A feral pigeon with Toxoplasmosis

A few weeks ago a friend of mine rescued a sick feral pigeon that was walking in circles, which probably suffered from Toxoplasmosis... She took it to a vet and she was told that she should treat the bird with Baytrill... And so she did but the bird is still ill... Do you think that this medicine alone can heal the poor pigeon or should my friend give it other medicines as well? What is your opinion? What is the right treatment for Toxoplasmosi?

Irene

Hi Irene,
There are several possibilities that could attribute to why the pij is walking in circles.
Does he have any other symptoms? e.g. Problems picking up seeds, throwing his head backward, stargazing (looking upside down).

For the time being, I would suggest your friend place the bird in a small but adequate sized carrier/cage, if she hasn't already done so. This way the bird can be observed closely to see if any new symptoms arise.

Dear Cindy, thank you very much for your reply. I'm really sorry it took me so long to write back but I have moved to the new house and the sockets on the walls are not working so I cannot use my computer... Fortunately the electrician will fix them tomorrow and I'll be able to use the internet again!

My friend still has the ill pigeon in her house and she is looking after it. She took it to a vet and the vet told her that it may actually not suffer from Toxoplasmosis but it may have a sort of paralysis at the neck because of a past accident... My friend says that it is eating and drinking well and that it looks fine! I suggested her to give it multivitamins to strenghten its immune system. Perhaps that's all it needs, let's hope!

However, today I noticed that one the feral pigeons that I saved myself has the symptoms of Toxoplasmosis...! Poor Tenoros today is throwing his head backward every few seconds, he is walking in circles and he looks nervous... His head becomes so twisted that it seems as if his neck is going to break! However, he is still eating and throwing seeds around... What can I do for him? Shall I give him Baytrill?

Until yesterday he looked fine! The only strange thing was that his voice was different from that of the other birds and when he was cooing he made a continuous low sound like howling... However, he was flirting with the females, fighting with the other males and he was very lively! Now all of a sudden he has fallen ill!

Now I keep him in a cage together with his companion but in my old house I had all the feral pigeons together in the big cage. So perhaps all of them have caught the illness from him... Is there anything I can do to save them or are they all doomed to die...? It is so sad, I wanted so much to save them and offer them a better life but now they are all threatened by this terrible illness... Now my feral pigeons are in different cages (two in each cage) but they are all in the same room. My pet pigeons are also there (although in different cages), shall I put them in a different room or is it ok if I leave them where they are (since they are in separate cages)? Can Toxoplasmosis be trasmitted through the air? If yes, I guess I have to move them far away from the ferals...

Should I take the healthy (or seemigly healthy) birds to the vet to vaccine them against Toxoplasmosis or it is too late now? What should I do now? I'm very worried for them...

Irene

Irene...those symptoms are not associated with toxoplasmosis. Do you know if the vet did any diagnostics besides a visual examination?

Also...what form of baytril? If the bird is getting baytril via the water and not drinking enough, it's understandable the bird has not improved if the illness is bacterial in nature.
With sick birds, it's always best they be treated individually.

Yes you should be worried for your birds if they ate and drank from the same dishes and were caged together with the sick bird.

Hi Irene,
I'm glad to hear you are all moved. I'm sure you are as well.

It's great to hear that you friends bird is doing good. We would enjoy periodic updates when time permits.

With regard to your bird. From what you're saying, this is one of the ferals you recently rescued to bring to your new home, yes? Have any of the others displayed any of those symptoms?
How do his droppings look?
Do you know if his water intake has increased?

I would suggest isolating that pigeon as far away from the others as possible.
Please do keep an eye on the others for any unusual symptoms.

Please keep us posted on how things are going.

Charis and Cindy, thank you a lot for your comments. Unfortunately I don't know how the vet examined the bird of my friend... She lives in south Italy (very far from me) but I'll call her tomorrow to ask her for more details... The good thing is that she has saved many pigeons in the past, so the poor bird is in good hands...

As for Tenoros, my own ill feral pigeon (which is indeed one of those that I rescued to bring to my new house) looked a little better this evening... He behaved 'normally' again, it's strange... In the morning he was in an awful state... now he looks 'fine', but let's see how he will be tomorrow... There is no cure for Toxoplasmosis, right? Is there any hope for him to survive or is he doomed to die...? His companion must have been infected too because the last days they are always standing next to each other, kissing or eating together... Poor birds... I was so happy for them that they had become a couple and seemed so happy but now I feel very sorry for them... I also feel angry with myself because without knowing I caused the spreading of the disease...

I had put all the rescued feral pigeons together in the big cage (they are 11) because I didn't have any other cages to put them and although I had ordered some from a pet shop, I had to wait for many days until they delivered them to me... During the time they were in the big cage, they all ate and drunk from the same containers, so I guess they have all caught the illness... Do you think they have any chances to survive...??

I'm glad that I never put my pet-pigeons together with the feral ones so I hope that at least they are safe... But the 11 ferals are in big danger...

Irene

How are things going, Irene?

Dear Cindy,

thank you for asking, for your interest and care... I'm sorry it has taken me a while to respond... My father has come to visit me from Greece and I am spending all my time with him so I haven't used my computer these days... At least, the problem with the electricity in my new house is resolved and my computer is working again! Anyway, I have very good news to tell you! Tenoros, my ill feral pigeon, has recovered completely!!! As you know, it was in a terrible condition and I called two avian vets that work on the outskirts of the city (in fact I found them thanks to Charis who had given me some useful email addresses some weeks ago). They told me that it was not sure that the bird suffered from Toxoplasmosis and that it could be another infection that has similar symptoms. One of them suggested me to give my pigeon an antibiotic called 'Vefloxa' which can treat various different infections at the same time... So I gave this medicine to my bird for 7 days, as the vet suggested, and it had amazing results!! Tenoros has stopped throwing back his head and twisting his neck, he is now calm and he looks normal!! I also treated his companion with the same antibiotic and they both seem fine! Fortunately the other birds do not show any symptoms of disease so let's hope that the disease is not spread... So things are going very well and I try to be optimistic...

I hope you have a wonderful day!
Irene

Try this I read your post and went in search of this article for you, because from first reading it, it has stuck in my mind

Hope it helps x

http://saddlehomersusa.info/Paramyxovirus.aspx

Hi Irene,
I'm thrilled to hear that Tenoros has recovered and is doing well.
I'm glad your electricity issus has been resolved.

I can certainly appreciate you taking the time to spend with your Father.
Time is precious these days and memories are priceless. Have a wonderful visit.

Irene...I'm delighted you were able to use the contacts I gave you.

Vefloxa, is Norfloxacin which is in the baytril family and used for systemic infections. As the pigeon recovered from using the Vefloxa, it's likely the illness was caused from a bacteria rather than a virus, toxin or fungus.

I would love to see pictures of your new place when you have time. Sounds like you will be so much happier there.

Give your feathered babies a kiss from me.

Anniebirdy, thank you very much for the useful article that you sent me and for your interest in Tenoros, my rescued feral pigeon.

Cindy, your nice message made me glad! My father left this afternoon, he said that he had a wonderful time in Venice! We visited a lot of museums and beautiful places. I enjoyed having him at home, it reminded me of my childhood and many happy moments, just as you said!

Charis, I'll post some photos of my new house and the new room of my birds soon! It's outside the city but it's much bigger than my previous house and now my pigeons have their own room and their new cages-nests! I didn't know that Vefloxa was similar to Baytril... So they both kill bacteria, that's good!

I'm afraid I have some unpleasant news to tell you today... It not about Tenoros (who is fine now) but about Halimah, one of my pet pigeons... She has suddenly fallen ill and she is in a critical condition... Immediately after laying her second egg, she became so weak that she couldn't stand on her feet anymore... She has stopped eating and she is breathing with difficulty... Her poop is light brown-greenish, very soft (almost like diarroia) with a bad smell. The liquid and the solid part are mixed together and it looks like mud! I have isolated her from her sisters and I have put her on the heating pad... I have started forcefeeding her peas and giving her Baytril, Flagyl and Nystatin, like I had done with her younger sister Comis in the past. I don't know what is wrong with her... I'm also giving her Multivitamins. When she tries to move, she moves backwards, crowling with open wings... She is really miserable, her crop is hanging and looks strange, it feels quite hard as if it was filled with stones...! Do you know what her problem might be? I'm really worried for her... Before she laid her eggs, she was fine, now all of a sudden she is in danger of dying...!

Irene

Irene...don't feed her any more until her crop has emptied.

It sounds like she has problems due to lack of calcium and vitamin d3. I would give her calcium and vit d3 rather than the antibiotics you have started. Most hens do have runny droppings after laying an egg or after setting on eggs. It pretty stinky too.

Thank you so much for your advice Charis! So shall I stop the antibiotics? I have given them to her for 2 days now (this is the 2nd day). I hope I haven't made her worse with the medicines... So shall I give her only the Multivitamins and Calcium? The mutlivitamins contain vitamin D3 as well. Is it ok or should I give her pure vitamin D3 alone?

Irene...can you give her calcium and vit d3? She desperately needs the calcium but won't be able to absorb it without the vit d3.
When a hen has trouble walking after laying an egg...most often the egg has pushed against the sciatic nerve causing temporary paralysis and pain. The cause is lack of calcium.

Yes.. personally, I would.stop the antibiotics. Most often, antibiotics should not be started and then stopped because doing so can cause resistance to the antibiotic as can not finishing the recommended course.

You are right Charis, this is exactly what I'm afraid of... that if I stop the antibiotics she may develop an infection... But if they are unnecessary or even harmful in her case, I guess I should take the risk... Ok, I'll give her D3 and Calcium. How much D3 and how much Calcium should I give her, and for how many days?

Thank you a lot for expaining to me what is the actual problem of Halimah... Now I can help her better!

I don't know what calcium you have, Irene. Your birds always need to have calcium and vitamin d3 available.

I hope all is going well with you and your pijjies, Irene.

Hi Irene,

Is Halimah feeling better? I hope so!

Hi to all my wonderful friends here! Thank you for your interest in my pijjies! Halimah is completely fine now although it took her several days to recover... I read again some of the messages that Charis had sent me in the past and I found out what were the right doses of Calcium that I had to give to Halimah... In fact, a few days later, her sister Stachtoboota ('Cinderella') started having the same problems as Halimah, so I had to treat both of them. Fortunately, for two days it was very sunny here so I took the birds out on the balcony and I put them under the sun. I think it helped them to recover faster! So now all of my birds are fine and I'm really happy for them! Now I'm waiting for the weather to improve so as to let my feral pigeons free... (I may let them free in May or June) But first I want to put rings on their feet so as to distinguish them when I see them out. I hope they come back to my balcony as they did in my previous house... They have actually started to enjoy their life in the cages, but I guess they would be much happier outside, wouldn't they...? There is a flock of pigeons that like to perch on the roofs of the buildings that are next to mine so perhaps my feral pigeons will join them! However, it will be really hard for me to let them go as I have become attached to them... Aah... I'm not looking forward to that moment...!!

A big hug!

Well done, Irene!
I'm so happy that your pigeons are doing well and enjoying the sunshine! And you seem to be on top of the world, too!
Good on you, going back through the posts to find the information about the calcium! There is a lot of good advice in this thread, that will always be useful to consult.
Hope your babies continue to do well.

As I write, Canadian jets are heading from Prestwick, UK, to a base in Sicily, to help enforce the no-fly rule over Libya. It's gonna get pretty noisy in your part of the world soon. STAY SAFE!

I'm thrilled to hear that Halimah recovered and all your pijjies are doing well.

It's great that there is an established feral flock near you. That really will make the release much, much easier. I know it's still hard but knowing there are other pigeons around will help.

Dear Teresa, thank you for your message! I sent you a private message as well. Here in Venice life seems to move on in an ordinary way, there is no noise at all, just silence... I'm about to go out to do the shopping. I hope not to see the airplanes flying above my head...!! What a terrible situation!! It's a pity that 3 days ago my tv stopped working (now only a few regional chanels work and they only show advertisments...! All the important National chanels are 'out of service', but perhaps there is something wrong with the antenna of my tv... I don't know...) and so I cannot watch the news. I hope to learn more from the internet... Let's see... Fortunately my babies are all fine and let's hope they they will continue to be, as you said!

Cindy, it's true, it makes me feel much better to see that there are other pigeons here as well and so my feral pigeons will have company when I let them free!

Irene

Hi, Irene!

I hope you and your pigeons are settling in well! Have you been able to release the ferals you took with you?
Hope to hear from you soon!