DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) is commonly used to treat inflammation and is applied topically. This can be especially helpful if you need to target a specific area of your starling bird (say, the leg). It is easily absorbed by the skin. DMSO is a by-product of paper making (wood). It’s used as an industrial solvent and as an anti-inflammatory since the mid-20th century.

You’ll want to make sure you get 99.9% pure DMSO. Mix 1 milliliter of DMSO with 9 milliliters water to prepare a 10 percent solution and apply topically. It creates an odd odor that permeates the skin, so be prepared for your starling bird to temporarily be a little stinky.

You can also use DMSO to apply antibiotics directly to a wound.

Some people advocate using DMSO orally, although we have little experience with this and little is known about the long-term oral side-effects. The common advice is to give 10 milliliters per kilogram by mouth twice daily for three days for inflammation. If in doubt, stick to topical use.

Oral Antibiotics

Amoxicillin

Amoxicillin (and ampicillin) are effective against many gram postive and some gram negtive bacteria. Most of the infections that birds have are gram negative, so penicillin based products won’t work with most infections. Amoxicillin (penicillin based) is used for cat bites in birds with good results, as Pasteruella is a gram positive bacteria.

The penicillin antibiotics have limited use in birds except for Pasteurella infections. For cat bites, Amoxicillian is a better choice to use, not because it works any better but because the less we use Baytril (see below), the better chance we have of not causing a resistant bacteria to develop.

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