squeaker with missing eye

Sorry for the delay updating this thread. The canker-baby is doing great. Her lab work came back from the vet on June 10. The cultures showed that the baby was infected with a human strain of the Pneumonia bacterium, which is apparently pretty unusual. The wonderful Dr. Latas at the Arizona Bird Clinic prescribed 20 ml injections of Amikacin twice a day for 7 days.

After the Amikacin treatments, I gave the the baby a few days with no medication to give her natural systems a chance to stabalize. Her exposed sinus occasionally got red and irritated. Sometimes a yellow mass would form in the sinus and then disappear a few hours later. I'm assuming that this is just mucus (do pigeons have mucus in their sinuses?) or just a natural reaction to exposing the sinus cavity to the outside world. She still has a hole in her face, but the borders are healing up nicely. Compare this picture from two weeks ago:



To these two pictures taken yesterday:





Since I read that chronic canker can persist internally with no outward symptoms, as a safety measure,I've started a six day course of treatment by giving the baby (and all the other birds in the rehab "mini-flock") nothing to drink except a solution prepared by dissolving 400 mg of Ronidazole 10% powder in 2 liters of water. (Actually, I divided the 400mg Ronidazole sachet into two equal portions and made 2 one-liter solutions, 3 days apart.

Hopefully, the Ronidazole will stamp out any last vestiges of canker that might remian, and we can all go on with our lives, canker-free and happy...

You have done an incredible with this baby Jim.

What a difference

The little one is healing beautifully.

Louise

...That is amazing, Jim.

Jim, unbelievable what you achieved

This again is proof that even if a situation looks totally hopeless you can try and believe in miracles. You little patient looks like a miracle to me. Wonderful - I have no other words....

For those who may have missed Jim's photo journal of this sweet pij, here's the link:
Photo journal showing recovery of severe canker

again, Jim, for taking the time to do this.

Just for a quick update, here is a picture taken in February 2012, roughly a year and eight months after the previous picture:



Interestingly, a lot of her cere has grown back -- probably because she was so young when she lost the original tissue...

WOW!!!!!!!! That picture brightens my whole heart Jim..... I'm hugging you through the phone, for being so willing to give the patience and love for healing to happen!!! Kudos to both of you! Maybe I need to send Crash back you!!!!! LoL, he has never regrown his beak...but still manages just fine!

Ps, lets do lunch or dinner sometime to catch up!!!

jimc2000 wrote:

Just for a quick update, here is a picture taken in February 2012, roughly a year and eight months after the previous picture:



Interestingly, a lot of her cere has grown back -- probably because she was so young when she lost the original tissue...

That's amazing!!!!
Thank you so much for the update, Jim, it's wonderful to know how well she recovered, and it's also great for us to learn just what can be achieved and to what extent a pigeon can heal from such a major problem!

AZJourney wrote:

WOW!!!!!!!! That picture brightens my whole heart Jim..... I'm hugging you through the phone, for being so willing to give the patience and love for healing to happen!!! Kudos to both of you! Maybe I need to send Crash back you!!!!! LoL, he has never regrown his beak...but still manages just fine!

Ps, lets do lunch or dinner sometime to catch up!!!

Jenn!!!! So good to see you!