# Pigeon with eye infection and bulge on head



## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

My wife found an adult pigeon 3 days back. Its eyes were completely shut and it was not eating anything. I took him to a vet. He prescribed Betnesol N eye drop and suggested warm water compress. Upon doing for two days the left eye opened but seems to be very watery and getting closed after few hours. But the right one is completely shut with a bad swelling and bad odour and it is completely filled with pus. I was able to remove a lot of pus with warm water soaked cotton but still I am unable to see the eye.
In the mean time, we started force feeding him through our hands. My vet suggested few drops of Betnesol oral liquid and it probably worked and he seems to be getting hungry from today but still not able to eat on its own. Previously its poop was dark green but today the green colour is bit lighter and the amount has also increased a lot.
Another thing I observed today is, there is a reddish bulge on his head. Is it tumour?
Please suggest what can we do for his pus filled eye and the bulge.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Can you post a picture?

The bulge could be an eye that's literally swelling bacterial growth on the inside, which is bad. Usually, antibiotics are the only way through this kind of thing. Chloramphenicol might be readily available to you--you'll just have to check.

Betnesol appears to be a steroid, which would be contraindicated in a case like this (not recommended) because they tend to suppress the immune reaction which you don't want to do with an obvious infection.

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Thanks pidgy. I will post a pic of it once i m home. Can you suggest the dosage of chloramphenicol. Also, some threads say, the drug sometimes have very adverse effect on human/birds. Can you comment on that?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

How is the bird doing? Eating, drinking, droppings?


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

I am posting two pics of its eyes. One one is in better state but watery. The other is very swollen and filled with pus.

It does not eat on its own. But readily taking peas if hand fed. Takes small amount of water as well.

The droppings were dark green earlier but now its mainly white with light green in bottom.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for helping this poor bird! Seems he is improving with your hand feeding. Not sure of the chloramphenicol dose but hopefully somebody will have a suggestion on this soon as he looks like he will need antibiotics.


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Thanks a lot. Can you tell me why it doesn't eat on its own?


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Another thing... Can anyone tell me what precautions we should take to handle it?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Suspect he was starving when you found him as suggested by the green poop. His energy level is down from starvation and infection. Ideal would be to culture the pus and see what type of bacteria he has which would suggest a good antibiotic. Would use use plastic or disposable gloves or at the very least wash your hands well with soap and water and maybe alcohol after handling any part with pus. You are not likely to catch anything if you don't get it in an open wound, touch your eye, or whatever. But being careful is a good idea. Thank you for helping him. He should improve as he gets more food into him and hopefully as his infection goes away. Pigeons are wonderful and I appreciate your helping him.


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

Cannot see what you mean by the red bulge, in the pics. Do you mean around the bad eye?

I have used ciplox eye drops on pigeons with no adverse effects. The Betnesol must have been prescribed to reduce the inflammation. Is the pigeon seeing through the better eye?

There is no particular precaution required, other than good hygiene, washing your hands etc. Most diseases of pigeons do not transmit to humans.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Okay... the possible/probable bad news... that "bulge" is very probably swelling (technically: edema) of the actual orb of the eye... which means that the inside of the eyeball is filling with pus and bacteria. If that is the case, then the actual function of the eye is gone and he can't see with it. I had a bird with an almost identical "presentation". The vet "enucleated" the eye (cut into it surgically and basically removed the contents) but chose not to put the bird on antibiotics to prevent the spread of the bacteria. Within a very few days of the surgery, infection or inflammation had traveled down the optic nerve (which is VERY short on birds) far enough to render the OTHER eye blind. This may happen here if it hasn't already. The infection MUST be stopped because the brain isn't far enough away so I'd put the bird on some kind of antibiotic immediately and chloramphenicol is a very wide-spectrum one that y'all probably use quite a bit there for virtually EVERYthing.

Gimme' a minute and I'll link you a thread with a story about my blind pigeon, Unie...

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Unie's Story:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f17/flying-blind-through-life-unies-story-10825.html

Your bird isn't an adult pigeon--it's still pretty young and it's certainly possible that it doesn't eat food by sight because it doesn't recognize food AS food yet. You can try to take a flashlight (torch) and flick it into the good eye to see if the pupil constricts and dilates accordingly, as your eye will do with the same treatment (pupil gets smaller when the light is shining in). Give that a shot and let's see if there's a response.

Take a picture downward from directly over his head.

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Thanks a lot Pidgey for your insights. I have already started Chloramphenicol (1 drop each eye) from yesterday evening and another dose this morning (India time). Can you guide me about the dosage?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Post the label information on the drug you're using--need that in order to figure it out.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

If the drug that you're using can also be given orally, the dosing would be 50 milligrams of actual medicine (formulations vary so that's why we need the type and concentration information) per kilogram of bird (he's probably near 200 grams but it's best to weigh him if possible on a kitchen scale) given three times per day. A lot of times, chloramphenicol is prepared specifically as an eyedrop and might not be suitable for oral use.

Pidgey


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

How is he doing? Thank you for taking the time and having the love to help him.


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Hi cwebster...

His energy level is much more than it was few days back. But the pus filled eye doesn't seem to be improving. We have kept him on Chloramphenicol. I have taken another vet's appointment this weekend.

Lets hope for the best.


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Attaching a pic of its head... As advised by Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Medicine information


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Hope the vet will have some ideas or be able to clean the pus from his eye. Is it an avian vet?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Yeah... that's about what I thought it might look like from above... better have somebody hold a torch (flashlight) shining into the bad eye while the other tries to spread the eyelids enough to see the physical surface of the orb of the eyeball, itself. If it's rather large and white, it's going to have to be enucleated, which basically means the outer, visible portion split and whatever's inside to be allowed to drain. That'll have to be managed over a long period.

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Now the update...

The vet's opinion is quite similar to that of Pidgey. He said the main challenge is to save the left eye, while he didn't seem to be very optimistic about the right eye. He gave 2 eye drops for both the eyes and another for only the bad eye. These are: Flurbiprofen and Moxifloxacin Hydrochloride for both eyes and atropine for the bad eye. He advised to apply them for 7 days and if no improvement then he may need to take the right eye ball out through surgery. Also he discovered few blisters on his head and ear and probably the bird has pox as well.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

The right eyeball will eventually burst, of course, but the real problem is the proximity to the brain. Our optic nerves literally wrap around to the back side of our brains but theirs are more like a "Y" shaped yoke. The real trouble is that infection from the affected eye is VERY close to the optic nerve which would affect the other eye and render the bird blind in the left eye. Removal of the right eyeball may also cause some kind of trauma or other devitalization to the optic nerve and you've got total blindness again. That's kind of why I advocate putting the bird on some kind of systemic antibiotic. We don't like doing that at this bird's age because of the effects on bone growth and the like but, sometimes... when you're in a fight for your very life... it's choosing the lesser of two evils.

Do you have any actual proof that there's any vision in the good eye?

Pidgey


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Agree that systemic antibiotics and maybe removing the eye jay be necessary. We have had a one eyed cat and a one eyed guinea pig who were perfectly fine once they healed. Not treating will likely allow the infection to spread to the brain. Am not a vet but had to have a guinea pig put to sleep because a tooth abscess that started after molar tooth trim by the vet spread to his eye and then to his brain. Did the vet look for sources of infection in the birds mouth and neck? Hope antibiotics can turn things around for the poor bird. Thank you for caring about him and helping him. Is he eating and drinking ok?


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Hi All,
The game turned to another direction just half an hour ago. The bird was on antibiotics as given by vet last week and it was to visit the doctor tomorrow. Though its left eye improved a lot and I think he sees through it, the right eye was as it is and even the swelling increased this evening. I was giving him a warm water compress when suddenly he shook his head and a marble sized ball of pus came out leaving the eye little bloody.

I think the eye ball itself came out. I gave him the antibiotic drops and he seemed to relieved a lot. Attaching the pics.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You could post another pic from over the top and one of the marble...

Is he on systemic antibiotics (internal medicine)?

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Attaching pics of the ball of pus and head... No he is not on any internal antibiotic. Will see the doc tomorrow... Ir if you can suggest one...


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Picture of the head attached.

Good thing is, after the pass is out it is immensely energetic now and for the first time in last 12 days, he is eating on its own.


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

cwebster said:


> Agree that systemic antibiotics and maybe removing the eye jay be necessary. We have had a one eyed cat and a one eyed guinea pig who were perfectly fine once they healed. Not treating will likely allow the infection to spread to the brain. Am not a vet but had to have a guinea pig put to sleep because a tooth abscess that started after molar tooth trim by the vet spread to his eye and then to his brain. Did the vet look for sources of infection in the birds mouth and neck? Hope antibiotics can turn things around for the poor bird. Thank you for caring about him and helping him. Is he eating and drinking ok?



Thanks a lot for encouraging. Yes he is now eating and drinking properly.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I suppose it's possible that the eye's actually intact in there... stranger things have happened. That would mean that the artifact was a ball of bird pus that developed between the eyeball and the eyelids that finally got ejected. When they've had swelling like that for awhile, the tissues around the eye can get pretty inflated. We'll know a lot more when it starts shrinking. Is he eating and drinking on his own by way of his own vision?

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

It is eating and drinking on its own vision but I am pretty sure he sees through the left eye. Because it remains indifferent about the grain if i place them on his right but readily picks it if it is in the left.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You can look in the right side with a torch to see if there's a reaction.

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Now the worst news.. He is no more.

Yesterday I took it to the vet and he was quite happy about his progress. In fact, he said the right eye is also there and it will be seeing with both of eyes in next 10 days. He gave 2 new medicines as well. 

But I did a real mistake. I took him to my hometown, 3 hrs in train. Here I found him bit confused initially, though he became normal after a couple of hours. I saw him sleeping in the afternoon. But, after an hour or so, he was lying dead.


I called my vet and he said it is due to location change. He couldn't accustomed in the new environment. Had I told him yesterday about my journey plan, he would have suggested me not to take him.

Anyways, I thank you all for your help and encouragement. Got to know a lot of things about pigeon. May his soul rest in peace.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that! 

ANYtime you have an infection that near the brain, it's very dangerous. What were the new medications, and had the vet already administered them?

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

An eye drop called Visio Tear (Composition: Polyvinyl Alcohol and Providone). Yes he asked me to put a drop 4 times and i started from yesterday. Another one is a vitamin to be given in his mouth.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Okay, so nothing administered internally.

Pidgey


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## soham (Feb 2, 2016)

Yeah just a vitamin.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Am very sorry to hear that the poor bird did not make it.


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## Jasmin25 (Sep 7, 2020)

Hello guys,
Thanks for posting
Saved a large baby pigeon from some cats around 2/3 weeks ago. Didn't look too bad perhaps a few scratches. Flew away fine after some rest food and water.
Last week on Wednesday, the bird appeared again looking sorry for itself I presume its the same bird.
When we caught him up, he was very dizzy and not flying away, we saw the most disgusting, massive tick in the side of his head. Was around 1cm in circumference.
We removed the tick with a tick fork and I am quite sure it all came out as it was still wiggling it legs.
We have been letting him walk around in the grass for a bit during the day time and putting him in a box at night and he seems much better. Less dizzy, normal droppings and is eating and drinking by himself. His siblings visit him every day.
He has two eye bulges, one on each side. I thought this might be because of the initial scratches and possibly pox. Neither lump looked infected or pushy just a bit like little warts. 
Unfortunately, his eye has started to bulge now around one of the lumps. I will post pics.
Any recommendations for our pidge Pidgey?
Thanks


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## Jasmin25 (Sep 7, 2020)

Hard to get a better picture


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