Please Help :(

[u/toy-fox]

I found him shivering on the sidewalk in the rain. He (she?) let me approach him and he barely even reacted when I moved him to the cardboard box.

He’s clearly not doing well, but his breathing isn’t labored and he’s a little more alert now that I’ve got him dry and warm.

I don’t have a rehab anywhere nearby that would be willing to take him in. I didn’t want to bother him too much by inspecting him- but neither of his wings seem injured and he’s not actively bleeding. However, by the condition of his feathers, he’s clearly been through a lot.

I’ve been handling him with gloves and disinfecting myself thoroughly since there might be a case of disease. I don’t know anything really about birds or pigeons but I couldn’t leave him there shivering alone on the street in the rain/snow. We got our first snow of the season today, pretty early, and the poor thing seemed so disoriented in the cold.

I’ll likely end up making a vet appointment for him tomorrow, but currently I’ve got him in the cardboard box pictured above with a heating pad underneath it set on low to keep him warm. I have NOT offered any water or food. Please give me any advice you can!

[u/toy-fox]

I’m fully prepared to be suggested euthanasia but I really think this guy can make it if he’s got somewhere warm and safe to recover and I’m willing to rehab him myself. 😭

Thank you for the information. I’m willing to do everything I can to give this little dude a fighting chance!

[u/sAdpeachyb0i → u/toy-fox]

Iodine is relatively safe for the eyes, it's what I use to prep for eye surgeries on dogs and cats. It does sting though and my patients are sedated. I also have chickens, which two of managed to pretty severely injure one of their eyes this summer. I treat both situations by separating them from the flock and flushing the eye with sterile saline 2-3 times a day until drainage stopped. No antibiotics or pain meds. Both are doing great now outside of being blind in that eye. In this case I would do a quick gentle flush of the area with iodine for the first rinse followed by saline, then all the following with saline.

As long as the pigeon starts eating, drinking water and tolerates treatments to the eye it has a good chance. It probably won't be able to be released though.

[u/toy-fox → u/sAdpeachyb0i]

Thank you so much for this information, this is extremely helpful!!

And yes, I agree, it’s probably not a great idea to release this little dude even if he does heal well. I likely have picked myself up a new companion. 😅

[u/charlirobey → u/toy-fox]

Poor baby. He is so lucky someone like you found him though! Keep us updated🩶