# Pigeon with abscess at his wing joint, spitting up blood



## PixieTJ (Dec 4, 2007)

He is spitting up blood. I have him on amoxicillin (allI have from my last rescue). No signs of canker. Looks like two puncture wounds to the wing joint. It also looks like he has been pecking at his wounds. 

I am very concerned. He smells sour and infected. 
He isn't eating and wouldn't swallow the last dose of antibiotic. 

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Waiting for pictures to transfer from phone.


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## PixieTJ (Dec 4, 2007)

pictures of the top part of the wing and under the wing, at the joint.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

PixieTJ said:


> He is spitting up blood. I have him on amoxicillin (allI have from my last rescue). No signs of canker. Looks like two puncture wounds to the wing joint. It also looks like he has been pecking at his wounds.
> 
> I am very concerned. He smells sour and infected.
> He isn't eating and wouldn't swallow the last dose of antibiotic.
> ...


With the wing joint would rinse it with warm saline (1 teaspoon salt to 1 liter of water) or warm soapy water, don't use peroxide on it, you could apply a coating of Neosporin to the wound area after. Can you see other wounds or had an idea why he is spitting up blood, are there any wounds is his mouth/throat area. What dose of Amoxicillin are you giving him and how ofter. Can you post up a post of his recent droppings? Would you be able to supplement him by hand for a while if needed?

Good luck with him,

Karyn


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## PixieTJ (Dec 4, 2007)

Thank you, Karyn.

I've been putting neosporin on his wounds. I will rinse his wing before doing so again.

His poop is neon green (guessing not eating).

The amoxycillin I have him on was left over from my most recent release. It is amoxycillin 2.5 from Jedd's.

Thanks a lot.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Pixie, I think part of the problem may be in the antibiotic you have, Amoxicillin would be a good antibiotic choice for this type of wound, but I had a look to confirm, and each pill you have contains just 2.5mg of Amoxicillin which is quite a low dose. A very frequent dosing range for pigeons for Amoxicillin is 100-150mg/kg q12h, which means a pigeon weighing 300gm, for example, would receive 30-45mg of Amoxicillin every 12 hours. This means with the pills you have he would need to get 10-15 pills each dose, twice a day, which I don't think is practical, and he needs a good amount of meds in him with these wounds.

You need a stronger antibiotic ASAP. You could order in some Baytril: http://www.allbirdproducts.com/newproductpages/baytril.html or here: http://www.siegelpigeons.com/catalog-ecoli.html (Enrofloxacin tablets). You could also call around to tropical fish stores in your area and see if you can find a product/med called Triple-Sulfa by API: http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=66, this antibiotic can be used for making a suspension that will treat the kind of wounds this bird has.

In the meantime, two things, I don't know how large the pills are, but you need to up the dose to at least 10 pills a day (2 pills 5 times a day) to get his blood concentrations of the Amoxicillin up into a more therapeutic range. Also, you can "pop" the pills and "pop" feed him like in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1SO0ZJoow, you can use raw, unsalted sunflower hearts, small broken/cut up pieces of raw, unsalted Spanish peanuts - for these very fresh human grade- (for these two, try 1 tablespoon at a time 3x4 times a day, you could even give a mix of the two, make sure his crop is emptying before feeding more again). Do you know how to tube feed by any chance? Is he drinking on his own? Poop photos?

Karyn


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

The spitting up blood could be from internal injuries. Have you ckecked him over really well? He might have puncture wounds in other places also, sometimes they are so tiny you can easily miss them among the feathers.
He might have punctured air sacs. There is little you can do for that, just hoping they heal.
Also just because it is not visible he could have canker way down the esophagus, that would also bleed. I would give him Flagyl or Spartrix anyway. 
Try to give him a few drops at a time of Pedialyte and give it cold, in case the bleeding is from an internal wound.

Reti


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

PixieTJ said:


> He is spitting up blood. I have him on amoxicillin (allI have from my last rescue). No signs of canker. Looks like two puncture wounds to the wing joint. It also looks like he has been pecking at his wounds.
> 
> I am very concerned. He smells sour and infected.
> He isn't eating and wouldn't swallow the last dose of antibiotic.
> ...




Hi Pixie, 


Can you post some good, well lit, close up, in focus, images of is fresh poops?



How long have you had him?



How deep are these 'punctures' and, could they be from Pellet Gun perforations?



What other Meds do you have?




Phil
Las Vegas


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Anyway, just at as glance, image shows typical Pellet Gun or Air Rifle 'holes', rather than what what one would expect of an Abcess as such.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Pixie, I think Phil made a very good call, and is on to something with his observations, the wound(s) do look like pellet gun wounds. Please take your time feeling all over and opening up his feathers around his chest/body area, feel for any matted or crusty feeling spots, as he most likely has another wound yet uncovered. When calling the pet/fish stores, see if you can also get a med called Metronidazole, might also be called Metroplex, Hex-A-Mit or Fishzole.

Karyn


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## PixieTJ (Dec 4, 2007)

Unfortunately, this little one didn't make it through the night. 

I've put him outside on my deck for now (it's below freezing here). If I get the courage to open him up to see if he was hit with pellets, I will. For right now, I am just going to let my nerves rest. 

Thank you all for jumping on this. I wish I had got to him sooner.

I am going to go ahead and order some of the meds you listed to keep on hand. 

Thanks again.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Pixie, 



Okay...


If Air Rifle, ( and these may have been a type of 'Wad Cutter' Pellets intended for cutting clean Holes in Paper Targets ) the Lead Pellets can be deep or shallow, depending on velocity/distance.


Pellets can perforate interior/internal Organs and Blood Vessels, or, sometimes, the velocity is low enough to where the elastic propetries of these tissues somehow manage to resist perforations.


Serious either way, but, usually lethal if internal Organs or large enough Blood Vessels are torn/perforated.


Typically, there will be debris and surface Feathers carried into the Wound Channel, and, all of that needs to be cleaned out well and flushed out well in instances of treating the still living Bird, in order to lessen infection issues and to permit the Wound to heal frmo the inside.


Anyway...


So sorry...



Phil
Las Vegas


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Pixie, I am sorry to hear this, I am not sure you could have done much more even if you found him earlier since he was suffering from a mortal wound, thanks for providing safety and comfort in his final hours. If you get in the Baytril and Metronidazole, and also order in something for coccidia (like Appertex) and a de-wormer (like Pyrantel Pamoate or Ivermectin), you will have on hand meds that will cover a very high percentage of issues you will find in the sick and ill ferals you are trying to help that require meds for treatment.

Karyn


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