Pigeon-Talk banner

New Rescue - Cher Ami - suspected PMV

3K views 47 replies 4 participants last post by  Joeyspesh 
#1 ·
Hi All!

I have received a new rescue today, a beautiful pigeon that the family named "Cher Ami" after the famous military pigeon!

Anyway.... as soon as I saw her I suspected PMV, I have never seen or experienced a pigeon with it but obviously during the last 2 months with Xena I have been studying! She (? maybe? Who knows) is fully grown I think, and I weighed her (she feels tiny!) and she's 256g.

Anyway... for now, she's in a cage, with a hot water bottle and a few perches. She has water (away from the perches so she can't fall over into them I hope) and seeds. I gave her peas but her beak just seems so small and she can't pick them up. I tried to help her but she just spat them out.

So my question is for you PMV pros. What's the protocol? I know I have to be scrupulously clean and not cross contaminate with my other rescue (Cher PMV is in the bathroom, far away from Xena the other pidge... but is there any medicine or supplement or specific care you recommend? She is able to stand, she can't fly, but she can kinda do big hops with assisted wing flaps to get to her low perches. She is twisting her neck a lot, and has a slight head tremor when she's still. She is currently perching on one foot so she has some stability.

Checked her mouth and throat, no sign of canker! Looks healthy allover.
Bird Vertebrate Stock dove Pigeons and doves Rock dove
Bird Vertebrate Pigeons and doves Beak Stock dove
Bird Vertebrate Beak Stock dove Pigeons and doves
Bird Vertebrate Rock dove Pigeons and doves Beak
Bird Vertebrate Beak Cockatiel Rock dove
Bird Vertebrate Pigeons and doves Stock dove Rock dove
 
See less See more
6
#2 ·
Much like treating xena, the first course of action is supportive. From there the jury is still out.

I have a relationship with 15 other bird rescuers. We are not all in agreement over antibiotics though. When I suspect PMV I ALWAYS give supportive care with antibiotics (either trimethoprim or baytril). Half of my resue friends will criticise me for using antibiotic saying its unnecessary, the other half agree with my use of antibiotic. We have working relationships with 5 different Vets; also with differing opinions. I hate to lose, so I go with the nutrition, hygiene, medicine. PMV sometimes leaves permanent neurological damage , but PMV also lowers the ability of the immune system to fight off opportunistic bacteria.

Whatever course of action you choose, thanks for caring for this little soul
 
#3 ·
Much like treating xena, the first course of action is supportive. From there the jury is still out.

I have a relationship with 15 other bird rescuers. We are not all in agreement over antibiotics though. When I suspect PMV I ALWAYS give supportive care with antibiotics (either trimethoprim or baytril). Half of my resue friends will criticise me for using antibiotic saying its unnecessary, the other half agree with my use of antibiotic. We have working relationships with 5 different Vets; also with differing opinions. I hate to lose, so I go with the nutrition, hygiene, medicine. PMV sometimes leaves permanent neurological damage , but PMV also lowers the ability of the immune system to fight off opportunistic bacteria.

Whatever course of action you choose, thanks for caring for this little soul
What dosage of baytril do you give? Xena is still on it for salmonella and the vet was happy to prescribe. Xena is 5mg once a day.

Ive never had an older pigeon before. Does she need grit? I have seeds for her, but she won't touch the peas or corn I've put out. She seems to be eating well but her tiny little beak struggles with the bigger seeds.

Thanks so much!!!
 
#4 ·
I've only cared for 1 PMV pigeon, she took about 8 weeks to recover. You can minimize stress, as this will make the symptoms worse. Seeds in a deep dish, this will help with the eating. Water in a small bowl so he doesn't drown when he gets seizures. Multivitamins will also help.

What do the droppings look like?
 
#6 ·
.
Yes, you can put the grit in a seperate bowl and she will help herself to it. I also think antibiotics is not necessary. Paratyphoid (when the brain gets affected) can produce the same symptoms as PMV. Then the antibiotics will make a difference. If she is eating well, then just keep an eye on her for now. You can also weigh her regularly to make sure she is eating enough.

If you need to forcefeed her, put the pea deep inside the beak. That way she will swallow and not spit it out.
Morning!



Sorry for the delay, my laptop died and I had all kinds of trouble resetting my password on my phone!



Thanks Marina, let me try to reply to both messages!



Were you able to release your PMV pigeon once she recovered? Cher seems so so so docile and sweet, almost like a statue! I keep her cage open because the sound of me opening it seems to really stress her out, and she doesn’t move from her little perch anyway so I think there’s 0% chance she’d even consider leaving.



So she has a medium sized crate in the bathroom, it’s covered on 3 sides and the bottom is toweled and I use white wash clothes under her perch which are removable/washable to monitor her poop. Her food and water are in dishes that are connected to the cage so she can access from her perch, she seems to eat and drink plenty.



As far as the peas, I hope they aren’t necessary because she’s not about that life! She refuses them, and I fed Xena by hand for a few days before using the syringe so I feel like I’m pretty well versed in helping them to swallow. Cher just seems to not want them! Her beak is very very tiny (compared to Xena, who’s s woodie) and She only eats the smaller seeds from the bowl.



I have checked her for canker and obstructions, nothing there. I second guessed myself and checked again but her mouth and throat are lovely and healthy and pink!



Did your PMV pidge just hang out in the cage for those 8 weeks? I do pop her on the floor a few times a day to walk around, (just so she’s moving really) but all she wants is the safety of the crate. When she’s in the crate she can balance on the perch (it’s a wide moss pole for a plant) and she can stay still and even stand on one leg, but when she’s on the floor she’s quite unsteady and does a lot of twisting and star gazing.



As her poops look good, is it more likely to be PMV do you think?



Thank you for all your help! Attaching a few pics!
96290
96291
Beige Pattern Outerwear
96292
 
#5 ·
Yes, you can put the grit in a seperate bowl and she will help herself to it. I also think antibiotics is not necessary. Paratyphoid (when the brain gets affected) can produce the same symptoms as PMV. Then the antibiotics will make a difference. If she is eating well, then just keep an eye on her for now. You can also weigh her regularly to make sure she is eating enough.

If you need to forcefeed her, put the pea deep inside the beak. That way she will swallow and not spit it out.
 
#7 ·
I could not view the photos, but if she is eating plenty, then she is ok. Her symptoms might get worse, so just keep on checking her droppings.

Yes, mine spend 8 weeks in a parrot cage and she was fine with that. Her symptoms was very bad by week 6, had plenty of seizures but she recovered well after that. After 8 weeks, I put her in my aviary and she was a bit scared but eventually adapted. She also took a long time to start flying again. I still have her, I've read the symptoms might return so I just did not want to release her.

Rather keep her in the crate, that is where she feels safe. You can put a mirror inside for company and see how she reacts to that. If it stresses her too much, then rather remove it.
 
#14 ·
I decided to avoid the antibiotics for now, she seems to be doing very well, so I’m just going to hope the virus is running it’s course. She’s maintaining weight (between 255 and 260 for a week) and I have sunflower hearts on their way so hopefully that will fatten her up, the seeds I have are tiny and husky so probably not enough nutrition! She doesn’t wanna eat anything else.
 
#16 ·
Cher is doing really well, she’s not deteriorating thankfully and she’s quite calm and sweet. She’s 266g today so a little gain. I wish I could spend more time with her but i don’t want her too tame if there’s a chance she could be released!
 
#17 ·
Hey friends! Cher is 272g today, very fiesty (always pecking me, hard, and shouting at me in pigeon talk.... she was very docile and lifeless in her personality when i got her).
She has developed green poop! Could this be down to an increase in sunflower hearts? She doesn’t love the pigeon mix and I notice she favors the sunflower hearts. Her urine is clear and her urate is white - I have a picture of the most recent poop on it’s own, and the others in the cage seem to leach out green after half a day or so. As you can see part of the poop is green and half brown, which made me stop and think to ask you all. She seems fine, I’ve treated for worms and mites last week and haven’t seen any canker or growths. Oh and the droppings aren’t malodorous at all.
96487
96488
 
#21 ·
96580

Cher shows almost no signs of PMV now, and is very very very much a wild bird! She flies like a champ and is eating and drinking well. She has peas and blueberries and sprouts as well as he pigeon mix and sunflower hearts. I actually think she could be released but it’s so cold and rainy at the moment and it’s not possible for me to get her used to being outside, so I’m going to give her the guest bathroom until the spring so she can get strong and avoid the terrible weather. She’s taken to the top of the mirror, so I’ve given her a little towel nest. She’s so much cleaner than Xena, she knows that she can’t poop in her nest so she backs up off the edge (and I have a puppy pad strategically placed to catch everything) which is a dream for cleaning up!). I was putting her in her cage at night but she has decided that’s not happening so looks like she’s a bathroom girl now. I’m sad she doesn’t have any pigeon friends to hang out with, but happy she’s safe and warm.
She’s got supplements in her water, and food, has probiotics and ACV a few times a week, anything else I should be thinking about?
 
#24 ·
She’s been in that bathroom the whole time (6+ weeks now) .... she was just in the cage before, and couldn’t fly so I didn’t let her out, just kept her in there warm and fed! She loves the bathroom, I can hear her flying around and making pigeon noises every so often! She loves being up high on the mirror and seems to be happy! I don’t notice anything with her behavior now she doesn’t display any PMV type mannerisms, she flies like a champ and her personality has changed 100% from when I first got her. She was like a statue then and wouldn’t even flinch when I came near or picked her up! The last time I managed to weigh her was 3 days ago and she was +5g from the previous time so she’s maintained her weight during these weeks, which is good I suppose!
 
#25 ·
Wonder what she would do if she has a change in environment? Stress aggravate the symptoms. If you put her in another room and she starts showing neurological symptoms again, then she might not be releasable. One won't know how she would react when you release her.
 
#26 ·
I did weigh her in the bedroom bathroom last week which is completely different and she was fine... but once it’s spring and it warms up perhaps I can observe her a little more closely. I can’t catch her easily now (she’s very feral!) so I’ll just leave her to get strong and be safe for now. Maybe there’s a bird rescue in my area, hard to tell as I don’t speak Italian! I’ll make sure she’s fine before I release her. 🥰
 
#27 ·
Just updating that Cher is now happily residing in her bathroom palace! It’s a large bathroom with lots to perch on up high, which she loves! She has a cage and food and water and mirrors and snacks and she seems to be totally unimpressed with me now and totally feral!
Her poop is still a little strange now and then but all look like typical PMV poops, so I’m not going to panic. Her weight is still at 260g so she’s stayed 250-260 for almost 2 months, and she has plenty of space to fly and exercise and get strong before I release her in the spring.
 
#29 ·
@Marina B I haven’t actually given her a water bowl big enough to bath in, because I read on here a post about a little sweetie who drowned in a shallow dish of water (due to a fit, if memory served) even though they assumed the pigeon had recovered from the PMV. Do you think it will be okay now? I’ve had her since November 6th so it’s been almost 8 weeks and she’s been symptom free (apart from poops) for about 3 weeks. The family who had her before me had her for a week or two, so I think the tricky PMV stage has passed! I think reading that post made me a bit nervous!
 
#31 ·
she is absolutely not going to bath with me in the room she just flies up high and avoids coming down until I’m gone. I tried to set up a camera but she knocked it down! 😂

I wonder if I just put a very shallow dish on the floor, that might be okay? Perhaps I’ll wait a few weeks just to be sure.
 
#32 ·
96718

96719

Cher is doing so well, she’s even managing to let close enough to take pics (last week she was spooked quite easily). I cleaned her cage and she seemed quite happy to pose for photos! Sweet girl. I’ve found a small flock of 7 pigeons at the end of my road, when it’s time to release do you think that’s enough pigeons to become friends with or should i look for a bigger flock?
96720
 
#33 ·
She is looking well. How does she react when you get close to her? Any neurological signs? I think releasing her close to your home will be good, that flock is perfect. Will you recognize her afterwards? You should actually first take her outside in a pet carrier to see how she reacts before releasing her.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top