[Hambone]

My bird needs some antibiotics for a foot problem . All I have is penicillin 500 MG tablets that I am taking myself before a tooth extraction .

Can I crush up part of a tab and put in his water ? And at what ratio ? Same as a human for 10 days ?

Let me go though some history . The bird is an old retired racer that I got about a year and a half ago . He is 8 according to the band . I think the whole problem started because of a too tight poor fitting band and it caused him to fold his hind toe under his foot and it irritated the joint and toe . I removed the band , put some 3 antibiotic salve on it and put a vet sticky bandage around it to splint the toe and hold it in position 5 days ago . I took it off today and the toe is straight ( so far) but i noticed the very end of the toe and along the top is blackish . Not good ... that is necrosis perhaps ? He walks OK now , no pain , but he's not his normal self . Its swollen a bit too . Me thinks its an infection although no open sores or anything like that . Been problematic for 2 months , at first I thought it might be bumblefoot but not so sure now . In a way it looks much better except for the black and the black toenail

I cant afford a vet , and have no idea what to get for the best antibiotic and where to get it other than order it . I want to get something going right now if possible for him . Any other topicals to use ? peroxide or ?

What do you think about the Penicillin ? Its at my fingertips and can get him on it right now . I went through the health stickies at the top but not finding what I need .

Anyway he's walking around now and maybe the fresh air and sun will do it good .... I sure hope I didnt leave that damn bandage on too long or too tight

help me out here and thanks much , hambone

 

[spirit wings]

sounds like dead tissue, can you post a pic.?..I think ordering a broad spectrum antibio would be better than using your own tabs....lets see if someone can suggest which antibio may be the best also....

 

[kippermom]

The formulary section on www.pigeoncote.com says that the dosage for Amoxicillan (version of penicillin) is 1500 to 3000 mg. in 1 gal of water for 10to 14 days.

(The amount probably depends on severity of the infection as the dosage is somewhat self-limiting by how much birds actually drink!)

Most penicillin references refer to injectible or liquid....so this is the only thing I am aware of referenceing a dosage for pills that you could crush in water....While this is an ineffective way to dose, if it is all you have, it may be better than nothing.

If there are no open wounds I am not sure anything topical will assist.

Hopefully others may have better info later....

 

[Charis]

Dr Sarah Bangton
Dr Sarah Paterson
4110 Stockton Hill Rd.
Kingman, Arizona
928-757-8855

Maybe you can just call this clinic and ask for some advice. One of the vet tecs keeps pigeons and may be able to help you.

 

[Reti]

The antibiotic might not help in this case. If there were no open wounds unlikely there is an infection.
The black toe is most likely because of tissue necrosis from poor circulation and antibiotics won't do anything. You still could give it as a preventative.
There is really nothing you can do about the black toe.

Reti

 

[jenfer]

The black toe sounds like the kind of dry gangrene you'd see with string injuries. I agree with Reti that the toe is unlikely to be infected. The tip of the toe may fall off in time.

 

[Hambone]

OK ... got some pictures and will load them in a bit . Mostly swollen and discolored as you will see . Not really black black , oh well you'll see what I mean .

In the meantime I called a vet and discussed the Penicillin with an assistant . She said it would work , not the best choice of antibiotic but to give it a try . She recommended Baytril , but since its prescription only , she'd have to see the bird and I cant afford it right now . Also she couldnt give me an actual dose or water amount . Obviously I'll take him in it if its a last resort 'cause I dont want to lose old Homer's foot or his life . I dont think its that serious yet .... but dont want to risk it . These things can get out of hand fast if your not careful .

Anyway still waiting to hear how much to give him so I dont poison the old guy . Someone on here has probably been through this before . Its 500 MG tabs of generic penicillin . I'm thinking of quartering a tab and in a cupfull of water . Or is that too strong .... what do you think ?

hambone

 

[Charis]

Do you have a kitchen scale you can weigh the bird on?

 

[Hambone]

Hi all ,

I uploaded 3 pictures of Homer's leg and foot problem . Go into my profile and look for the album named "Homer" and see what you think .

Yesterday I bleached out the coop thinking possibly an infection from droppings ... no other birds troubled by this just Homeboy . I removed the tight legband last week which I have a hunch was the problem all along . He's walking OK now , and the toe is straight now after being splinted for a week . But something is definitely still wrong.


Thanks to all for the help .

Bob

 

[Charis]

Bob...I would take him in if the swelling hasn't gone down by the morning. It looks very painful and hot.

 

[Rocktosh]

I thought I'd help make it a little easier by posting the pics of Homer's foot in the thread. Here they are:

I know nothing about birds but that foot looks quite bad and very painful. Is there no vet around that could maybe call in a prescription for you? Maybe they would be satisfied if you emailed the pictures so they can see what it looks like. Is there maybe a low cost vet in your area that could give you a prescription. The low cost vet here would write a prescription for a bird if you told him what the bird needs. Maybe a vet in your area would do the same. It doesn't hurt to check. As I understand it Baytril and Penicillin is quite different. Also keep in mind that cruched penicillin pills won't dissolve in water which makes it a bit harder to give. My experience is with cats and dogs though. Maybe birds are different.
Amoxicillin is a semi-synthetic penicillin so the two are similar but that doesn't mean that the dosing is the same. I would be careful with giving penicillin if you are not sure how to do it. Make some more calls. Hopefully you can find someone that can help you. Also keep in mind that if it gets worse a vet visit would be more expensive so it may be best, and cheaper, to take Homer in for an exam and prescription. If you don't have the money you could see if your vet takes Care Credit (http://www.carecredit.com/) and you can apply for that to pay for the visit. They have some pretty good plans.

Good luck.

 

[Hambone]

Thank You Rocktosh , thats much better !

Well , the leg looks a bit better this morning , I did get some penicillin in him last night finally .

I'm going to make more calls this A.M. when vets offices are open and go from there. I may just take him in and get it handled . Charis recommended a vet here in town that knows birds and I'm going to give her a call in a few minutes

Keep ya posted

hambone

 

[Hambone]

Whew ... long day ,

OK heres an update on Homer . His foot looked marginally better this A.M. as I got him to drink some of the Penicillin water last night . But I could see this was going to be a struggle to make sure he got a consistent dose of the medicine . You dont know if he is drinking it or its just evaporating etc . The swelling went down a bit , but that dark colored toe bugged me , After talking to the vet a while I decided to take him in for an examination . Actually the fees were very reasonable .

I wont go into all the details right now .... but I have him on a flavored liquid baytril that I syringe directly into his mouth 2X a day . That way I know hes getting the full dose . 2 weeks and then we'll see how it turns out .

He was a trooper though and I think he enjoyed the trip into town

keep you posted .... so far so good

hambone

 

[lwerden]

Hambone...........So glad you took Homer to the Vet. Better to be safe than sorry later. His little foot looks so painful. I'm glad you got the Baytril and hopefully that will be the solution for his problem.

Please keep us posted.

 

[Whitefeather]

Appreciate the update, Hambone.
I'm glad you were able to get him to the vet and everything went well.

Best wishes to you both.

Thanks for having the vet contact available, Charis.

Cindy

 

[Hambone]

The leg is improving

Homer is a daddy again ! One little yellow fuzzball in the nest this morning when I checked under him . One to go .

Guess his bad leg wasnt bothering him as much as I thought

hambone

 

[TAWhatley]

Thanks for the good news update on the leg and congratulations on the new little feathered one!

Terry

 

[Hambone]

I've had Homer on liquid baytril for 10 days now . He's better but not like I thought after this period of time , and yesterday he was limping badly with the bum leg . Today he isnt limping but that foot is still red and swollen slightly ....and he still favors it , however its almost the same size as the other leg now so improvement there . The toe is still black , but I noticed the nail has some pink color now instead of black like it was . Improvement there too . His knee joint is still swollen twice the size as the other though . I dont like that part . Not much strength in his claws on that foot either .

The regimen was twice a day 1 drop each time (orally) on baytril . There is still infection in there I'm sure of that . Can baytril be taken for a longer period ? like for a month ? I dont know the strength because it isnt listed on the bottle . Maybe its not strong enough dose . I also put some antibiotic creme on it , but its OTC and not very strong

Also I started him on Prime vitamins today , I've heard vitamin esp B-2 deficiencies can cause foot problems

I'm worried that this isnt really doing the job.

hambone

 

[Charis]

You can keep the bird on baytril longer the cncern is that he develop a yeast infection.
It wouldn't hurt to call the vet and ask what you should do.

 

[Hambone]

I tried calling the vet this morning but it being Saturday she was closed . I'll discuss it with her Monday .

Thanks , and good luck with your situation there Charis .

hambone