[xlifeisgoodambx]

hi! i need help with an injured pigeon i found!
my family and i were driving along the road when we saw a pigeon getting attacked by a hawk. it's a good thing we got there in time because the hawk flew away as soon as we drove up to it. i grabbed the pigeon and wrapped it in a towel. we inspected it when we got home. she has a gash under her wing about two inches wide. im pretty sure its just a flesh wound though. the feathers were peeled off where the wound was and it was bleeding but not gushing. i put neosporin on the wound and gave the bird some water. it drank heavily after a few seconds of leaving the bowl in front of her face. after we put neosporing on the wound, we wrapped her body in paper towels then wrapped her in a towel and placed her in a well blanketed box in a dark room.
-am i doing everything correctly?
-what should i do about the wound?
thank you!

 

[Reti]

You did great. Thank you for saving this pigeon.
Tomorrow offer again water and seeds. Hopefully he will be ready to eat. Wash the wound with soap and water and apply neosporin again. You can apply neosporin twice a day.
If you have any antibiotics on hand it would be great as he does need antibiotics by mouth also.
Where are you located? We might have members in your area who could help you out with the bird.
Also if you have a heating pad you can set it on low cover it with a towel and put the bird on it and you don't have to wrap him up.

Reti

 

[Charis]

Thank you for saving the poor pigeon.
Putting neosporin on the wound was a good thing to do.
No need to wrap the pigeon in a towel in fact...it probably isn't a good idea. Do remove the water during the night. In the morning offer her some food and water. She won't eat if in a dark box so putting her in a cat carrier or putting a screen over the top of the box would be a good idea.
Also...check her over very throughly for other punctures.
Can you post a picture of the wound?

 

[Gnuretiree]

Let us know how the bird is doing. Does it have a band?

 

[Feefo]

Yesterday I had someone contact through my website me about a pigeon that had been caught by a hawk in the UK. The rescuer said:

We have repeatedly sprayed the open wound with an antibacterial spray that also creates a seal over it. The bird seems to be getting stronger everyday and does not seem at all stressed or in pain – in fact its appears quite bright, but is not yet walking about. There are no broken bones (at least wings or legs are fine)

Now that the blood has dried and things settled down it is very obvious that the bird has a large hole in its back. You can see some of its skeleton (spine and ribs). The muscle has gone. My gut-feel is for a very poor outlook for his poor bird from infection. I can’t think of a way to compensate for the lost soft-tissue. Or is there a long-shot that mother nature might close the wound herself in time.

I contacted the two best rehabbers I know in the UK for advice, I thought their answers might help and reassure you too:

Helen (wild-life-line) said:

Tell the gentleman to be patient. Have seen this a lot and if he keeps
the wound open and clean it will slowly fill in with new granulated
tissue. He mustn't allow a scab to close the wound over until it is
almost filled otherwise an abscess will form. Tell him pigeons have
great healing and anti-infection properties and I know of some who have
recovered completely from much worse. It does take time though and he
should be patient. Hope this helps.

Dee (Wing and a Prayer) said:

OK, they WILL grow new flesh, the wounds granulate from the inside. He
must be careful that when he sprays the wounds, none of it goes into
the body cavity. The last one we had, we couldn't even use F10 gel on
as we would effectively have been putting it inside his body. We give
Baytril injections daily to stop infection and metacam for the pain. He
may not appear to be in pain as the nerves will be damaged but as the
flesh regrows, so the feeling comes back. I doubt that he will grow new
ribs so how well he will be able to fly long term, it is anyone's
guess. You have seen the white one we had that had what sounds to be exactly the same severity of injury. He just has some scabs left on his back
now, loads of new pink flesh and feathers coming through.


Most important I think is the antibiotics.

 

[Gnuretiree]

Remarkable animals. They are tough.

 

[xlifeisgoodambx]

update:
so today the pigeon is doing very well.
we unwrapped it from the blankets and put it in our cat carrier.
it is very alert and is walking around. we are going to take it out and clean the wound soon and reapply neosporin . i was just wondering what kind of food to give it? and where to get it. we tried giving it regular bird seed but it didnt want it.
thanks again!

 

[Jaye]

Hi. Keep up with the seed. If she/he really doesn't eat it after another day or so, you may need to go to hand-feeding peas and corn. But we will get to that later.

NOW....of UTMOST IMPORTANCE....is ANTIBIOTICS. We want to clarify that Neosporin is not what we mean by "antibiotic". It is a topical antibiotic and it was smart thinking of you to do that. What your pal needs within the next 24 hours is an oral antibiotic.

Please let us know:

1) Where are you located ? There may be a Forum member nearby.

2) Do you, or anyone you know, have any human or pet-grade antibiotics kicking around the house ? Penicillin, Amoxycillin, Cephalexin, Augmentin, Ceclor, Ciproflaxin/Bayrtil... anything like that...in pill or liquid form ? If so, tell us the strength (i.e. mg per tablet or mg/ml of liquid).

If NOT...you need some quickly. Again, telling us where you are will help. Perhaps someone can express-mail you some, or if you prefer not to divulge address...you can order some from a Pigeon Supply site on Monday and have it overnighted to you (if you call to order and not order using an online form).

This is really important and is a step which cannot be skipped. If any bacteria from the attacker made it into the Pigeons bloodstream (which we'd assume 'yes' since there is a tear) it can overwhelm their system w/i 3 days...to the point where meds given after that cannot turn it around.

Avians cannot 'fight off' infection the way mammals do. Their bloodstreams are so finite. Once they start going downhill....the window of opportunity to begin meds is very, very narrow.

Not to panic you...you have done a great job, so far...& you are still within that 'window' if you can get meds in your hand by Monday or Tuesday the latest.

Thanks for saving your friend's life !t

 

[xlifeisgoodambx]

im located in Spencer,MA
so for the antibiotic. i have ibuprofen.im not sure wat else we have laying around. but how do you give it to the pigeon? do you break it in half and let it disolve in water?

 

[Jaye]

Hi.

Ibuprophen is just an anti-inflammatory. Don't use that. It needs to be one of the above meds.

OK, we have tons of folks in MA....cannot think of whom, offhand. I will ask an administrator to possibly direct some to your thread.

In the meantime....go to Foys...this is the stuff you'd need: Amoxycillin, in tablets form.

www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/catalog/593-1311.html

You will also need a 1cc plastic syringe, which they have, too.

If nobody nearby surfaces, call Foy's Monday AM (they are on East Coast, too) and order some, have it express-mailed overnite so you can get it Tuesday and administer it by Tuesday night the latest. (Again, don't use the online order form, speak to a human being).

Another option, of course, is taking your friend to a vet. You'd have to say she/he was a pet or Homer, probably...because some establishments do not treat and actually will confiscate a Feral Pigeon (i.e. kill it).

BTW....That was incredibly quick thinking by you on the side of the road...just wanna mention that.

 

[xlifeisgoodambx]

alright. i will get some amox. from another family member!
but how much should i give it and how?
do i let it dissolve in water and then put it into the syringe then feed it to the pigeon?
thanks again!

 

[Reti]

alright. i will get some amox. from another family member!
but how much should i give it and how?
do i let it dissolve in water and then put it into the syringe then feed it to the pigeon?
thanks again!

Yes, you will have to dissolve it and give with a syringe. You will need a small syringe also to measure how much you give.
Once you have the tablet or capsule get back to us and tell us how many mg it is. Then we can let you know in how much water to dissolve and how much to give.

Reti

 

[xlifeisgoodambx]

okay so i went to cvs and picked up a few things.
i couldnt find any amox. or penac. :/
but i did get aspirin (low dose) 81 mg.
theyre very small so im thinking i can just disolve one and put it in
the syringe. but how much water do i dissolve it in?
(i got the syringe btw) and other items to help clean the wound.
thanks!

 

[xlifeisgoodambx]

by the way! the bird does have two bands (one on each leg)
one is orange and one is blue. does anyone know what that means?

 

[Quazar]

Aspirin is NOT an antibiotic so will be of no use to combat the possible bacteria.
This is now getting a bit urgent.
If any bacteria from the hawks talons or beak have entered the wound, it needs antibiotics to combat this A.S.A.P.
once the bacteria starts to affect the pigeon, it WILL go downhill VERY fast and recovery is much more difficult, sometimes impossible.

The bands mean that it is not a wild or feral pigeon.
It is either someones pet that has escaped, or is a racing or homing pigeon.
If there are numbers & letters on the band, this could help Identify the owner if they are proper club bands. Sometimes however, if it is not a racing pigeon, they will just be personal bands with little or no info on them.

 

[Dobato]

Xlifeisgoodambx, thanks for trying to help this poor little fellow out. From the way you describe that you were driving along with your family, I take it you are young, rather than old, so it's good to see young people taking an interest in helping out animals in distress. You have been given good advice and I just wanted to ask you to please don't give any medications or treatments to to him without checking here first. If you where to give this little one 81mg worth of Aspirin it will harm him by severely overdosing him and may even bring about his death, and I know you would not want that to happen. These little guys are sensitive to many medicines, so hold off on giving him anything orally until you get the OK and are told how much to give him, as well as seeking advice on how to treat his wounds.

Good luck with him,

Karyn

 

[Reti]

As mentioned already, please do not give aspirin.
You do need an antibiotic, please let us know where you are located, just the general area, maybe someone is close enough to you to take the bird over or give you the medications he needs.

Also, if the bands on the legs have numbers can you post them on here? Might be someone is missing his bird. We could trace the owner of the bird by the numbers.

Reti

 

[Jaye]

Yes, please.

Antibiotics cannot be purchased at a drug store. For birds, you HAVE to get it online OR take your friend to a vet.

Antibiotic: Amoxycillin...Penicillin...Cephalexin...Ceclor...Augmentin...Cipro...or Baytril. Period.

Not aspirin, not ibuprophen, not vitamins, not tylenol, not pain relievers, not allergy medication. It HAS to be Antibiotic.

AS Dobato says...do not give anything before checking here first. You would have to crush a pill and mix with the right amount of water and dose orally.

Tomorrow is Monday...as of Monday morning, you have about 24-36 hours left to start Antbiotics.You (or your parents) need to get it from Foy's and get it overnight shipped. Everything will be OK if you do that. If not...let's just say...it really needs to be done. Things might end very badly if not....

You have done very well so far. This is an important next step. I am still working on seeing if any members are in your MA area...but at this point, you folks need to call Foys on Monday and order those meds.

 

[Jay3]

I sent him a PM last evening, and haven't heard from him yet.

 

[Reti]

Maybe someone can send him some meds overnight.
Hope the bird is alright.

Reti