Male King pigeon vomiting seeds and not eating for 2 days. Only drinks lots of water.

[Marina B]

You can start with the Nystatin tomorrow morning. Give the pigeon about 0.5 ml, then wait half an hour and feed some peas and then the meds. The nystatin does not get absorbed into the body, it only needs to coat the throat and crop area. If he has a yeast infection, the meds will only make things worst. If he has canker, he might develop a yeast infection cause of the meds. Lets hear what the other members suggest.

[Jay3]

If you want to give the Nystatin, I would feed in the morning and give the Metro, as I really think he has canker and hasn't been getting any treatment the way you were giving it. He needs it now. Then I usually give the Nystatin an hour or two before feeding or medicating, to give it time to work on an empty crop. So I would get him started on the Metro right away, once daily, in the morning after feeding. Feed the 50 peas twice a day. I would wait to give the Nystatin the next day an hour before feeding and Metro.
I would give Nystatin 1/3 of a 1cc syringe twice daily Morning and afternoon.
If he has a yeast infection, the Nystatin will help, but if he has canker and not treated, he will likely die. Canker is one of the most common of pigeon illnesses. I have seen that so often, and treating for both is a good idea.

[Shirazi_Bunch]

Hi, I have hand fed the pigeon this morning as well.

The first thing I did was to give him fresh ACV and Multi-Vitamin water this morning which he drank in plenty. After that I hand fed him 50 or so green peas. Right after hand feeding him I gave him Metronidazole in the amount you mentioned (50 - 60 mg hand fed into the mouth).

I plan to start giving him nystatin early tomorrow morning.

One positive is that the poop has changed from yesterday as it has some faeces now (may be due to hand feeding). But the faeces is still green. Also the pigeon ocassionally is trying to feed by itself by moving seeds in the feeding bowl with his mouth (before he would not even touch it).

When I feed him nystatin tomorrow morning, should I mix it with water or do I put the suspension in his mouth through dropper / syringe?

Many thanks for your advice,
S_B

[Marina B]

The poo will be dark green when on a pea diet. Once he starts eating seeds, the colour will change to normal.

You can give the Nystatin with a medicine dropper into the mouth, no need to mix with water.

Hope he gets better soon.

[Shirazi_Bunch]

Hi,

I have continued giving treatment 2nd day running with the following:-

1. Nystatin in the morning 1 hour before feeding. 1/3 of 1cc syringe.
2. Handfeeding 50 green peas
3. Giving metronidazole right after feeding.
4. ACV and multivitamin mixed in water.

What is noticeable is that the pigeon tried to eat by itself today. But did not eat much.

However, last night which was the first day of its treatment, the pigeon vomited some of the peas which I gave him.

I have the following questions:-

1. Should I continue Nystatin even tomorrow morning?
2. From the beginning of the disease, a foul smell is coming from its mouth but I believe it has reduced by a small bit. What is the small about?

Best,
Shirazi_Bunch

[Marina B]

You can give the Nystatin every day while he's still on the antibiotics. A foul smell from the mouth can also be a sign of canker, if it starts getting less then it's an improvement already.

Good sign he shows interest in the seeds. Hopefully he will start eating by himself in the next couple of days, then you'll know the treatment is working.

[Jay3]

Yes, the smell is probably the canker. Canker will make a pigeon vomit, but unfortunately Metro can too. Here we would give Pepto Bismol about 30 minutes before feeding and medicating. Works pretty well to control vomiting.

[Shirazi_Bunch]

Hi,

It is the 3rd day of treatment with metro and 2nd day with nystatin. The pigeon has shown the following symptoms today:

a. The pigeon is aggressively looking to eat on its own. Should I stop hand feeding now?

b. The pigeon looks ok somewhat after 3 days of metro. Should I stop metro now since I am worried I may overdose him if I continue to give him metro for next 5 days also?

c. I got a metronidazole suspension from the market which I am planning to give instead of taking the burden of breaking a 400mg tablet into 50mg pieces. Have you got any suggestions about the dosage of metro suspension (I have a 1cc syringe)?

Thank you. I will keep you updated.

-Best,
Shirazi_Bunch

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by Shirazi_Bunch

Hi,

It is the 3rd day of treatment with metro and 2nd day with nystatin. The pigeon has shown the following symptoms today:

a. The pigeon is aggressively looking to eat on its own. Should I stop hand feeding now?

Well that depends on how much he is eating on his own. If not eating as much as a healthy pigeon would eat, then he still requires hand feeding. Watch to see, or measure how much you give him.

b. The pigeon looks ok somewhat after 3 days of metro. Should I stop metro now since I am worried I may overdose him if I continue to give him metro for next 5 days also?

Why would you want to stop something that is working? That makes no sense. When you start any medication, you finish the treatment. If you don't, then you are helping the bacteria, or in this case the trich, to become resistant to the drug. It may not work the next time you need it. You do the full treatment to knock it out, otherwise, it will just come back. It is not going to overdose the bird.


c. I got a metronidazole suspension from the market which I am planning to give instead of taking the burden of breaking a 400mg tablet into 50mg pieces. Have you got any suggestions about the dosage of metro suspension (I have a 1cc syringe)?

Don't know what the strength of the suspension is. How many mg would be in one cc? You want to give 50 mg once daily. Might have been easier to buy the Metro in 250 mg tablet. You need to be careful giving liquids that you don't aspirate the bird.

Thank you. I will keep you updated.

-Best,
Shirazi_Bunch

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[Shirazi_Bunch]

I noticed that the pigeon has eaten like 20-26 seeds. So I fed only metro today and did not hand feed.

My metro suspension is such that in 5 cc there are 200 mg of metro, so I divided 5 ml into 4 parts which is 1.25cc and fed it to the pigeon. So I am giving it suspension now.

Dear Jay, what does aspirate mean in terms of pigeons. I do not know.

Best

[Jay3]

Aspirate is letting the liquid go down the wrong tube and into the lungs. You can kill her that way.
20 to 26 seeds are not enough. The bird will starve and get weaker. Also, the Metro should be given after feeding enough.

[Shirazi_Bunch]

Thanks Jay for your advice, looks like the bird is feeding seeds from time to time, and not in one go. So all through the day today it is feeding seeds. Do I still need to hand feed before metro.

I hope I do not aspirate the pigeon. Is there a way to understand whether the pigeon has aspirated or not?

Best,
Shirazi Bunch

[Jay3]

If you send it down the wrong way, he will probably cough, or he could struggle to breath and breath with open beak. You won't be able to do anything to help him, that's why tablets are easier.
I would feed peas before medicating him. I don't think that he is probably eating enough. When they are not feeling well, and also when on Metro, they often don't eat enough.

[Shirazi_Bunch]

Hi,

Thanks to all your valuable advice the pigeon looks much better now. Special thanks to Jay 3 and Marina.

We have a new problem as the female pigeon has laid eggs today. Since the male is still under treatment in a separate place, should I keep the female as she is or do I place the male in the same cage as the female.

I should say we completed 5 days of metro and we still have 3 days to go. We completed 4 days of nystatin and have 4 more days left.

Best

[Marina B]

Great that he's improving. I would still keep him seperate until you're sure he's 100% fine.