Sick Pigeon, need help.

[Vesna]

Hi everyone,

I found a pigeon in my yard two days ago. I brought it in and weighed the bird, the poor thing only weighs approx. 200 grams. I have been giving the bird pedialyte and observed it eat and drink the first day. This is the second day and the bird's weight has me worried. I have offered it every type of food(pigeon mix, peanuts) it just picks at them with little appetite. I attempted to give the bird Kaytee Hand Feeding Formula but the bird fought me every step of the way. The bird is puffed up and the droppings are kind of a muddy green with urates white to slightly yellowish. I checked down the throat and see no yellow bumps. Can anyone offer any advice as I am trying everthing I can to help this bird survive.

Thanks Vesna

[Pidgey]

Chances are that he's sick with something that's taken him down over some time. Do you have any medications?

Pidgey

[Vesna]

Hi Pidgey,

I have approx. 5-6 baytril tablets (15mg) I believe I also have some Sulmet liquid(must locate) and some Ronidazole tablets.

[Vesna]

I was also able to locate some amoxicillin capsules.

[Pidgey]

You'll need to try and break the Baytril tablets up into five pieces for each tablet and give him one piece in the morning and one in the evening. Probably go one-half of the Ronidazole tablet. We could also give some of the Sulmet in case he's got Coccidiosis. You're not going to want to feed him too much formula at a whack because he's emaciated and that's dangerous territory. He's going to possibly be able to handle about one level teaspoon of KayTee Exact Hand Feeding Formula powder diluted with two level teapoons of water, three times per day at the most right about now. If you can get him under a heat lamp as close as one foot away but that he can get out from under it if he needs to, that'd probably be real good for him.

Try to count the breaths per minute--you may have to watch the tail bobbing to count them.

Pidgey

[Vesna]

Thanks Pidgey,

I don't have a heat lamp but have kept the bird on a heating pad with room to move off if needed. The bird really fights me on the hand feeding formula.
Is it safe to have the bird on all these medications at the same time? I"m a little worried because of it's weight. Thank you again for your help.

Vesna

[Pidgey]

Unfortunately, it's kinda' unsafe not having him on all those medications at the same time, under the circumstances--that means that since you don't know what's been killing him up to this point, then you've got to either find out or fire a full spread of torpedoes trying to hit it. It could even be worms, you know, and we haven't even started on a wormer. Baytril, when given in the correct dosage, doesn't seem to be too hard on them and neither do the anti-canker medications. Sulmet's pretty easy on them as well.

They're never particularly happy with being tube-fed but the key there is restraint plus getting the neck straightened out while the tube's going down. I've got large hands and there's not a lot they can do about it when I've got them in my lap. If you have to, you can wrap the bird in a towel with the legs back and the wings folded and it'll be easier to manage. That's affectionately called the "bird burrito" around here.

Pidgey

[Vesna]

I do have Worm-Out, the one that comes in the Foy's medicine chest. I am not able to see any blood in the poops but they are a muddy colour. Would a bird with worms always have blood visible in the poops?

[Pidgey]

No, that's usually because of Capillaria (sometimes called "threadworms" or "hairworms" because they're very small; they suck blood). Roundworms can kill a bird mostly due to starvation but don't traumatize the intestines much--they just rob nutrients and, at the worst, block the intestinal "lumen" (the open area) completely, causing food not to be able to pass. So, the bird often eats ravenously, waits a few hours, vomits, and then eats ravenously again. If food is going through then it's better to treat with the other stuff until you're sure the bird's out of danger and then you can start dealing with the wormers. There are some wormers that aren't so hard on the bird but they often make them kinda' nauseated, too.

Pidgey

[Vesna]

Thanks again Pidgey. I am going to try and get some food into the bird, I will be back on later and keep you posted.

[Vesna]

Hi everyone,

I would like to update you on the ill pigeon I found last week. The bird is still only 200 grams, she eats on her own but very poorly. She has spent the last few days puffed up with her eyes mostly closed. I took her to the Vet yesterday and he examined her and could not see anything visibly wrong so he drew blood. He called me this afternoon with the results, he said there appeared to be nothing bacterial wrong but that the bird's proteins were extremely low. He said this can occur in birds with liver problems but that did not appear to be the case because the liver function looked normal from the blood test. He did say certain intestinal disorders or blockages could cause this and said he would not know if it was something viral until tomorrow. He said coninue the baytril and to give the bird about 2 cc's of sugar water to keep it's energy up. He also asked me to bring in a poop sample which I intend to do tomorrow. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions I really want to help this bird.

thanks

[mr squeaks]

I'm so sorry that your pij is still having problems!

Our more knowledgeable members will be along soon, I'm sure.

Perhaps the fecal exam with shed light on what might be happening! In which case, a more specific med will be able to help.

Wishing your little one ALL THE BEST!

Love and Hugs

Shi

[Vesna]

Thank you for your kind wishes.

I too hope someone can help this sweetie.

[Pidgey]

Let me ask you another question... is this an adult bird of indeterminate age?

Pidgey

[Pidgey]

The reason that I'm asking is because I have one that was very thin and sick when I found it. After two weeks of Baytril, Metronidazole and a week on Corid, the bird was still doing very poorly with no appetite (I maintained tube feeding of Kaytee) and its wings were drooping. I finally started and kept it on a Trimethoprim/Sulfa combo (like Cotrim, Bactrim and several other names) for a couple of weeks. She finally got better enough to eject a rotten egg that had probably been in her for at least a month and had been making her sick. The Trimethoprim/Sulfa works very well penetrating necrotic tissue and that kind of stuff. She's out in the loft now and it's been about six months but it took her a month before she finally turned the corner and started getting better. I also believe that the Trimethoprim/Sulfa finished out what the Baytril couldn't do.

Pidgey