Stellar - new resident

Stellar was found by someone near to Maria (Taralotti on PT) and handed over to her as the alternative to being PTS. I believe he's about four months old now, and though his vocals are mostly 'real pigeon' he's just a baby :)

Not exactly sure what the problem is, but he may have had a Chlamydia infection. Maria had been treating him with various homeopathic remedies, and his eyes are no longer watery, but the area behind his right eye is very swollen, possibly related Conjunctivitis.



Maria's friend, who has been looking after him the past few weeks, said he seems to have a co-ordination problem and eats in a 'strange way', so I thought "PMV?".. She demonstrated by holding her hand out with some seed in, and he swiped at it with his beak. To be honest, I think he was actually attacking her hand, as he did with me, cooing and muttering, when I held an empty hand out to him.He did seem to have a little difficulty focusing on just one finger, though. His flight does not seem great so far. He can fly from the bed to the window, but struggles some when flying up to the bed from the floor. I think he does have a problem with vision in one eye, but he can certainly see me approach from that side.

He had his first bath today, and was a very wet little bundle of feathers, but he soon dried off with the summer sun beaming down onto the bed (his current chosen place).



later... curious :)



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Stellar is a real cutie, John.
I did notice that the eye looked a bit swollen.

What is your plan of action going to be?

Cindy

Poor baby...that eye must be making him feel really 'off'. It must create quite a pressure which probably has something to do with focusing or coordination.
Has he been treated for canker?

He looks so cozy on that lovely quilt.

There is no sign of canker but I will give him a Spartrix just in case.

He hasn't been examined by a vet so far, so there has been no diagnosis, and he hasn't been treated for a specific illness, just homeopathically according to the symptoms he showed when first rescued.

At present he is on day three of a ten day course of Baytril, being the recommended treatment if it was/is a Chlamydia infection. But I want a vet to see him, as this is not a problem I have seen before. I may take him to the local equivalent of the one we would go to with Cynthia's rescues, if the bird vet is there when I can get there, else it will need to be when I go to Cynthia's at the weekend.

He's very lively and quite a strong little fella, and his poops, though quite small, are nonetheless well formed. Still, he is too light for my liking so I may need to supplement him with the peas and corn, and small peanuts. He has been getting a no doubt healthy, but limited diet, so I'm now introducing more variety and more fattening elements.

John

Good luck on the fattening up!

I know that illness and feral Pigeons varies from area to area. I had a bird with canker many years ago, that had it way up inside the sinus area and actually behind one eye. It made the eye bulge in a similar way to Stellar. Because of that bird, I asked about treating for canker.

I am looking forward to meeting Stellar!

I think Maria has had him since April, he was in a very poor state when she found him.

Cynthia

This would be a good photo to post to Colin Walker for his opinion!

Cynthia

That's a really good idea, Cynthia.

Matilda wrote:

Good luck on the fattening up!

I know that illness and feral Pigeons varies from area to area. I had a bird with canker many years ago, that had it way up inside the sinus area and actually behind one eye. It made the eye bulge in a similar way to Stellar. Because of that bird, I asked about treating for canker.

Thanks for that info. It could be that the symptoms would present like sinusitis/conjunctivitis. I can certainly give him Spartrix for a couple of days. How did you treat that one?

We treated with spartrix ... this was years ago[20+] and we were under the assumption that one pill should cure the canker. It did not and the bird just got sicker. That was probably the worse case of canker I have ever seen. That precious little bird was PTS as a result and it haunts me to this day. He had such a strong will to live. If only I knew then what I know now.

Will be 'thinking good thoughts' for Stellar.
Please do let us know how things go.

Cindy

Quote :

If only I knew then what I know now.

I took my first canker rescue to the vet, who put it down. That was a strong and heathy pigeon too :(

Diane at a Wing and A Prayer told me today that her vet believed that canker was incurable and that the right course was to PTS....but he is a good vet who allows her to re-educate him!

Cynthia

Recently I said to Deb..."if only we had known then..." to which she relpied..."you would have needed to build another garage or two."
Still...I am haunted.

Cynthia wrote:

Quote :

If only I knew then what I know now.

I took my first canker rescue to the vet, who put it down. That was a strong and heathy pigeon too :(

Diane at a Wing and A Prayer told me today that her vet believed that canker was incurable and that the right course was to PTS....but he is a good vet who allows her to re-educate him!

Cynthia

:WHAT?: WOW!! That's scary.

I'm sure glad he's allowed Diane to properly educate him.

Cindy

It is scary and many vets do believe the same. :WHAT?: It puts a real burden on those of us, that in many instances, do know more about Pigeon illnesses than they do. :eek:

It is scary and many vets do believe the same. :WHAT?: It puts a real burden on those of us, that in many instances, do know more about Pigeon illnesses than they do. :eek:

From Colin Walker (Flying Vet):

Hi John,

If the bird has a swelling below the eye the most likely cause is an infection in the sinus. This could be due to Chlamydia, canker or a bacteria. If you wanted to try treating him at home I would give him a broad spectrum antibiotic (the Baytril you are using is a good choice, the dose of Baytril 10% is 2 drops twice daily) and an anticanker drug (e.g. Flagyl 200mg, 1/4 tablet once a day). Alternatively it would be a good idea to have him checked by the closest vet to you who sees birds. Sometimes material can build up in the sinus necessitating lancing.

Regards,
Colin Walker

I did attach pic, but I'm not sure that their email system lets attachments through - still, he does confirm the most likely problems.

It sure does.
Thanks for contacting him,John.

Stellar went to the vet on Monday afternoon, muttering and grumbling at being stuffed into a pet carrier again.

The vet, Gideon, is similar to our vet near Cynthia (and also a buddy of his), in that he has some experience with birds but limited, and readily said that if he isn't sure he will ask people who know more. He gave the indignant pigeon a good check over and pronounced him healthy apart from the swelling, and endorsed the medication I was giving.

He tried to get a pic of the swelling with his phone camera, but it didn't come out too well. I later emailed a couple of pics I had, and he said they were far better, and had sent them and his notes to a guy who is an avian vet and, it seems, something of a bird authority, Wouldn't mind betting his consultation fees are sky high :)

Anyway, Gideon charged me at a discount (as Stellar is a 'semi-pet' bird) so it was only £14 (about $22 I think). The swelling is not anything which needs to be lanced - no discharge - and still seems likely to be something to do with sinusitis and/or conjunctivitis. Hopefully, I will hear more.

Stellar is certainly lively and curious, and has managed to figure how to get through closed curtains so he can chat to the pigeons on the window ledge through the glass :) He is also a little terror when it comes to giving him medicine!

Appreciate the update, John.
So glad to hear Stellar is doing good, other than the eye issue that seems to be manageable.

He sounds like a 'typical' youngster. Too cute!

Cindy

Stellar has had a strange weekend. He had to come with me to Cynthia's, of course, and Cynthia had arranged secure outdoor quarters, almost like a little annex to the aviary extension. Although he had to stay in a roomy 'hospital' cage, he had a fine view of fellow-pigeons, several of whom stopped a while to have a look and a coo at the little stranger. He did not seem to be particularly dismayed, though obviously he would have liked to be with them :)

He seemed completely unworried about being transported back here, his main interests being to get back onto 'his' windowsill, and tuck into the food dish. He did a few pop-ups then tried to fly from the bed, but fell short of the windowsill onto a folded soft blanket. He ungraciously accepted a helping hand, though. I heard him doing a passable imitation of the pigeon moan from behind the curtain, too.I told him, "You're too young to be calling for a mate, whether you're a boy or a girl" :)

I did see him doing some turning in circles which looked very PMV-like, and I feel that the way he turns his head to look back or look straight up is not quite normal, so it does seem likely that he did have it when he was found.

His right eye looks to be pretty much okay now, after the course of Baytril. Maybe a little swelling left, but mostly normal, I'd say. He is still around the 290 grams mark - a little light still, but then he is really very small.

Just turned the light off, and as I talked to him, he drew up a foot and perched in comfortable pigeon position on the brick, settled for the night.

So he just went for the weekend?
I love your description. Almost mades me feel like I want to perch on a brick and settle in for a snooze. :WHAT?:

I sure enjoyed reading about Stellar's road trip.
Thanks for sharing it with us, John.

It sounds like he had a real nice weekend visit with Cynthia and the 'gang'.
And as it would be, after a busy weekend, nestled in for the night to rest his feathers.

Cindy

Stellar is now settled into the aviary, looking very small up against most of the others. He got up to 300 grams, which is just about acceptable, but as I say he is very little for a boy. Well, he does act like a male - does a little coo if another male gets too close. He even took a beak swipe at our Poopsie (Sir Poopsalot) who was walking past him, but Poopsie - one of the big ex-homers and usually a very even tempered pigeon - just ignored him From what I saw so far, the big fellas didn't really give Stellar any problem in his first couple of days with the gang, which was good as he is ground-bound (as yet, anyway). I think, though he had so obviously wanted to be with other pigeons, he is presently a little over-awed at his new surroundings!

We are pretty certain now that Stellar is a PMV survivor, perhaps it was the stress of being in an aviary but he suddenly started spinning. Fortunately Maria had kept him for a good, long quarantine period.

Cynthia