Thanks Charis

I just need to thank you for your help and support through my last crisis. On March 5th, one of our wooden eggs hatched. And of course, the other followed suit. LOL. We thought we had been so careful about switching out the eggs. NOT! Anyway, two adorable little babies graced our loft, and everything seemed to be going well with them, until I noticed that one of them didn't look quite right. I was watching her, and she started stretching her neck out, as if something was caught in her throat or something. I picked her up, looked down her throat with a flashlight, and saw something. At closer inspection, I noticed it to be a split pea, which I removed. There was another one. All in all, I pulled out 3 or 4 split peas. Then I thought, okay, what is stopping these from going down? I looked deeper. Canker! And I noticed that she had a bulge you could feel on the side of her neck. Pretty good size too, under all those feathers. I flipped. I immediately called Charis, who calmed me down with her support and advice. And called the vet, which we now have, thanks to the avian vet links that she supplied. Even the vet wasn't so sure that the little 2 week old baby would make it, as she had canker so bad, and the bulge on her neck was getting fairly large. She couldn't get any seed down, and I had to pull the babies and bring them in to feed formula. She couldn't get the smallest seed past that blockage in her throat. Treated her with liquid metranidizole for a bit longer than normally called for, as it took that long to clear it up. She was half the size as her sibling. I was beside myself. One thing to read about it happening to someone else. Another to be going through it. Charis was always calming and encouraging. She is great that way. Never just gives up hope. She also advised me to put the other baby on the same med, as she mentioned that he could have internal canker that didn't show. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Neither did the vet. But when I shared what Charis had told me, she agreed that it would be a good idea, and gave me more medicine. Well, the baby pulled through, is even entirely on seed now, and the vet was amazed. So I just wanted to say Thank you for being there when I was flipping out. And thank God she is well now, and her feathers are growing in where they weren't, and she is catching up with her sibling.

What a tribute. Thank you for you kind words. The most importqant thing is that my little feathered niece has recovered.

Now you know all about canker, Owl and you can share your experienc and knowledge with others, that may be just as freaked out as you were. It freaked me out the first time I saw it too. :eek:

What a little doll baby!!
That was quite an ordeal you both went through. Sure glad to hear things are going well.

Please do keep us updated.

I am so glad that you spotted it in time and that Charis was there to help.

Cynthia

Great piece of teamwork. That vet has learned something too, about the survival power of pigeons when given the help they need.

Sweet little pigeon - love the fluffy baggys :)

John

I will definately keep you guys updated. When she did start to eat seeds finaly, the safflower were still getting caught. I'd have to go in and take them out. And I couldn't see any canker in her throat at that time. Now she eats it with no problems. I'll let you know when she works up to peas. LOL. The vet did learn something. But, at least she IS willing to learn. She didn't know anything about Spartrix, as she says she usually uses the Flagyl. But she was very happy that I brought in the info that came with my Spartrix. She said if there is something she doesn't know about, she appreciates the help. She was so surprised that our little one got better, as she had so much canker in her throat and neck. She just doesn't know pigeons like we do. I have a feeling she's going to get to know them better.

NiteOwl wrote:

I will definately keep you guys updated. When she did start to eat seeds finaly, the safflower were still getting caught. I'd have to go in and take them out. And I couldn't see any canker in her throat at that time. Now she eats it with no problems. I'll let you know when she works up to peas. LOL. The vet did learn something. But, at least she IS willing to learn. She didn't know anything about Spartrix, as she says she usually uses the Flagyl. But she was very happy that I brought in the info that came with my Spartrix. She said if there is something she doesn't know about, she appreciates the help. She was so surprised that our little one got better, as she had so much canker in her throat and neck. She just doesn't know pigeons like we do. I have a feeling she's going to get to know them better.

This is just so exciting to me I almost feel manic...I'm thrilled you have found such a open minded vet to work with.

Yes.................I found her, thanks to you. I had looked for months for an avian vet.

:YAHOO: Networking at it's finest. :YAHOO: