# Caught a pigeon with yellow bumps/crust on his feet. (Possible Infection)



## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

Let me start by saying that in the country I live in, the only animals that can receive treatment are cats and dogs because birds are not as costly as those pets and therefore there are almost no experts that I can find around me. So I am pretty much on my own here, need your expertise.

One day, a baby freal pigeon came to my window with a severe eye problem. Yellowish puss was oozing out of his eyeballs, a day or two later he came back with one eye totally blocked by the crust the pus formed and the other was %99 blocked, so it was easy for me to capture him. Gave him Baytril/Monodox for a week and the infection totally cleared. Set him free afterwards.

He started coming to my window everyday afterwards and I fed him with wheat each day as I do all the other feral pigeons/doves. 2 days ago, I realized his feet were looking odd and I set a trap for him and captured him again. Since he is like my son now I can't let any harm come to him. 

There are no problems in his walking or standing so far. He can stand on one foot and he does it often when he sleeps. There are no lesions on his skin so far. There is nothing in his mouth like cankers etc. The only affected are that I can see are his feet. Here are the pics. There is one on his foot joint where his fingers connect and some on his fingers. One finger is swollen. One of his heels is swollen. 

And as for his behaviour, I have been taking care of this bird for like 5 months now give or take a few, and for like the past 3 months or so, he was kind of sleepy as he took a little nap each time after he fed himself. Although he is just a baby, he beats up every other pigeon that comes near him, and can do it with success. Even though a lot of time has passed since the first time I caught him, I have raised pigeons before and I would say even though he is growing up, he is growing up at a very very small pace as he is still too small compared to the other pigeons and his eyes are still gray. Maybe he is handicapped? maybe his parents had a genetic disorder that they passed onto him?

And his name is Vito, named after Don Vito Corleone himself (since he beats up pretty much everybody who comes near him, and he even hits and bites me as well), so show him some respect 

Anyways, thank you for your attention and I am waiting for your instructions on what to do. I hope the problem can be solved with local antibiotics and we don't have to worry about the possible infection spreading to his body as well.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

Is possible to be pox. If is, the lumps will grow very big and you should bandage his feet, as the skin will break and the blood will mix with poop he steps in and the wounds will become infected or will heal very slow.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Please check this link, scroll down to pox: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f107/natural-healing-10568.html?highlight=homeopathic+remedies

If this is pox, you can use tea tree oil 1/2 strength mixed with water to apply on lesions with a Q tip. Do not use on any open wounds. *


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

If this is indeed pox, no oral antibiotics are needed, even after the swelling goes down, am I correct?
I'll test it and post the results. Thank you for helping him.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

If the wounds get infected (and if you don't bandage them, they pretty sure will) you should give 30-40 mg Amoxicillin / day for 4-5 days. 

If you bandage them, change the bandage at least every two days, as the lumps will grow fast and you have to make room for them. They may become 1 cm in diameter.


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

I gave him a perch to sit on after reading your comments. I washed it clean beforehand. I cleaned his feet as well. There is no way for him to go to the bottom of the cage and step on his poop now. 
By the way, you were right, the blisters are getting bigger. It is raining crazy right now, and I just made it back home so I'll get the tea tree oil tomorrow. Thank you for you help again.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

If is pox, as the lumps will grow, the bird will feel pain stepping on them and in fact the tissues will be affected by pressure so is necessary to bandage them anyway. And bandage is not enough, provide the bird with a relatively thick (5-7 cm) soft bed made from some fluffy cloth or cottonwool where he will stay over day and over night, in order to reduce the pressure on lumps. 



I have right now two birds with pox lumps on legs and both are bandaged, for three reason:

- to protect them from infection
- to reduce the pain caused by pressure
- to protect the bird from accidentally or voluntarily scratching the lumps and aggravating the wounds.



The bandage must be made this way: 

- first bandage loosely the whole leg in gauze, including each toe individualy
- then you wrap up the leg and gauze in medicinal paper tap. You have to attach well the tap from the leg at the upper end of the gauze cloth, in order to avoid slipping of the bandage off from leg. And you should cover most of the gauze in tap, in order to avoid it unwinding or becoming dirty (with poop etc).


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

Hello again.
I have been applying tea tree oil 3 times a day on his lumps. The problem is these lumps are getting bigger in size, which I did not expect. When can I expect to see recovery? Or will these lumps get so big that they break open, leak out and then scab over before recovery? Thanks in advance.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

Skyeking said:


> *Please check this link, scroll down to pox: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f107/natural-healing-10568.html?highlight=homeopathic+remedies
> 
> If this is pox, you can use tea tree oil 1/2 strength mixed with water to apply on lesions with a Q tip. Do not use on any open wounds. *


Following your message I bought this tea tree oil product:
http://www.leacul.ro/produse-natura...ulei-tea-tree-volatil-10ml-solaris-13544.html

It says on package that is esential oil and there are some recommendations about use in different extern and intern administrations, with few drops mixed with water, honey or massage oil.

Is the same type of product with the one you use or this one is more concentrated and I have to dilute it more?


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

Andreis, do you give your birds any sort of medication for pox? If so, could you tell me what it is? If I don't give him any kind of medication or apply any tropical creams/oils at all, can i expect him to recover? Because he needs to go pronto, he really dislikes being in a cage.

I don't know if your question is aimed for me, if it is, mine only says that it has a concentration of %100 tea tree oil and nothing else. No instructions at all. It has a really sharp smell that reminds me of tea but not exactly, I can't quite describe it. I would assume yours should be %100 pure as well. So, using an injector, if you draw 0.5 ml of oil, you need to mix it with 0.5ml of water to get the concentration down to %50 before the application process. That is how I do it .But I wouldn't give it to a bird orally, though I am not the expert on the subject matter.

By the way, I couldn't get my hands on any thuja products like you described in that guide. I think the tablets are out of the question but I may be able to get the leafs. I also was given some sort of small marble like seeds/beads when I asked for thuja it was the only thing they had in hand. Can it be used?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

AndreiS said:


> Following your message I bought this tea tree oil product:
> http://www.leacul.ro/produse-natura...ulei-tea-tree-volatil-10ml-solaris-13544.html
> 
> It says on package that is esential oil and there are some recommendations about use in different extern and intern administrations, with few drops mixed with water, honey or massage oil.
> ...


*Looks like it is tea tree oil, however I cannot read the information given. It is very strong, therefore I always dilute 1/2 strength, do not open bottle near bird or allow fumes near bird, he should not breathe it. Once deluted with half water apply with q tip to lesions.Never apply to open skin, wounds or cuts.*


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

Skyeking, is it normal for the lumps to be getting bigger? Even after using the oil on them?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

B_Apple1987 said:


> Skyeking, is it normal for the lumps to be getting bigger? Even after using the oil on them?


*Yes, the tea tree oil does help to dry them up. Have you tried to find the thuja (little pills, pilutes to be taken orally)? The other homeopathic product recommended?*


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

No, but I managed to find a guy who is an expert on pigeons/have been taking care of them a long time, and this guy recognized the condition as pox and gave me some tablets. Told me I should give the bird a tablet each day for ten days. I'll get back to you when the bird's condition changes.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

Can you tell us what kind of tablets are?


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

I can't tell you because the guy opened up a bottle and gave me 5 pills. I didn't see the label on the bottle. Told me to break in in half so they last for ten days. I'll ask for the name if I go back here again but I don't think that it will be anytime soon.

By the way, I think the bird is dying. I captured him before to treat his eye condition as I have posted before. After his initial recovery, i set him free and he was able to fly so well. But there was something else wrong with him, he was somewhat always sleepy, to the point that he couldn't keep his head up while sleeping. Today, I found him almost collapsed on the cage floor with his head on the floor as well but when I made a noise he got back up. There are other problems as well. For the past few days, I noticed him not being able to pick up the seeds I put in front of him no matter how hard he tries. He always picks on other spots around the seed but not the seed itself. Also, he started moving his head around like a drunk person, like he is disoriented/unbalanced. Lastly, he can't fly. Not anymore. I tried setting him free but he just falls down to the ground. I picked him back up, he didn't even try to run. I shouldn't have captured him.

His feet isn't getting better as well. He is walking with a limp and the lumps are still getting bigger.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

Those are neurological symptoms typical for Paramixovirosis, but can be caused by any disease that reaches brain (maybe even pox), commonly Salmonellosis. 


If is Paramixovirosis, the bird won't die if is cared accordingly, but it needs much time to care him, hand feed him, give water with a syringe with tube, keep him warm etc for like 1-2 months or more.


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

I don't know what to say. I wasn't expecting this. There is no avian vet in this hell of a country. I really don't know what to do. I will send a sample of his droppings to a lab to be sure. I'll post again if there are any updates with his condition. Thank you again for your answers.


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

B_Apple1987 said:


> I don't know what to say. I wasn't expecting this. There is no avian vet in this hell of a country. I really don't know what to do. I will send a sample of his droppings to a lab to be sure. I'll post again if there are any updates with his condition. Thank you again for your answers.


As an emergency, the bird must stay for some weeks on an electric pad, or next to a heating device and in the same time to be isolated from air drafts, like put on the bottom of a cardboard box. Heat is the most important, together with feeding. Because of incoordination of movements, he won't be able to eat and die if you don't hand feed him.


If is caused by virus, you gonna hand feed him for more than a month, perhaps even two months, until he starts to eat on his own again. The virus will go away but in many cases will leave ireversible sequelae.


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

Ok, time for a status update.
I found two experts on pigeons, one of them was absolutely sure that the symptoms Vito was having were all caused by the salmonella disease, the other one agreed on the same thing after I told him that Vito was having trouble maintaining the balance of his head. Also he wasn't able to fly during the period in which he was sick.

I followed the instructions given to me by these guys and the bird is almost completely recovered. All his symptoms are gone and he became stronger than he was ever before. He even started biting my hand and beating me up.

First of all, I gave him the tablets given to me by the guy. He told me they are good for many diseases including salmonella, but I forgot to ask for the name of it unfortunately. He also told me to give these pills in addition to a multivitamin complex available in here called Berovit B12. It contains vitamins b1, b2, b6, b12, nikotynamid and d-panthenol. Although Berovit B12 is supposed to be given only via injection, the guy told me that he has 40 years of experience with pigeons and told me it is safe to put 0.5cc of it in the bird's drinking water. He also suggested me to feed him with a beverage that exists here called boza, it is made from fermented wheat and contains many vitamins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boza
I gave him this for a while using a syringe until he was able to feed himself on his own.

Now he is a beast. He can fly and land at any place he desires. The only problem he has right now is that the lumps on his feet did not go away at all. The lumps have also gotten darker in color and stopped growing in size but they did not fall off. I talked to the guy again and he told me to use terramycin on those lumps. I'll try that and post results later.

P.S. : In order to be on the safe side, I put Vito on Baytril right now since I read that Baytril has the highest probability to kill a pigeon's carrier status, He has been on baytril for a week now, I intend to continue with his medication for one more week.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Apple that is all GREAT and am so glad to hear he made it, I was worried when reading that he may have died. I WAS gonna say, that you NEED to hand feed him as him being so sick and weak thats what he needed to recover, so I was VERY pleased to hear that you had him pull thru. NOW two things. IF it is and was salmonella, the 10 days is not enough and if you are now treating him with baytril do it for 21 days!!! that way he will be cleared of it and it will not recur. Now for the most important part, go back to the pigeon guy and ask if he has any probiotic and give it WHILE and WITH the baytril medication, you will notice a big difference in his health. I went thru salmonella with my birds and they kept rebound getting sick. Vet told me to use the probiotics with the meds and it did the trick and all birds are excellent and healthy. The one I have is called primalac pigeon. You can buy it online if not get ANY probiotic for birds and use according to instructions.


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## B_Apple1987 (Jun 29, 2013)

CBL said:


> Apple that is all GREAT and am so glad to hear he made it, I was worried when reading that he may have died. I WAS gonna say, that you NEED to hand feed him as him being so sick and weak thats what he needed to recover, so I was VERY pleased to hear that you had him pull thru. NOW two things. IF it is and was salmonella, the 10 days is not enough and if you are now treating him with baytril do it for 21 days!!! that way he will be cleared of it and it will not recur. Now for the most important part, go back to the pigeon guy and ask if he has any probiotic and give it WHILE and WITH the baytril medication, you will notice a big difference in his health. I went thru salmonella with my birds and they kept rebound getting sick. Vet told me to use the probiotics with the meds and it did the trick and all birds are excellent and healthy. The one I have is called primalac pigeon. You can buy it online if not get ANY probiotic for birds and use according to instructions.


Thank you for the advice. The first pigeon guy I have talked to already told me that the first time he had a problem with his eye, that probably was because of salmonella. I thought I cured him back then but apparently his condition relapsed now. I need to do everything it takes to make it go away. I'll try using probiotics. I'll contact the guy on Monday.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

You will notice a huge difference with the longer meds and the probiotic combination.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Many experts now are saying to treat for salmonella for 3 weeks. There are different strains out there, and some are worse than others.


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Thanks Jay, thats exactly what happened to mine, they were originally kept with chickens when I rescued them, they had a horrible strain of it and what I wrote is what saved them.


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