Broken beak

[Flying_Pidgy]

Good luck with the repairing. I would like to say WOW! what an amazing coloring!!! Does anyone have any idea how they got it to be thay color?

[Feefo]

Thank you, all of you, for your positive thoughts and energy and thank you Rob-the-Vet for your skill and compassion!

Toffee came through the operation well, now we have to see if the "wiring" (it is nylon) holds long enough for the beak to repair.

There was a tear inside the beak that affects the function of the tongue, but we will have to d=see how that affects her ability to swallow. I will just continue to gavage if she can't eat.


Cynthia

[TAWhatley]

That's great news, Cynthia! Here's hoping for a completely successful beak healing!

Terry

[Trees Gray]

I'm glad the surgery went well!

I will keep up the positive thoughts and prayers for the healing of beak and tongue. May the surgery be successful in enabling Toffee to pick up and swallow seeds.

[Reti]

Thank you for the great news.
Hope he recovers completely very soon.
You're an angel for all you do for our dear birds.

Reti

[tandarat]

Glad he made it through surgery. I have a maroon-bellied conure who lost half of his lower mandible after being bitten by an african grey. Our vet, who is a well-known avian vet, said that even if he lost his whole beak (which was a possibility at the time), he could live a full and happy life with just a little extra care. He is able to eat softer seeds and cooked food, and still loves his "baby food"....real soupy hand-feeding formula, sometimes mixed with real baby food for variety. If your guy could drink, he should be able to eat liquid foods such as hand feeding formula, lorikeet formula/nectar, and pureed fruits and veggies or baby food. I also have heard of prosthetics being made to help birds with hopelessly damaged mandibles....

Michelle

[Feefo]

Thanks Michelle, that is very encouraging!

There is an avian veterinary surgery that was considering a prosthetic beak for a feral pigeon that had lost half its lower beak because of pox and canker. Sadly the pigeon died of other causes and shortly after the vet decided that because his regular patients were exotic and expensive birds he could not afford to put lose his wealthy customers by providing surgical care for any wild birds.

Fortunately he is also a compassionate man and continues to provide consulting room care.

[mr squeaks]

GREAT NEWS....so far!

Will continue to send WARM HEALING THOUGHTS to Toffee! We are all behind him...

Will look forward to positive updates!

[Feefo]

As it is New Year I thought that some updates would be appropriate.

Back in August the vet (who avoids euthanasing while there is quality of life) said that the options for Toffee were :euthanasia, an operation to try wiring the jaw together (with nylon) or to gavage feed for the rest of his life.

Well the jaw wiring wasn't a complete sucess, there were two stiches and at least one of them came loose so he had difficulty picking seed up. Toffeee absolutely hated being gavaged and there was damage to the inside of his beak that made it difficult for him to swallow seed . It was so sad to watch him, working away at picking up a pea or a piece of maize only to have it drop out when he tried to swallow it.

But Toffee is a pigeon! They are survivors and know how to adapt, so he practised and practised (while I kept a close eye on the quantity and quality of his poops) and is now a healthy, strong pigeon who seems to have no trouble eating and is looking for a wife. He is courting the recently widowed Baby so the next hurdle is for him to get though the courting rituals that involve the beak.

I will try to take a nice photo for Lorna, in case she visits the PT.

Cynthia

[TAWhatley]

What a great update on Toffee, Cynthia! As you well know, we should never count our beloved pigeons out. They truly are amazing birds and can overcome some of the most difficult obstacles.

Terry

[roy-me-boy]

Thats wonderful news Cynthia,may i send you a big pat on the back from me & my family for helping Toffee.

[Trees Gray]

Hi Cynthia,

Great update about Toffee.

Thank you for helping him achieve his best, and giving him all the love and time he needed to make the adjustment.

[Larry_Cologne]

I have been out of the loop lately on many posts and threads due to a long dragged-out infection or some such thing, so it is so pleasant to read about a problem, the solution, and the wedding bells all at once. Hurray for Toffee! What a beautiful bird.

As far as him being a possible breeding experiment reject or release, I suppose there might be some "evidence" which would point to the breeder, in the form of similarly-colored pigeons. Not that I am necessarily accusing or implying any inappropriate action on anyone's part without knowing all the facts first, and alos because I know little about breeding and raising fancy pigeons.

I always find it fascinating to read about pigeons with beak problems, after having watchd over and fed Splitbeak in 2005.

My pigeon Wieteke (and often his feral mate Mamieke) was visiting for meals a couple of times a day, and when he showed signs of illness I hauled him in for observation and treatment. He now would like to reestablish territorial nesting rights inside, so he is being encouraged to check out other possibilities. A younger male (one of Wieteke and Mamieke's offspring?) wants to claim the local turf for his own.

Cynthia, after walking to the hospital from the bus and streetcar connections (with my wife toting the bag) for an overnight stay to evaluate supplemental oxygen, and feeling pretty lousy with 70 percent oxygen saturation, high pulse (126) and unusual but temporary high blood pressure (145/90), I have been approved for supplemental 02 at probably 2 liters per minute, so I can commiserate with your recent situation. Did I read correctly that John took you in with 50% O2? One night on oxy (with 92-96 % 02 saturation) was like a month of vacation. Still need to deal with the infection or whatever it is triggers the tightness and dryness in the chest. Right now I feel normal as I sit here and type.

Roy-me-Boy, great to see another member from merry old England. Welcome to PT! (My father's father came from London to Texas more than a century ago).
Larry

[feralpigeon]

Really good teamwork here for this beautiful little feral, thanks to all of you s/he
may get the use of the beak back. This would be so wonderful. Please do let us know the time and day of the surgery, and in the meantime, bless you all for bringing this little one in for help. And Cynthia, special thanks to you for bringing him in for surgery.

fp

[Feefo]

Hi Larry,

I was under 70% but they didn't tell me how much under. I read somewhere that the sats can only be measured accurately at 70% and above....I think that if you go as low as 50 then you are in desperate trouble as on a different forum someone told me her sats were 62% and that they asked her for instructions in the event of her death. She has pulmonary fibrosis, not related to birds but they don't know the cause , which is bad because then they don't know how to stop the progress of the disease.

But you walked????!!!! Even 5 days earlier, when I must have been a lot better I had to ask John to use a wheelchair to take me from the hospital to the car and the day I was admitted I had to have an ambulance. They put an oxygen mask on my face as I climbed in.

I was on oxygen for 7 days and off responsibilities for 11 so it was the best rest that I have had for over 20 years.

Are they certain that yours is caused by infection?

As I mentioned on another thread, Lesley came down from Manchester (to rehome a PMV pigeon in my PMV enclosure) and she was in a very bad state, but she had been defying her doctor about rehoming her parrot and 2 indoor pigeons. Her lips were pink, which is a good sign as it means that the oxygen is getting through to her blood but her cough was a lot worse than mine was.

Cynthia