squeaker with missing eye

well done for doing such a great job pigeons need people like you

: )

Jim...you might try feeding him, waiting 1 hour and then giving him the baytril and I suspect he won't vomit.
I'd also feed him more than 10ccs.

Jackie\'s Mom wrote:

Jim, you're really doing an exceptional job with this baby

I think that this was a very advanced stage canker and that there are propably leisons and obstruction further down in his throat. Due to this I would recommend removing all the seeds for the time being. The seeds could be getting caught on those leasions causing another obstruction.

Stick to just the applesauce and Kaytee formula. Also, I would wait about an hour after feeding before administrating the baytril. Give his system a chance to absorb more of the food and then maybe the baytril will not cause him to vomit.I'm so happy that he is recovering .....slowly but surely

for the update.


Louise

OMG, I thought all along his eye was missing. I was very sad. Was it just the pus over the eye?
I am relieved.

Tech wrote:

OMG, I thought all along his eye was missing. I was very sad. Was it just the pus over the eye?
I am relieved.

It was a canker lesion over the eye, Tech, big enough to give the impression that the eye was missing. I cried for joy when Jim gave us the good news!

I just wanted to offer a quick update. Our little patient is continuing to improve. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days:

Sunday morning:


Sunday evening, where I'm trying to keep track of the lesion on her cere. It looked like it had been bleeding so I wanted a picture to use as a benchmark in the coming days:


Monday evening:

Quite an improvement but still a long way to go. The improvement really is amazing.

I am so thrilled with the way that eye looks. I think he is going to have full use of it.

Jim, The baby is looking so much better, but still has a long way to go. Canker is such a horrific disease.

Is he holding down his food now?


Louise

Jim has started a photo journal on this little guy and I'd like to post the link here.
That thread will be used for photo submission only, however this thread will still be open for discussion, updates, etc.
Photo Journal showing recover from severe canker

Thanks, Jim for taking the time to make the photo journal.

Our patient continues to improve. I took this picture during his morning feeding:



As I started to apply the metronidazole paste with a Q-tip, I noticed that pieces of the dried up canker growths were flaking off. I tore a paper towel, into six evenly sized pieces. I folded each piece 2 or 3 times and dipped it in warm water. Then I used the edges of each folded piece to gently massage the dried up canker growths everywhere I could reach. Much of it flaked off, giving a much improved appearance:



The fun part about this was that he really enjoyed the process and kept turning his head to expose the spots he wanted rubbed next -- sort of the way a cat does when it wants you to scratch a different spot.

Looking good Jim

I'm so happy this baby continues to improve. :Yes:

Again, you have done an absolutely wonderful job with this bird.


Louise

What a difference. Wonderful!

Many thanks for the update and photos, Jim.

That little baby is looking so much better.
You have done, and continue to do, a marvelous job of caring for this sweet pij.

Here's a close-up of his beak in the last picture. Although I thought the bump on his cere was a canker growth, once everything has been cleaned up, it almost looks like what I'm seeing here is a cross-section of the cere and beak tissue -- as if the canker ate away a chunk of his cere and beak. What do you guys think, and what should I do if that is what we're seeing here?

I think you are correct Jim in your thinking. I have seen birds where their entire beak has fallen off due to Canker. Atleast the tips of his beak look intact and he should be able to feed himself.

I don't know of anything that can be done, maybe others here have some ideas, other than keeping the area clean and letting it dry out and hoping that it will partially grow back.

Also, what looks on the photo as a flap over the eye. Is that a remaining canker leison or is that hanging skin?


Louise

We'll just need to wait and see. Jenn said that Crash' beak never grew back.

Jackie\'s Mom wrote:

I think you are correct Jim in your thinking. I have seen birds where their entire beak has fallen off due to Canker. Atleast the tips of his beak look intact and he should be able to feed himself.

I don't know of anything that can be done, maybe others here have some ideas, other than keeping the area clean and letting it dry out and hoping that it will partially grow back.

Also, what looks on the photo as a flap over the eye. Is that a remaining canker leison or is that hanging skin?


Louise

Good question, Louise. I was wondering that myself.

Jackie\'s Mom wrote:

Also, what looks on the photo as a flap over the eye. Is that a remaining canker leison or is that hanging skin?

It's either a canker lesion, or a canker lesion growing on a flap of skin. As I've been cleaning it and medicating it, it has been decreasing in size, but it does still seem to be attached over the eye.

Thanks for the update, Jim, the pidge is looking SO MUCH BETTER! I hope his beak will heal in time.
Have you thought of a name for him?

Jim, the more I look at this poor little baby , the more I realize how lucky he was to have found you. This little one must have really been suffering.

Only time will tell if the leision over his eye will fall off.........if not, he will need to be treated by a Vet as I am sure that it is interfering with his eye.

How is he doing with his food? Is he keeping his food down, and is he eating on his own at all?

Teresa is right, it's about time that you give him a proper name. :Yes:

Again, you have done an incredible job with this bird.


Louise

I was able to remove most of the canker lesion over his eye by rubbing on it with the "sharp" corner of a soggy piece of folded up paper towel. After about 20 minutes of this, the outer portion turned into a gummy mass that I was eventually able to "cut" by pressing my fingernail into it. Part of the lesion is still attached above his eye, but the majority of it, at least, is gone. The amazing thing is that he sat still for this, and even moved his head a little bit now and then to "show" me where to rub next. Here he is looking quite happy to have an unobstructed view once again:



He seems to have full use of his eye -- at least, he keeps looking at stuff with it. One of the most amazing aspects of this is that one week ago, this pigeon was a wild animal, and now he's relatively content to sit on my hand. Here he is, slightly damp from a thorough spraying with Scalex to rid him of pigeon flies:



From this angle, you can see the remnant of the canker lesion that's still hanging on above his eye:



He's largely eating on his own now. Last night I let him eat his fill of seeds after I changed the papers in his cage. He filled his crop, and this morning his papers had a very reasonable amount of fairly normal-looking droppings. He ate on his own all day, mainly seeds, but he also ate a little bit of the crumbled cornbread I put next to the seeds. He's not interested in corn or peas.

He still has an appreciable mass of canker in his mouth and going down his throat, but it looks like a thinner layer than previously. I'm swabbing it with metronidazole paste as much as he'll let me. (He lets me apply it to his face, but draws the line at letting me stick a Q-tip in his mouth...)

Jim, The baby's face and eye are soooooo remarkably improved.

I'm glad to hear that he is eating on his own and holding down his food and that his poops are looking normal. These are all encouraging signs of his recovery.

However, that there is still an appreciable mass of canker in the mouth and throat is cause for concen. Have you completed the course of canker medicine? and is he still on the baytril?

I think we will need Charis to chime in here to let you know what the continued course of meds should be used to treat the remaining canker.

Have you considered a name for him yet? I'ts wonderful that he has taken to you so well and allows you to treat him with little to no resistance. It's amazing that these birds somehow know where to go and I believe they do realize when someone is helping them

Louise

Jim...do keep him on the metronidazole and baytril. He should also get the anti yeast medicine.
Make sure that he is eatting enough. If you need to, feed him 15 cc's 3 times a day.

It isn't necessary to make a paste out of the metronidazole, it can be on the thin side and you dab it on with a Qtip.
You might offer him a warm bath to see if more of the stuff will fall off. He might enjoy a warm bath at this point too.
He looks great though. How long has it been...a week? Amazing.

WOW!! His eye looks GREAT, Jim.
What a little beauty of a pij.

I know it's been mentioned before, but I must say again, you have done an absolutely amazing job with this sweet baby.

Thank you so much for posting the updates.