Injured pigeon not eating

Ghanima...it's canker...not cancer.

I'm wondering now if a gull attacked her in the first place. It would be okay to put her on the balcony if she was in a cage that would protect her from whatever creatures might want to harm her.

When you treated her with baytril, did you also give her nystatin? I don't remember if we talked about that. She may not be eating because she has a yeast infection. Some antibiotics can cause that and the yeast makes them feel bad. A throat swab would tell that too so have the vet check for canker and yeast. Here, for a yeast infection, I give my birds a drug called nystatin.

If her wound has healed, there is no longer the need to put the cream on bare spot.
You can bath her with a mild dish soap and one that does not contain any bleach. It needs to be very mild. Here we use dawn dish soap because it is approved for bathing wildlife. You may be able to find it there and it would be the best.

Matilda wrote:

Ghanima...it's canker...not cancer.

Sorry! It is quite late hour here and I am practically sleeping.

Matilda wrote:

When you treated her with baytril, did you also give her nystatin? I don't remember if we talked about that. She may not be eating because she has a yeast infection. Some antibiotics can cause that and the yeast makes them feel bad. A throat swab would tell that too so have the vet check for canker and yeast. Here, for a yeast infection, I give my birds a drug called nystatin.

I gave her only flagyl, nothing else. We didn't talk about a yeast infection but I will try to find nystatin.

Matilda wrote:

You can bath her with a mild dish soap and one that does not contain any bleach. It needs to be very mild. Here we use dawn dish soap because it is approved for bathing wildlife. You may be able to find it there and it would be the best.

OK. Thank you for the information. She really started smelling funny.

Smell may be an indicator of illness, unless it's just caused by poop on the feathers or feet.
A sour smell, like spoiled milk, indicates a fungal/yeast infection; a fishy smell is often associated with canker, which can also cause bad breath on the bird; and a sickly, sweet smell (a smell of decay) has always been associated with bacterial infection on my rescues, mainly Salmonella.
None of the above are transmissible to humans, so you needn't worry about handling an affected bird.

About Kader's eye, it's possible the infection may just be due to the injury, and the line may be a tear in the iris, but... we've been fooled before, especially in the case of a young pigeon who seemed to have lost an eye but was instead suffering from advanced canker, so I can see what Cindy meant.
This is the thread, and it's truly amazing:

http://www.pigeonangels.com/t1780-squeaker-with-missing-eye?

Dear Teresa,

Teresa wrote:

Smell may be an indicator of illness, unless it's just caused by poop on the feathers or feet.
A sour smell, like spoiled milk, indicates a fungal/yeast infection; a fishy smell is often associated with canker, which can also cause bad breath on the bird; and a sickly, sweet smell (a smell of decay) has always been associated with bacterial infection on my rescues, mainly Salmonella.
None of the above are transmissible to humans, so you needn't worry about handling an affected bird.

This is very alarming! I thought the smell was normal because she is not bathing. I don't think the smell comes from poop because I didn't notice any poop on her feathers.

I talked to her vet yesterday on the phone to confirm the appointment. To my dismay, he said that he doesn't have a microscope so he can't do the swap test. As I said he is only a state employee in the islands who mostly takes care of horses. Still, I doubt that treating horses doesn't require a microscope.

Anyway, so I decided to take her to a vet polyclinic on the mainland today. Although it will be a long journey for her, I think now it is necessary. Now I am calling them to find out if they have experienced staff for birds (and the equipment).

It will probably be a late hour when I return. So I will write back tomorrow.

Teresa wrote:

About Kader's eye, it's possible the infection may just be due to the injury, and the line may be a tear in the iris, but... we've been fooled before, especially in the case of a young pigeon who seemed to have lost an eye but was instead suffering from advanced canker, so I can see what Cindy meant.
This is the thread, and it's truly amazing:
http://www.pigeonangels.com/t1780-squeaker-with-missing-eye?

Thank you for the link. I took a quick look for the time being but I will read more carefully when I return.

Best Wishes

Best wishes to you both! Have a safe journey, and I hope the mainland vet will be able to answer all your questions.

Teresa wrote:

About Kader's eye, it's possible the infection may just be due to the injury, and the line may be a tear in the iris, but... we've been fooled before, especially in the case of a young pigeon who seemed to have lost an eye but was instead suffering from advanced canker, so I can see what Cindy meant.
This is the thread, and it's truly amazing:

http://www.pigeonangels.com/t1780-squeaker-with-missing-eye?

Thank you for posting Jim's link, Teresa.
I was looking for it and just found it late last night and intended on posting it this morning.

Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking about when I mentioned the possibility of canker.
This picture especially stuck in my mind.


It certainly may not be canker that Kader has, but I wouldn't completely rule it out either.

Dear All,

As I said in my previous post, I took Kader to a vet on the mainland. It was a long day for both of us.

The vet took a sample from her crop with a swap and looked at it with microscope. He also took samples from her poop and looked at it with microscope, too. His conclusion was that Kader doesn't have trichomoniasis, yeast infection, salmonella or anything else which might be harmful for her. He said, other than her injuries, she is a perfectly healthy pigeon. Still, he recommended a three day treatment with flagyl for prevention.

Naturally, I am very relieved to hear this. But I wondered why she is not eating if she is healthy. The vet said the reason that she is not eating for her own might be that she is now too much used to us feeding her. He said this happens with many kinds of animals. He recommended me to not to feed her the night I go home. He said that she would probably be exhausted after this long day and hungry. If I don't feed her at the night, she might start eating the next morning. And he was totally right! The next morning she ate a huge breakfast on her own!

The vet also checked Kader's eye under a special microscope. His conclusion was that condition of the eye is due to trauma. He said what appears as a line extending from her pupil is actually part of her pupil. He told me to imagine a circle which is squeezed on one side so that the upper and lower parts of the circle are stuck together. Apparently this is what happened to her eye. He said that correcting it requires a microsurgery and that to the best of his knowledge no vet in Istanbul have the right equipment to do that. So, it looks like she will have to live with that eye.

Lastly the vet took x-rays of her wing to find out about why she is not flying. He said that the wing has been broken at the point where it connects to the body. It appears that this happened long before her attack because it already reconnected. But unfortunately it reconnected in the wrong way. This explains her awkward fly in the past. The vet said that her muscles on the wings are now very weak and that as she gains her strength, she might go back to that partial fly.

Well, as I said, it was a long day for both of us. On my way back, I had a 30 min walk to the ferry terminal. I was holding her next to my chest wrapped in a piece of cloth. She was so tired that she fell asleep on my chest as I walk! And she continued to sleep on the ferry all the way back.

Best Wishes.

Bless you both, Ghanima.
I'll bet you both were completely exhausted from your trip.

We appreciate the update.

Kader was going at the peas and barley pretty good from the pictures you posted, so hopefully she will start in again.

Please keep us posted.

Dear AZWhitefeather

Thank you for your good wishes.

AZWhitefeather wrote:

Kader was going at the peas and barley pretty good from the pictures you posted, so hopefully she will start in again.

She just had another big meal.

I forgot to ask to vet to weight her. I will weight her one of these days at the nursery.

I also forgot to mention in my previous post about the smell. I asked the vet about the smell. He smelled her and said that this was only a normal pigeon smell plus the residue left on her feathers of the cream that we were applying on her wound. He told me to stop applying this cream because now that a shell is formed around the wound, it is useless.

I'm glad to hear Kader ate well.

It sounds like the vet knows birds. Could we have his contact information for our referral list?

Best wishes.

Matilda wrote:

It sounds like the vet knows birds. Could we have his contact information for our referral list?

Best wishes.

Sure. Let me call him tomorrow and ask if it is OK for him to have his contact information appear online (I am sure it will be OK but it is best to ask first).

By the way, another update for Kader: She is having some feathers growing in the wounded area. I will post new pictures soon.

Thank you.

Ghanima wrote:

By the way, another update for Kader: She is having some feathers growing in the wounded area.

I will post new pictures soon.

That's great.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

I'm so glad that you've had such positive news and that Kader is improving and eating well!

At the end of the day, the very best informed advice you can have is that which is given by a good vet, on examining the bird. His examination sounds very comprehensive, and it's wonderful that he found her healthy. Perhaps she will still be able to see quite a bit from her bad eye even without the surgery.

Poor Kader, her old fracture on the wing would explain why she was so vulnerable to seagull attacks.
She's very lucky to have found such a good friend to protect her and care for her. And maybe that luck works both ways: I remember a pigeon lover once saying, 'Blessed is the person who looks after a pigeon, because the pigeon will pray for him.' I love that imagery, and my little rescues have given me and taught me so much, I totally believe they are a blessing.

Ghanima, I am so glad that everything went so well with your little rescue and that besides the injuries nothing is wrong with Kader. Sending healing thoughts your way and my best wishes for further recovery!!

-

Teresa - I absolutely love this quote

Dear All,

I am sorry that I couldn't write you for a few days. I had to take a business trip on a very short notice and just came back a few hours ago.

Teresa, Mathilda, AZWhitefeather and pigeonwriter, thank you all for your posts. As you noted the vet is very professional and I am glad he gave Kader such a throughout check. Below, I am giving his contact information for your records:

His name is Altan Akpinarli.
Phone: +90 (216) 385 2595 and also +90 (216) 363 2789
Fax: +90 (216) 358 5397
Address: Bagdat Caddesi Kosk Sokak No:6/4
Saskinbakkal Kadikoy
Istanbul/Turkey

There is also a web site mentioned in his card (www.akpinarli.com) but it appears to be down for the moment. He has 24/7 emergency service and home service.

All the Best

Dear All,

Here I am uploading before and after photos of Kader's wound to show you the progress. As I said she is now growing feathers on the wound.

This is before:


And this one is after:


Best Wishes

Thank you...I really appreciate the contact information for the vet. The information will help others birds besides your own sweet pigeon that is lloking good, by the way.

Here's that link. It's working now.

http://www.akpinarli.com/

Wow, what a difference between the two photos!

Way to go, Kader!

We so appreciate the contact information on your vet, Ghanima.
We'll get it posted on Matilda's list.

for posting Kader's comparison photos.
The feathers are coming in wonderfully.

to you, Kader and your vet.