Aria]

No no, the first pidgie I rehabbed with my dad when I was younger was shot. I don't think this one way.

I am in Cupertino, California. If there's anyone around who can help, that'd be fantastic.

[feralpigeon]

I understood the circumstances and think the pigeon you currently have is
badly injured, that was my reference. Here's a link to the Rescue/Rehab list
in the Resource section:

http://www.pigeon-life.net/prd.htm

You can check and see if there is something in the Peninula area for pigeons.
Otherwise, if you have transportation, Wildcare in San Rafael will take pigeons and set wings as will Montclair Veterinarian Hospital in Oakland. Personally,
I'd probably go w/either Montclair Vet Hosp. or Dr. Schukman in Castro Valley
for wing injuries to pigeons. You can also sign a bird over to an Avian Vet
and they will frequently treat for free as long as signed over to them.

You might try Dr. Kureshi who is in your area. You should call first.
If you don't have transportation, drop me a pm w/your telephone number.

For now I'd offer the bird water w/a pinch of sugar and salt, if you have
lentils or split green peas or even thaw frozen peas for the bird. The
bird will most likely not go for black eye peas and garbanzo beans.

fp

[cyro51]

Hi,

I am in the UK and a little bit reluctant to offer advice as products might be different with different concentrations in the US.

I use Metacam as a painkiller for pigeons, it is the concentration for dogs and I give 1 drop a day.

I have had pigeons with wounds such as you describe, but in both cases the humerus was broken and poking out...I flushed the wound daily with sterile saline and treated the pigeon with Clavamox, but the vet had to deal with the bone. In the first case the vet filed the bone back and stitched the skin over it...amazingly the pigeon was able to fly again. In the second case the vet trimmed the bone back...by that time the bone was dead. Although that pigeon is unable to fly the wound healed well and the pigeon lives a happy life with its mate in the aviary.

Cynthia

[Aria]

Originally Posted by feralpigeon

I understood the circumstances and think the pigeon you currently have is
badly injured, that was my reference. Here's a link to the Rescue/Rehab list
in the Resource section:

http://www.pigeon-life.net/prd.htm

You can check and see if there is something in the Peninula area for pigeons.
Otherwise, if you have transportation, Wildcare in San Rafael will take pigeons and set wings as will Montclair Veterinarian Hospital in Oakland. Personally,
I'd probably go w/either Montclair Vet Hosp. or Dr. Schukman in Castro Valley
for wing injuries to pigeons. You can also sign a bird over to an Avian Vet
and they will frequently treat for free as long as signed over to them.

You might try Dr. Kureshi who is in your area. You should call first.
If you don't have transportation, drop me a pm w/your telephone number.

For now I'd offer the bird water w/a pinch of sugar and salt, if you have
lentils or split green peas or even thaw frozen peas for the bird. The
bird will most likely not go for black eye peas and garbanzo beans.

fp

I've given him water with a pinch of salt and sugar, and lentils are in his bowl.

Dr. Kureshi spayed and neutered three pups for me!

[feralpigeon]

That's great, you should ask him first, but I've heard from an extremely reliable
source that he will take in and treat @ no cost, again, you may need to sign the
bird over to him.

One other source I forgot to post is the following:

http://ohlonehumanesociety.org/anima...ehabilitation/

David runs this rescue/rehab shelter and takes in pigeons all the time....if not
releasable, and you make this arrangement in advance, he will call you (or have
a staff member call you) and let you know the bird is not releasable in case you
would like to go back and collect the bird and find a home for him/her.

Again, thanks for not letting this bird stay downed and injured/vulnerable
to further predation.

fp

[Aria]

Originally Posted by cyro51

Hi,

I am in the UK and a little bit reluctant to offer advice as products might be different with different concentrations in the US.

I use Metacam as a painkiller for pigeons, it is the concentration for dogs and I give 1 drop a day.

I have had pigeons with wounds such as you describe, but in both cases the humerus was broken and poking out...I flushed the wound daily with sterile saline and treated the pigeon with Clavamox, but the vet had to deal with the bone. In the first case the vet filed the bone back and stitched the skin over it...amazingly the pigeon was able to fly again. In the second case the vet trimmed the bone back...by that time the bone was dead. Although that pigeon is unable to fly the wound healed well and the pigeon lives a happy life with its mate in the aviary.

Cynthia

The Metacam I have is dosed for 1 unit per pound of body weight for dogs, and an adjusted dose for cats. 1.5mg/mL

I am 100% positive the wing itself is not broken (having grown up in a medical household and having worked at a large vet hospital, I learned to assess broken bones), but it is very painful for him to move it due to the injury to his skin. I am confident that, if properly cleaned and allowed to heal, he'll be able to return to the wild. I was thrilled, although a bit sad, when our first pidgie was released, but she regularly returned.

Lately I seem to have become somewhat of a chicken with dealing with anything medical. What used to fascinate me now makes me queasy.

He's in a rather large room right now with a door to the balcony and some large windows for fresh air.

[Birdmom4ever]

Hi Aria, bless you for helping this poor pigeon! Dr. Kureshi is my vet and since he's in Cupertino I think he'd be the one to call first. He has treated many of our birds, pigeons and other species, and he's great. He's no fan of euthanasia and I know from experience that he won't recommend it unless he feels the bird has no chance of survival. He's brought some of mine back from the brink when I really didn't expect them to survive.

-Cathy

[Birdmom4ever]

I just wanted to add that pigeons are remarkably tough and have been known to survive injuries that would kill other kinds of birds. So hang in there with this little guy. BTW, it sounds as though he was hit by a hawk. They are numerous in our area. Last week we had one swoop in under the patio cover to try and get to a little rescued dove I had in a cage. I moved her, but it was scary.