# Baby dove found with eye infection - I'm clueless! Please help.



## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Hi,
I found a baby dove a few days ago and being totally clueless I took her to my sister's who's had some experience taking care of abandoned birds etc. The dove is quite small but drinks on her own when presented with water and my sister feeds it by hand (crushed corn, bulghur and sesame seeds, is that good?). 

The dove has swollen puffy eyelids and its eyes were closed, my sister put terramycin ointment and one opened but they are both closed again. She said the really bad eye has something yellowish on it. She's being given water soluble bird terramycin in the water too. My sister wipes her eyes with tea frequently but there is no real improvement and it's been about 5 days. Can anyone tell me what this is please? And what can we do? If she's blind can she live happily in a cage? We have many kestrels here and the last time my sister put a baby dove in a cage a kestrel decapitated it!!! Sorry about the lack of knowledgeable words and the many questions but like I said we're a bit clueless, we're more dog people.

Thanks in advance for any help.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hello, can you let us know where you are and how available veterinary help is? What sort of dove is it?

The tretment would depend on what has caused the eye infection.

When I have doves with eye problems I bathe the eye with a tincture of euphrasia and/or colloidal silver and give it a general antibiotic, sometimes on the vets instructions I have used a topical antibiotic. The homeopathic remedy euphrasia given in pilule form is very effective. However, the infections that I have dealt , other than one case of conjunctivitis have been due to injury rather than illness.

If I put a bird outsude in a cage I use one that is large (chinchilla cage) with 1/2 inch mesh. This protects them from cats and from sparrowhawks...the hawks can be particularly nasty as they have long legs which they can insert through the bars of a cage to catch vulnerable birds.

Finch cages are also suitable for smaller birds like doves, they have very narrow bars that nit even a mouse can get through.

You could feed it dog biscuits, soaked until they are fluffy, but if is is young enough to squeak and twitch its wings with hunger it can be fed something like porridge oats or preferably Ready Brek (I am assuming that you are in the UK?) made with warm water and fed by one of the methods described in the thread at this link: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9682&referrerid=560

Cynthia


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Hello there Cynthia,

Many thanks for the prompt reply. I'm in Egypt and I haven't found any resources on this here. The veterinary care here isn't brilliant, we have many problems when our dogs get sick. 

The dove flaps her wings and seems to recognise my sister's voice and is very docile. I think it's a red collared dove. My sister uses a tiny spoon and opens the dove's beak and puts the food into it and the dove eats quite well, I'll tell her to try the porridge oats, thanks for that.

I found her on the ground in the garden, she'd been there for a while and we don't know if her eyes are infected or perhaps she was pecked by hoopoes (we have a lot of those). The eyes are there, they haven't been pecked out but there is a yellow substance on one of them, and when they do open up it's only temporary and they close up again. She was very weak and dehydrated at the time but seems to be much better now except for the eyes, she (or he) has even begun to preen herself. I've read about colloidal silver here on many of the posts but I need to find out if it's available here.

I hope we don't have to keep her in a cage forever, her mother lives in my garden and ideally we would want her to get well and release her.

Thanks again, will keep you posted!


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

OK, haven't been able to find any colloidal silver, apparently it's been discontinued here for years. We have been using terramycin opthalmologic ointment and one eye opens but then eventually closes again. Yesterday we started cleaning the eyes with sterile saline solution instead of tea (I read about this here on the forums). Is this good? Is there anything else we can do?


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Is there any discharge from the nostrils, or anything that might suggest that the eye symptoms are the result of illness rather than injury?

Cynthia


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

No nasal discharge, throat seems clear, the eyes are still firmly shut (they had opened before for a short time). I'm beginning to think she may be blind  her eyes had opened before and they seemed ok, could she have become blind? We don't know if this was due to injury or an infection, clueless  we're starting to feel gutted - the prospect of her living in a cage all alone...can they learn to eat if blind? Can they use perches?


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

It's ok, just relax. What you are doing for her is what you can, and it's more than what a kestrel or hawk would do for the baby bird. Try to take this one step at a time.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Can you take and post a picture?

Pidgey


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks for your posts, I really appreciate the moral support. I will try to take a pic and get it posted asap (I'm not very tech savy). Update: she's trying to eat by herself now. The eyes are still closed and my sister used a flashlight and got no response whatsoever. It's really heartbreaking...Found a decapitated one in the garden the other day, I think I'm going to stop putting out food and water for them, it seems to have become a smörgåsbord for the kestrels...


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

*Photos*

Here are some photos: I didn't downsize them so you can see the eyes clearly I hope - they're a bit open today but my sister said she didn't respond to a flashlight yesterday, any ideas what this is? She's improved a lot since I found her, the eyes aren't inflamed as before. She's SO cute and SO docile, I really wish she will get better and we can let her loose...if we do, will her mother remember her? I have many doves in my garden and I did see her mother hanging around near her when I found her. Sorry about the gazillion questions, but I know absolutely nothing about birds.


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Hard to say if she will regain her sight. In case she doesn't maybe you can keep her as a pet?
Her mother will not recognize her after all this time. 

Reti


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Hello there Reti,

Of course we'll keep her, there are no other options, we don't have wildlife sanctuaries as far as I know, but the prospect of her living in a cage all her life with no companionship is very sad. I'm still hoping against all hope she'll improve, my sister isn't as optimistic. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Any ideas on what caused this? I wish I lived close to some of you, you seem to know how to take care of these lovely creatures, she could have found a happy home with someone who already has doves.


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

I'm still optimistic. Medicine can work wonders, if only you had more of it. Perhaps if it's all you have, try garlic. A garlic pill down the throat an a wash of collodial silver could do the trick.


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Philodice I couldn't find any colloidal silver where I am  my nephew who is in med school told me they discontinued it many years ago here. I guess all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope she can see again. My sister stopped the terramycin in her water today as it has been 5 days and we can't give her any more.

On a lighter note I was very happy to read your little Phoenix is doing better  You know, in my religion, we believe all these creatures will testify to what we did for them, if we were cruel they will testify against us, and if we helped them in any way they will say so. I believe Phoenix will have many good things to say about you 

Many thanks to everyone who has posted here, it's been a terrific moral support which I appreciate very much.


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

If she won't be releasable you can always get her a friend. Doesn't have to be the same dove species but a similar size of dove. Besides, they do very well in captivity, at least most of them. With lots of attention and love, she will be fine.
You and your sister have done a great job with this baby.

Reti


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Sure is a beautiful bird. Let's hope that the antibiotics cleared the infection. Which part of Egypt?

A blind bird can do okay in time. They can learn where the water and food bowls are and learn to eat out of them, too. Sometimes, you just have to work with them for awhile to teach them how to do it. I've got a pigeon that's completely blind that has lived in the house with us as a pet for five years now. You can read her story here:

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

Pidgey


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Unie's story is SO inspirational! Bless you for taking on the huge task of keeping a blind bird, you're amazing  I will send the link to my sister so she can read it too.

Update - just found another baby dove in the garden, it can fly (sort of) and I asked my sister if she thought it was a good idea to take her and put her with the (blind?) one? She said to try. What do you all think? While I hate taking one captive, her chances of survival are rather slim - I have 3 dogs, and there are stray cats in the area and many kestrels/hawks. We also feel terrible for the one we have being all alone. (We haven't named her because 1. we were afraid she wouldn't make it and it would just make it even sadder, 2. I personally have no imagination with names). Any ideas on names? She's the one in the picture. 

Soooo, should we keep the one I found today with her? It's such a difficult decision! Another question (sorry for troubling you so much!), what are the ideal dimensions for an aviary? If the original one IS blind, what is the ideal size cage we should make for 2 doves? And should it be kept indoors or out?

Thanks once again for all your help, couldn't do this without you!

PS: I'm in Cairo.


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

So, here's my update, I'm hoping people will read this as I am in desperate need of advice. I now have the dove with me, my sister had too much going on to continue taking care of her/him. BTW I called him Noddy.

Noddy appears to have many deficiencies, his feathers aren't sleek and don't seem healthy, his feet don't look normal, the toes seem bent, he/she doesn't stand or walk around much. He seems different than all the other doves I see in my garden, sort of stunted. The tail feathers are fully grown but he is small and doesn't look very healthy.I got him a vitamin A,D & E mix for poultry and I put it in his/her water. I read they need crushed eggshells for calcium. I also found a site saying you should bake the eggshells in an oven for several hours, is this true? Please advise on what I can give this poor bird. I am feeding him millet, corn and a bit of eggyolk on occasion. His eyes still haven't opened...


He doesn't eat by himself - I have to put the food in his mouth. I'm starting to lose hope he'll ever eat alone!
Any help would be much appreciated.


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## myrpalom (Aug 12, 2004)

I repost my answer on "Recording dove sounds" here, trying to bump this thread up:

To teach a young pigeon how to eat, I put the seeds in a deep large bowl, and I "peck" at them myself with my finger.
I just read Noddy's story (I don't visit the forum very often) and I ask myself if Noddy sees well now, is the problem with her eyes solved? S/he needs to actually SEE you pecking at the seeds to follow the example.
You ask about putting eggshells in the oven. I know some people give crushed eggshells to their chickens, but for your pigeon what you need to buy is pigeon GRIT and a mineral supplement for the calcium. I saw you are in Egypt, maybe pigeon articles are difficult to find there? Can you find a high protein pigeon mix where you are? You say Noddy is very weak in your other post, I think millet and corn only is not nutritionnal enough to make him/her strong.
Can you post a picture of Noddy?
Other more knowledgable members will soon be here with good advice.
Myriam


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Hi Myriam!
Thank you for all the help you've given me, I really appreciate it. I contacted the person you told me about but he didn't know of any bird vets. Noddy almost died a while back and it was very scary. He was all puffed up and ruffled and lethargic and I really thought he wasn't going to make it. I took him to my dogs' vet (my only resort), and he told me to put him on neo terramycin again. He also told me his eyes were gone (literally).

To cut a long story short Noddy made it and has gained weight and is doing much better! The vet told me to give him raw minced meat which he hated so I give him thoroughly cooked meat which he likes. He also has grit (I found some!),, canary seeds, peanut, crushed corn, wheat and some round white seed I don't know the name of lol. He also has eggshells on occasion and I bought him something called Herb Salad - his cagemate Bonnie absolutely loves it and it's supposed to be good for them. Noddy still doesn't eat on his own but today I caught him pecking at the grit! 

He also started squeaking a while back and recently has made these awful sounds which I assume are his "adult voice" (?)

I bought him an aviator harness after he flew off my hand and flew into a wall! It's going to take a while to get him used to the harness especially since he hates having his head touched (he feels his way around, just like a blind person), but I will persist as I would really like him to be able to fly safely.

Bonnie should be ready for release soon I hope, she hates the cage, I take her out but all she does is fly back to the cage and stands on it. I'm thinking of getting Noddy a canary as a companion when Bonnie's gone.

I will post some pictures as soon as I can of them both.


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## myrpalom (Aug 12, 2004)

penname said:


> The vet told me to give him raw minced meat which he hated so I give him thoroughly cooked meat which he likes..


I am gald he does well, but I would not give him neither cooked or raw meat.
Pigeons are vegetarians!


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

The vet told me he needs protein (he was very underdeveloped) and I read that some meat is ok since we can't give them worms? He really seems to like the cooked meat, snaps it up lol vampire dove


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## myrpalom (Aug 12, 2004)

I think I always read here on the forum to give a baby pigeon dry puppy or kitty food that is soaked in water (for proteins)...
But I am not sure about the meat, your vet is probably right.
Let's await the opinion of other members.
Maybe start another thread with this question in general discussions.
A big hug to Noddy,
Myriam


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## penname (Jul 28, 2008)

Thanks again Myriam  Bonnie and Noddy send you big hugs. I will try and get their pics up here as soon as I can (I'm terrible with cameras!).


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