# Swollen neck/crop



## Jiin Lee (Jan 8, 2012)

A couple weeks ago, I lost a young feral pigeon to something that seemed most likely to be canker. The pigeon's sibling now has a swollen neck in the crop region or maybe just above, with the swelling worse on one side. I just gave it a 1/4 tab of fish zole, but I don't see any of the yellow stuff that's associated with canker. 

The pigeon is eating well, very active, but it seems to have swallowing difficulty.

My questions are, is it still most likely canker? And what's the best way to continue with the fish zole dosage? I dissolved the bit of tablet in water and used a syringe and I know I didn't get it all in there. Should I be placing the bit of pill in the pigeon's mouth whole?


----------



## thepigeonkey (Oct 12, 2011)

I havn't used fish zole but a swollen neck sounds like canker. you cant always see canker by looking down the throat


----------



## Jiin Lee (Jan 8, 2012)

Okay, I think I read that somewhere. I keep staring at him to try to judge if the swelling is going down any already. Going to drive us both crazy.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Jiin Lee said:


> A couple weeks ago, I lost a young feral pigeon to something that seemed most likely to be canker. The pigeon's sibling now has a swollen neck in the crop region or maybe just above, with the swelling worse on one side.* I just gave it a 1/4 tab of fish zole, but I don't see any of the yellow stuff that's associated with canker.
> *
> The pigeon is eating well, very active, but it seems to have swallowing difficulty.
> 
> My questions are, is it still most likely canker? And what's the best way to continue with the fish zole dosage? I dissolved the bit of tablet in water and used a syringe and I know I didn't get it all in there. Should I be placing the bit of pill in the pigeon's mouth whole?


The yellow stuff is just one of the symptoms of a canker infection. Often, there will be no yellow stuff at all.
If a bird has canker, 1/4 pill of Fishzole once, is not enough to cure the infection. You may need to treat for 5 days in a row or even longer. If you think the bird can swallow the 1/4 pill, put the pill at the back of his throat and follow with some water.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Here are some of the symptoms of canker as taken from an article written by Colin Walker.

SYMPTOMS IN SQUABS

*Not all these symptoms will be present in each case. The symptoms appear 6 days after infection.*

Visible lump in the neck or navel area.
Stretched skin over site of lesion.
Cheesy growth in mouth or throat.
Patches of baldness around neck and mouth .
Slow blinking
Ruffled feathers
Loose watery droppings
Excessive thirst
Loss of appetite
Loss of weight


----------



## Jiin Lee (Jan 8, 2012)

> 1/4 pill of Fishzole once, is not enough to cure the infection. You may need to treat for 5 days in a row or even longer. If you think the bird can swallow the 1/4 pill, put the pill at the back of his throat and follow with some water.


Thanks! I wasn't sure how long to give it to him, I was thinking at least three days. I'll try using the solid pill in the morning.


----------



## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Jiin Lee said:


> Thanks! I wasn't sure how long to give it to him, I was thinking at least three days. I'll try using the solid pill in the morning.


How many mg is in 1 tablet?
I have 250mg tablets and I give an adult bird 1/4 tablet (62.5mg) once a day for 7-10 days.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> How many mg is in 1 tablet?
> I have 250mg tablets and I give an adult bird 1/4 tablet (62.5mg) once a day for 7-10 days.


He/she said Fishzole. Fishzole is 250mg.


----------



## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> He/she said Fishzole. Fishzole is 250mg.


Thanks, I didn't know that, I've never bought fishzole. I use 250mg coated metronidazole.
When he/she said 'solid' tablet, i thought he/she meant the *whole* tablet.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> Thanks, I didn't know that, I've never bought fishzole. I use 250mg *coated metronidazole.*
> When he/she said 'solid' tablet, i thought he/she meant the *whole* tablet.


I use coated too. I buy it in 100mg. Long time ago, Fishzole and spartrix were the only canker meds available without a prescription. It was recommended to mix the Fishzole in water. It was awful stuff and always separated and fell to the bottom of the bowl...hated it.


----------



## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Maybe I didn't see it (the weight of this bird), but we usually dose based on a weight. The maximum dosing for Metronidazole in the formulary is 250 milligrams of medicine per kilogram of bird. Therefore, a 250 gram fledgling would be a quarter of a kilogram, so only a quarter of a 250 milligram tablet of Metronidazole per day. Metronidazole has an extreme safety factor and I think the bird's safe at 4x the max listed dose, but I still wouldn't give it to them.

If you can't see the yellow stuff by looking down the throat, it's possible that it's in a salivary gland under the mandible--bad place to get it, given the damage that it can do. Swelling there won't generally go down as quickly as we'd like even after killing the organism causing the problem.

Pidgey


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

It is more likely canker. The birds sibling died a couple weeks ago with the same thing.
You can give him 1/4 of a pill daily for 5 days. He must be at least 3 weeks old? Just put it to the back of the throat over the tongue. He should swallow it if you place it far enough back.


----------



## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

> Here are some of the symptoms of canker *as taken from an article written by Colin Walker.*
> 
> SYMPTOMS IN SQUABS
> 
> ...


That is a list of symptoms that I put together for Pigeon Angels *from a large number of sources*, Dr Colin Walker was one, but other particularly useful sources I remember were F.D.W Harper (Coughs, Colds. Croaks and Canker) - whose book alerted me to the slow blink - and Dr Wym Peters "Fit to Win". There were others, but it was several years ago so I don't remember them all.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I had a 2 week old, a couple of years ago with canker, and she had the same lump. I had to treat with Flagyl for 2 weeks to get rid of the canker.


----------



## Jiin Lee (Jan 8, 2012)

> If you can't see the yellow stuff by looking down the throat, it's possible that it's in a salivary gland under the mandible--bad place to get it, given the damage that it can do. Swelling there won't generally go down as quickly as we'd like even after killing the organism causing the problem.


Hrm. Interesting. I've been giving him 1/4 of the 250mg pill, today is the fourth day, and I haven't noticed that the lump is getting any smaller. That was starting to worry me.


----------



## Jiin Lee (Jan 8, 2012)

> I had a 2 week old, a couple of years ago with canker, and she had the same lump. I had to treat with Flagyl for 2 weeks to get rid of the canker.


This pigeon is about a month and a half old. The lump is a big, hard area, from the lower neck down to the crop. He's had a couple sneezing episodes, but other than that acts fine. Did you treat until the lump was gone altogether?


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Jiin Lee said:


> This pigeon is about a month and a half old. The lump is a big, hard area, from the lower neck down to the crop. He's had a couple sneezing episodes, but other than that acts fine. Did you treat until the lump was gone altogether?


Do you have or can you borrow the bird to weigh him in either grams or ounces?
Can you post a picture?


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Feefo said:


> That is a list of symptoms that I put together for Pigeon Angels *from a large number of sources*, Dr Colin Walker was one, but other particularly useful sources I remember were F.D.W Harper (Coughs, Colds. Croaks and Canker) - whose book alerted me to the slow blink - and Dr Wym Peters "Fit to Win". There were others, but it was several years ago so I don't remember them all.


Thank you, Cynthia. I've made a note of that.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes. The lump probably took about a week to go away, but she still had canker in her throat for another week.


----------



## Jiin Lee (Jan 8, 2012)

Charis said:


> Do you have or can you borrow the bird to weigh him in either grams or ounces?
> Can you post a picture?


Don't have a scale, I'll ask around if someone I know might have one.

I wanted to get a pic from the front or the back, so the asymmetry shows, but he's not cooperative. The swelling is only on this side.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Beautiful bird. it would help to be more exacting with the dose. Keep him on the metronidazole.


----------

