Baby wood pigeon

I just picked up a baby wood pigeon from the veterinary surgery...a vet (not my vet!) had examined it and there was nothing wrong with it, it just needed rest and recuperation.

They always say that and mostly are wrong, so as soon as I got it into the car I opened the box and realised that it had one leg sticking out from its body and was using its wings to steady itself.

When I got home I tested John by opening the box and asking what he could see, he also noticed immediately.

The good news is that is that he is young enough to have the splay corrected and that the foot is strong...the bad news is that he is a woody and they squirm and struggle so much that bandaging will be very, very difficult.

Cynthia

:WHAT?: Good heavens!

:moo: How could any vet miss such an obvious injury? :For Shame:

On a positive note, the woodie is in your care now and will get proper treatment.
Please do keep us posted on how things are coming along.

Cindy

This baby is so sweet! Last night I started hand feeding him his supper of defrosted peas and corn when he suddenly reached forward and "tasted" my finger. So I offered him the bowl and he ate everything on his own, very neatly and methodically , then he had seconds. So he is eating more than twice as much per meal as I would have given him.

Because of his change of diet his poops yesterday were terrible, they looked like pea soup, so I gave him half a tablet of activated charcoal and that produced a very satisfactory improvement.

As well as having a splay leg his feet were twisted, so I had to make the "pencil shaped" logs out of bandages and put his toes around them in a "gripping" position, then tape his splay leg in. I don't know how well this will work and was wondering whether to try using a bendy straw to bring his leg into the right position. I have to let him become slightly tame in order to bandage his feet and legs without him getting too stressed, so I can enjoy petting him a bit.

for the update, Cynthia.
He sure does sound like a sweet baby.
What a great appetite he has.
The condition of his poor leg and feet sound terrible.

Cindy

Poor baby. It's a good thing he ended up in your care.
Of course pictures are always appreciated.

Bless him. Wish vets would take the time to check out wildlife properly.

Thank goodness he found you!

XxX

That one seems to be doing well, I decided to tackle the splay first then I will go for the foot. He is walking well and flying up to a perch now.

My own vet is excellent, and the staff are so compassionate and will always pass birds on to me even when they think there is nothing wrong with them.

Now I have another fledgeling woodie and I don't know what is wrong with him. It looks neurological, affects his head, wings and feet but I don't think it is PMV or paratyphoid...I am keeping him isolated and have tried calcium, vitamin B supplements and now Baytril, but I am still baffled.

Cynthia

There are some vets who are jems out there!

I hope he'll start to improve. Its not possible he's got inflammation of the brain? I just know that I saw a young rabbit he had been kicked on the head accidentally he had inflammation of the brain and we saw a good recovery after using anti inflammitorys.

Cynthia wrote:

As well as having a splay leg his feet were twisted, so I had to make the "pencil shaped" logs out of bandages and put his toes around them in a "gripping" position, then tape his splay leg in. I don't know how well this will work and was wondering whether to try using a bendy straw to bring his leg into the right position. I have to let him become slightly tame in order to bandage his feet and legs without him getting too stressed, so I can enjoy petting him a bit.

This is wonderful.

Do you have any pics how you managed to bandage his legs? Would be very helpful to see.

Correcting Splayed Legs

pigeonwriter wrote:

Cynthia wrote:

As well as having a splay leg his feet were twisted, so I had to make the "pencil shaped" logs out of bandages and put his toes around them in a "gripping" position, then tape his splay leg in. I don't know how well this will work and was wondering whether to try using a bendy straw to bring his leg into the right position. I have to let him become slightly tame in order to bandage his feet and legs without him getting too stressed, so I can enjoy petting him a bit.

This is wonderful.

Do you have any pics how you managed to bandage his legs? Would be very helpful to see.

Here's the link to Cynthia's wonderful piece on correcting splayed legs, Petra.
Correcting Splayed Legs

Cindy - - that's a great link! Thank you for the information.

I hadn't thought about anti inflammatories! I have Metacam and prednisolone.

What was used on the rabbit? I am tempted to use the prednisolone because of its effect on Cindy's Pij and on me...not only did it save my life, but eradicated my migraines for months and has been excellent for my joints, even though it makes me look like a hippo.

Oh, honestly, Cynthia!!! :eek: How could you EVER look like a hippo, even a very cute one like the one you posted! EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE:

I hope the anti-inflammatory works! Poor little pij!

Sorry--late reply, I think it was metacam for the Rabbit although dont hold me to it. Ive just read that some research suggests that metacam may not reach the brain to effectively reduce swelling in brain tissue-I believe this is only for rabbits though.