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Because we could no longer cope with the increase in the number of questions and fanciers had to wait (too) long for an answer, we have decided to close off our question section. Furthermore, the great majority of new questions submitted has already been answered in the past.
As we want to keep offering interesting medical information to our readers, we will now concentrate more on those general Ask The Vet articles which have already been published on our homepage in the past. In addition, our Ask The Vet archive, which contains numerous questions and answers, is a mine of information which will still remain at your disposal.
I see white spots at the back of the throat. Is that a problem?
answer by: Pascal Lanneau
White spots in the back of the mouth can be sialolites, spots due to herpes infections, yeast problems, or spots caused by tricho infection. Sialolites can be normal, it doesn't do any harm to the pigeons and is not at all related with any kind of disease. When the spots are caused by Herpes infection, it is possible that it will go away after a few weeks, but sometimes the pigeons have at the same time some problems with the respiratory system, so it is likely to treat against respiratory diseases also. Against the virus himself, you can't do anything at all... When the problem is caused by a tricho infection, treating against tricho is advisible fe with Berimax. It is possible that you had at the same time a yeast problem, but may this was only a secundary infection, and the spots were not caused by this yeast. It is possible that the problem is solved, but at this moment you still can see some spots due to sialolites. Do you see at this moment that your pigeons show any sign from illness?
I see the symptoms of the "curtain" throat theory. What can I do?
answer by: Pascal Lanneau
I want to explain a bit more concerning the white spots you have noticed on some birds that you looked . White spots noticed in the troat can be caused by infectious agents, but also sometimes causing no problems at all.
Trichomoniasis is a parasite that can cause white spots in the troat. Depending on the severity of the tricho infection, the spots can be small of much bigger. When you take a swab from the troat, you can be sure whether there is trichoor not. To solve this problem, a treatment against tricho will help, but it is possible that the spots don't disappear very fast.
Another possibility is an infection with Herpes. This virus can cause also white spots in the mouth, especially in younger birds (also in older) who have some respiratory problems. Most of the time, Herpes is one of the different infectious agents that will cause the respiratory problems. To treat Herpes virus, this is not possible, but treating the whole respiratory problem can be of great use.
Pox virus is a virus who will give som yellow spots in the beak, especially in and outside the mouth, the eyes, and sometimes in the troat. When the pigeons are very infected with the pox, it is possible that there are some nodules in theoesophagus, and also interior.
Preventive the birds can be vaccinated, curative, the pigeons will normally cure in 3 - 4 weeks time, desinfecting with iodium can be a great help, but whatever you do, it lasts some weeks before everything is normal again, as long as the pigeons are eating, the problem will be solved normally after some weks.
Another possibility of the white spots are the sialolites, this is not harmfull and stays there all the time, without causing any problem at all. These are the most important reasons of white spots, I hope this willhelp you a bit further.
Duifjes zijn hongerig, maar eten weinig en kunnen moeilijk slikken. Wat is uw advies?
answer by: Dr Ruben Lanckriet
De symptomen wijzen erop dat er waarschijnlijk door ontsteking van de slokdarm moeite is bij doorschuiven van de graantjes. Naast tricho kan ook candida, eventueel herpes en/of secundaire bacteriële infecties dit veroorzaken. Het lijkt me aangewezen de duiven hiervoor eerst te laten controleren. Ook een algemeen klinisch onderzoek door een dierenarts kan verduidelijking brengen voor het probleem.
Mijn duiven hebben last van vuile neuzen. Wat kan ik eraan doen?
answer by: Ruben Lanckriet
Vuile neuzen kan veroorzaakt worden door chlamydophila, mycoplasma, herpesvirose, zelfs gisten, etc. Andere parasieten zoals trichomoniasis kunnen assisteren in het uitbreken van de symptomen. De kleur van het neusvocht verschilt dikwijls tussen deze aandoeningen en is bovendien afhankelijk van secundaire bacteriële bijbesmettingen. Klassieke antibioticabehandeling zoals doxycyline, spiramycine, etc. kunnen van nut zijn naargelang de veroorzaker, maar het kan toch eens van nut zijn een bacteriële analyse van neusvocht door uw duivenarts te laten uitvoeren. 