Hi I'm Timor and I just found a hurt pigeon which was probably attacked by a cat and not sure what to do. I have put it in a cat cage and going to feed it after posting this thread. When I went to pick it up it tried running away and I noticed that it's left side is bloody and it looks like cat's paw marks. It looks quite hurt and I am curious what I should do and what the possibility of it surviving is.

Please answer ASAP.

Timor

You'd probably want to wrap it in a clean bandage, like an ace bandage, to protect the wounds from outside elements.

Actually, scratch that, if you have a bandage that breathes better than an ace bandage, you'd want to use that. And use Garlic Powder to sprinkle over the wounds before putting the bandage on, Garlic Powder is an all-natural anti-inflammatory and anti-septic. I've used it myself and on my pets with inflamed cuts, and after a few hours the inflammation goes away.

Ok thanks,

Where could I get all that stuff from and how much would it cost roughly? I can't get it today because it's too late but tommorow maybe, please reply soon.

Timor

Garlic Powder you can get in any spice aisle in any grocery store. I honestly prefer McCormick's Organic Garlic powder for the use of injuries, just for safety reasons. It's in a glass container with a light green cap and it costs like $5. As far as the bandages go, no idea for the cost, since my mom was always the one to get that stuff. But that you could get at probably any pharmacy. Just so long as it's something that allows air circulation to the wound.

Ok thank you,

I shall go to bed now and hope that the pigeon has made it through the night.

Timor

Can't offer any more help than already offered...medistyp powder is used to stop minor bleeds...it's at petstores...also called quikstop or something..if it lives through the night...

Wish the pigeon best of luck...and urge you to read up on pigeons and maybe diet.

Keep us posted on it's progress...g'night.

I just went to check on it and... It is alive!!! I am sooooo happy that it is still fine. I opened the cage door to move something which was covering the food and it freaked out and started flapping around and splashed some water on me. Are you sure I shouldn't just leave the side of it because it would be really stressed or is there like nearly a 100% chance that he will die if I do not attend to it? I was thinking to leave it because of what my parents say and it could have a heart attack or something due to stress.

Another thing is also that how will I be able to put the bandage on and how would it go on? Where do you get your sources from aswell?

The pigeon looks quite young so it might need to be fed another way although I am not sure how old it is because it is really hard to tell.

Please answer soon and I live in the UK so it is around 11 am here.

Timor

I have bought some special pet powder which get's rid of bacteria and heals the damage at a local pet shop. I am now going to put it on and going to do it everyday in the morning until it is healed.

I get my information as far as Garlic Powder and everything from personal experience. I honestly wouldn't trust something from a pet shop; because of the ingredients in it that might leach into the wound and therefore its body. Garlic Powder is completely natural and does no harm. The only side-effect is that it does sting when applied to a bad cut. But that can't be helped - it's doing it's job. I suggested working on the wound in case the wounds already have, and will get infected. Laying in a cage with water and normal everyday bacteria, could seriously infect and inflame the wound and make the healing process much more difficult.

Please be advised that taking in wildlife is illegal in virtually every state. You should search for wildlife rehabbers in your area that will have the licensing and knowledge necessary to care for any wild animal that you find, especially if it's hurt.

First of all I'm in the UK so not in a state.

Secondly the pigeon has died. I found it dead when I went this morning to look at it.

I'm sorry it died. Next time you find hurt wildlife, I would highly suggest you try to find a wildlife rehabber in your area. They probably could have gotten it to a vet for treatment. Cat scratches and bites can cause some pretty nasty infections in wildlife, there's probably not really much you could have done at home, unless you took the bird to a vet.

Sorry to hear the pigeon died.


Pigeons are non-native to the US, and legal to possess.



Unfortunately, the bird was probably doomed from the minute it got attacked by the cat. Like Michelle said, cat saliva (which is on the claws from grooming) has tons of bacteria that can be extremely virulent to small animals, especially birds. Sometimes the smallest scratch can be fatal if left untreated.


Folk remedies like garlic powder (which can have mild anti-septic properties when it's fresh) are not antibiotics. Most serious bacteria are resistant to the over-the-counter drugs (like baytril), so even those of are of little help.


None of these are a replacement for specific, vet prescribed antibiotics. It's always a crap-shoot as to whether the bird's immune system can win, but without out vet attention, most of the time the bird loses.


Bob

Garlic is much more than a mild anti-septic and anti-inflammatory. It has been revered, all around the world, for hundreds of years, as an amazing herb. And considering the fact it IS an anti-biotic according to Ph.D's who have studied it, as well as an anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-parasitic... Yeah... there's nothing "mild" about its medicinal value.

I've heard lots of things attributed to garlic, never antibiotic. Even if it leaned that way, it would be nowhere near effective enough to stop the raging infection in a bird, stemming from cat saliva. Sometimes the most potent drugs on the market aren't up that challenge.



I'm not going to hijack this thread to debate the medicinal uses of garlic. If you want to start that thread, I'd love to see any modern, accredited, randomized, clinical studies that prove the efficacy of garlic as anything other than a mild antiseptic/antibacterial or antifungal.


I think it'd be great if something as cheap and available as garlic were truly effective in all the uses it's purported to have. It's just that modern science has yet to prove it.


Bob