# My poor pigeon is ill. :(



## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

The night before yesterday I found my pigeon Hedwig sitting atop her cage with her feathers all ruffled up. I became concerned when she did not fly down to enter her cage as I changed her water and filled her food dish. I was even more alarmed to see that she had eaten little if any of her grain mix from the previous day.

So the following morning I called the avian vet and they were able to see her that morning. (It is a husband and wife team. I had seen the wife 5 or 6 years before when I first got Hedwig. This time the husband was on call.) He examined her and discovered that she has lost weight. He said she is not emaciated but still is thin.

I was and am appalled that she could have lost weight and that I didn't know. The vet did not paint an encouraging picture of the various possibilities that would make a bird who has been eating and drinking normally lose weight. A couple of the possibilites that rolled off his tongue were organ failure and cancer.

However he did say that an infection could be a less serious explanation, and also it could be that my poor bird could have contracted coccidea while in the wild, and that this infection (infestation?) can continue to survive after a bird or animal is removed from the source of the infection (unlike many intestinal parasites which would be more likely to die out after a time.)

So the good doctor gave Hedwig a shot of baytril and sent me home with a sulfa solution that I've been administering twice daily with a syringe. He said to attach a work type light with a 100 watt bulb to the side of her cage to keep her warm, and to also administer some water via the syringe and to make up a mixture of her grain soaked in water in the crockpot. He explained that this would be similar to the pigeon milk that her mother would have fed her when she was a baby.

Well the heating light was a big hit. She loves basking next to it, and looked comfortable for the first time when she discovered it. Also it has proved to be easy to get the sulfa drug liquid into her, along with the water and pidgie gruel.

Anyways this morning she hopped down to the floor of her cage where her dishes are and began eating (and I presume and hope, also drinking) on her own again! She looks far better and I'm now cautiously optimistic. If it had been cancer or organ failure, it doesn't seem that nursing care alone would have improved her, and the antibiotics wouldn't have had an effect. 

Birds certainly are experts at concealing illness. She certainly gave me a scare. Seeing as she is the only young creature in our menagerie, I wasn't expecting her to fall sick. I'm still worried about her, but less so than I was a day ago.


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## lwerden (May 31, 2008)

So glad you took Hedwig to the vet as soon as you noticed she was ill. These precious brids can go down hill so fast, and your intervention at the early stage was crutial in her getting well.

You may never know exactly what made her ill, however it seems that the worst is over and the treatment the Vet has prescribed is working.

Wishing you well and Hedwig a continued speedy recovery.


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

Monitor poops if Hedwig is pooping on regular basis ~20 per day, it means it is eating enough.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

I am so glad that Hedwig is improving! .I hope that his progress continues.

Heatlamps are a great comfort to them when they are under the weather.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

plamenh said:


> Monitor poops if Hedwig is pooping on regular basis ~20 per day, it means it is eating enough.


That is a great tip, that can get forgotten..and it is simple to do.


Im glad your bird is eating and your hope is up.


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## Tamara21 (Jun 24, 2009)

I am so happy to hear that Hedwig is on the mend....take care and keep us posted!


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

You may be interested in this link.

http://www.wingswest.net/pigeons/Health/Coccidiosis/coccidiosis.html


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

Sorry to take so long to respond and thank all for the replies. My husband spent the better part of the day installing a new hard drive and the computer has been down for the duration.

Charis, the web page of info on coccidea was really informative. It sounds like this is extremely common in pigeons. My collie had this when he was a puppy. He came from Oklahoma where I suppose this parasite is especially prevalent because of the warm climate.

I think it likely too, Louise, that I will probably never know for sure what made my bird ill. 

In any case she still seems better and is eating and pooping, and continuing to take her medicine as well as the grain gruel and water from the syringe. I haven't yet seen her drink, but I'm hoping and assuming that she is.

I never expected Hedwig to get sick. She's the only young creature in a household full of geriatric animals, all of whom are on various medications and treatments. (33 yr old pony with Cushings disease, 17 yr old cat with renal insufficiency, 13 yr old sheltie with the same plus taking antibiotics for a urinary infection, and an 11 yr old collie with arthritis, and my aging rat.)

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

Now I'm really encouraged! Hedwig just took a bath! I decided to let her out of the cage yesterday for a bit, and again today, and I filled her pie pan for her. I peeked in just a short time ago and she was happily splashing.

She's eating only about half of what she ate when she was well (and pooping accordingly) and I'm thinking about increasing the amount of liquified grain that I'm feeding via syringe. I'm giving her about a syringe or one and a half syringes full of the grain "soup" twice a day (one cc size syringe) and also I'm giving her about the same amount of water twice daily. The vet didn't specify how much; I think he just said "a little." And I didn't think to ask him. What do you all think?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I don't think that sounds like nearly enough. You should be giving her 15cc twice a day. Do you have hand feeding formula available such as Exact?


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

I give my sick pigeons 20 ml formula mixed with honey twice a day. Less than that does not maintain their weight when not eating.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

No I'm feeding the soaked, slow cooked concoction made from her grain mixture as per order of the vet. 

I realize this isn't enough food by itself, but she is also eating grain on her own now, although not as much as she ate before she got sick, (and hopefully/presumably she is also drinking water.) I think the vet just intended this to be a supplement to her regular feed to give her a boost, and as an appetite stimulant to get her eating again.

Nonetheless I think I will up the amount at tonight's medication and feeding session. I'll have to allot quite a bit more time to the task.

Have you had good luck with the honey with your pigeons, plamenh? They recovered ok? I'm a little reluctant to try anything the vet didn't specifically recommend, but the idea of adding honey or sugar to the soupy mix for extra calories did occur to me. I know there are parakeet treats made with honey and seeds, but wasn't sure about pigeons.


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

Baby bird formula I use is good enough alone to sustain sick bird for all energy and supplements need. Sometimes though, when bird has GI tract inflammation, diarrhea etc. all food supplements just pass through the intestine without or just partly being absorbed. In this case bird is loosing weight or health detoriates further despite feeding. Glucose and fructose (mind not regular sugar) are quickly absorbed by bird's body without overloading GI tract. Absorption already starts in the mouth and crop. Honey is natural product that has certain antibacterial and anti-fungal activities and great replacement for glucose.
I had great results using it on literally every bird I syringe feed.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

Thanks for the reply. Your birds getting well is a good endorsement for the honey. 

(Honey is about 1/2 dextrose and 1/2 levulose. And yes, I've read it does contain a lot of anti-bacterial and anti-fungal components, to protect the health of the bees eating it.) It is funny how hummingbirds cannot consume fructose or honey, but are only supposed to be fed sucrose, aka sugar, while the opposite seems true for pigeons. But I guess each species of bird has very different dietary requirements. 

I was just remembering..years and years ago I was given a very fat little parakeet, and the vet prescribed a diet to help her lose weight. Part of that diet was to cut out the birdie treats made from honey, so they must be fattening, and right now my poor pidgie could stand to put on some weight.

Anyways I appreciate the info and your experience and I shall add some honey to the grain soup tonight, and feed more of it.

Also upon re-reading your post, that is very interesting about the honey being absorbed in the mouth and crop and bypassing the intestinal system, and it makes a lot of sense.

I should also add that her poops look normal now, smallish balls/clumps of solid poop. Not the thin watery sparse poops with bright green matter in them that she produced during the day that she fell ill. My only worry is that the poops are not as plentiful as they should be, only about ten per day. Anyways I hope that the normal consistency of the poop means that her digestive system is operating normally and she's not losing nutrients at least.


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## SPedigrees (Oct 27, 2004)

Just an update on my not-so-sick birdie. She's about half done with the sulfa drug prescription, and I'm still giving her the liquified pigeon grain soup with honey, but she is now eating and drinking on her own, pooping, flying, and bathing. She still seems to like to sit by the heat light sometimes, but not all the time as she was. I think I'll leave it on her cage until she gains weight or until she seems to be actively avoiding it.. 

I added millet and shelled sunflower seeds to her grain mix, and she really likes both. I'm much encouraged and hoping she continues to recover.


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## plamenh (Aug 11, 2006)

These are good news. Fast recovery wishes to Hedwig


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