The Vet Visit From Hell I have Always Feared
I took my pigeon to the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine in Manhattan today for her second ivermerctin injection (for a stubborn case of capillaria). I am always wary when a medication is to be administered to my birds not in my presence (knowing that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in Americans), so as I was sitting waiting for the nurse to bring my Paloma back, I was reading about the horrors of getting the dose of injectable ivermerctin wrong, when the doctor called me back to tell me just that: the nurse had made a math error and had given Paloma a much higher dose - a dose that's barely within the range for raptors. Unlike oral ivermerctin which has a wider safety margin, overdose of injectible ivermerctin most often results in severe neurological symptoms and death. They had called animal poison control for advice, but besides giving sub-q fluids to dilute the dose, which they did, there was nothing to be done I was told - just praying and watching for seizures. Seizures are treated with a Valium injection (with risks of its own), so I would have to take her to an emergency vet if it came to that (and hopefully she would survive the 40 min. trip to get there). But! - I was told unironically - they wouldn't charge me for the sub-q fluids they had administered.
She survived the first 4 hours which are most crucial, but her fate will be decided in the next 72 hours. Please send healing energy her way - it's the only thing that can be done now. I've rescued quite a number of pigeons over the years, and no matter how sick the patient, I've always felt like there was something I could do for them, regardless what the outcome would ultimately turn out to be. Watching by helplessly my beloved pet unable to do anything has got to rank as one of the worse caretaking experiences ever. If anyone has dealt with an ivermerctin overdose, please share If you think you found anything helpful. Administering charcoal is obviously pointless because the medication was injected, not ingested.
