cat grabbed my pigeon

[squeezer]

I had two young Tumbler pigeons in a cage under my carport and a cat must have reached inside and grabbed one of my babies. He's got two deep gashes, one on his side and the other on his chest (this one is the deepest). I've got him inside on heat and offered water and he drank. Charis usually advises me but it's late and I haven't heard from her. What kind of antibiotics? and how much? Thank you Also, he isn't walking but it doesn't look like his legs are broken. I pray he makes it through the night.
Edit Report

[Skyeking]

I believe the antibiotic is Clavamox (augmentin), though it may go by a different name.

I would also wash out the wounds and put neosporin on them, or another antibiotic cream.

[squeezer]

I may be able to get a vet to call in Augmenten, I am not sure of the dosage though. They do not treat birds at this office. I did wash out the wounds and because I didn't know what else to do I gave him a 50mg tablet of Baytril that Charis had sent. He used his wings to push himself up to move in the cage. I don't want to handle him a lot for fear of hurting him so I haven't closely examined his legs. They don't seem to be broken. They are not dangling. Thank you so much for the response. I did try to contact Charis and another emergency response person but haven't heard from them. I have him on a heating pad on low. I'll keep you posted.

[Jay3]

Do you have more of the Baytril? If you do, you could give 1/4 pill daily for 10 days.

Also, I wouldn't keep any birds outside in a cage where something can reach in, or even a rodent can get in. Not safe. You could put 1/2 inch hardware cloth over the wire to make it safer.

[squeezer]

I have three left and I'll do that. Thanks for the tip about the hardware cloth. He is still drinking when I offer the water and when I tap his seeds he will peck at them, not eating yet. He is so sweet, I just finished raising 7 babies of various ages and this is one of the sweetest ones. No matter how full he was he was always begging to be fed. Still moves those little wings asking for food. Again, thanks for your advice.Marie

[bdpigeons]

Not sure if you got any cream to cover the wound, if not get some Turmeric mix it with little water to make it like cream. Put it on and cover it with a bandage gauze. You could also mix Turmeric for internal healing. Let me know if it works for you. I never had to do any of my birds but when I was a kid my dad used to do that, and that was 30 years ago. He still has birds, and he never use medication but I do.

[Grimaldy]

Cats claws are the source of a bacteria known as Pasteurella. If you do not start getting antibiotic into the bird toute de suite it won't be here in seven days.
Any good broad spectrum antibiotic with high penetration will do it, best is Metronidazole.

[Jay3]

Metronidazole won't touch a pasteurella infection. That is for canker. Baytril or Clavamox or Amoxicillin would be what you would want to use.

[Msfreebird]

Metronidazole has 'some' antibiotic properties, but 1st choice for cuts and punctures is Clavamox (then baytril and amoxicillan).
How is the bird doing?

[Feefo]

This is from World Wide Wounds Wound Management in the Avian Casualty and explains which antibiotics work best for cat bites and why some (eg Baytril) need to be combined with another antibotic to ensure effectiveness

Cat bites may range from tiny puncture wounds to lacerations. The muscle underneath a puncture wound may be lacerated due to the action of the teeth in immobile muscle (relative to the skin).

Many wounds cannot be detected with the naked eye and the need for antibiotics may not be recognised in cases where there is no evidence of a puncture wound or scratch .

Septicaemia is a common sequel to a cat bite, while other routes of infection have also been suggested. Birds may ingest organisms from cat saliva-coated feathers during preening leading to gastrointestinal disease and septicaemia

Cats carry Pasteurella multocida on their gingival tissue and teeth and antibiotics are therefore always indicated in any bird attacked by a cat.

In addition to Pasteurella spp, a mixed aerobic/anaerobic population has been recovered from the majority of cat bite wounds . Selecting the right antibiotic (or antibiotic combination) is therefore of vital importance. Penicillins have been cited as the antibiotic of choice due to their efficacy against P. multocida and their broad spectrum of action. Fluoroquinolones, such as the much-favoured enrofloxacin (Baytril) should not be used on their own as they lack action against anaerobes and provide incomplete coverage against Streptococci spp.

For infected bites clavulanate-amoxycillin or combination therapy with penicillin, or clindamycin, and a fluoroquinolone is recommended. Ideally culture and sensitivity testing should be performed, but this will often be impossible for time and cost reasons.

[Jay3]

Thanks for the article Cynthia. That was interesting.

[Grimaldy]

I dont know why the moderators go to the trouble of providing excellent stickies
on so many topics that members refuse to read and then post things like "Metronidazole has no effect on Pasteurella". Or "Clavamox is the antibiotic of choice".

Any puncture wound carries deep into the tissues any bacteria that may be present, and cats claws, falcons and hawks claws harbor P. multocida. That bacteria is a well known anaerobic, meaning it does not need oxygen to grow and in fact deep in the body tissue where there is no oxygen it grows very well and quickly. Clavamox or Amoxcillin and cluvanic acid is great for any infection it is able to reach in time, in other words it depends on the blood stream to get it where it is supposed to be able to do any good. Metronidazole, as one of our stickies explains at great length, is well known for its great powers of penetration, and does not depend wholly on the circulatiory system to get where it is needed to be. Moreover, Metronidazole can be acquired quickly and easily at any good pet supply store, Clavamox needs a prescription by a licensed medical professional.

So if you want to wait and see if Clavamox is going to do it, or wait to see if you can get a prescription, or guess what the sufficient dose might be, you may be mistaken.

Read the stickey, it was written by Pidgey, one of our more informed members.

[Charis]

Just to update you all about the pigeon's condition. I have been in contact with Marie and the bird is doing well.
In March I sent her some medications and baytril was among the mix. I always include instructions but apparently the instructions were misplaced. Lucky she had it, otherwise I doubt the pigeon would still be alive.
I have used baytril for wound injuries, including those caused by cats for years and I have very good results with many hundreds of lives saved.
I have used clavamox with just as good results and I would love to have a supply of clavamox but it isn't has affordable as the baytril I am able to buy.
I'm glad it worked for this pigeon, that she calls Psycho.

[Grimaldy]

Great news!

Puncture wounds are always such a problem because the time available to do something is so short.

All is well that ends well.

[Jay3]

Thanks for the update Charis. That is good news.