Rest in peace, sweet little angel
Someone brought this young pidge to us because some workers at a bar was kicking on her. She was covered in something sticky, presumably a drink, and malnourished. On top of that she was missing feathers and had horrible stringfoot where one toe just fell off when we removed the string. No rehabbers would take her because her foot looked too rough, and we decided to give it a shot ourselves.
Everything went so well at first. The foot started healing thanks to proper wound care and up until yesterday, we were talking about finding her a home (or even keeping her). That's when she suddenly started coughing blood. She survived the night but looked awful, breathing heavily. She tried eating today and the blood came again, this time making her panic until she fell and took her last breath. It was an awful sight and I feel so guilty for not having the knowledge or resources to help her.
There was no visible canker, but could it have been further down the throat? She had missing feathers around her neck but we didn't know that it was a sign. We thought that it was because of the sticky residue...
Anyway... We wanted to give her a chance to live and in some sense, she got it. She wasn't immediately euthanized and got to watch pigeon videos, eat lots of seeb, rest on a heating pad and chill. But it wasn't enough, and I hate that she had to suffer in the end.
I'll never forget her. One of the sweetest pigeons. I buried her in a bush with some sunflower seebs and broccoli (her favorites). I'm so, so sorry, Lux. Life wasn't kind to you and you deserved so much more.
(Last pic is how she looked when we got her)