# Watery eyes, Eye lid infected, & watery poops



## mainesgem (Sep 12, 2005)

Hi there all,
you have not seen me in a while. About a year. What a whirlwind of a year. Lot's of stuff that happened; everything is well now though.

Anyway, my husband is intrested in pigeon racing (Although he has yet to "race" any.) and he bought a $250 pigeon from a major racing pigeon loft.

A couple of months later the pigeon (female) was starting to be intrested in mating and she has some wird symtpoms.

Her eyes are watery, the "eye lid" around the eye looks infected, and she has watery, yellowish poop.

Any ideas out there on what could be???

After him spending $250-...if it dies I'm gonna be really mad! (besides sad-I hate loosing pigeons or animals.)

Does anyone have any ideas as to what this might be????

Thanks so much and God Bless!
Jenny.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Jenny, 

Is is just the one eye on the pigeon or both that are watery?


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

No matter which eye or both eyes are watery in combination with yellowish droppings are sypmtoms of a possible psitticosis. Yellowish droppings can indicate liver disease. There is an occular form of psitticosis. On that alone, I would get this bird over to a vet for lab tests. If the tests come back positive, please have yourselves checked out too. You definitely do not want to be exposed to this illness.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Pigeonperson, 


The reason I asked whether it was one eye or both is because there is a virus called "one eyed cold" in pigeons..that has nothing to do with psitticosis and it's not nearly as complicated or serious.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

I wish that the use of 'one-eye cold' would be eliminated from the vocabulary altogether. It's a generic phrase used to describe what? A one-eyed cold can be from a sinus infection (respiratory). It could be an eye infection. It could be an occular form of psitticosis. An infected tear duct can do it. It could be an infection brought on by canker.

This is why lab tests are vital and why diagnosing over the web can be so dangerous. Nobody would think to give a bird an antibiotic for up to six weeks (for psitticosis) but if it were that, it's what's necessary. Slapping some antibiotic eye ointment into the eye and giving a broad spectrum antibiotic for a week could only mask the symptoms of a more dangerous illness. 

The symptom of yellowish droppings is an important clue that there is something more going on and it's not just in the eye(s).


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi again pigeonperson

I mostly agree with you but a one eyed cold is called that for the simple reason that it affects only one eye, nearly always.

I've read your posts since you joined, you seem to have a lot to offer here and could probably bring a wealth of information to the forum. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself...age, sex, location? lol. Sorry, I'm not trying to be funny but a little background info is always nice & appreciated

For myself, I often worry that well intentioned members seem to want to jump the gun and are too quick to ASSume the worst or one of the worst case scenarios.

None of us here are actual and certified Vets, that I know of, specifically avian or pigeon vets. We all try to fuddle along and work with the member(s) together and HOPEFULLY without totally panicking the person we are trying to help


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

Pigeonpal2002,
Age, sex, location? Yes, I have them. You know me. Enough said. Take me at my word in that all I want to do here is try to help some of these birds. What goes on here is very serious stuff. Often, these birds should be examined by a qualified avian vet. This is one of these times. Raising the spectre of psitticosis is bad enough but with that possibility, the need for taking the bird in for an exam is very important. If it is, it isn't the end of the world but it has to be addressed. All I can say is that I'm suspicious enough about these symptoms to treat it with importance.
There's no need to panic anyone. Just go through the medical steps necessary to get a diagnosis and then, if necessary be concerned..don't panic. That doesn't help anyone. I'm not saying this is definitely that illness but it's possible and on that possibility alone, just take the bird in for an exam to rule it out. If we are going to own animals, we have to be responsible enough to care for them when something goes wrong. 
You are right. We aren't qualified vets but do our best with what we have. People have to realize that if we own animals, sometimes money has to be spent.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

By your "tone", attitude and manner of "speaking", then I'd have to say yes, I do know you....It's Cameron, am I right?

Anyway and regardless, we can agree to disagree on many points here and I'm not about to debate them all now & again. 

The ONLY problem I ever had/have is when people go half cocked off and advising someone of things that they aren't entirely sure of themselves. It's not even an issue anymore between you and me but it's about trying to help others with their pigeons as best we can within the capabilities we have.

I have to be honest here and say it bothers me (a lot) when the "rehabbers" or "wanna-be-rehabbers" of this forum, suggest things to people that they feel are almost certainties. None of us can make that call, none of us can say we know what is wrong with a pigeon simply by listening to what someone tells us in this venue.

I will always prefer to take the short road, over the long road ANY day and I don't feel that it's necessary to borrow trouble all the time like so many folks do. Most pigeon problems; diseases, illnesses, unexplained things etc are easily treatable, unremarkable and would/could be better understood if we didn't have to go through this method of communication.

I hope I've made myself as clear as possible and at the same time, respectful

Regarding Jenny's problem...

Yes, most definitely she should see about getting her pigeon to a qualified avian vet and get the basic tests done. Let's see where that goes before we get all paranoid and suggesting that she treat her pigeon with every medication known to man.





pigeonperson said:


> Pigeonpal2002,
> Age, sex, location? Yes, I have them. You know me. Enough said. Take me at my word in that all I want to do here is try to help some of these birds. What goes on here is very serious stuff. Often, these birds should be examined by a qualified avian vet. This is one of these times. Raising the spectre of psitticosis is bad enough but with that possibility, the need for taking the bird in for an exam is very important. If it is, it isn't the end of the world but it has to be addressed. All I can say is that I'm suspicious enough about these symptoms to treat it with importance.
> There's no need to panic anyone. Just go through the medical steps necessary to get a diagnosis and then, if necessary be concerned..don't panic. That doesn't help anyone. I'm not saying this is definitely that illness but it's possible and on that possibility alone, just take the bird in for an exam to rule it out. If we are going to own animals, we have to be responsible enough to care for them when something goes wrong.
> You are right. We aren't qualified vets but do our best with what we have. People have to realize that if we own animals, sometimes money has to be spent.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, I'm going to put my two cents in: I've got all kinds of warning bells going off here and my first thought was Chlamydophila (Psittacosis), too. I wouldn't take a bet against that at all. I suppose that it's possible that there's nasal canker affecting the eye and canker can destroy a liver, too, but one thing's for sure: this little guy may have very little time and this is a Friday evening. This is probably very bad.

Pidgey


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2007)

Hi again,
The tone I meant to convey is one of concern. Maybe the manner has to be worked on. It's certainly not meant to be offensive. Regardless, I deeply feel that this is one bird that needs testing. There are other birds and this one may not have been isolated. 

Going off half-cocked is not me. If I were going to go down that route, I would have immediately pushed all kinds of medicine onto this thread. I'm not making a certainty of these symptoms. It's just that there is enough there to warrant suspicion and it needs to be explored off this site. If we start pushing pills here, we may be masking symptoms and not be any help at all.

The one thing I would respectfully take issue with you is that no illness is easy. Every medication you can think of has negative side effects. Every illness can be caused by an unknown primary illness. Canker often raises its head when there could already be a primary illness that caused the system to weaken and allow the canker to gain a foothold. We treat for the canker but can completely miss the original reason for the bird becoming run down. Or, it may just be a case of canker.

For example, If you treat for canker, you could cause a yeast infection. If you use any of the bacterial antibiotics, you could cause an already existing yeast infection to grow out of control. Too much of anything can cause neurological or kidney or liver damage. It's a balancing act and very tough to juggle.

I'm not going to sit here and be a hypocrite. I don't have the money to take every single bird to a vet for all the tests needed to make a definite diagnosis.

Like many here, I have to guess and hope to be on target but it isn't the right way to go.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Thanks for explaining yourself more fully, Pigeonperson


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Jenny,

How long has the bird had these symptoms? I would also get this bird in for tests/fecals etc. asap.

Please isolate this bird from the other pigeons, if you have not done so. Once you have the diagnosis you may need to treat the other birds, especially the mate, depending on the results.

Any other birds that show any symptoms should be isolated also.

Check your coop for any problems. Make sure your coop is weather and wind proofed.


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