Pigeon Suddenly Falls Ill And Loses Weight

The following story about a pigeon was shared with us by Wild Friends at Best Friends in Utah.

Wild Friends is home to non-releasable and adoptable pigeons that help us teach the public about how smart and unique pigeons are. The pigeons have been closely monitored the whole time they have been with us, and caregivers are careful to watch for subtle health issues in each bird.

One of the pigeons, Tungsten, started to show signs of labored breathing and a low tail. We brought him inside and took some X-rays that revealed opaque lung tissue. Unfortunately, this could mean a variety of ailments. Our vets had us start some precautionary antibiotics before it got too much worse. We ran some bacterial and fungal cultures to try to narrow down the problem. When we finally received test results two weeks later, he was negative for a bacterial infection, so the vets switched us to an antifungal medication. We ran several tests and waited to hear back from our vets.

As we awaited results, Tungsten’s weight just kept dropping. He went from 390 grams (about 13.7 ounces) to 299 grams (about 10.5 ounces) in about one week. His poops turned bright green, a common sign of starvation. To try to combat this, along with his meds, we began tube-feeding him a high-nutrient bird formula. However, after a week he still had not gained any weight back, so our on-site veterinarian suggested changing to EmerAid IC Omnivore, which has a higher calorie count. We also upped his tubing to four times a day.

His crop was having a difficult time handling five percent of his body weight, when it should hold at least 10 percent at any given feeding. So, his tube feedings started at only 7cc at a time. We slowly worked him back up to 15cc at a time, still four times a day.

The loss of his friends from outside was somewhat apparent in his demeaner, so we added some outside stimuli by playing videos of pigeons eating and cooing to cheer him up. Finally, Tungsten’s test results started coming in. Bacterial was negative, but the fungal tests came up with a slight positive. The fungal medication did the trick! His weight stopped dropping and, with the help of the EmerAid IC Omnivore, he was back up to his original weight in just three weeks!

Tungsten’s caregivers noticed some food missing (because we still always offered seed and greens), but not enough to sustain him. We continued EmerAid for a while longer until he was eating enough to sustain himself on his own. He has since rejoined the flock outside and has not dropped any significant weight since. His buddy Mike is happy to have him back, as they peck at seeds and greens specially placed in their hangout spot.