sick diamond dove!!

[Nambroth]

It has been many years since I worked at Petsmart, but the company has ties with KayTee brand and with all likelihood your dove was fed a Kaytee seed blend at the store, too, and probably its whole life as Diamond Doves from Petsmart come from Kaytee's Preferred Birds facilities. It sounds as if your poor dove was unwell to start with, and stress can make them much more susceptible to illness. I do wish all the best for you and your bird.

 

[casportpony]

I have seen some pretty sick looking birds at Petsmart, so I agree, bird was probably sick when purchased.

-Kathy

 

[Quailchild]

I took it to the vet yesterday. (Originally was going to take the healthy one, too, but the healthy one was getting far too stressed out so I left him home. )


I brought the kaytee feed and a cut out sample of the newspaper on the bottom of their cage, with the concerning, red droppings. The vet took a small pinch of the kaytee feed, and wet it in a newspaper, and to my horror, the pinkish red seed bled red into the napkin. The red in their poops was likely from the kaytee feed dye. NOT blood. She confirmed this.(silly me)

Furthermore, she examined the dove, weighed him/her and also listened to their lungs. There was no respiratory illness, lungs sounded fine, no discharge or concerning signs around vent, ceres or anything. He/she was a little underweight though. The vet concluded that a new diet should be in order, and gave me an organic crumble-feed and I'm currently weaning them off of the kaytee feed and onto the new organic feed. I've observed both of them pecking up the feed today, so they are definitely eating! I'm glad.

I also have a small space heater see besides the cage to keep it warm for the, atleast until this cold weather passes. Speckleton, (the dove's new name) was VERY frazzled by the examination/trip. I felt bad when he started to whimper as she was feeling his crop/checking his mouth. But she was very well versed, and handled him slowly and gently. So I wasn't too concerned. Specklton and his companion Tim Pipppington, got a ton of quiet time after the visit, and both calmed down, good enough.


Thank you for your responses! I will keep you guys updated in this thread, on the condition of the two. Crossing my fingers and hoping the diet change will be enough to turn them in a new direction.



-Nambroth; That's what I suspect, too, sadly. I returned the first dove thinking it was a fluke, and purchased the remaining dove in the store, to keep the first, healthy one companion. Little did I know that the new dove was sick also. My parents were urging me to take it back, since the bird was under a warranty. But I don't think I could return the bird, like some defect product. I already felt like trash returning the first. I'm really glad I stuck to my guns and took it to the vet, instead of just tossing it back to the store. I really hope the first is getting treatment, liek they promised. =/

 

[Quailchild]

This is Speckleton and Tim Pippington, by the way. Excuse the awkward expressions/poses. Apparently the flash spooked them mid photo. Whoops!

 

[casportpony]

This is Speckleton and Tim Pippington, by the way. Excuse the awkward expressions/poses. Apparently the flash spooked them mid photo. Whoops!

They're very cute!

-Kathy

 

[Nambroth]

All my best wishes for your doves, they are super cute and can be very wonderful pets.

I don't want to get political on here, but I'm glad you are moving away from the Kaytee feed. The organic pellets are pretty good, I feed Harrison's myself to my parrots. Supplemented with some seed (organic would be great) and shredded veggies and these guys will do great.

 

[casportpony]

I wish I could get Harrison's baby bird food in bulk.

-Kathy

 

[Quailchild]

Thanks, you two! And yeah, today I have eradicated the usual, dwindling daily portion of Kaytee seed. It's just the harrison's and a tad bit of hi-cal grit, at the moment. I'm not going back to Petsmart for food. I may check in with my vet and see if she has any healthy, organic seed I could supplement their diet with. Unless you guys have preferred brands..?

also, I'm going to halve peas and try a little bit of that in with their food for starters.


Thanks for your help!

 

[casportpony]

Have you seen the Harrison site?
http://www.harrisonsbirdfoods.com/

-Kathy

 

[Nambroth]

Thanks, you two! And yeah, today I have eradicated the usual, dwindling daily portion of Kaytee seed. It's just the harrison's and a tad bit of hi-cal grit, at the moment. I'm not going back to Petsmart for food. I may check in with my vet and see if she has any healthy, organic seed I could supplement their diet with. Unless you guys have preferred brands..?

also, I'm going to halve peas and try a little bit of that in with their food for starters.


Thanks for your help!

I find that peas usually went over very well with the Diamond Doves I used to care for at work.

Where I live now, I don't have any local pet shops... even chains like Petsmart and Petco (I used to work for both, back in the day). I order my Harrison's and other organic feeds from this online store, which overall has the best price for me even with shipping. http://www.birdsafestore.com/

Your mileage may vary of course, but to my location the shipping is less than buying anywhere else (online), even from the manufacturers of the feed.

For my chickens, I get my organic feed and grains from Countryside Organics, but I think it would take you a very long time to go through a 25lb bag with two diamond doves!!

(By the way, hello again, I think? If you are blarmajin)