Sneeze in pigeons

Hi everyone

I am a bit concern about some symptoms in Bravito my pigeon, Bravito moved to my room 2 days ago and I have discovered that at night he makes once in a while a hard nasal sound exactly like we humans do when we sneeze, he does it also during the day but not so often as during the night.

He seems healthy, eats enough although I have noticed he does not drink much water, plays during the day, and fly around the house, his poops are 90% of the time normal and once in a while a little loose. He has gained some weight in this 4 weeks.

Is he just sneezing or could this be a sign of a problem. ?

I bought already a preventive and curative medicine for birds, it has the following composition

lodium 0,4%
salicylic acid 0,6%
fenol 0,3%

It is meant for diverse infectious illnesses like intestinal disorders, cold, and pneumonia, you can use it for prevention and cure changing the dosis.

If someone knows the components are safe for pigeons please let me know, also if this symptoms are to be worried or not. I have already tried to find lodium as component on the net but I could not

He is getting at the moment 3 times a week 2 drops of ACV in 100 mililiters water as prevention of some illnesses.

I'm not familiar with the medication you got for Bravito... Salicylic acid is aspirin, but I don't know if the "lodium" you mentioned might be iodine or something else. And I've never seen phenol recommended for animal use: it is used as an oral anesthetic/analgesic, commonly used to temporarily treat troat infections in people, but I wouldn't use it on/near my animals, as it's a harsh antiseptic and can cause burns by contact.

There are several possible causes for sneezing.
1) It can be environmental, a mild allergy to scents (perfume, household products, scented candles, etc), or any air pollutant. The most dangerous are fumes from overheated teflon-coated appliances.
2) It can be due to air sac mites, in which case it can be treated with Ivermectin.
3) It could be a respiratory infection, like Ornithosis or Mycoplasmosis, and need antibiotics.
4) It could be due to a canker infection of the sinus membranes, treatable with Flagyl.

If in doubt, it would be best to get him checked by a vet, to be sure of getting the right treatment for him, as each different case highlighted above needs different meds.
Hope that helps a bit!

Teresa wrote:

I'm not familiar with the medication you got for Bravito... Salicylic acid is aspirin, but I don't know if the "lodium" you mentioned might be iodine or something else. And I've never seen phenol recommended for animal use: it is used as an oral anesthetic/analgesic, commonly used to temporarily treat troat infections in people, but I wouldn't use it on/near my animals, as it's a harsh antiseptic and can cause burns by contact.

There are several possible causes for sneezing.
1) It can be environmental, a mild allergy to scents (perfume, household products, scented candles, etc), or any air pollutant. The most dangerous are fumes from overheated teflon-coated appliances.
2) It can be due to air sac mites, in which case it can be treated with Ivermectin.
3) It could be a respiratory infection, like Ornithosis or Mycoplasmosis, and need antibiotics.
4) It could be due to a canker infection of the sinus membranes, treatable with Flagyl.

If in doubt, it would be best to get him checked by a vet, to be sure of getting the right treatment for him, as each different case highlighted above needs different meds.
Hope that helps a bit!

Thanks, that helps definitely a lot, lodium is indeed iodine, I did some research and the medicine is well known among bird lovers and have a good name for small birds, I put Bravito on the medicine since yesterday and I am monitoring him constantly to see how he reacts, till now everything is OK.

I am confronting two problems here, a lack of insurance for pigeons in Holland and the lack of specialized vets in my area. I have the feeling I am the only one in Holland living with an indoor pigeon that means a lot to me.

I know you are not the only person in Holland with a house pigeon. Personally, I would not put him on that medicine. If he has canker, it will do nothing. If the sneezing is caused from dry air, it will do nothing.
Keeping pigeons is very popular in the Netherlands and some of my favorite pigeon medications are made there, Pantex among them. I also know there are several vets that specialize in pigeons. Unfortunately I don't have time to track them down for you but perhaps this evening.
You can call this school and ask for a referral.

State University of Utrecht
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
PO Box 80.163
3508 TD Utrecht
THE NETHERLANDS
Phone: 31 30 253-4851
http://www.vet.uu.nl

Here you go...all the vets that treat pigeons, in your area, are on this forum.

http://www.pipa.be/en/newsandarticles/ask_the_vet/3734#content