# sick baby voorburg



## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

I am new to this site and am looking for help with a baby voorburg. His parents I believe were shot out of the sky and I am now his mother. He is a month old now. The first two days were the toughest because of hand feeding, Then he started eating and drinking on his own, and really had quite a personality for a little guy. Now he seems to be going downhill. He cant seem to stand on his own and seems to be having trouble with one leg, it wont straighten up . he will no longer eat on his own so I am back to hand feeding,I took him to the vet but they found nothing wrong. Said it could be neorological or muscular and gave me a anti inflamatory for him. Is there anyone out there than could help ...please


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Where, basically, are you?

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

There are (at least) a couple of things that can wrong at that age, but a couple of the most common ones are canker and a bacterial infection. If you've got medications that you regularly use then we better review what you've got. Otherwise, we need to figure out if you've got some resources in your area that we can tap. That might be a feed store that carries some medications, it might be a member that might have something and it might even be that same vet if you can call and beg something out of.

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

*scotland*

I am in Scotland, but an area that really has no resources for pigeons, the vet was no use at all . I am new to raising pigeons, just to give you some idea of what I am up against.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Then you really need John or Cynthia to step in here because they know the lay of your land, medicinally speaking. I'll go fetch them. In the meantime, make sure this little guy is quite warm.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I emailed and PMed both of them right after that last post but I don't know they'll show up. What part of Scotland? We've got a couple of members up there, don't know who will have what medications, though. It's too late, I'm sure, to call your vet and try to get some Baytril and Metronidazole so that's why I'm trying to think about our other members up there...

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I also emailed Rooster2312, who's in Scotland.

Do you have any antibiotics in your possession, by the way?

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

First I would like to thank you for all your help. I am going to make sure this bird lives if its the last thing I do . At first I thought it was just a sore foot, he stopped putting any weight on it and is standing on his back legs. Then he stopped eating, and I had to hand fead him again. He pecks at seeds now but very seldom swallows any , more like he is just passing time. He still preens himself, and he is a very beautiful bird. I have him sitting next to me right now, both his feet are in front of him but up in the air. sort of strange looking. His shoulder (if you want to call it that is also protruding somewhat , I am not sure if this is because of the way he is sitting or not. What worries me is that there is something else going on besides the foot problem (if that is what it is) The vet gave me an anti -inflamatory, but not for birds , its for dogs , which worries me. The first vet I phoned when I needed to know what to feed it , told me to feed it cat food. There doesnt seem to be a vet in this area that deals with birds so I decided I needed to find an alternative.....this site.
thanks again for you help


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

no , I do not have any antibiotics....would I be able to get these from a vet....


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, feel around on the wings and compare the joints--the seemingly affected wing may have swollen joints, or maybe only even one. What that would signal is an arthritic process and in pigeons that usually means a bacterial infection. Often, it's Paratyphoid, which is another name for Salmonellosis. What we'd like to see you get is Baytril, which is the trade name for Enrofloxacin. It's a cousin to Ciprofloxacin, which is a human-use form (and would work just as well, by the way). Yes, vets should have that. If we had to, we'd also use a Trimethoprim/Sulfa combination.

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

thank you , I will phone the vet first thing in the morning.
hopefully they will have it. I am glad I have a place to start anyway. When I did take him to the vet , she had no answers for me and was trying to recall what her father used to do with his racers. I knew at that time I was in trouble. I will keep you posted on his progress


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Baytril in pigeons has a few different dosage rates, depending on what formulary you use. The Baytril site indicates 10-20 mg/kg, PO, QD. I use the old way of 15 mg/kg, PO, BID. You'll want to write those down for your vet, methinks. What they mean are 10 to 20 milligrams of pure medicine per kilogram of bird, Orally, Once Daily for the first one and 15 milligrams of pure medicine per kilogram of bird, Orally, Twice Daily for the second.

Here's a link to the Baytril site for dosage information in case your vet would like to see that:

http://www.baytril.com/index.php/fuseaction/download/lrn_file/kap8.pdf

Scroll down for the page on various birds including pigeons.

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

by the way, I am up in Aberdeen.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Way up there, huh? How's your weather been?

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

the weather hasnt been too bad up until today, The worst weekend of the winter is hitting us between today and sunday.But I have seen worse . I am originally from Rhode Island but have been living here for the past 5 years now.Never thought I would be raising pigeons either, never mind hand feeding one. It was really devastating to find this little guys parents torn apart in the field up the road from me. They didnt return to the loft two weeks ago tomorrow. When I went out looking for them the following day I couldnt believe what I saw. My husband said a cat or car might have gotten them , but a cat isnt going to get two birds, neither is a car. So now I just have to concentrate on the wee one. 
So what kinds of birds do you have?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

piedade2001 said:


> by the way, I am up in Aberdeen.


This is a post from a new member in just the past few minutes. Seems you are both in the same place. He may or may not be able to help. I sent him a PM while he was still on line. 

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=269043&postcount=8


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

What anti inflammatory were you given? I use Metacam, it can be used for pigeons as well as dogs. Just one drop a day.

Does he sort of stand and shuffle around on the whole bottom part of the leg instead of on the foot? If so, that could be metabolic bone disease which is caused by lack of sunlight or lack of calcium and vitamin D3. That is corrected with calcium syrup.

Any chance of a photo?

Just saw Lovebirds post...it would be great if another Aberdeen member could have a look at it, maybe recommend an avian vet!

Cynthia


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

cyro51 said:


> Just saw Lovebirds post...it would be great if another Aberdeen member could have a look at it, maybe recommend an avian vet!
> 
> Cynthia



Well, apparently no one saw the message. I didn't get a reply to my PM and then the new member went off line.


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

*voorburg*

I getting at my wits end now....the anti inflamatory is Metacam. I did phone the vet first thing yesterday morning and managed to get Baytril. He seemed better yesterday afternoon (or was it my wishful thinking). Last night I thought he would not make it through the night....but at 4:00 A:m he appeared to be standing better on both legs, but now he is refusing to eat....I am still trying to hand feed him. I keep him in a shoe box while I am away from the house. When I came in from work today I took him out of the box onto his towel, he then choked up what seeds I managed to get into him earlier. The vets up here are not much help. Not sure what my next step will be. thanks so much for all your imput.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Have you given him any Baytril yet? If so, what's the formulation and dosage that you're giving him?

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

baytril......2.5% 
0.3 ml twice daily


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

That works out to 7.5 milligrams per dose, twice daily. How much does he weigh?

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

and through all of this the little guy still spends hours preening himself.


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

300 kg according to the vet


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You mean 300 grams? A "kg" is a kilogram, or about 2.2 pounds.

Let's throttle that back to 0.2 ml twice a day.

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

you're right 300 grams..
so I should only give him .2 ml?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Yeah. As Cynthia (cyro51) likes to point out, even the Baytril website puts forth a 10 to 20 milligrams of Baytril per kilogram of bird, once daily, dosage strategy. The amount that you're giving him due to your vet's instructions comes to 25 milligrams of Baytril per kilogram of bird, twice daily.

Don't feel bad, though.

Just looking on a bottle of the stuff, it does say to give 40 milligrams per kilogram of bird per day.

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

here is a pic , taken last night


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

I just gave him his second dose for the day , and he ended up choking up more seed along with the medication. He is getting up and stretching his wings and still preening himself, sometimes he doesnt act sick at all except for this leg thing going on .


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, we need to get that medication in him to stay. If you feel that he regurgitated the medicine, too, then give it to him again.

Pidgey


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

done, but he is still refusing to eat, how long can he go with no food? he is still drinking but trying to get food into him is almost impossible.
Again, thank you for all your help. You dont know how much it is appreciated.
And by the way, Happy Easter.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Happy Easter! I read that y'all are getting snow and blustery weather over there, too.

They can go a lot longer without food than you might imagine, but you always hate to see them do it. Is there any poop coming out the back end, especially solids?

Pidgey


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## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

Hi Piedade2001.

I've just seen this thread and didn't get Pidgey's email to alert me to your post due to email problems with that particular email address listed.

I live in Dundee. I have to say that I'm not that clued up on nursing sick birds apart from being able to provide the usual basic care on finding an abandoned/young bird in need of care. I usually leave the experts like pidgey here to advise on medications etc.

I did look up some avian vets for you to consider phoning or visiting for more information.

If you haven't already seen any of these vets in your area, it may be worth a visit to have your bird checked over.

*Ian Murray MRCVS
Andene House Vets Practice
56 Bon-accord Street
Aberdeen
AB11 6EL

Phone: 01224 586251

Heidi Strenstad
Town and Country Vet Group
14A Bridge Street
Banchory
AB31 5SX

Phone: 01330 822648

Swan Veterinary Practice
71 Victoria Street
Dyce
Aberdeen
AB21 7AX

Phone: 01224 722437*

One of the most well-known avian and exotic species veterinary practices in Scotland is:

*Maguire, Lawrie and Lawrie
25 Griffith Street
Falkirk
FK1 5QY

Phone: 01324 624361*

This practice is very good (I have visited them with one of my own birds in the past) and they will take referrals from other vet practices. 

I hope this info may be of some help to you. 

Lindi


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

Hi Rooster 
Thank you for that information. When I looked through the phone book here for an avian vet I didnt seem to find one . I called my dogs vet, which by the way is Ardene House, They have 3 offices or more, one in the bridge of Don, one in kingswells and one on bon accord. I called the one in the bridge of don the first time to find out what to feed the bird when all of this first happened. They told me to feed him cat food, I said thank you very much and phoned the office in kingswells which also deals in farm animals, The vet I spoke with seemed somewhat more knowledgable, so when the bird stopped standing on his legs I phoned them back . They put him on the Metacam, which didnt help at all. They could have at least informed me they had an avian specialist on bon accord street. 
I recieved the the best info from Pidgey. GREAT NEWS...
the Baytril seems to be working . The little guy was standing on both legs last night, starting eating again and even starting squeaking again , It doesnt agree with him at first , he tries to choke it up, but he is definately on the mend. If he should take another turn for the worse at least I have a list of vets to phone . Thank you for the information and I will keep eveyone posted on his progress.
This is a great site and I am glad I found it
Linda


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

Hi pidgey,
Thank you again for more info ....as you can read from the post above the little guy is on the mend. He tries to choke the medication up , and he is still a little weak , but definately on the mend. I woke my husban up at 2:00A:M to show him that the little guy was standing and eating...
ha...never thought I would be keeping vigil over a pigeon, but he thinks I am his mother, and as long as he thinks that I may as well play the part.
Thanks again for all your help
Linda


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

another good day for the little guy , he stood so tall this morning he almost toppled over. I cant believe how tall he has gotten in just a weeks time. This time last Monday I didnt believe he would live. He is eating now and standing tall , still a little wobbley and weak but definately better


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm glad to hear the youngster is doing so much better, please do continue to update us.

She/he sure is pretty, sorry to hear about the parents. 

Thank you for the update.


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

Hi treesa,
I will keep everyone up to date. I will be on this site frequently. I have a lot to learn . After the parents were killed I didnt think I would bother again with pigeons. I only had the two and the young. But now I have this little one ......well....we will see what happens.
Linda


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## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

Hi Linda,

So glad to hear that your bird is on the mend!

Do keep us informed. You are doing a great job with this bird.

Lindi


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## piedade2001 (Mar 21, 2008)

Sometimes we have to give in to what nature intends.
The little stopped eating yesterday, any food I gave him he choked up.He was very weak this morning , I rushed him to the vet.
Of course the vet suggested what I already knew.
We all have a strong need to nurture the young, the sick and the elderly , But sometimes we have to put our own selfish needs aside and do the right thing.He was gently put to sleep this morning.
I have to say I didnt agree with anything the vet said , and I wanted to ring her neck.
She didnt know this little guy like I did.
I want to thank everyone on this site for all there help.
I believe pidgey was right about an infection.
I will miss the little guy.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I'm so sorry to hear about your little one! We know you did all you could...

Hopefully, these words will help in the days to come:

*As long as hearts remember,
As long as hearts still care,
We never part with those we love,
They are with us...
everywhere...*

With Love and Hugs at this sad time from

_Shi & Squeaks_


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