# Found the source of illness...in Blanca



## margaretco (Feb 23, 2006)

My dd was holding her today and said what is this? I looked and something was sticking out of her. How could I have missed it...maybe it was under her feathers and I just didn't see it! S he was apparently shot with an arrow of some sort. It is still in her, thru the bottom portion of her ...close to her legs. It is a small piece that sticks out on either side of her. My husband thinks someone was caring for her, maybe trying to rehabilitate her, since the stick was cut really close to her body. This stick sticking out of her has been there a while, the skin is all healed around it. It sticks out about 1/4 inch from her body....

So...now what do we do? You think this will kill her eventually?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

margaretco said:


> he was apparently shot with an arrow of some sort. It is still in her, thru the bottom portion of her ...close to her legs. It is a small piece that sticks out on either side of her. My husband thinks someone was caring for her, maybe trying to rehabilitate her, since the stick was cut really close to her body. This stick sticking out of her has been there a while, the skin is all healed around it. It sticks out about 1/4 inch from her body....
> 
> So...now what do we do? You think this will kill her eventually?


I would suspect that the presence of this foreign object going completely through the body will eventually cause some major problems if not death. I think it's definitely time to have an avian vet or very experienced wildlife rehabilitator take a look at the bird. 

If you don't know of anyone to contact for medical assistance you could try calling Project Wildlife and see if they can refer you to someone. There are a couple of very good vets not too terribly far from you .. Dr. Bart Huber in Corona and Dr. Stoddard in Norco. I don't know that Dr. Stoddard will see a pigeon, but I'm pretty sure Dr. Bart will (and likely be much less expensive than Dr. Stoddard).

If you were willing to come as far as Orange, I could ask my rehabber friend to have a look.

Let me know.

Terry


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## margaretco (Feb 23, 2006)

*Thank you Terry*

I would be happy to take her to your Rehab friend. you can email me at [email protected] and give me some details on her/him.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi Margaret,

I've PM'ed you the contact information for my friend, Susan, in Orange. She is out of town until late tonight, so you can leave her a message or wait until Tuesday to call.

Hope Blanca is doing well.

Terry


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Margaret, My wife and I are following this posting. We hope that after her problem is taken care of with Terry's rehabilitator friend, that you do consider keeping her as a pet. She is such a charming girl. Good luck. Our thoughts are with you and your family.


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## margaretco (Feb 23, 2006)

*Victor*

I have decided to get the bird to Terry or her friend the Rehabber. I also found out that a man my dh works with (in Irvine) has taken a Hawk to this same Rehabber a few yrs ago. I know this little one, Blanca, will be well cared for by either one of these two ladies. thanks for all the advice everyone


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Blanca will be coming to me on Saturday. I'll keep everyone posted.

Terry


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## andinla (Mar 11, 2003)

*I hope Blanca will be ok*

That is horrible that someone did that to her. I hope she isn't in pain...

Andi


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Margaretco,



Oh my gosh...this is amazeing...

Now, is this the pretty white Bird which showed up a while back? 

Seemed healthy, but was not flying?


Anyway, what a strange and serious injury...

That she has survived 'with' that object through her like you describe, that it did not kill her originally...in itself is truely remarkable...and I would think bodes well for her survival with getting it removed and treated.

Removeing pierceing objects which are still in place, is not so simple as it may seem, so, it is a good thing if it is done by someone of considerable experience and medical know how...

I hope all goes well...!

Best wishes!

Phil
Las Vegas


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

*Blanca Has Arrived ..*

and is one gorgeous pigeon that has been very, very well cared for by Margaret and her family.

Margaret was right .. there is something .. almost looks like a twig going through the lower, frontish part of the body. Underneath and inside you can feel a sizeable hard growth on one side where the object entered or exited the body. It's about the size of a large grape or perhaps as large as a dove egg. Very, very strange. I'll try to get pictures, but I don't think they will show much that will be helpful.

Blanca doesn't seem to be bothered in the least by this piercing or the growth. 

I will get x-rays and vet opinion as soon as possible .. probably next week at this point but may have my rehabber friend take a look tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

Many, many thanks to Margaret and her family for looking after Blanca and for making the very long drive to bring her here!

Terry


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

TAWhatley said:


> and is one gorgeous pigeon that has been very, very well cared for by Margaret and her family.
> 
> *Margaret was right .. there is something .. almost looks like a twig going through the lower, frontish part of the body.* Underneath and inside you can feel a sizeable hard growth on one side where the object entered or exited the body. It's about the size of a large grape or perhaps as large as a dove egg. Very, very strange. I'll try to get pictures, but I don't think they will show much that will be helpful.
> 
> ...


Many thanks for updating us Terry! Sure sounds like an Xray is in order!

I just happened to think if perhaps this injury happened when she was a squab and she just "grew up" around it????  

Do keep us posted...


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Oh poor thing. At least she is not in pain.
It could be there for a long time already.
I am curious to know what it is and how it will be corrected.

Reti


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## Victor (Dec 18, 2004)

Xrays do tell a lot. When we originally took Tooter to our Avian vet, he ordered an a-ray, and his finding was that one bb pellet exited the one wing, and the other was imbedded near the lung.An attempt to remove it would be fatal.The bb was situated in such a way that it was away from critical arteries. A good diagnosis can be established from them.Blanca is a beautiful girl and we know she is in the very best of hands. I will be watching this post.


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## margaretco (Feb 23, 2006)

*thank you terry...*

for taking Blanca in your home. I hope she does well. As you can see she is a really sweet bird and deserves the best of care. I think she has had this object in her for a long time, as the skin grew all around it. And thanks for posting on her arrival. I hate that Ortega Hwy, and that was ony the second time on it for me! Only for Blanca would we have gone that route!! We didn't take that route home.

Thank you all again!

Margaret


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

You're very welcome, Margaret .. and yes .. the Ortega is a challenge on the best of days, but a very beautiful drive if you're able to enjoy it while still keeping your vehicle on the road and safe from others.

Blanca is doing fine .. x-rays are arranged for next week, and I'll keep everybody posted.

Terry


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

My thoughts and good wishes go out to Blanca as well! I'm sure we will all be awaiting an update on this one!


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Good Luck Terry...!


Good Luck Bianca...!


Phil
Las Vegas


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks all! Blanca is doing well today. We'll see what's up next week.

Terry


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

How Is Blanca??


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Blanca continues to do well. I check her every day per vet instructions to assure the object hasn't moved or seems to be causing her any discomfort. She is a happy, healthy, and lovely pigeon.

Terry


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

GREAT NEWS! Let us know if her egg laying will be affected...she is a LUCKY pigeon!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

*R.I.P. Blanca - May 26, 2007*

I am very sorry to tell you all that Blanca passed away today. She appeared to be fine this morning but was dead when I made my late afternoon rounds to give fresh water to all the birds and animals. Another sad event in an already very sad few days for Pigeon-Talk members and their beloved birds.

Terry


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Terry, I'm so sorry about Blanca, this was another bird w/a tough row to hoe.
Thank you for taking her in, caring for her and being there for her.

fp


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Oh NO! I am really sorry to hear about Blanca!

Was that foreign object the cause of her death? I don't remember what the x-ray showed.

Poor girl. Rest In Peace, Beautiful One!

LOVE and HUGS to you, Terry! Thank you for providing such a loving home!

Shi


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Oh no, I hope this will end soon. I don't think I can take another loss of our beloved pets.
I am so sorry, Terry. 

Reti


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

The foreign object looked like a piece of the shaft of a wooden arrow in the x-rays that were taken shortly after she arrived. Miraculously, no organs were affected, and the crop was intact. The object had been there so long and was so deeply ingrown that my vet recommended just leaving it alone and checking everyday to assure that the object hadn't moved and wasn't causing any problems. The thing never budged that I could tell, and Blanca showed no signs of discomfort or illness. I've got her body in the morgue refrigerator but don't know that I'm really up to trying to do a necropsy or even up to having my vet do it next week. Blanca was a very lovely pigeon, and I will miss her.

Terry


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Terry, 



Wow...


I remember all this from back when...


How amazing she did so well all that time, and for who knows how long before that...


Golly...


Phil
Las Vegas


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## Margarret (May 3, 2007)

Terry and Margaret,

I'm sorry to hear that Blanca died. That is one of the most unusual situations I've ever heard of. As you described, she had been living with this foreign body in her a long time. I'm amazed that she did not have a raging infection. Poor little girl, she sure was a sweet and hardy little one to have endured all that. 

Margarret


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Terry, I'm really sorry to read about Blanca. It has been a sad 3 days for our members.


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## Lin Hansen (Jan 9, 2004)

Terry,

A lot of losses this weekend....I'm sorry you lost Blanca.

Linda


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, I somehow missed this whole story line.  I'm sorry Blanca didn't make it. Even if I didn't realize what was going on. It's still sad.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks everyone. Blanca did very well for her year or so here. I'm very sorry she passed away, but glad that we had the time that we did.

Terry


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