Help please - Found a poorly Pigeon with lumps on its chest

I have been searching the internet for some help with a poorly pigeon as it appears to have some lumpy growths on its chest and I can't seem to identify what it might be (I thought it might be Pigeon Pox but the symptoms don't appear to be typical)

I would like to post a photo of the Pigeon for someone to hopefully tell me what might be wrong but I can't understand how to do it. (Should point out that I am in England and aged 64 so not exactly up on technology)

Can anyone help please?

Tufty

Hi Tufty, welcome to the forum!  

Lumps on a pigeon's chest are usually tumours or scabbing/pus over injuries like puncture wounds.
Wiping them with a betadine-soaked cotton bud can help, but if there is an underlying infection, which is very likely, then the pigeon will need an antibiotic.

Small tumours often just dry and fall off after a while, but larger, deeper ones need to be surgically removed.
With wounds, it's important to find out what may have caused them. A puncture wound, if not too deep, will heal if kept desinfected, but if the pigeon was shot there may be pellets inside, and those should be removed by a vet.

Is this pigeon a pet/domestic bird, or is it a rescue? Does it show any other symptoms, like diarrhoea, or feeling cold and fluffed up? Is he eating and drinking by himself?

I agree with you that photos would be a great help. Unfortunately, recent changes brought about by the forum host mean that new members cannot post photos immediately. We can get around that: if you email me the photos I'll post them for you.

Whereabouts in England are you? We may have members near your area that could help and advise.

Sorry about the lateness of the reply. I've had the flu, but the worst is over. I'll definitely check again tomorrow. Please keep us posted, and thank you for trying to help this pigeon!  

Hi Tufty,

Thinking about you and your sick pigeon. Hope he's better.
Please keep us posted, OK?

Tufty emailed me with a photo of the pigeon, but it ended up in the junk. After a heads up, I found it. Here are both messages, so that anyone who may be able to advise can see the whole conversation and the information we have:

Tufty wrote:

Hi Teresa,

Many thanks for your reply.

I have attached a photo which I hope will help with a diagnosis.

We found the pigeon on our patio trying to walk around but it kept falling forward and flapping its wings to regain its balance. It was a sorry sight and we started to give it some sunflower heart seeds and water as it was obvious it could barely feed itself.

We rang a local animal sanctuary for their advice and all they said was "put it under a hedge and let nature take its course" however, we couldn't do that as we wanted to help it get better if possible.

The pigeon is currently living in a small conservatory where we have put a cardboard box on the floor, with a heating pad inside and some straw, and it is feeding and drinking by itself.

It is walking better now (although it still falls over frequently) and wanders round the floor during the day and goes into the cardboard box at night. Its poo is a very green colour and the lump(s) on its chest prevent it from preening itself - we have had to wash its vent several times.

Please let me know if you need any more information (or photos) and thank you for trying to help.

We live in a place named Wythall which is in South Birmingham in the West Midlands.

Ray (Tufty) & Pat Steele

Tufty wrote:

Hi Teresa,

Did you receive my reply and photo of the poorly pigeon?

I sent it from a different email address to this one and I wondered if it may have been treated as spam by gmail?

Or perhaps you're still feeling poorly yourself from the flu!!

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that when we first took in the pigeon we removed a fly that was living on him - I've since established that it was a pigeon fly and wondered if it may have done the damage.

Hope you are feeling better.

Thanks

Hi Ray,

As you see I've just posted your messages and the photo, so you can get as much help as possible.
Thank you SO MUCH for your caring dedication to this poor bird, who would certainly have died by now but for your intervention.

Would it be possible to get a close-up of the lumps on his chest? With the scale of the photo I can only make a guess -- judging by the lack of feathers on his chest, it looks like an injury, and almost certainly infected.
He'll need an antibiotic as soon as possible. Have you got any in the house? Some of them are suitable for pigeons, we'd be able to advise you on that. Also, the lesions on his chest need to be examined and perhaps debrided.

The pigeon fly won't have helped a bit (I HATE those creatures!!) because they suck the pigeon's blood, causing anaemia, and at the same time transmit disease, most commonly canker. Here's a link with signs of canker to watch out for: http://www.pigeonangels.com/t238-canker-trichomoniasis
A couple of drops of apple cider vinegar in his drinking water is a good preventative, as protozoans don't fare well in a slightly acidic environment.

Worms may also be a problem. All feral birds have them to some degree, but when the bird is weakened by disease or hunger, parasites can be extremely debilitating. An Ivermectin-based wormer would be great, but don't let anybody give him Panacur (Fenbendazole) as that can cause serious intestinal damage.

These people may be able to help:

Wythall Animal Sanctuary
Middle Lane
Headley Heath
Birmingham.
B38 0DY

Tel: 01564 823288

This is actually South Birmingham location.
They are very pigeon friendly. Take in any injured pigeons.
Don't have a vet on site but will take any bird in need of treatment to their vet.
They will keep and treat any bird that has a chance of recovery.
Have an open aviary where birds can choose to leave or stay once recovered.
Will take other birds and some wildlife.
It is open for the public to view between 2.00 & 4.00 pm every day except Tuesday.
Any donations gladly accepted to help pay for vet treatment.

He's a lovely bird, but he doesn't look like a feral pigeon much... could he be a dove?
Either way, I hope this helps a little, and I hope the sanctuary are still functioning as per the information we have. I'll let Janet (in the UK) know about your update -- she's a lovely person and eager to know how your rescue is doing.

Thanks again!

Oh my gosh, what a sorry sight, this poor bird.

How amazing that you live in Wythall, I'm just hoping now that this sanctuary that Teresa's given you details of wasn't the sanctuary that gave you that advice as they're normally very caring towards pigeons.
I've never actually been there as I live North Birmingham but I originally spoke to them a couple of years ago and hence added them to the list of recommended places as they did take on pigeons and treat them.
There is another one in Wythall so maybe it's not that one.

Well the green poops do indicate that it's not eating well, it might be an idea to help it along and hand feed some defrosted peas to supplement what it's taking for itself. I've had pigeons before that have come in starving and they have tended to fall forwards and stumble, so this wouldn't hurt to give it some extra food while we try to sort out how else to help.

As Teresa said, anti-biotics would definitely be a recommendation as it looks as if it's got something very nasty going on with it's chest. A closer picture would help if at all possible.
Let us know if you haven't found any as I maybe able to help you out there if needed.

Hate those flies, could be it has more. A friend told me only last week that she just took twenty off her latest rescue!!! She couldn't believe it, she's does rescues all the time and had never taken this many off one bird before.
This would benefit from a spray probably to try and elminate any more as they won't be helping with whatevers going on.
In saying that I wouldn't want to aggravate any open sore skin and so would like to hear if anyone else has thoughts as to whether Tufty should be sprayed at this point.

I'll wait to hear back from you with regards to the santuary or if you wish to treat Tufty yourself. It's a case of finding out before handing it over whether they would be willing to take it off you to try and treat and not just to euthanise it without first trying to see if it can be helped.
If they aren't willing let me know and we'll sort out what to do as far as anti-biotics go.

Thank you for taking this poor bird 'under you wing'

Janet

Janet, thank you SO MUCH!

There's a new message by Ray, who isn't managing to post here at the moment. The biggest lump looked so awful that I posted the pic and a plea for help directly on Facebook, including on your wall.

Here's the message:

Quote :

Hi Teresa,

Please find attached another photo of the poor birds chest - I hope it helps.

The only antibiotic we have in the house at the moment is Oxytetracycline 250 mg tablets (Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxytetracycline)

Do you think this might fit the bill and, if so, how much should we give him?

We have been using Apple Cider Vinegar in his water and also "Chicken Immune" from www.farmandyardremedies.co.uk

With regard to the Wythall Animal Sanctuary (which is about a mile from where we live) this is the Sanctuary I referred to before that told us to leave the bird under a hedge (Yes - we were surprised as well!)

My wife has had a look in the birds mouth and did not see any sign of canker however, we are definitely not experts!

Thanks for the information provided and I guess we will have to find a Vet that can help us however, from our research on the internet it seems that they tend to Euthanase rather than treat?

He may be a Dove, rather than a Pigeon, but he is such a lovely bird that we just want to save him, if possible.

By the way, I am finding it impossible to post anything on the Pigeon Angels website, so hope you don't mind my sending messages to your Gmail address?

Many thanks for your help.

Ray & Pat

And the photo:

This was the message I sent Ray:

Teresa wrote:

Oh no, I was so hoping the sanctuary would help!!! I'll get in touch with the member who compiled the list for England and see if she knows of anyone else.
As for vets, if you hand a pigeon or dove over to them chances are they'll euthanise it -- unless you are willing to pay for treatment, and declare it to be YOUR bird, in which case they are duty bound to treat him, but I can't advise you on costs, unfortunately.

Thanks for the photo! The big lump on his chest is definitely a tumour, and looks like it needs to be surgically removed. The green colour is not good, it's necrotic tissue, and as I feared that needs to be debrided and he needs a strong antibiotic. The smaller ones, with the green colour, only show dried blood and seem to be healing. Between two evils, I hope this was a predator attack and that he wasn't shot...
I'll post an SOS on Facebook on different forums, with your email address, to bypass logging in bureaucracy.

Oxytetracycline seems to be more for respiratory infections, but I'll have another look at the recommendations for pigeons.

So sorry you can't post on PA -- the server has been very unreliable lately, and it's so frustrating! Please do continue to communicate via email.

Gotta go feed my birds. brb

Have sent Ray an email offering to help in either taking the pigeon to my vet, and keeping it here to treat or sending him some meds. No reply as yet.

Janet

Thank you so much, Janet, that's so kind of you!
I've had no new email this evening, but I'm sure we'll hear from him tomorrow.

Teresa wrote:

Thank you so much, Janet, that's so kind of you!
I've had no new email this evening, but I'm sure we'll hear from him tomorrow.

Hi Teresa,

We are overwhelmed with your concern for our poor little pigeon and the responses we have been getting on this site and the Pigeon Protection and Rescue group on Facebook.

Before we found him we hadn't realised that there were groups of people dedicated to helping what so many uncaring people call "flying rats" and we only came across Pigeon Angels whilst searching for pigeon diseases and injuries and how to treat them.

We daily feed so many different types of birds but (apart from the Robins) it is always the pigeons that seem to have the most character and especially when they come right up to the back door asking for some more food.

We are now however, a bit confused about how to proceed as we would love to nurse him back to health ourselves but worry that we do not know how to administer the necessary meds and antibiotics which have been mentioned.

Janet has very kindly offered to try and help him herself (in the absence of a sanctuary willing to treat rather recommend the "hedge route") but what if the "tumour" needs to be surgically removed .........

Teresa mentioned the damage to the pigeons chest could have occurred due to predator attack or being shot - well, we have farmland at the back of our house and unfortunately the farm workers regularly shoot many birds so, that is a distinct possibility.

Anyway, I'll contact Cynthia and Janet directly by email and try and determine what will be best for the pigeon, and may I thank them here for the kind offer to send us some meds in the post.

Many thanks

Ray & Pat

Thank you so much for your kind words!
Pigeon people are very dedicated, perhaps because they are constantly rowing against the tide of general opinion. As you said, many people despise pigeons and ignore them, so those who try to help them have to be that little bit more dedicated than most...

Both Janet and Cynthia are wonderful people with lots of experience, and both in the UK such as you. I would trust them with my life, so you can trust them with your pigeon's!

The best way to determine if there are any pellets from an airgun in the wounds is by taking an X-ray. Lead is poisonous, and if at all possible must be removed. Therefore it would be best to get him to see an experienced vet, who will also administer any meds he needs initially.

Don't worry about administering meds, it sounds scary but it's very easy to learn. Whether it's a tablet or liquid in a small syringe, the trick is to deliver it to the very back of the pigeon's throat, which is the entrance to the aesophagus. The entrance to the trachea is about half way along the bottom beak (can be hidden under the tongue), so it's important to bypass it safely. We can go through it in more detail as or when necessary, just ask all the questions you'd like!

I'm delighted you can post again, I had a look at the settings yesterday but found nothing abnormal...
I enjoyed hearing about your bird visitors. I have many regular visitors too and some come back every day, year after year.
My biggest challenge so far is having a swift in the house -- he's been here for 5 months, still enjoys being hand fed (every 2 hours) and responds to his name! He can't fly, and I can't bear the thought of having him euthanised for that.

Hi Teresa,

Just an update to let you know that I have spoken on the telephone with Janet and she is coming to our house tomorrow to have a look at the poorly pigeon and she will probably take him away for her Vet to have look at.

I have let Cynthia know by email and I notice that Janet has updated the info on Facebook.

Hopefully, the pigeon is now on the way to receiving treatment and being healed.

Will keep you posted and thanks once again.

Ray

That's wonderful, Ray, thank you for the update!

I'll pop into Facebook later on tonight and thank everybody, starting with Janet, of course!

That pigeon's luck turned the moment he caught your eye... he was lucky to gain such a good friend, who wanted him to have a chance of getting well! And I'm sure he's going to be treated with the utmost care and dedication by Janet and her vet!

I LOVE happy endings...

Here's another opinion on this type of lumps, considering the possibility that they could also be caused by insect bites:

Matilda wrote:

If it’s black and spongy looking, they may be blood warts or temporary tumors from mosquito bites. There is a thread on the forum about them:
http://www.pigeonangels.com/t155-body-tumors
If so, they will fall off in time. If it is that, they tend to bleed if bumped which can be fatal and so the bird should be kept quiet and the bumps left alone.

The best would be to take the bird to a vet for evaluation.

Hi,

Just to update here as well. I drove over to collect Tufty today and she's back here now.

I have to say the mass was even more extensive than I first thought from the picture as it actually encompasses the whole of the front of her body down to the the keel bone.

It's breaking away slightly at one side and there is possibly evidence of a hole, maybe she was shot a while ago.
Not sure about tumour but will see about that also. It doesn't look like the dark mass of a tumour and it's not at all spongey, very hard in fact.
There's no smell to it though and at the side where it pulled away from the skin, it did bleed slightly, so it isn't all dead around the edge. Got to be positive, she's a lovely bird.

I'm posting around for advice and ideas as to be honest I think it would be risky to take her to my vets straight away, I absolutely sure they'd only suggest PTS as she looks so bad and I want to give it a couple of days first to see just what is going on.
Ray and Pat said she had improved the last couple of days as far as her mobility goes and she certainly wants to eat and does like her seeds, so she hasn't given up the fight yet.

I've put her away for the night now in the warm and will start finding help tomorrow.

It was so lovely to meet Ray and Pat today, they have a beautiful garden that looks over fields and there were pigeons coming and going all the time, absolute pleasure to be there.
I hope the next time we meet is when I take Tufty back to be released back with her friends.



Will keep this updated and any advice will be so welcome.

Janet

Thank you so much, Janet, you're an angel!!!!
Very best wishes for the little patient's recovery!

GET WELL SOON, TUFTY!



And thank you again, Ray and Pat!

PS. Janet, anything I can get for you to help with Tufty's treatment? I can get Baytril over the counter, for example, and we know we can never have too much... if you think that's a good idea, please PM me your wants list and address.

Teresa, that's so kind of you. Baytril is the only thing my vet seems to prescribe but only ever gives me enough for the specific treatment and so I never have any spare and if I don't take Tufty in ATM that might be very helpful.
I'll do a check and PM if need some. Bless you.

Oh I just love the emoticons on here, Ray & Pat that's lovely.

Keep sending Tufty lots of love.

Janet

No problem, Janet! I can also get TMS (syrup), Synulox tablets and other antibiotics. I presume Betadine is available over the counter there. Something else I've used to gradually ease off pus and scabs is sweet almond oil (dirt cheap here, we grow the stuff!) -- which is also the best, gentlest way to remove eye make-up, so the pigeons and I share it!

PS. The Baytril we get here is in tablet form, but it's very easy to make up a solution of the required concentration.

Hi there, thought I'd put an update on for Ray and Pat.

I call Tufty 'she' just because 'she's so pretty but I could always be wrong!

She's been a very good patient today although we had a bad start. I was very worried about her yesterday as she ate so much the seeds had blocked up her throat and she was quite distressed when I checked on her. She really can only take a small amount at a time as her crop is severely blocked or almost non existant, still can't see what's under that mass.
I'd put some crushed peanuts in her dish and she was so keen on them, she forgot to stop and so she gorged herself. I've taken them away which is a shame as I thought they'd be good for putting on some weight.
I was also tubing some Soya formula as this is high in calories and would also help with her weight, but have stopped that aswell today.
This morning the first thing she did was have a long drink of water, gosh did she worry me as it didn't go straight down and she was bubbling through her nostrils. Scarey as I thought she's aspirate.
So I had a re-think and have decided to just give her access to seeds and water when I'm watching so I can stop her taking too much.
Considering she's survived all these weeks she hopefully can carry on like this while we wait to see what's going to happen to the mass.

I'm not messing with the mass as I want it to come away gradually and naturally. I just rub some Hypercal cream around the edge to keep it supple occasionally.
I've got an Aloe vera plant and I crushed some leaves and also rubbed the gel onto her skin.

It has started to break up slightly in places and under her neck there's a gap now and she can move her neck a bit.
She's also got feather lice and so I carefully sprayed her today just where her plumage is ok so hopefully the little B--gers will DIE!! and fall off.

She loves to stand on the rice filled socks I put in to keep her warm and she falls asleep bless her.

So that's all I can tell you today, another one ticked off.
I'm still praying hard that something good will happen for her so she can one day be free of this horrible mess on her body.

Janet

Thank you so much for the update, Janet, and for the great job you're doing with Tufty!
I hope there won't be any more scary moments and that Tufty will continue to improve!

I loved your idea of rubbing fresh aloe vera on the scar tissue! I'm going to add an aloe vera plant to my wants list for Christmas, for the same reason!

All the best to you both, and also to Ray and Pat!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Such a beautiful little pij, bless her heart.
It's truly amazing what these beautiful birds can, and do, endure.

Sending special positive thoughts on a speedy recovery and continued 'Get Well' wishes to your little pijjie patient.

Hi,

Thanks for the good wishes for Tufty Cindy. She's working hard at being a good patient but is getting a bit stroppy with me when I go to cream her skin. Now most girls would love a moisturising massage! Maybe she's a 'he' after all.

Every day is different and yesterday I syringed her with Soya formula as she didn't seem to be bothering with her seeds as much.

Well today I decided to leave her well alone except for having meds and her massage as I was worried she might get too stressed if I did that again today. I left her with a dish of seeds and as a treat, I put in just a few of the crushed peanuts she gorged on the other day. Only a few so she couldn't choke but she spotted them and tucked in well.
Every time I poked my nose around the door to see if she was ok, she'd disturbed her seeds so I hope she's been eating better. Hard to judge as there's no crop to feel, but they're going somewhere, as well as all over the floor when she picks her favourites out.

Her poops gradually improved during the day as they were a bit wet from the formula feed.

The 'mass' has detached a bit more in places and I'm beginning to see dots of nice pink skin and the rest of her skin is looking better now that's she hydrated. It was almost brittle a few days ago as I don't think she'd drunk much when her throat was restricted.
I went to put her to bed a moment ago and she was eating yet again, so I've weighed her and will watch her now to see if she manages to put on a bit of weight soon. I hope so, she's like a stick.

So good day I think. It's going to be a slow process getting this 'mass' to come away but each day tiny bits are breaking off a bit more.

Well done Tufty,

Janet