Halo has a broken leg

Oh my goodness!!
Halo is having a heck of a time.

I'm glad she's doing better.
Keeping fingers crossed that she continues to improve.

She's kept her food down all day, and she's pooping alright!
Earlier on she started preening, and when I gave the other pigeons their evening meal she got all excited and wanted some too!
But she's not having any seeds, not yet!

Charis sent me a detailed feeding regime which I'm following to the letter, and it's working really well:
It's apple sauce today (5cc apple sauce+2cc warm water per meal), and she's had 6 meals already, one more to go. 15 minutes before each meal she has a drop of Primperan (equivalent to Pepto Bismol).
Tomorrow she can have baby rice cereal and apple sauce.
The day after tomorrow I can start introducing formula.
All the way through she's continuing with the Baytril and the Flagyl.

I checked another two pharmacies today for Nystatin, but it's out of stock at national level. However, now her crop is emptying properly, I do believe the worst is past and she's well on the way to recovery.

I am sooooooo glad to hear that Halo is on the good way. I will keep fingers crossed - as always. Sending you and the little patient much love!!!

She's on 8ml formula+apple sauce today, and keeping it down, but the crop is still slow to empty and she's a little fluffed up, so I keep monitoring her. However, she runs away from me pretty fast when I open the door to give her the meds, so that's a good sign.

Her poops are still starvation poops, dark bright green, no visible urates, surrounded by a little halo of liquid with a slight greenish tinge. She's having 2-3ml warm water 15 minutes before meals, followed by the anti-emetic.
She's still on Flagyl and Baytril.

She has passed 3 small canker 'stones', and the one on the roof of her mouth has detached. But there's still one on the lower part of her beak, and I'm sure there are also more still in her crop. I hope they come out soon.

Thank you, Petra and Cindy!

She's just had her last meal for today, 4ml formula + 4ml apple sauce. She's looking comfortable and has settled down on the heating pad.
I'm still concerned about the starvation poops with no separate urates, but she doesn't look at all dehydrated and she's quite alert.
I hope there's no lasting internal organ damage and that she'll continue to improve.

Teresa wrote:

Thank you, Petra and Cindy!

She's just had her last meal for today, 4ml formula + 4ml apple sauce. She's looking comfortable and has settled down on the heating pad.
I'm still concerned about the starvation poops with no separate urates, but she doesn't look at all dehydrated and she's quite alert.
I hope there's no lasting internal organ damage and that she'll continue to improve.

No sign of urates is a case to be concerned. I hope she starts producing some soon.
Is she drinking at all on her own?

Please keep us posted.

Teresa - I cannot remember whether you have ever said anything about it but have you ever used Spartrix for the canker patients?

Sending more healing power thoughts for little Halo and much love to you!!!

I have tried to get it several times (including through a Portuguese friend of Plamen's, but no luck.
However, it may be just as well, as recent studies show it as being one of the least effective treatments for very virulent strains of canker:

(This article is amazing!)

Canker, by Dr. Karl Frank: http://www.albertaclassic.net/trichomonas/trichomonas.php

PS. Silly old me, you already know this!!! I just found the same link, provided by you, in the 'Symptoms and Treatment' section!

Halo is a lot better. I thought I'd start by saying that, because she's passed alarming stuff today:

First thing this morning, I found what looked like a hydrated dried pea in her poo. (Unless it's canker, but I photographed it). Please note the last time she'd eaten dried peas was 12 days ago!!!!!!!!!

After her first feed, she passed another one, identical, and another, kidney-shaped one, 2cm (almost an inch) long!!!!!! It reminded me of a photo posted by Charis that nobody could identify.

She's MUCH BETTER! She's on formula now, managing 12ml per feed, and I have now reduced the dosage of Flagyl to 'maintenance' level -- i.e., as per prescription. The small lesion in her beak is working loose, it's barely attached now.

Pics later, after humans and beasties have all had their last feed.

I'm so glad to hear that Halo is steadily mproving.

And here's the photo album:

25th August (just before she went to the vet's):



27th August:





28th August:





30th August:



31st August:



1st September:



2nd September:



3rd September -- She passed two strange masses, one that looked like a pea (8mm across) and another, that can be seen in this photo, that looks like a devil's embryo (20mm across):



The two masses she passed, actual size:



Close-up of the smaller mass, cut in half:



Close-up of the larger mass...



... cut in half:



One relieved pigeon...

Incredible photos Teresa - very gross but also very informative. What a brave little bird Halo is - sending healing prayers for her and lots of for you!!!!!

Apparently they aren't canker nodules, but something even worse!

Matilda wrote:

I don’t think they are canker nodules but rather eggs that have backed up into her and kind of cooked from the heat in her body. They must have been stressing her out, bringing on a canker infection and making her feel very sick. They created a bit of a l blockage so the food couldn’t pass through her body.

This time yesterday Halo passed another embryo-shaped thing, fortunately not as big as the other one, but looking like it was going off...

That's the fifth now...

But she's getting stronger every day, my poor brave girl!

She passed a sixth early this morning.

But her appetite for seeds was finally rewarded, because I gave her a little bowl of very small seeds for breakfast. She ate well, and drank water all by herself.

Meanwhile I found an extraordinary article by Dr. Zsolt Talabér about eggs and developing embryos retained in the oviduct, which confirms precisely what these masses are:

WARNING -- graphic NECROPSY pictures: http://pigeonbooks.com/index.php?r=14&c=71&l=en

Teresa, first of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all this detailed info!

You know how hard it is to get info about pigeons, specialy here in our country (Portugal), even from the suposed "bird specialized" vets ....

I hope Halo keeps getting better, and that her body rejects everything that is harming her. She must be suffering a lot, I'm incredibly amazed by her courage and the way she is attached to life, I'm sure it must have to do something with the fact that you love her and care so much for her!

I can't leave without congratulating you once more, for the wonderful job you do everyday to help this poor angels! Great job, Thank you. <3 I hope Halo expells everything and doesn't need the surgery, but if she does, I'll pray that everything goes well, and I'm sure it will, because for what you've told me so far, your doctor is really great! Big hug, Rosa

Thank you so much, Rosa! Halo sends a little kissy peck!

Wow, I cannot believe how much your little Halo has been through!! That's quite the ordeal, and you've taken such good care of her, Teresa... I'm glad to hear that she's feeling a lot better now.
What a fighter!

Thank you, Joyful_Pigeon! She's a little fighter, alright!

She's continuing to improve, and today was a big day because she managed a whole 17ml of formula in one feed! She still looks a bit fluffed-up now and again, though the canker has gone, and that makes me fear there may still be more eggs to come.
She's going back to the vet's this week, so I'll discuss the options with her, as obviously she mustn't produce any more eggs again.

Two steps forward, one step back...

The day before yesterday, Halo had some thawed frozen peas for dinner, and got her food bowl back with some small seeds. But considering the egg business, she restarted the Baytril, just in case, after 2 days on probiotics.
Then yesterday she had two feeds of 17ml formula, but it soon became apparent that not nearly enough poops were coming out. Her oviduct felt lumpy, as though there was another embryo there, and an egg behind it. She was looking fluffed-up and miserable again.

So off to the vet's we went yesterday evening. She had her second Ivermectin injection, which was due, got Primperan and sub-q fluids just in case, and had a check-up. She weighed in at only 252g, 3g less than three weeks ago, but that may actually have been a very slight improvement, considering the weight of the eggs she'd passed. We're not in the clear yet, but at least egg yolk peritonitis was ruled out.
The vet had another look at her X-rays, but of course the eggs and embryos weren't at all visible there, as no shells had formed, not even partially.

We discussed her options. The hysterectomy CAN be done, but not just yet, as the surgeon in charge of soft tissue microsurgery is on maternity leave. In case of an emergency, Halo could feasibly be taken to Porto veterinary hospital to have the surgery, but that's quite a distance away.
The hormone injections are also available, but the vet would prefer to see Halo stronger and free from infection before starting the course, as the treatment has side effects, the main one being a general depression of the immune system -- and given her fragility at the moment, that might do more harm than good. So we have both options on standby, but it's fairly certain that the surgery is the way to go, as soon as she's strong enough.

As soon as we got back she had her dinner, half formula and half apple sauce. Within minutes she had vomited everything, plus some peas and small seeds.
I gave her a couple of ml of warm water with ACV, then later tried 8ml apple sauce, followed 1/2 hour later by the Baytril. All of that she also vomited during the night, together with more peas...

This morning she vomited her breakfast, and stood shivering on top her her heating pad. So I took a deep breath, tube fed her 15ml warm saline and then, very carefully, sucked it back into the syringe. It looked quite clear, so she must have emptied her crop that last time.
I gave her the Primperan, waited 15 minutes and gave her 7ml warm apple sauce and 0.2ml Flagyl. That stayed down. She's also got a warmer nest, nice and snug over a hot water bottle, but she jumped out of it after 20 minutes, so I guess she isn't cold any more.

I'll keep you posted.

Oh no Teresa - I am so sorry to hear about this ordeal you and Halo are going through. Those set backs are really awful, they tear on your nerves and on your heart. Stay brave though - Halo is doing the same otherwise she would have given up already. Believing that everything will have a good end will keep you both on track. Sending energy for you both, healing prayers for little Halo and sending love - much love...

Thank you, Petra, and thank you to Dr. Ana Luisa too, who phoned to discuss some supplements and to ask how Halo was doing.

My baby is improving step by step again and she can now manage meals of 15ml or just over! She had a lovely warm bath this afternoon (she LOVES baths) after which she perked up a lot. The baths also help her to walk, because being rather splay-legged after her injury, she needs to get a firm grip to walk, but even with the right substrate, if she has dried poop on her nails she can slide.

Even though I can't feel any obstruction in her aesophagus, I have to be careful tube feeding because the tube 'found' a slight obstruction on the right of the aesophagus, and I have to ease it to the left a little at that point. I guess the dreaded canker hasn't all fallen off yet, and that other lesions may be lodged at the far end of the crop, waiting to come out.

I hate canker!!!! That and pigeon flies!

Me too Teresa - canker and string injuries. Pigeon flies I haven't found so far and I hope I don't "meet" them. Today I had to free Micky from a bunch of hair she had around her foot - I noticed early enough so that no harm was done to her toes. People are just too careless to shake their carpets over the balustrade of their balconies so that the poor pijjies are always in jeopardyto catch something of the remnants .

Sending more good wishes for Halo - what a brave little pij she is!!!

Thank you, Petra!

Well done on spotting the hair round Micky's foot! I'm so glad it hadn't done any harm yet!
I couldn't agree more about how awful these injuries can be, and how easy to avoid, if only people were just a little more careful!