# My dog injured a pigeon - Help!



## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

This afternoon my husband let the dog out onto the porch of our apartment and didn't realize that there was a pigeon out there.

The dog got the pigeon before my husband could stop him and the poor thing has been out there pretty much all day.

I gave him a quick once over to check for broken skin or blood and didn't see any. His feathers are pretty gunked up from dog saliva and one of his wings is hanging lower than the other so I think his wing may be fractured/broken.

I also left out a bowl of bird seed, a shallow dish of water, and a cardboard box with some old shirts in it so he has a bit of shelter

Luckily he's been wandering around the porch, eating seed, and preening but I'm still worried about him. If his wing is broken then I'd like to get him to a vet as soon as possible.

I'm currently trying to talk my husband into letting me take the pigeon inside as it's getting dark and the temp is starting to drop until I can start calling around rescues tomorrow, but he has OCD and is pretty paranoid about bacteria that they pigeon may have picked up so he isn't to thrilled with the idea...

I REALLY don't like the idea of leaving the poor thing out on the porch overnight but I don't think my husband is going to budge on this...

I would really appreciate any and all help that you guys can give me. I really want to do everything I can to help this pigeon.

And if anyone knows of any pigeon friendly rescues in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, that would be a big help as well.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Pigeons don't carry bacteria, viruses or parasites that would endanger a human. Can you ask him if he's willing to put the bird in a box or carrier in the bathroom overnight? Bathtubs are easy to clean later.  that is where we put the crow and woodpecker that we rehabbed and released. A water dish and seed with him indoors would help a lot. Can you possibly post a photo of his wing so someone more experienced than me can advise you how it looks? Hopefully someone will also be able to suggest a rescue near you. In the meantime suggest you google pigeon, wildlife and bird rescues near Albuquerque. Please though never surrender a pigeon to anyone, vet included, unless you are 100% sure they aren't going to just euthanize him. Pigeons aren't regarded as worthy by some who don't know them very well. That is how we got our first pigeon, Phoebe, who was an injured feral, because the local wildlife rescue was going to kill her, because pigeons aren't "wildlife" or special enough. She was our dearest love and family for eight great years. Thank you for helping the bird!


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Okay I've talked with him and he's willing to compromise with letting the pigeon stay in the bathroom. So I'm going to grab his box and move him in there so he'll be safe and warm over night.

This is the best picture I could get for now as it's already dark outside and he seems content to just hang out in his box.

His right wing (The one closest to the camera) seems to be fine. He's holding that one up normally.

His left wing is drooping a little bit though


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Lovely bird! Hope his wing is ok. He may just be sore. Hope his wing is not broken. Would let him rest and see how he does tomorrow. Thank you very much for helping him!


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Okay so Frank (We decided it was easier to give him a name instead of just saying "the pigeon" all the time) is now safe and sound in our bathroom.

I put the box, shirts, seed, and water in the tub with him. He wasn't to thrilled about being moved, but once we sat everything down in the tub he seemed to get comfy again.

Tomorrow I'll start calling around to wildlife rescues and see if I can find a pigeon friendly clinic who will be willing to treat his wing so he can be released. The last thing I want is for him to be euthanized because he's seen as a "pest". I've always been an avid bird lover and all I want is for little Frank to get treated so he can be released safely


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Thanks for helping him. Hard to tell about the wing in that picture. Could be broken, or just a bit injured. Hope the dog didn't do any internal damage.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Jay3 said:


> Thanks for helping him. Hard to tell about the wing in that picture. Could be broken, or just a bit injured. Hope the dog didn't do any internal damage.


We're hoping it's not broken as well. But we're going to let him rest for tonight and see how he's feeling tomorrow.

I'm also going to call around and see if I can find a clinic that's willing to treat him. If worse comes to worst we may end up having to take him to our avian vet and paying for his treatment out of pocket and keep him until he's well enough to be released. (If they're willing to see him, that is.)

Either way, we've talked it over and have decided that we're going to do everything we can to help Frank


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If you tell the vet that he is your pet bird, rather than a feral, they are more likely to treat him. Many will treat a pet bird, but not a wild feral. You can just say you have had him since he was young.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Jay3 said:


> If you tell the vet that he is your pet bird, rather than a feral, they are more likely to treat him. Many will treat a pet bird, but not a wild feral. You can just say you have had him since he was young.


That's what I had planned on doing if I have to. Whatever gets him the help he needs.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

*UPDATE*

So Frank seems to be doing about the same this morning. He's been eating a little, which is good, but his wing is still drooping a bit.

I tried calling my avian vet but they won't be back in the clinic until Friday. They gave me numbers for other avian vets in the city but none of them seem to be in their offices today either. You would think there would be at least one avian vet working today in a city this size...

The wildlife rescue clinic opens in about 20 minutes so I'll try calling them then to see if they'll actually provide veterinary care for the pigeon. If not I'm not really sure what to do, so I suppose I could use some suggestions just in case the wildlife rescue won't treat him.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Alright, another quick update for Frank

The wildlife rescue here only treats local wildlife so they're not willing to accept the pigeon into their clinic for treatment.

Some good news is an avian vet called me back and is willing to see him. Bad news is they're on the other side of the city and my husband and I don't have a car so the soonest we'll be able to take him is tomorrow when we're able to borrow a vehicle.

A bit more good news though, I had to move him out of the bathroom this morning while my husband got ready for work and he seemed much more energetic and alert. He wandered around the bedroom, spent a bit of time trying to climb my husband's bike so he could see out the window, and all around seemed to be feeling much better. He's been eating and drinking as well and his poops have been looking healthy. I even got a good wing slap (with his good wing) and some angry grumbles as I was moving him back into the bathroom.

I also filled the tub with about half an inch of water and tried to encourage him to take a bath to get some of the gunk off of his feathers. He seemed really interested in the water but not so much in actually taking a bath.

I also managed to get some much better pictures of him and his wing after our bath attempt.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Wing doesn't look great. The tail looks awful. Is it always down like that? I would keep him quiet and just let him rest. Looks to be damaged back there.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

What is important now is him to eat well and rest comfortable. He needs to eat enough and if he doesn't have appetite it means there is a problem, either he suffered an internal damage from dog bite either he has digestive issues. Keeping the tail at an angle could be from trauma caused by dog but it is also a symptom of abdominal pain, which can be caused by digestive diseases. Maybe given him defrosted peas and corn could be preferable, is a soft, easier to digest food. Try to see if he likes this more.


And can you post some photoswith his droppings? If he has digestive diseases, the aspect of droppings may give some hints.

As for rest, keep his box near a heating source, if possible. Like at humans, when sick, the birds need warmth for recovery.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Never seen a pigeon keep his tail down that low because of pain. I think it is injury from the dog. I'm sure he is in pain, but I think there was damage done there.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

*Update*

We just got back from the vet.

The vet said his wing wasn't broken from what she could see on the x-rays but that it's possible his pectoral girdle could have been broken or fractured but that she couldn't see it too clearly. She did say he had a rather bad bruise on him and some swelling though. She went ahead and wrapped up his wing just to be sure. Luckily she couldn't see any punctures or lacerations from the dog. We've been prescribed antibiotics and some pain medicine for him. We were also told to keep a close eye on him to make sure that he's eating well, drinking, and that the medicine isn't making him worse and to contact them or bring him in immediately if something seems wrong.

They also checked for addition damage from the dog as well as his vitals while we were there and aside from being a little dehydrated and his wing, they said he seemed fine.

We're supposed to bring him in again in three days to have the bandage changed and to make sure he's healing well, so we'll be doing just that.

As for the tail, he only had it down like that when he was perched on my arm or the side of the bath tub. Otherwise it's in the same position as the first picture I posted of him.

We'll be making sure that Frank gets plenty of rest and that he stays warm and comfortable while he's healing.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hope he heals okay. If not he won't be releasable.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Jay3 said:


> Hope he heals okay. If not he won't be releasable.


That's our worry as well... But if he can't be released we'll provide a home for him until we can find a more suitable family for him to go to or get him everything he would need to become a permanent member of the family. Lucky for us our apartment allows birds.

Either way, I feel really awful that this happened so I plan on doing everything I can to provide for him.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

I did want to ask something else.

As you can see if the pictures I posted, the pigeon's belly and tail kinda look wet and his feathers are pretty gunked up and sticky.

Originally I thought that it was saliva from the dog but it's not washing off with water at all and it's pretty thick and extremely sticky. Anytime I handle him I have to scrub pretty well with soap to get the gunk off of my hands. There's no color or odor so I'm kind of at a loss as to what this is or how I can clean his feathers off once his bandage is removed.

Any ideas?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Kind of hard to do it with the bandage. You may have to wait till the bandage comes off.
He maybe got into something before the dog caught him. If you have to scrub to get it off after handling him, then it will be difficult to remove from his feathers.When he molts it should help. Baby oil and cooking oil work well on glue and things like that, but then have to be washed out. Dish detergent can work well on grease, but then again, it would have to be washed out. I would wait till after the bandage is off.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Jay3 said:


> Kind of hard to do it with the bandage. You may have to wait till the bandage comes off.
> He maybe got into something before the dog caught him. If you have to scrub to get it off after handling him, then it will be difficult to remove from his feathers.When he molts it should help. Baby oil and cooking oil work well on glue and things like that, but then have to be washed out. Dish detergent can work well on grease, but then again, it would have to be washed out. I would wait till after the bandage is off.


Yeah, I didn't want to risk getting his bandage wet at all. I'm just trying to get a gameplan together for the future. I can't imagine that having his whole underbelly sticky is very comfortable at all.

After doing some research online we think he may have gotten stuck in a glue trap before he ended up on our porch. Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me if that had happened. We have a small flock of pigeons that live right around our apartment complex so I could easily imagine management or one of the tenants setting traps out. It's a really heartbreaking thought...


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## donkey (Apr 10, 2016)

Its about time that glue trap were banned.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

donkey said:


> Its about time that glue trap were banned.


Absolutely. They're extremely cruel and they can cause so much harm.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If he got stuck on a glue trap, I don't think he would have gotten off.


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## VickyL (May 17, 2016)

Okay, here are some updates on Frank for anyone who's curious.

We had to take him back to the vet again today because he managed to get the first bandage off. The vet noted that he had actually put on a bit of weight since he came in a couple days prior and she was happy to see that he had because she had thought he looked a bit thin today. I'm happy to see that he's been enjoying the pigeon seed mix I got for him and that he's eating well.

He's also been very good about taking his medicine. He sits pretty calmly in my lap and doesn't fight with me too much while I'm actually giving him his meds.

We've been told to bring him in again in a week to see how he's healing and to get his bandage changed. We still don't know the extent of the damage or if he'll be able to fly again. But my husband are already preparing for the possibility of not being able to release him. I've gotten the number of a local guy here who builds pigeon lofts and I've been making a list of everything we would need just in case we end up having to keep Frank. My ultimate goal is still to release him if we're able, but we're just making sure we have a back up plan ready.


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## donkey (Apr 10, 2016)

Frank is one lucky bird to have people like you looking after him


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Cute bird. Wonder if it's a Frank or a Frankie. LOL.


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