# I have a sick pigeon, fluffed up, looking very unwell



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Today one of the wild flock of pigeons came to my back steps. He looked fluffed up & unwell, tucking his head right into his neck. His eyes look pained and he's been blinking slowly. I offered him seed, bread soaked in water, and a water dish. He pecked at the seed and bread, and afterwards pooped three watery poops, with some green solids and white in them. 

He didn't improve by lunch time, and had moved to a dark spot under the house to stand. So I shepharded him gently into a dog carrier lined with a thick layer of bedding straw, and soft layer of tissues on top of that. He has seed and a bowl of water with antibiotics in it. When I felt him he did not resist, and he felt skinny. 

I only have antibiotic powder on hand with a wormer. Is there anything more i should do for him for the night ahead? How important is extra heating? The vet doesn't open up until the morning. He's still standing, he has moved near his food and water bowls (not sure if he's taking anything in though)

Thanks for your help!


----------



## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Sick birds do need some extra heat to conserve their energy, please provide him a heating pad, or hot water bottle.
Do not give him de-worming meds yet, it is not indicated for the very sick.
Try to give him water if you can with a syringe, he is probably dehydrated. He would need about 10-15% of his body weight of water, then let him be for a while. After that you can feed him a think formula.
Have you checked for signs of canker?

Reti


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Please follow the information on this thread first Basic Steps to saving a Pigeons Life:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=11265


----------



## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

> Have you checked for signs of canker?


The "slow blink" can be a symptom of canker.

Cynthia


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Thanks for your help ! I must be in a different time zone because I had already gone to bed before I received any replies. I read as much as I could about crop feeding and crop medicating before i went to sleep. I don't have an experience or equipment on hand. If he makes it until vet opening hours, I will get him on treatments for canker and Coccidia immediately, and I'll feed and hydrate him.

For heating all I had was a radiant heater, so I put it close by his carrier for the night.

Its 3 am now- should he be left to sleep or should I make an attempt to rehydrate him immediately do you think?


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

I decided to give him some rehydrating solution as suggested on the forum- warm water witha pinc of salt and honey mixed into it. I think my technique is not so good, but at least he's swallowing. I got about 5-10 ml's into him, which slightly perked him up, then I returned him to his cage to sleep. He seems warm, and there were no signs of canker around the mouth. He's very thin.


----------



## Grimaldy (Feb 25, 2007)

Hi BF,

The problem with the bird is fairly obvious; it is malnourished. Just like a human, any creature that is half starved will be susceptible to disease or any illness that comes along; a healthy well-fed bird would just shrug it off.

Do not worry about technique, you are doing great; the bird is continuing to live under your care and that is all that matters. Do what you can to get calories and rehydrating fluid into it, keep it warm. Its own immune system will handle 90% of any problem if it has adequate food and clean water.

Best


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Hi Grimaldy,

Thanks for your support, it means a lot I agree he's malnourished, poor little thing. The reason I suspect disease (or even poisoning) is that I feed these pigeons twice daily, as well as supply fresh water. They used to be so healthy looking, but since the breeding season we've seen birds with canker and pox, as well as other ill birds.

I guess the food could be attracting problem birds, who need the extra support.


----------



## Grimaldy (Feb 25, 2007)

Yes, you may remember those pictures of the children in Serbia and Montengro during tha Balkan wars. Birds are a lot like that; they want to live too.


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

He made it through the night, but he deteriorated to the point where he could no longer stand. I kept giving him rehydration fluid, and made up a mixture to feed him. I rang a vet and asked if i could pay them a consultation fee to check him over, do some tests, and have them demonstrate crop feeding and giving his medication to him. The vet was supportive, but then they said that they'd have to order in the crop feeder and Baycox, which wouldn't come until later in the week. 

I knew he wouldn't last that long so I called other vets in the area and a bird carer recommended by the vets. The carer said the only treatment for Coccidiosis is an expensive 6 week course of injections, so I felt that her knowledge was not really up to scratch. None of the other vets had crop feeders or Baycox on hand.

In between calls he took a turn for the worse and started to have difficulty with breathing.

By 11 am he looked like he was dying and wouldn't make it much longer. I took him to the vet and they agreed, so the poor little guy was put to sleep. RIP little one. Your life meant something to me, and you will be missed


----------



## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Bella, welcome and thank you for taking care of this little guy. I'm sure he'll thrive in your care. You can also add some raw apple cider vinegar to his water to help boost his immune system, and a few drops of colloidal silver and neem oil if you have any. Thanks too for caring for your local flock, they sound like they have it made. Keep us updated and good luck with the pijie.


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

maryjane said:


> Bella, welcome and thank you for taking care of this little guy. I'm sure he'll thrive in your care. You can also add some raw apple cider vinegar to his water to help boost his immune system, and a few drops of colloidal silver and neem oil if you have any. Thanks too for caring for your local flock, they sound like they have it made. Keep us updated and good luck with the pijie.


Hi Maryjane,

Thanks, we must have been writing at the same time. The poor little thing didn't make it, but his last hours were spent warm, comfortable, and loved.


----------



## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Bella_F said:


> Hi Maryjane,
> 
> Thanks, we must have been writing at the same time. The poor little thing didn't make it, but his last hours were spent warm, comfortable, and loved.


Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that. Sometimes they're just too ill to help or it's too late when they appear needing help. At least you did all you could, and as you said, he was warm, comfortable, and loved as he passed on. Thank you for taking care of him, I know it's hard to lose them.


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Thankyou Maryjane,

I am a teary mess, I always am when they come to me for help, and I can't do enough for them. Their sweet faces and gentle eyes make my heart do flips...


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I'm very sorry Bella but I must question the coccidia treatment. Treating for such doesn't require injections, the treatment doesn't last but 5 days and it isn't expensive.
I'm very curious about what the vet was thinking. All that and the vet didn't even know it was coccidia ailing the poor thing. Doesn't make sense to me.


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Hi Charis, 

It was the carer that the vet put me in contact with who said it would need the course of expensive injections for 6 weeks. She was an elderly lady so perhaps she was using an old remedy. I was hoping to have it treated with Baycox, (toltrazuril) but noone had it on hand.


----------



## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

You seem to continue to get mis-information and I'm very sorry about that.


----------



## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Bella, just want you to know how sorry I am your little one passed away.


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm also deeply sorry the little one didn't make it.


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Thank you for your kind words Treesa, Maggie, and Charis


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Charis said:


> You seem to continue to get mis-information and I'm very sorry about that.


Charis, To be fair to the elderly carer, her recommended treatment for coccidia was probably all the rage 40 years ago when she started out, and has saved many birds lives. She probably just got stuck in her ways because they worked, although I happened to know before I called her that there are better, cheaper treatments such as Baycox which is a 2 day treatment. But yeah, it makes me uncomfortable to think my quick scan of the net turns up more knowledge than the knowledge of local carers and vets combined. 

I don't really know what the poor little thing died of; the watery green poops could have been Coccidia; but it could have been a virus plus coccidia as a secondary affliction, Paratypoid, or a combination of things. He was emaciated and suffering towards the end, so I feel relieved he passed quickly.

It must feel nice to be able to care for birds as pets; I seem to only get the wild ones on deaths door It doesn't feel good to see much death.


----------



## UncleBuck (Dec 23, 2008)

Bella F, I am sorry to read of the loss of this bird. In the future you may have a chance to work with another one. If this is something you are very interested in, you could try to procure the possible needed medications in advance... You never know what you will need, but having a well stocked medicine chest should not hurt.
At least you tried, which is more than I can say for most people I have met. That is one of the things I like about this site, the number of caring people who try to help each other.


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Hi Unclebuck,

I agree, this the fourth sick wild pigeon I've seen this year, but only the second that was weak enough to catch. Since I've noticed the sick birds, I've been wanting to get a cocktail together, like some of the members use in emergencies.(pain relief, wormer, cocci, canker, antibiotic meds). 

But in Australia, most of the important meds I need are vet prescription only, or only available in very expensive litre bottles for poultry (Baycox cost $950 per litre here!). 

The only way around this is to gain qualifications in wildlife care, then you're allowed to keep meds on hand without a vet prescription. So at this point I'm at the mercy of what the local vets have on hand during emergencies.


----------



## della (Jan 29, 2009)

Hi Bella,
Sorry to read your sad story - poor little mite! Where in Oz do you live?


----------



## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Hi Della,

Thanks for your support, and its nice to meet another Australian! I live in QLD, I see you live in Vic? Hopefully you weren't affected by the bushfires over summer- that was such horrific stuff..


----------

