[lwerden]

Hi All......This is the baby that I rescued last week suffering from starvation. He is mentioned in another thread "Found another one today"

The baby was doing very well until 2 days ago. He stopped self feeding seeds and started vomiting his formula. Over the past 2 days he has vomited 4 times. Yesterday afternoon he was just sitting puffed up and acting very lethargic. I was very concerned and worried. I know how quickly these little ones can go downhill. Called the Flamingo Pet Clinic and got an appointment for 8:00AM thismorning.

We were seen at the clinic by Dr. Jenniffer Mountin (Dr. Hauck was in emergency surgery with a dog that had been hit by a car). She was absolutely wonderful and so thorough.

She examined the baby and weighed him. He is only 155Grams!!!. He is still extreemly malnourished and was also now suffering from dehydration due to the vomiting. She examined his mouth and throat, which appeared to be very inflamed. She determined that he is suffering from some sort of infection.

She first re-hydrated him subq with electrolites. Then gave him an injection of Baytril. She sent him home with a bottle of Cipro to be administered 0.02cc/BID. She instructed me to hand feed him no more than 10cc of formula at a time. She feels I should see improvement within 48 hours. If not, I am instructed to call immediately for another appointment.

Again........I cannot say enough to praise the Flamingo Pet Clinic and their staff of Doctors and technicians. They are so very caring and compassionate. Again........there was NO CHARGE for the exam, injections or the medicines. I don't know what I would do without them.

I am very concerned and worried about this baby. He looks almost like a full grown pidg, but in your hands he has absolutely no substance. He feels like a handfull of feathers.

He is resting in his basket on a heating pad. I am watching him very carefully.

I pray this little one recovers. I'll keep you posted.

Regards to all.......

 

[wolfwood]

Good for you getting him to the Clinic .... and good for them the way they treated the whole situation! It sounds like what can be done, is being done and your little guy sure has that going for him!!!

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Birdmom4ever]

You do have a wonderful vet clinic! Poor little guy--155 grams is so thin. It sounds to me like there could something else going on in addition to infection, though perhaps the vet tested him. Is it possible the inflammation is due to a yeast infection? Tubing seems to make them susceptible even when you try to keep the equipment very clean. Also, have you treated him for trich? Not that you want to overload him with meds when he's so fragile, but if he has internal canker you may not see it. I hope he pulls through.

 

[Hambone]

Best of luck with the little fellow .

Sounds like he in very good hands ! That clinic sounds like a super place to deal with and went above and beyond for you .

hambone

 

[Charis]

Louise...adding nystatin, in addition to the cipro, is a very good idea.

 

[Jaye]

Wow...it's nice to hear of a place which really gives its all for the pigeons.

I wouldn't try a whole 10cc's at a time...if teh birdie is that weak, it may be a bit too much for him. If you get to 5cc's per feeding, I'd consider it a success; and let him rest a bit...add an extra feeding or two in the day.....

Keep up the good work....we are all praying for him....

 

[maryjane]

I'm sorry the little guy is not feeling well. What a wonderful clinic you have nearby! I will certainly keep him in my thoughts and prayers for a quick weight-gain and recovery!

 

[Feefo]

I hope that he gets better soon, Louise. I would also go for the Nystatin...I didn't know tubing made them susceptible Did she take a swab of the throat? Often inflamation of the throat is a symptom of canker.

Cynthia

 

[pdpbison]

Hi Louise,



They are all outstanding Vets there...



However, they are not versed in recognising and evaluaing ( and treating ) Candida and Canker related Crop-stasis issues in Babys, common with hand fed foundlings such as yours.


Call me if you like...I run into this stuff all the time.


What have/had the Urates been looking like?


What does he smell like if you bury your Nose in his Back Feathers?



Phil
l v

 

[Feefo]

Hi Louise,

Fortunately yeast and trich can be easily and quickly identified under the microscope, so your vet should be able to confirm or disconfirm .

Cynthia

 

[lwerden]

Thank you all for your kinds words and concern.

Update.........The baby made it throught the night and has not vomited any more in almost 24 hours. He has kept his last 3 feedings down.

He seems a little less puffed up thismorning. He is alert and actually attempted a little preening of himself thismorning. He walked around the kitchen table after feeding, but he still seems very weak.

I am adding Nystatin and Flagyl today. I think he needs to be treated for both yeast and canker as well as any infection that the Cipro will address.

So far......so good. I am watching him very carefully and will update again thisevening.

Thanks for all your support.

 

[Whitefeather]

Many thanks for the update, Louise.
It's great to hear the little guy is improving.

It sounds like you're doing just fine in caring for him.

It's a comfort to know that if you do come across any issues or have any questions, Dr. Hauck or one of his team is there to assist you.

Cindy

 

[Feefo]

Thanks for the update, Louise. I always consider preening a very positive symptom. I hope he makes a quick recovery, a sick pigeon is always so much more worrying than an injured one.

Cynthia

 

[Birdmom4ever]

I'm glad there's been some improvement. Keep up the good work.

 

[lwerden]

BABY GAVE ME A GOOD SCARE THISMORNING............The baby had been doing real well for the last two days, was even pecking at seed in his cage and had stopped vomiting.

At 7:00AM I reached into his carrier and tried to take him out for his first feeding. When I picked him up out gushed clear liquid. It was quite a large amount, all over me and on the floor. I put him on the kitchen counter and touched his crop, again a sufficient amount of liquid was coming out of him. He was extreemly puffed up and was breathing heavily. I have read about this type of occurence here on PT and I knew that he was in real trouble. I was afraid I was going to loose him.

Vet's office opens at 8:00AM. I wasn't going to wait and call, I threw on some old clothes, put the baby in the car and rushed to the Clinic. I was there when they opened the door. Dr. Hauck saw me as an emergency.

He examined the baby and told me his crop was filled with air. He actually burped him and got the air out. He suspected the baby had "Sour Crop". He flushed out his crop and told me there where no obstructions. He weighed the baby and his weight had dropped from 155G to 138Grams. He is just skin and bones. He feels that possibly he had been overmedicated. He has stopped the Cipro and I am to give him only 0.2cc's of Nystatin/Bid. I am to begin the Flagyl again in 48 hours at 0.1cc's/BID. I was also instructed to increase his feedings. He said we must get weight on this baby. I am to start with 15CC of formula as soon as crop empties and increase up to 20CC's over the next few days.

The baby is home with me now. I have given him 0.5 cc baby applesauce and have given him 15CC formula twice so far today. His breathing has returned to normal, but he still seems puffed up. So far no vomiting and he seems very alert.

I know this baby is far from out of the woods at this point. I am doing everything I can. I do not want to loose this little one. I was really terrified thismorning, but Thank God he made it through this critical episode.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[lwerden]

Please read my previous post........I am so worried........the baby just vomited again two times between 6:30 and 7:00Pm. This was from the 3:30PM feeding. Crop is now empty.....I just gave 6cc baby applesauce, in an attempt to change the PH level in the crop.

Has anyone else had this type of experience???

 

[Whitefeather]

Hi Louise,
I have never had any iissues with air filling the crop but I did have one with the water gushing from the mouth.

This happened to our Pij. One morning I noticed he just didn't look right so I went to pick him up to check him and I was literally soaked from all the fluid that came out of his mouth. My first thought was 'sour crop'.

Chuck and I immediately took him to Dr Funk.
He confirmed my thought. It was sour crop. He suctioned 70cc's of bile looking fluid from Pij's crop.
We were sent home with Nystatin and Baytril.

Dr Funk warned us this could happen again.
It did, a year later.

Cindy

 

[TAWhatley]

Louise,

I'm so sorry your little patient is having these problems. As Cindy has posted and as you have seen, it's very scary to see all that fluid coming out of a pigeon.

The Nystatin has been prescribed for the sour crop problem. I think I would stick with just that per the doctor's orders and not vary from what he prescribed. Giving the applesauce or treating with baking soda water are kind of "home grown" methods of correcting the problem, but since you have the Nystatin, I'd stick to just that for now. When we don't have any alternatives, the baby applesauce or baking soda water is a good choice, however.

Terry

 

[Dobato]

Hi Louise,

I am sorry to hear about your troubles with this little one.

My first thought is, hearing about the weight loss, is you need to be thinking in terms of caloric intake. Almost all edible oils, such as peanut, sunflower and so on, contain 8 calories per ml. I would start by adding 1/2 a ml of peanut or sunflower oil to each feeding, this would be 4 extra calories per feeding, so 9 1/2 Kaytee 1/2 oil.

This may not sound like a lot, but it should raise caloric intake by about 25%, a nice boost, and if things went well I would think about upping it to 1cc per meal until you get some weight back on him.

Also, you could substitute say apple juice to mix up the Kaytee with instead of water, again apple juice has about 1/2 a calorie per cc were water has none.

Good luck with him,

Karyn

 

[jenfer]

When tube feeding, I think it's more important to look at the caloric content you're providing than overall volume. 15 cc of watered-down formula is going to provide less sustenance than 10 cc of concentrated formula. Fat has more calories than carbs or protein, so I think Karyn's idea of adding fat to his food is a good one.

Louise, if he's been on a long course of antibiotics, it's possible he developed a secondary yeast infection. The Nystatin should take care of that. If he's continuing to vomit such that he's not processing any food, I would ask the vet about Reglan.

Jennifer