# A reference page for disease symptoms



## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

Is there any way anyone can put up a search engine on this site that can help people find care for sick pigeons by listing the symptoms that a person sees in a sick pigeon? I'm seeing all these cases of sick pigeons on this site and their symptoms and I'm thinking to myself, "Will I remember what this symptom means when I see a pigeon have them?" It just would be good to have a quick reference where someone could type in the words, "head leaning to one side, going around in circles" and come up with a list of possible diseases that could be causing this and what the treatments are. Because if I ever come across a pigeon with a problem and am able to miraculously catch it and sneak it inside my place to treat it, I need to find answers fast. This may never happen because of my home situation but one never knows.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, there are a few already like these:

http://www.chevita.com/tauben/e-index3.html

http://www.internationalmodenaclub.com/The Doctors Corner/symptoms.htm

On some diseases, they're a bit simple, but they're not bad. There's also the Pigeon-Talk medical resources thread:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=8813

Pidgey


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

There are just so many diseases and viruses for these birds - I wouldn't know where to begin. Maybe what I should do is print out the pages and list the symptoms myself and organize it that way, then put it all in a book of some sort.

Would be lovely if people come across a pigeon having symptoms, if they would film it for reference. Sometimes it's better to see it, then read it.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Oh, you have no idea. There aren't that many symptoms that you can see on birds, really. We can describe our symptoms to our doctors (where it hurts or feels funny) and they can't. Their faces are virtually a mask. They're just too well camouflaged. There are literally hundreds of things that can be wrong and you can't tell by looking. Fairly often, even the doctor can't tell with a plethora of lab equipment. Sometimes, the diseases aren't even pathogenic--they're nutritional deficiencies!

Not to discourage you, Garye, but I've got one avian medical book that's 1400 pages and it doesn't even cover everything. Pictures of diseased organs, poop, bloodwork, cytological samples, X-Rays, deformities, abscesses, and on and on and on and... Birds are every bit as complicated as we are. They can even get old and have geriatric diseases just like us.

Pidgey


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

Could you tell me the name of your avian book? I want to see if I can buy one.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Sure you can buy them. You can get them on either CD or the real book. The pictures aren't as good in the CD because the image quality for computers at the time of (digital) publishing wasn't up to today's standards. Anyhow, the book is: 

AVIAN MEDICINE: PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION by Ritchie, Harrison and Harrison

And maybe purchased as a new book here:

http://www.avianpublications.com/items/vetmed/index.htm

While a good romp on eBay and Amazon might get a used copy for a lot less. The abridged copy is almost a third but, I've heard, doesn't have all the illustrations which are really nice. I have only found the CD on Amazon. I just checked and it's currently going for $120. Just use "Avian Medicine" for your search words and then click on the "New & Used" b*tton on the exact title above and read down the resulting list.

I've got a few others but that's really the big one. It IS written in pure medicalese, though, so you almost have to be online to look up a lot of the words. Medicine is medicine in all animals (including us) and there's just an awful lot more to it than you might think. However, the lion's share of sick birds that we see are suffering from a relatively small list of diseases and you don't really need to be that equipped with medical books for those instances.

Pidgey


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

If I EVER finish the Medicine thread, I'm including some information on the more common diseases, what they are, symptoms, etc.


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## Garye (Feb 20, 2005)

*Is this the book you were talking about, Pidgey?*

Avian Medicine: Principles and Application [ABRIDGED] - Paperback (ISBN: 0963699652) Wingers Pub 

The seller didn't mention the authors' names but can you check to see if this ISBN # matches your book's?


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## brisbanepigeon (Feb 27, 2006)

Garye said:


> Is there any way anyone can put up a search engine on this site that can help people find care for sick pigeons by listing the symptoms that a person sees in a sick pigeon? QUOTE]
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'd aggree. I have been composing an excel file -I'm going back through posts and messages and trying to decipher and compile info on symptoms meds , alternate names for meds, and dosages. It has been a tedious process and I don't even know that I'd be able to share an excel file on this list, but when I get it somewhre, i'd love to share it for review.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

brisbanepigeon said:



> It has been a tedious process and I don't even know that I'd be able to share an excel file on this list, but when I get it somewhre, i'd love to share it for review.


With Googull's assistance we could easily give the members access to the information. Just let me know when you are done  

Terry


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