Rescued another pigeon, perhaps with PMV :(

Charis,

I will stop the Enrofloxacin. I have not tried to keep the food near him, I am still hand feeding. His evening food is already over for today Tomorrow morning I will try to keep the food nearby and see if he is able to eat, I will let you guys know how it goes. The only improvement I notice is that, he has got some energy to stand well, he keeps flapping his wings often and he keeps pecking me whenever I pick him.

And regarding his convulsion, approximately once in 3 or 4 hours he gets it. Especially if he gets scared of me when I approach him, he tries to move away and his convulsion starts

Thanks for the update. Also sending healing thoughts your way.

NiteOwl wrote:

Thanks for the update. Also sending healing thoughts your way.

Hey guys,

Just to update you all, I tried offering the food but the bird was unable to peck the seeds May be I hand feed him for few more days. Any thing else do I need to look for?

Thanks.

spdevanand wrote:

Hey guys,

Just to update you all, I tried offering the food but the bird was unable to peck the seeds May be I hand feed him for few more days. Any thing else do I need to look for?

Thanks.

Hi Dev,
Is the bird unable (meaning he attempts to, but is actually unable to, pick up the seeds) or doesn't even attempt to pick them up?

Poor bird. I would hand feed ...it may take a while longer.
How does the inside of the mouth look...how about the poop?

Cindy,

The problem with him is he cannot stand very well. He stands for few minutes but does not move himself much. Only when he preens himself, he somehow balances himself, but when he has to move his head up or down, he looses his balance. Due to this reason, he does not try to even peck the food that is kept in front of him May be if his health gets better, he will be able to peck the food.

Charis:

I am continuing to hand feed him. I checked his beaks and it looks normal & light pinkish color. His poops are slight green with white patches, does not stink.

Thanks.

Dev...do you think he is getting enough fluids?
How much food each day?

Thanks, Dev.

Charis,

Yeah, I am feeding him around 50-60 broken soaked Chickpea per feeding and I feed him twice a day. I can feel his crop getting filled up to 80% approximately. He also drinks enough water. Do you think I should slightly increase the food quantity ?

Btw, today morning I was usual going to my terrace to feed the feral pigeons. I was shocked to see a 30-40 days old pigeon sitting at the stairs, closing its eyes and shivering due to cold It looked very week. I managed to catch it and keep it in the cage. I have kept water in a bowl and had to rush to office as I was getting late. I am going to go home early and inspect the bird in few hours. I will post a different thread for this new bird I have four pigeons now

Oh MY...another one. You were in the right place at the right time, or ..the new rescue was.

Yes...I would feed the third pigeon another feeding of equal amount if the crop is empty when you go to do so.

Matilda wrote:

Oh MY...another one. You were in the right place at the right time, or ..the new rescue was.

Yes, I really cannot express what I am feeling. Usually on other days, I used to carry two plates of "Finger Millet" to my terrace between 6-7 AM and scatter them for these feral pigeons. But from the last couple of days, I found the food was not completely over even by the evening time, so today, I went at 6 AM with one plate of food and at 8 AM I was going again with the second plate of food. That is when I found this baby. I have been staying this house for last 5+ years and NEVER EVER I have seen any bird coming up to the stairs I guess this has started because a lot of pigeons are nowadays coming to the terrace for food & water.

Matilda wrote:

Yes...I would feed the third pigeon another feeding of equal amount if the crop is empty when you go to do so.

Sure, I will do that right from today.

I wish I could tell you what is wrong with the 3rd pigeon and how to make him better.

spdevanand wrote:

Charis,

Yeah, I am feeding him around 50-60 broken soaked Chickpea per feeding and I feed him twice a day. I can feel his crop getting filled up to 80% approximately. He also drinks enough water. Do you think I should slightly increase the food quantity ?

Btw, today morning I was usual going to my terrace to feed the feral pigeons. I was shocked to see a 30-40 days old pigeon sitting at the stairs, closing its eyes and shivering due to cold It looked very week. I managed to catch it and keep it in the cage. I have kept water in a bowl and had to rush to office as I was getting late. I am going to go home early and inspect the bird in few hours.
I will post a different thread for this new bird I have four pigeons now

That will be great, Dev. Will be looking forward to reading about this little one.
Bless you for all that you do for your ferals.

I just got a call from my friend and he said the new rescued bird (which I rescued this morning) had passed away :(( I could not believe what had happened, rushed to my home and checked the bird, it had passed away :(( I had kept a hot water bag next to it to keep it warm and I had planned to come back in few hours from office to hydrate this baby. I found some watery discharge from his eyes and also little bit of it on it's beaks :(( I really donno what was wrong with that bird :( I rescued it around 8 AM, spoke to my friend at 10 AM when he said the bird is trying to walk inside the cage. At 12 PM, I got a call from my friend that this poor bird had passed away :(( Still unable to believe what happened.

It was very sad :(( poor baby bird, Dev had just got it home...it could hold itself for only a few hours. From what he told me, it looked severely emaciated and weak, had its eyes shut and was shivering Didn't put up any resistance when he lifted it.

He observed a few signs after he got back home and the poor baby had passed away, which reminded us of one of our earlier rescues with similar symptoms. That too was a juvenile and sadly hadn't made it. Was wondering if any of you could help in identifying or has any vague idea what the poor birds could be suffering from?

We suspect it to be a very severe respiratory infection which could be secondary as a result of some viral infection.
These were the indicators on the birds:

Main symptom: A yellow dried powdery substance stuck in the lining of the beaks.
Discharge from the eyes, this bird had discharge coming out of both the eyes :(
Eyes are shut for most part.
Listlessness and very weak, reluctant to move.
Doesn't show any interest to eat/drink
Probably severely dehydrated

Did a couple of search on the net and found these articles.

http://mumtazticloft.com/PigeonBasicNeeds.asp

"Circo Virus damages the immune system and seems to invite secondary infection, Circo Virus is sometimes called pigeon AIDS. Circo Virus damages the lymphocytes in the blood, which are closely associated with the immune system. With damaged lymphocytes, the pigeons become susceptible to secondary infections with other viruses, parasites and bacteria. Pigeons infected with Circo Virus can also have continuing problems with diseases like respiratory infections, chlamydia, or canker due to the fact that they cannot form natural immunities to them. Most often, Circo Virus kills very young pigeons and strikes older youngsters that have already molted three or four flights. Birds with Circo Virus have a yellowish discharge dried on the beak, and they are very reluctant to move, thin and dehydrated, and have no appetite and difficulty breathing. But it is extremely hard to diagnose Circo Virus by looking at the birds. The signs that can be observed are typically caused by many different types of secondary infections. Use of improver and AntiFungal while keeping the disease out of the loft by not introducing birds from lofts known to have health problems. Stray youngsters should be immediately removed if they do not look well, and try to identify carrier stock birds by re-pairing those whose offspring seem weak or die. If the virus comes into four loft, minimize its spread by taking sick birds out immediately and isolating them while giving them full doses of Improver, paying attention to on-going hygiene. Good care, given day to day, places your pigeons in the best situation to resist infection, and gives those that become infected the best chances of recovery. The main defense against. Circo Virus is to identify and treat secondary infections, allowing the birds to live long enough for immune system to repair itself. Probiotics help well birds resist the disease by maintaining a healthy bowel population of bacteria."

http://www.auspigeonco.com.au/Articles/Visible_Indicators_of_Health.html

"Mycoplasma is a difficult disease to diagnose in the live bird. Only certain labs culture Mycoplasma, and it is an expensive procedure. Blood tests are used to diagnose the conditions in chickens. In Australia, the condition is usually diagnosed by suggestive changes found either grossly (white mucus lining the upper 20 - 30% of the trachea) or microscopically (lymphoid aggregates scattered in increased numbers throughout the respiratory system and increased level of mucus-producing glands in the upper trachea, visible at autopsy). A tentative diagnosis can also be based not only on the signs shown by the birds, but also by response to treatment. Some European veterinarians state that the problem is so common that a loft is assumed to be infected unless it has been treated before racing or recently during racing, and feel that, although it does not clinically affect the birds’ health, it has a big affect on race form. With severe respiratory infections, mucus will accumulate at the beak margins where it becomes air dried and yellow."

It is very frustrating that the mortality rate for such birds is so high...we hardly have any time to even understand what's happening before the bird is gone

Any help on how we could handle this in future will be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

I'm very sorry Dev and Priya. It's always a shock to loose one and my heart aches for the little one and for you.

That's good research Priya....it's hard to say for sure what made the baby so sick but when they are that sick...usually it's more than one illness. Often...canker is an underlying problem.

Matilda wrote:

I'm very sorry Dev and Priya. It's always a shock to loose one and my heart aches for the little one and for you.

That's good research Priya....it's hard to say for sure what made the baby so sick but when they are that sick...usually it's more than one illness. Often...canker is an underlying problem.

It is so hard to identify what they suffer from :(

Hey Guys,

Sorry I was not able to update here since last few days. I have been suffering with severe cold and fever. Bird is continuing to be same. I will post more details by tomorrow.

Thanks.

I am so sorry you are not feeling well, Dev.
I hope you get to feeling much better real soon.

We appreciate your update.
I'm glad to hear your little rescue is holding it's own.

Take care of yourself, Dev.

priya wrote:

Matilda wrote:

I'm very sorry Dev and Priya. It's always a shock to loose one and my heart aches for the little one and for you.

That's good research Priya....it's hard to say for sure what made the baby so sick but when they are that sick...usually it's more than one illness. Often...canker is an underlying problem.

It is so hard to identify what they suffer from :(

Priya - I am so sorry to hear from another death of an angel. It makes us sad and angry at the same time when we cannot help. Keep on going is the only thing we can do.
Sending you

Petra, yeah, we still cannot believe what has happened to that poor baby

Charis & Cindy,

Thank you guys. I am feeling much better today. The bird is continuing to be same. I am hand feeding this baby thrice a day. Not much of improvement with the head twisting I am planning to start with some Vitamin supplements. What do you guys feel and can you suggest some Vitamin supplements ? I will try if they are available (few vitamin supplements are available in India for dogs / cats).

Thanks.

I am so glad to hear you are feeling better, Dev.

Positive and healing thoughts continue for your little rescue.
I'm not that familiar with the vitamin supplements so will leave those suggestions up to those who are.