[AndreiS]

I rescued a pigeon in this condition, gave her an injection with metronidazole.

The mouth is blocked by deposits to the point nothing can pass, not even a tube. The deposits grow on tongue, mouth roof, everything, being few mm thick.

The treatment with metronidazole will be given by injection, but the pigeon hasn't ate for long, she's only bone and skin and I don't know how I can feed her.

 

[Skyeking]

Can you make a very thin consistency of baby bird formula and give that to it slowly?

 

[AndreiS]

We don't have baby bird formula here but by capillary action (a tube touching the beak) I managed to make her drink some water mixed with honey and sudden felt better. She also aspirated some drops but not in a dangerous manner.

 

[Skyeking]

The honey is fine for hydrating for the first hour of basic life care, but the bird needs baby bird formula to provide the nutrients and energy to stabilize it and keep it alive, since it was starving.

 

[AndreiS]

a hole needs to be made and a tube needs to be long enough to pass her windpipe and go direct into the crop, with a syringe on the end with handfeeding formula of some type and push the plunger and it is in the crop..that is tube feeding. water and honey is not going to keep her alive long.

I tried but the colonies of tricho are so thick the tube can't pass beyond the mouth. I wait the metro to make its effect and maybe some of the colonies will fall off.

The honey is fine for hydrating for the first hour of basic life care, but the bird needs baby bird formula to provide the nutrients and energy to stabilize it and keep it alive, since it was starving.

Any idea about something to be used instead of baby formula? Else, I have no choice but to continue with honey.

 

[AndreiS]

If anybody interested, this is how things are going:

-the tricho seems to have been killed but the deposits are still obstructing the eating: is an ugly hard lump beneath the beak and mouth is entirely covered with a 2-3 mm layer of parasites. Fortunately, the layer is no more so think and I managed to make her eat few mill grains.

-she has made a severe salmonellosis (I think), started with those psychedelic green (almost blue) droppings and I was losing time because I was under the influence of some wrong advices read here and there ("green poops = starving"). I had another pigeon with similar symptoms: green-bluish watery droppings, some "lost" eyes like of a person losing consciousness, excessive thirst and saved him with lincospectin so I think is salmonella or e-coli. After giving her a shot, she started again to look fully conscious.


Is an amazing bird, is so weak - only 120 gr but has great courage. When I treat them I not only throw medicines but I try to make them feel loved by looking and talking to them, keeping their beak between fingers and so on. I think this give them will to fight the disease and hope.

 

[Charis]

You can try feeding warmed applesauce....mashed peas, the kind for human babies. Add 5mg calcium one time a day to what ever formula you use.
You can try painting some of the liquid metronidazole directly on the canker lesions, one time a day, with a cotton swab.

 

[AndreiS]

The bird turned very bad, the crop is blocked, probably by candida (is a strong sour smell coming from mouth) and the nose is blocked by a dead colony of canker. Canker itself seems to have passed but the bird can't be feeded or hydrated and is extremely thin a dehydratated: only 100 gr. She lost much water because I was keeping her wrapped into an electric blanket.

Do anybody know if is possible to hydrate by perfusion?

 

[gingerpoo]

Lactated ringers can be injected subcutaneously and very readily absorbed. The layer of skin is very thin and will raise up like a bubble with fluid and then deflate.
Make sure that the heating pad/blanket is only under half of her box. Put her is a bathroom with warmth and steam. The steam will make it easier to breathe. She needs to be warm but not hot
The smell still may be canker. Did you tube feed her or have you just been popping grains in her mouth? Improper tube feeding can cause damage to the crop and become infected.

 

[AndreiS]

Thank you for advice, seems useful, I will remember with possible further ocasions.

Poor she, passed away. It was incredibly thin and light, like a feather. Until yesterday it seemed it will be ok, I managed to pass mill grains between the dead canker deposits (if I knew, I could removed them and everything would ended well, as I noticed today they were no more fixed on mouth). But I made the mistake to give her too many grains and the crop got blocked. Over night vomited everything and became extremely dehydrated. Soon, she stopped to move her body and lost consciousness, after an episode of torticolis. I tried to put liquids in her crop with a tube but, perhaps because the nose was blocked, every amount of liquid was coming back and a little of it was each time entering the trachea. With all this dramatic situation I saw n her eyes the will to fight but some loud sounds (the crow I take care of) scared and disconcerted her and maybe that triggered the unwanted end. I think that psychology is more important than physiology.

 

[gingerpoo]

Thank you for trying. Sounds like it was an uphill battle and she was very bad off. Sorry she didn't pull thru

 

[AndreiS]

Thank you for trying. Sounds like it was an uphill battle and she was very bad off. Sorry she didn't pull thru

She could been saved if I didn't make those mistakes, as she managed to overcome that very bad canker (such cases are usually considered lost, but with injectable metro I managed to cure it) and had a high morale.