[carolvisuara]

Pigeon got hit by a car and bled from both eyes, I believe it lost one eye. Tried feeding it but I saw something in the bird's feathers. It looked like either a spider or fly, what do i do?? I don't kow how to help it or kill the fly/ spider. I live in Edinburg, Texas

 

[Doves Witness]

Probably a "pigeon fly". The flies can't survive long if not on a bird. Bathe the bird in room-temperature water with 1 teaspoon of boric acid per quart of water. Be sure not to submerge or pour water over the bird's head and especially not on the nares/nostrils in the beak. Boric acid is not toxic to birds and it kills mites and kills or repels other bugs too. The flies usually end-up floating in the bath water.


A little chamomile tea in the bird's drinking water will help calm him and also reduce pain and swelling. Lemon juice in the water would be a great source of electrolytes.

You can cover any open wounds (but not the eyes) with a paste of turmeric and water, or coconut oil, or flax seed oil, or extra virgin olive oil -- they are all naturally antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and help with wound healing.

You might be able to find a "pigeon or dove friendly" rescue center, or vet, or someone who is willing to care for the bird, at the following web sites:

Some Pigeon & Dove Friendly Rescues - Google My Maps

Not all rescues will help pigeons & doves (whether domestic or nonnative) but these will. (This map is in progress! There are more rescues than this. Please contact those closest to you & ask for referrals to an even closer rescue if needed.) Palomacy Pigeon & Dove Adoptions, www.PigeonRescue.org

www.google.com

Palomacy Facebook page for pigeon and dove rescue

 

[carolvisuara]

I was able to remove the fly, but she still doesn't eat or drink even when she is alone. I have left for her some lettuce, mashed fruit, bananas, seeds, smaller seeds, and water and she eats none. DO you have any idea why? the only visible injury i see is the tip of the top beak broken off but other than that she seems fine. The beak looks like it broke off but not too much. What do I do so she can eat for herself?

 

[Doves Witness]

Post a picture of the bird's droppings - it is usually helpful for diagnosis. She may be refusing food due to intestinal blockage, or disease etc.

 

[carolvisuara]

 

[Doves Witness]

The dropping on the left of the first picture looks normal. The others look like the bird isn't eating enough food. But no obvious sign of infection, which is good. You can try hand-feeding seeds and put them far enough back into the beak that he can swallow them, or use a small plastic syringe feeding tube with water and either ground seeds or formula.

^ Plastic feeding syringe for water or liquified food.

 

[carolvisuara]

Ok, the only problem is he doesn't drink or eat anything and can go a whole day without touching any food or water which is concerning me. He also doesn't move around in the bird cage and stays in the same place.

 

[Colombina]

Hi, thanks for helping him.

Could you please post a pic of the beak, eyes and one of the bird?
Broken beak and/or eyes issues (you said that both eyes bled and that he likely lost one eye) could prevent him from eating and drinking.

As a car hit him he could maybe suffer from a head trauma/concussion too (I cared about a dove who got a head trauma and for some days he seemed a "doll", I mean he did not move like your bird) Give a look at this old thread:

Injured young pigeon - circling, sunken eyes

Hi, Found a young pigeon with sunken/half closed eyes, barely walking, not flying, circling/spinning. When walking home today I saw a pigeon on the floor by the side of the road close to another pigeon that was dead. I approached it and it didn't move at all and stayed laying down, it has very...

www.pigeons.biz

At post # 6 I wrote info about head trauma and posted three helpful links.

A head trauma can affect eyes and can cause several eyes related issues, vision loss included. As you saw a bleeding and suspect eye lost in all cases he surely got a direct injury to the eyes.

"Vision loss
Partial or complete loss of vision can also occur post head trauma, often taking on different forms depending on the patient. For instance, he or she might experience blind spots in the periphery or have reduced vision in one half of the visual field. And it can be caused by several factors. In some cases, direct injury to the eye may be visible and indicated by lacerations, bruising, broken blood vessels, and swelling in the area. Although less common, vision loss can also be neurological in origin—represented by trauma to the main optic nerve in the back of the eye or brain dysfunction that affects the visual pathway".

7 Common Eye Symptoms after Concussion

Concussions often come with a multitude of eye-related symptoms. We explore the most common ocular issues you should know about.

www.theraspecs.com

 

[Doves Witness]

Ok, the only problem is he doesn't drink or eat anything

He is definitely drinking and eating a small amount of food or he wouldn't produce droppings with the green from solid foods and the white from uric acid. Perhaps put seed in a small but deep dish next to him where he can't miss them when he pecks at them?

 

[Marina B]

Please post a photo of the beak. If the tip of the upper beak is missing, he will be unable to grab seeds with the beak and swallow them. Those droppings are starvation droppings. I have a pigeon that recovered from pox and lost a small part of the upper beak. I had to file down the tip of the lower beak and he is now able to pick up seeds.

Handfeed him green defrosted peas by putting one deep inside the beak over the tongue to swallow. An adult pigeon needs about 150 peas per day divided into 3 meals of 50 each. Depending on how quick the crop empties.

Here's a photo of mine before I filed the lower beak.

 

[carolvisuara]

 

[carolvisuara]

There are 3 bird feeders in the cage, along with some lettuce of the sides to see if she would eat them and some grapes on the floor with a bowl of fruit pulp. Will i have to file down the lower beak so she can pick up seeds? she hasn't eaten anything on her own and we feed her by hand.

 

[Marina B]

Yes you can. Only do a little bit at a time and stop if bleeding occurs. The poor thing. You can use an emerald board (for human nails).

Rather line the bottom of the cage with some newspaper, will be more comfortable to walk on. Put a brick inside for him to perch on. You can remove the fruit, they are seedeaters. Fill those fooddishes a bit more, easier for them to eat from a deep dish.

 

[Colombina]

Poor bird. It's like I thought... In his condition it's normal that he is not eating on his own. Broken beak and eye injury prevent him from eating and drinking on his own...
I don't have any experience with a similar kind of beak break. I know that in some cases some vets are able to "rebuild" the missing part of beak using material like resin but surely it's very complicated to find one of them.
If you would like to try to look for one, give a look at this link:

Recommended Vets in the United States | Beauty of Birds

Recommended Vets in the United States Avian Veterinarians (Bird Vets) in the USAVet recommendations ...

www.beautyofbirds.com

You could even try to ask on Palomacy and try to give a look at the link:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/Palomacy

Avian veterinarians -

These veterinarians know birds . . . Avian vet care is a specialty and is very different from the treatment of dogs and cats. Please seek avian vet care for your bird! San Francisco Bay Area Medical Center for Birds … Continue reading →

www.pigeonrescue.org

If you decide to bring him to a vet, please clearly tell him that euthanasia is NOT an option.

Eye looks very bad too. What about the other eye? Does he have sight problems in it or everything seems ok?
Have you given a look at the old thread that I posted? If not, this is a sterile solution for eye wash:

Bausch + Lomb Ophtaxia Singledose 10 x 5ml

Bausch + Lomb Ophtaxia Singledose 10 x 5ml - Buy this product online, find all information about this product as well as customer reviews. Possible free shipping.

www.cocooncenter.co.uk

I used it for myself (when I had conjunctivitis) and for birds too. Here you can find it in pharmacy. I would try to rinse his eye because it's important to remove any possible debris from it and avoid any risk of infection.
As alternative to the sterile solution, you could make a cup of chamomile tea (without added sugar) and wash the eye with it (check carefully the temperature, it must be slightly warm), you can use an eye dropper.

I'm worried about risk of infection (even broken beak may involve risk of infection). Would you be able to get some medications (antibiotics, pain med)?
Have you carefully checked his body for injuries Sometimes they are difficult to find because hidden by feathers.
Any symptoms of concussion?
I would add the his drinking water a complete vitamin supplement containing iron and even B-complex vitamins, it will help him to replace the lost red cells. He needs to be as strong as possible.
Just to get you an idea I use this one:

https://www.versele-laga.com/en/fr/oropharma/products/oropharma-omnivit

 

[carolvisuara]

this is the eye that was managed to be saved

 

[Colombina]

How is he doing?

Thanks for the pic. I'm very glad to see that the other eye seems perfect.
Just in case, I would keep an eye on it. I know that I seem apprehensive but in 2014 we rescued a dove hit by a car. At the beginning we did not notice anything strange in his eyes (vet included) but with time we realized that he became blind in one eye because of the blow (and the blind eye changed his appearance: it became opaque).

How is the injured eye doing? In my last post I forgot to say that you can rinse it twice a day. Do that for some days and see how it goes.
This is an old thread. In that case the injured eye improved with time:

Pigeon hit by a car, no idea what to do, pls help!

Hi, so today I was taking my daughter to nursery and saw by the side of the road a pigeon just flapping around trying to get back on its feet, I thought I’d drop my daughter off first and if it’s still there on way back then I can help it. By the time I got there 5 mins later it looked like it...

www.pigeons.biz

What about the beak? Are you trying to look for a vet? Or have you started to file the lower beak down?

Keep us updated.

 

[carolvisuara]

We are trying to find a vet that accepts birds and we only found one, but they told us that their veterinarian who specializes in birds isn't available for the time being. As for the beak we didn't see that he was eating but he did start to drink water on its own for the first time, and we saw that he was trying to open the other eye, but we don't know how to help it. We thought one eye was gone because of how much blood came from the eye but now after a week or so it is trying to open the eye and we see it a little but because of the blood it sealed a bit the eye lids together, so we don't know how to help it open the eye other than putting a few drops of water to try and dissolve the blood bit by bit. He is also finally to gain weight back slowly because of the peas which is giving us relief.

 

[Doves Witness]

we don't know how to help it.

You already are, and THANK YOU for providing care for him! The bird is in a safe place to rest, with clean water. Are you able to hand-feed him at all? Adding lemon juice in the water would provide some nutrients. Apple or grape juice would also provide different nutrients. Doves do eat fruit.

 

[Colombina]

Thanks for the update.
Glad to hear that there are improvements!

Try to rinse it twice or thrice a day with slightly warm chamomile tea as I suggested (if you don't have an eye dropper you can put some tea on a teaspoon and slowly pour a bit of it on the eye). Hopefully it will help to dissolve blood. Btw chamomile is a natural anti-inflammatory.

About the vet, you could try to ask even here:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/pigeon.rescue/

It's another pigeon international group, maybe someone knows another avian vet in your location.

 

[carolvisuara]

Thank you, also I noticed that his beak at the tip is showing the bone and the protection is chipping away. Could it be an infection or because he might be hitting against the wall? Update- His eye that is getting better and he is opening it little by little every day!