My pigeon missed a dose of canker medication- now what?

Hello, how are you going? I am new to this forum, thank you for having me

I live in Australia and I need help quickly becuase it is Easter long weekend and all the vets are closed for 4 days. A wild pigeon who visits our yard every day has become one of my best friends and has been coming for years. He looked very sick so I took him to the bird vet a few days ago. He lets me pick him up and pat him as I feed him and give him water, as well as the rest of the wild flock who come daily. The bird vet said he had canker in his throat and beak, and worms. She trated the worms, and she took all the stuff out of his throat, but she sent him home for Easter with 3 lots of medication, and said that he has to come back after Easter as he still has some canker behind his sinus and on the side of his mouth.

I gave him his first lots of 3 medications, but he looked sad in the cage so I let him out and he stayed and played all day like he always does, but I came out too late in the evening and he had flown away for the night, with all the other pigeons, to where ever they go and sleep every night. I know he will be back tomorrow morning and will stay all day till evening, as he has been doing that every day for years, so I know I can give him his medication twice a day like I have to for the rest of the 5 days, but does it matter how he missed a dose tonight? I left it too late to go out as my Mum was feeling sick and I made her food, and when I went out he was gone for the night. What should I do? Thanks heaps for your help, I do appreciate it a lot

Christina wrote:

Hello, how are you going? I am new to this forum, thank you for having me

I live in Australia and I need help quickly becuase it is Easter long weekend and all the vets are closed for 4 days. A wild pigeon who visits our yard every day has become one of my best friends and has been coming for years.

He looked very sick so I took him to the bird vet a few days ago. He lets me pick him up and pat him as I feed him and give him water, as well as the rest of the wild flock who come daily.

* The bird vet said he had canker in his throat and beak, and worms. She trated the worms, and she took all the stuff out of his throat, but she sent him home for Easter with 3 lots of medication, and said that he has to come back after Easter as he still has some canker behind his sinus and on the side of his mouth.

I gave him his first lots of 3 medications, but he looked sad in the cage so I let him out and he stayed and played all day like he always does, but I came out too late in the evening and he had flown away for the night, with all the other pigeons, to where ever they go and sleep every night. I know he will be back tomorrow morning and will stay all day till evening, as he has been doing that every day for years, so I know I can give him his medication twice a day like I have to for the rest of the 5 days, but does it matter how he missed a dose tonight? I left it too late to go out as my Mum was feeling sick and I made her food, and when I went out he was gone for the night. What should I do? Thanks heaps for your help, I do appreciate it a lot

Hi Christina,
Welcome to Pigeon Angels.

Thank you for helping this little guy.

* You mentioned that he has canker and that the vet took all the stuff out of his throat. It surprises me that the vet would do that because removing canker has the potential of causing a serious bleeding issue.

Being that he doesn't fell well will give the appearance of looking sad.

Continue the medication as it was ordered.
I would suggest you keep the bird confine until he has completed his medication and has been cleared to be released back to his flock. That way there won't be a problem of missing anymore doses and you can observe the bird's behavior, eating, etc. Canker can also be spread from one pigeon to another, which is another good reason to keep him confined.

What medications did the vet give you? And how often are you to be giving it to the bird?

Is there any chance you could post a picture of your little patient?

Please keep us posted on how things are coming along.

AZWhitefeather wrote:

Christina wrote:

Hello, how are you going? I am new to this forum, thank you for having me

I live in Australia and I need help quickly becuase it is Easter long weekend and all the vets are closed for 4 days. A wild pigeon who visits our yard every day has become one of my best friends and has been coming for years.

He looked very sick so I took him to the bird vet a few days ago. He lets me pick him up and pat him as I feed him and give him water, as well as the rest of the wild flock who come daily.

* The bird vet said he had canker in his throat and beak, and worms. She trated the worms, and she took all the stuff out of his throat, but she sent him home for Easter with 3 lots of medication, and said that he has to come back after Easter as he still has some canker behind his sinus and on the side of his mouth.

I gave him his first lots of 3 medications, but he looked sad in the cage so I let him out and he stayed and played all day like he always does, but I came out too late in the evening and he had flown away for the night, with all the other pigeons, to where ever they go and sleep every night. I know he will be back tomorrow morning and will stay all day till evening, as he has been doing that every day for years, so I know I can give him his medication twice a day like I have to for the rest of the 5 days, but does it matter how he missed a dose tonight? I left it too late to go out as my Mum was feeling sick and I made her food, and when I went out he was gone for the night. What should I do? Thanks heaps for your help, I do appreciate it a lot

Hi Christina,
Welcome to Pigeon Angels.

Thank you for helping this little guy.

* You mentioned that he has canker and that the vet took all the stuff out of his throat. It surprises me that the vet would do that because removing canker has the potential of causing a serious bleeding issue.

Being that he doesn't fell well will give the appearance of looking sad.

Continue the medication as it was ordered.
I would suggest you keep the bird confine until he has completed his medication and has been cleared to be released back to his flock. That way there won't be a problem of missing anymore doses and you can observe the bird's behavior, eating, etc. Canker can also be spread from one pigeon to another, which is another good reason to keep him confined.

What medications did the vet give you? And how often are you to be giving it to the bird?

Is there any chance you could post a picture of your little patient?

Please keep us posted on how things are coming along.

Everything I would have said and asked.

Yes. Please don't worry about how sad he is looking. Getting him well is more important right now than him being happy. The thing is that with him being sick, he could become sicker and not make it back to your place. Then he would just die out there untreated. Also, as was mentioned, he will just spread the disease to others. I too would just continue with the treatment as prescribed. But it would help a lot to know what the vet is treating with. I too agree that removing the nodules from the throat is very dangerous.

Hello, and thank you so VERY much to you all for your answers, I really appreciate it a lot :-)

He is on 3 lots of medications, here is what they are called: meloxicam oral, flagyl suspension, and enrofloxacin oral. All of them I have to give to him twice a day, each one in a syringe shaped squirter, to squirt into his mouth.

Today he missed his morning dose again because as I was about to pick him up off the ground my sister went to the toilet and slammed the door and all the whole flock got a fright and flew away. But he came back with them all at 2.05 in the afternoon and I picked him up and gave him the 3 squirts. Then he ate with the other birds. I gave them birdseed and porridge and bread soaked in water, but I noticed that he couldn't eat much as he was picking up grains of birdseed in his beak as if he was eating them but they were mostly falling out of his mouth. I broke off bits of wet bread and rolled it into tiny balls and hand fed him that, and he could only eat the tiny balls I made, he tried to eat the bigger ones but he couldn't so he spat them out. . Why can't he eat much? Is is because his mouth ones (one on back of sinus and one on side of mouth) are hurting him, maybe because he missed his doses yesterday?

I wish he could have stayed at the avian vet longer till he was fully better but they said they are closed over the Easter long weekend. He went into the avian vet on Tuesday at 5.00pm and he stayed there till I picked him up on Thursday afternoon at 4.00 pm. Is that long enough do you think?

I want to keep him in the cage but my Dad is strict and he won't let birds in the house. He will only let me keep the cage in the shed which is dark and gloomy, although it does have a window cut out of it. But I am scared he would get cold in there at night. There are no chemicles in the shed, just some garden furniture. And if I take the cage out of the shed during the day I am scared he will overheat in the sun or get cold if it is cold, plus I am scared the other birds will see him and he will feel like an outsider who is trapped in a cage, as all the other birds will be staring at him being locked in a cage

The vet said they took all the throat one out, and they took as much of the mouth and sinus ones off as they could, because they couldn't take too much off all at once they said as it would bleed. So that is why he still has some on the side of his mouth and behind his sinus they said. They said they got all the throat stuff out but I don't know if they did that all at once or slowly too over a few days.

The avain vet said they want to see him back after Easter which will be hard as I already paid them $400 for what they did, but I will borrow the money to take him because he is my special friend. They said they will check when I bring him back to see if the sinus one and the mouth ones have gone from the medicaine, or else he might have to go back in there for another few days they said, to get the rest off (from the side of his mouth and from behind his sinus) which I guess will cost another $400

What should I feed him that he will eat? Should I make him rice because it is small and soft? I can't even ring the bird vet as they are all closed over Easter long weekend.

I have been sad all day and every one thinks Im weird they all say it's just a brid, but he isn't, he is my best friend

I will try to get a photo of him, and I will post it here

Thank you so very much for all your help, I really appreciate it a lot

some people just dont understand the bond between pigeon and human. And wow that is very expensive, if you have the correct medicine you wont need to bring it to a vet, just treat it for canker and eventually the nodules will fall off and he will get better. you dont need a vet to remove them ( i never did) maybe try some metridizanol (sorry if thats spelled wrong) BUT DONT DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT UNTILL YOU talk to one of the profesionals online... im just tryin to help untill one of them reply. they should be able to walk this threw with you without you needing to bring him to a vet.

Also, when any of my birds were sick they either didnt eat or they had a difficult time with it. my guess is hes probably in pain or the canker is causing an obstuction in his throat. make sure hes not losing a lot of weight you may need to hand feed him defrosted peas and corn or syringe feed him kaytee extract.

I hope some of this helps!

If you don't catch and keep him in a cage, he is probably going to die. You need to confine him to be able to treat him properly. Hit and miss treatments will just make the canker stronger. Would your Dad allow him to be kept in the basement or attic or a garage or something at night? If not, I don't suppose that the shed has electric for you to put in a heating pad on low, covered with a towel? How many days of medication did the vet give you?
The canker sometimes takes a while to get rid of, but if kept on the med until it is gone, you may not have to go back to the vet so often.

I agree with Jay. The bird needs to be confined in order to properly treat him.
If you are able to catch him, could you post a picture?

Hi Christina,

Thank you for trying to help your feathered friend.

It is really very important to isolate him from the rest of the birds and keep him indoors while his treatment lasts, for two reasons: to ensure that he gets the proper dose of medication, without which the canker will become resistant to the meds, and to stop the others from catching it and later pass it back on to him. You've already spent a lot of money on vet bills, that shows the extent of your determination, but you need to go one step further for his sake and keep him quarentined for a few days.
Waiting for the vet to treat him may be waiting too long, especially as you say he has difficulty eating. Canker is a killer disease, and last year alone I lost several rescues to it because by the time I found them the canker was already too advanced to treat.

The metronidazole that zomg fishies mentioned is the active ingredient in Flagyl, a canker medication, which your bird is already taking. The enrofloxacin is marketed as Baytril, and it is a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Those two make perfect sense, and you may be able to buy them yourself.
What I can't understand is why the vet prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug as well (Meloxicam), unless it is because of the removal of the canker lesions -- a procedure which is not to be recommended, because of the danger of bleeding.
Another medication that he should be taking is Nystatin (=Mycostatin) to prevent yeats infections in the crop, as the canker lesions may partially obstruct the normal passage of the food, and the crop contents get sour.

If he isn't able to feed himself, you will need to hand-feed him. The easiest way is to defrost peas and sweetcorn in hot water for about 10 minutes (canned are no good), slightly open his beak with one hand and push them, one at a time, to the back of his throat. He will need 3 meals of about 35 peas+corn per meal, but he may well be unable to eat that much in one go -- that will mean more meals and smaller amounts.
He should only be fed when the crop is empty, which can take up to 4 hours after a meal. You can check if the crop is empty by feeling it gently. If there is no food but there is liquid, let us know straight away.



He will need an external source of heat (like the heating pad Jay mentioned), or, failing all else, a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. Birds' temperature drops when they are sick, and when that happens they can't process their food.

Please try to post a picture of the pigeon and of his droppings, as that would help a lot.

Hello, and thank you so VERY much to you all for your help, I do appreciate it a lot

I will get him tomorrow and put him in a cage as you said, and I will keep him in the shed with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towell

Today he ate a lot of cooked rice that I cooked for him, and he ate a lot of birdseed too, which made me happy :-)

He also had all his lots of medications today. And all the flock of birds flew around in cirlces in the air which they do all the time, and he went with them too, and he flew really well and strong , and high in the air. Does that mean that he is getting better?

First thing this morning though, he was shivering but he stopped doing that when he ate and had his medication.

And today he did poo that was green and a tiny bit runny- what does that mean?

He has only 2 days of medication left- well now it will be 3 days becasue of the missed doses. Is 3 days still worth putting him in the cage for?I guess I should huh, from what you all told me, even though 3 days is not a lot of time, but I guess in bird langauge, 3 days is a long time huh?

I will try to get a hold of a camera to take a picture of him

I was just wondering why they say to defrost the frozen peas and corn in hot water, and not to just cook them, like boil them in water for 10 minutes and then let them, cool down

Thank you all so very much for your time, I do appreciate it a lot :-)

Christina wrote:

Hello, and thank you so VERY much to you all for your help, I do appreciate it a lot

I will get him tomorrow and put him in a cage as you said, and I will keep him in the shed with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towell

Today he ate a lot of cooked rice that I cooked for him, and he ate a lot of birdseed too, which made me happy :-)

He also had all his lots of medications today. And all the flock of birds flew around in cirlces in the air which they do all the time, and he went with them too, and he flew really well and strong , and high in the air. Does that mean that he is getting better?

First thing this morning though, he was shivering but he stopped doing that when he ate and had his medication.

And today he did poo that was green and a tiny bit runny- what does that mean?

He has only 2 days of medication left- well now it will be 3 days becasue of the missed doses. Is 3 days still worth putting him in the cage for?I guess I should huh, from what you all told me, even though 3 days is not a lot of time, but I guess in bird langauge, 3 days is a long time huh?

I will try to get a hold of a camera to take a picture of him

I was just wondering why they say to defrost the frozen peas and corn in hot water, and not to just cook them, like boil them in water for 10 minutes and then let them, cool down

Thank you all so very much for your time, I do appreciate it a lot :-)

Yes, it is worth confining him to finish the treatment. 3 days may not be long enough to cure the canker. I had a young bird with canker and it took about 2 weeks on meds to get rid of it. You may need to go back to the vet and get more metronidazole. You shouldn't have to bring the bird in for that. Just explain that the canker isn't gone and you need to treat for longer. If that be the case anyway. See how it is going after a couple more days on meds.

As far as the peas and corn, they don't need to be cooked further. They are partially cooked just in the process of being blanched and frozen. But the bird doesn't need cooked food. The frozen peas and corn are good and easily digested as they are soft. But soaking them in hot water for a few minutes, or holding them under hot running water will thaw them out and warm them up. That's all it takes.


I wouldn't let the vet remove any more from his throat though, as that can be dangerous.


The Nystatin (=Mycostatin) as Teresa mentioned would be a good idea. You could ask the vet to give you some.

Appreciate the update, Christina.
I do hope you are successful in catching the little guy. Let us know when you do.

I would suggest keeping him for a least a week after you have finished the medication. And then see how he's doing.

Please keep us posted.

Christina wrote:

Hello, and thank you so VERY much to you all for your help, I do appreciate it a lot

I will get him tomorrow and put him in a cage as you said, and I will keep him in the shed with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towell

Way to go! That way you can make sure he gets the treatment and care he needs.

Quote :

Today he ate a lot of cooked rice that I cooked for him, and he ate a lot of birdseed too, which made me happy :-)
He also had all his lots of medications today.

That's good news! A bird that doesn't eat enough will become emaciated and may die, and we don't want that! As for the meds, it's really important that he has them as prescribed. Please note also Jay's advice, because some strains of canker are very resistant to medication and need to be treated for a longer period of time. Also, the early interruptions in his medication routine may have invalidated part of the treatment.

Quote :

And all the flock of birds flew around in cirlces in the air which they do all the time, and he went with them too, and he flew really well and strong , and high in the air. Does that mean that he is getting better?

Not necessarily, no. A bird can drop dead a couple of hours after flying and acting perfectly normal. It also depends on WHY the flock was flying: if a pigeon sends out a warning the whole flock will take off, and the weaker elements may use their last energy to do it. He shouldn't be exerting himself right now, and by mixing freely with the flock all of the other pigeons' lives are being put at risk.

Quote :

First thing this morning though, he was shivering but he stopped doing that when he ate and had his medication.

Shivering is bad. Shivering before and during a meal is worse. As mentioned before, birds should never be fed when they're cold, as they won't be able to digest their food, and the result may be vomiting and death by aspiration.

Quote :

And today he did poo that was green and a tiny bit runny- what does that mean?

It depends on what you mean by 'green' and 'a tiny bit runny'. Here a picture would have helped a lot. Are there 3 separate components, consisting of green solid, white solid and clear liquid? Is there any foam? How much liquid is there? What shade of green are the poops?

Runny poops, where they're not caused simply by drinking too much, generally indicate that the food is going through the digestive tract too fast to be properly absorbed. This can be because of a gastrointestinal infection, and if that's the case, the meds you are giving him will take care of that.

Green poops can also indicate an advanced worm infestation in the liver. Were the poops already like that before he was wormed?

Oily-looking, bright green poops that look like an artist's oil paints indicate that the food isn't being absorbed (usually because of severe damage to the intestinal mucosa) and the pigeon is starving to death.

Quote :

He has only 2 days of medication left- well now it will be 3 days becasue of the missed doses. Is 3 days still worth putting him in the cage for?I guess I should huh, from what you all told me, even though 3 days is not a lot of time, but I guess in bird langauge, 3 days is a long time huh?

Definitely! And it will almost certainly be more than 3 days, as every time the meds are interrupted the clock gets set to zero. The number of days should be counted from when the bird started to take the full dosage prescribed, and more treatment may be needed for resistant strains of the disease, or to overcome the resistance gained by the infectious agent because of interruptions to the treatment.

Hello again, how are you all going? :-) Thank you so very much all for all you r great advice

Today I went outside to catch him and put him back in the cage. I don't know how but he seemed to know, and he ran away from me. Could that happen- could he really know? How would he know?

Usually when I feed the birds, he sits next to me on the ground, right next to my leg and I pat him while he eats. Today though, he went right down to the back of the group of pigeons and stayed well away from me. I went up to him lots of times to try and pick him up but he ran away.

I chased him around the yard all day. First he just ran off on me and then he flew up on the roof and didn't come down. Pigeons are so smart. I think he knows

What do I do now?

Christina wrote:

Hello again, how are you all going? :-) Thank you so very much all for all you r great advice

Today I went outside to catch him and put him back in the cage. I don't know how but he seemed to know, and he ran away from me. Could that happen- could he really know? How would he know?

Usually when I feed the birds, he sits next to me on the ground, right next to my leg and I pat him while he eats. Today though, he went right down to the back of the group of pigeons and stayed well away from me. I went up to him lots of times to try and pick him up but he ran away.

I chased him around the yard all day. First he just ran off on me and then he flew up on the roof and didn't come down. Pigeons are so smart. I think he knows

What do I do now?

Hi Christina,
We're doing well, thank you.

We appreciate the update.
I'm sorry you were unable to catch him.
The fact you caught him once (or twice) has alerted him that you might try it again.

I would still continue to attempt to catch him, as he desperately needs to be medicated. However, rather than chasing him I would start over by trying to win his trust.

Feed them as you normally do without making any moves to catch him. Hopefully he will begin to come over to you again. Sadly, as the canker continues to invade him he will eventually be forced to slow down. This certainly isn't the scenario we want but if it does present itself, you will have an easier time getting him.

Bless you for all you are doing to help this little one.

I will be thinking positive thoughts.
Please keep us posted.

Yes, as Cindy has said, it would be better to try and win his trust again if possible. If he keeps getting sicker, she's right, he'll be easier to catch. The problem is that he may just go off somewhere and die. Hope you're able to catch him. Please keep us updated.

He was meant to be going back to the vet's round about now, wasn't he?

Teresa wrote:

He was meant to be going back to the vet's round about now, wasn't he?

Yes, I think he was. Hope she can catch him. Poor thing needs help.

Hello, and thank you so very much for that excelelnt advice. I have been tring to grab him as soon as he starts eating, I will wait longer and try to make him trust me again.

I will let you all know how it goes. I couldnt do it today because my Dad rang the gardener to come and mow the lawn and all the birds flew away as they are scared of the noise it makes

I just wish that he was well and that I can make him better. The stress is so much that I have big dark circles under my eyes, I am so tired. I want to help him as I do love him so. He is one of my most precious possesions

I will let you know how I go

Thanks heaps for all your help, and have an excellent day

Ps- if the canker does come back and I do have to take him back to the avian vet, how long do you think he will have to stay at the avain vet? Do you think they will make me pay the whole $413 again? Im kinds broke now after the $413 I just paid, plus 2 days before that I took him to a normal vet who didnt have a clue, all she did was gave him an antibiotic injection and it cost $110 altogether with taxis there and back, but I guess I can borrow some more money

Christina wrote:

Hello, and thank you so very much for that excelelnt advice. I have been tring to grab him as soon as he starts eating, I will wait longer and try to make him trust me again.

I will let you all know how it goes. I couldnt do it today because my Dad rang the gardener to come and mow the lawn and all the birds flew away as they are scared of the noise it makes

I just wish that he was well and that I can make him better. The stress is so much that I have big dark circles under my eyes, I am so tired. I want to help him as I do love him so. He is one of my most precious possesions

I will let you know how I go

Thanks heaps for all your help, and have an excellent day

Ps- if the canker does come back and I do have to take him back to the avian vet, how long do you think he will have to stay at the avain vet? Do you think they will make me pay the whole $413 again? Im kinds broke now after the $413 I just paid, plus 2 days before that I took him to a normal vet who didnt have a clue, all she did was gave him an antibiotic injection and it cost $110 altogether with taxis there and back, but I guess I can borrow some more money

I doubt seriously if the canker ever left. You are probably dealing with a very sick bird here. It doesn't cure that quickly, especially with the bird getting the medicine so sporadically. I would ask the vet for Metronidazole or Flagyl, to have on hand for in case you are able to catch him. Then you could start treatment again. Maybe the vet could also give you more Baytril. That way you would have everything. Just explain that the bird got away, so you need to start treatment all over again. No need to take him to the vet. If you can't get the Metronidazole that way, then usually tropical fish stores carry it. But you need to be sure that the only medicine in it is Metronidazole. In the fish stores, it is usually sold as Fishzole.

I agree with Jay, in that it's very unlikely that the canker went away.
And it will only get worse the longer he goes without medication.

The good thing is, he continues to come to your place to eat. So just keep trying to catch him and when successful (thinking positive ) you will need to start the medicating series from scratch.

We appreciate your updates and look forward to the next one.

NiteOwl wrote:

I doubt seriously if the canker ever left. You are probably dealing with a very sick bird here. It doesn't cure that quickly, especially with the bird getting the medicine so sporadically. I would ask the vet for Metronidazole or Flagyl, to have on hand for in case you are able to catch him. Then you could start treatment again. Maybe the vet could also give you more Baytril. That way you would have everything. Just explain that the bird got away, so you need to start treatment all over again. No need to take him to the vet. If you can't get the Metronidazole that way, then usually tropical fish stores carry it. But you need to be sure that the only medicine in it is Metronidazole. In the fish stores, it is usually sold as Fishzole.

If you can get those meds from the vet, you may be able to help him yourself, but you really need to catch him before he gets too sick to treat.

Good luck!

Hello, and thank you so very much for your help :-) What do you all think of this idea? I might put him in his cage, and then take him to a bird boarding house to stay and they will give him his medicines, and then I will bring him back home when he has had all his medications. I decided to do that because it breaks my heart to see him sad in his cage, he has got me under his wing and I am a wuss :-)

There is a great bird boarding place nearby. It is in the country and it has aviaries and cages, and an avian vet. The staff in charge look after the birds and feed them and give them their medicine. I was thinking of putting him in there till he has had all his medications

Do you think that would be a good idea?

Thanks heaps to you all for your time, I do appreciate it a lot :-)

Well you have to catch him first. If after doing that, you cannot confine and treat him, then somebody has too. As long as they have a vet who will know what to treat him with and for how long, then it would probably be a good idea. He will have to start all over again with medications. Do they supply those there?

It sounds like a good idea, if you feel you won't be able to treat him yourself. But there are three things to bear in mind:

First of all, will they accept the pigeon in his condition? I don't know about bird boarding houses, but cats and dogs' boarding houses will not take guests with contagious diseases.

Secondly, would they test to check that all the canker's gone before they pronounce the pigeon treated?

And last, but not least... surely that's going to cost you a bomb...

Jay and Teresa present some very good 'thoughts to ponder', Christina.
Please keep us posted.