injured amazon..advice?

Hi, hopefully someone can offer some advice here or point me to where I may be able to find some..


Long story short, my Lilac Crowned Amazon that i've had for 10 years was attacked by our cat. It flew out of its cage, and the cat jumped it from behind when it landed, dragging it off the couch. I had a plastic plate in my hand and tried to break it up, i ended up having to hit the cat with the plate multiple times. (i wonder if I perhaps hit the parrot by mistake as well) After the cat let go my poor parrot flopped around the floor and made the worst scream I have ever heard from an animal, I thought it had its neck punctured by the cats teeth, as that is where the cat had hold of it as it dragged it off the couch. It turns out that was not the case, but he can no longer walk. He is able to move his legs and sqeeze his claws, but he appears unable to support himself with them and he falls over as he tries to walk. His claws also seem to go in all directions as he attempts to walk, he seems to not know that his claws are pointing into the ground or sideways as he puts weight on them, and he seems to lean on his wings to keep himself from falling over. It is a truely sad sight.

I took him to the vet the hour this happend, he stayed overnight and the following morning I took him to a bird specialist where he stayed for 4 days. The vet thinks it may be a neck injury, but cannot be sure. He has a good appetite and still eats and drinks well, he tries to move around the little incubator I now have him in when I brought him home today, and he seems to want to move all the time. He doesn't get very far as he can't balance and falls over constantly...

Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? I'm not sure whether I should put him in a dark corner and let him rest, or try to keep him moving as much as I can to try to keep him attempting to walk. The way he moves his feet make me think he is having trouble feeling them and knowing what they are doing.

I guess im just asking for any advice anyone might have, as I have never delt with something like this before.

Thanks

You need to call your vet (the avian one) first thing.

What you, your fid, and your cat experienced was very scary in many ways. Right now, focus on your fid - that's primary, but don't forget to love your cat. Sometimes these things happen. Keep them separated but love them both.

As for your fid care, there is some things you can do - and my experience is not the same as yours but similar to the falling you describe.

Line the bottom with clean, soft towels (you will be doing laundry). It's a soft landing.

On the bottom in one area, place your fids favorite toy(s), a food cup, and a water dish - adapt to the enclosure. You can keep your fid resting with comfortable surroundings so it can rest. Sometimes what they seek is just comfort from familiar things and will settle once those things are provided.

Regarding the food cup - give normal food but also make sure it's all beak food. In other words, if your fid generally feeds itself by holding food in a foot, slice and dice so that it can eat just by beak.

Call your vet in the morning, again - this is not a situation to handle without a vet. Put on your list of things - food. Ask about - and make them demonstrate- hand-feeding formulas that 'baby' birds eat. Sometimes you can help a fid get food/water in this manner but you need to know what you are supposed to do and have help in doing it.

The fact that your fid is alive right now, after 5 days, is a good sign. Make a spot which is quiet and comfortable for your fid.

And call your vet in the morning to make an appointment and discuss everything. Medicines. food, water, comfort, what you are observing, etc.

It's good that your fid survived and is surviving!

At the same time, while sad, your cat did nothing wrong - so love your cat too!

You will, though, need to keep cat and fid separate from this point forward - at least for the long future.

But make the enclosure comfy, food, toy(s), water, towels... and call your vet!!

Keupi said:

You need to call your vet (the avian one) first thing ... Call your vet - this is not a situation to handle without a vet ... And call your vet ... and call your vet!!

Click to expand...

Agreed! This is one of those situation that you aren't equipped to handle without the advice of a good CERTIFIED AVIAN VET (no small animal docs here, they just won't do at all ... )!!

Your LCA is super lucky to even be around right now, with all the bacteria and nasties that can happen from a cat - the fact that he has survived for almost a week now is a very good sign. But, he needs to be checked out again ... call your vet!

~ Tex :50:

Haven't ever dealt with anything like this before so I can't offer much help. Anytime an animal of mine has been injured I've always tried to keep them calm to rest so I would think that would be the best thing to do. Giving him his favorite toys and easily accessible food like Keupi said sounds like the best thing to do.
My birds would probably become more agitated if I put them in a dark corner by themselves but your bird could be different, have to see what works I guess

*I think, from what the person wrote, that the bird has just come home from the 4 day vet stay and they are looking for some advice for handling the at home care.
Your doing a great job, hope your not making yourself too crazy!!
I hope he starts to improve soon, whats his name, by the way?

Cats claws and bites from a cat are poisonous to birds.

AVIAN VET - call immediately

A regular dog/cat vet won't be able to help you.

Thank you for all the replies and advice.

The "bird specialist" was apparently an "exotic" specialist who did everything from horses to macaws. This was the vet that the emergency vet said I should go to, so I really didn't do much checking up on it and just took him in the following morning. When I took him in he was given oxygen from the emergency vet and antibiotics from both vets. I am not too concerned about any infections from the cat as amazingly there were no open wounds that could be found.

I have looked around for a local avian only specialist in the last day or two but can't seem to locate one locally. I suppose I will have to go to Seattle as I have located two on the Internet that are located there.

He used to be a very talkitive and noisy bird, but since his accident he has only whistled a single time. The vet said he is most likely not in pain, but from the way he acts I am starting to doubt this. I asked the Vet why he didn't do an xray to check for a broken/damaged neck or back, and he said he most likely had a "soft tissue injury" to his neck, and that if they found anything on the xray there was most likely "nothing they could do". This didn't make any sense to me, but since he isn't an avian vet perhaps he wouldn't even know what to look for..The whole situation was rather off putting and made me think that I wished I had gone to a true avian vet. He recommends I contact him in two weeks, and then go from there..

Anyway, I have been giving him his favorite foods (grapes, peanuts) and he seems to be eating fine. I can tell he is incredibly frustrated in his inability to move because he chews on his towels like he is angry (or perhaps its pain, I hope not though). I am hoping to find a true Avian specialist and get him in ASAP, and hopefully I can actually find out what physically is wrong with him.


Hope some of that makes a little sense, thanks again for the suggestions.

def get an xray my avian vet said there is a WHOLE LOT you can learn from an avian xray. I'm lucky to have one awsome avian vet course he is an hour and a half away but he knows his stuff and walks in with a price list so you know exactly what you are getting into as you go along.

I understand where you are coming from with the "exotic" vet. It wasn't ponte's was it? Because that is where I took Chewy. IF you are on this side of the mountains you should consider instead of Seattle goin to Pullman the WSU there. I forgot the vets name but if you want me to I can abtain it........Good luck with the bird.

DD24, it makes a lot of sense.

One thing to keep in mind is that a fid will try to hide their physical (ill/hurt) because in the wild, the flock will leave them behind. It's the nature being that most are prey animals.

Sometimes, especially as parronts, we need to 'make it ok' for a fid to rest and get better. As the 'alpha' member, this puts it on you. Since your baby has a neck injury, it probably can't comfortably preen itself. So, the chewing towels are a useful substitute to the stress of being unable to comfortably preen it's feathers. Keep the washing maching going and make sure that the towels stay clean. They are providing a soft surface and a stress reliever. The same with food bowls, sources of water, love and attention. You may also want to remove all the higher perches and dishes so that your fid stays low and expends energy towards health. Those can be added back, in increments, as your fid improves.

I am glad that you are seeking out an experienced avian vet and hope that you get your fid there shortly, extremely near future, as cat bites and the trauma require not only you providing comfort but the knowledge of an vet who's really experienced with birds.

That's not to slight the exotic animal vet. What he did was stabilize and gave your fid a fighting chance. Just like with humans, sometimes it's about doing something because doing nothing gets you nothing. Due to the skill of that vet your fid has a good chance at living a long life. Now, like you are doing, it needs the skill of an avian specialist.

Get fid to the vet, if they say x-ray - x-ray, talk about medicines - and how to give medicines, talk about food, talk about recovery. When Keupi sprained his foot he was actually prescribed a pain killer that had to be formulated for him. Since it's a neck injury, you need to be careful about how you give it so that you don't do further damage. I'm lucky that Keupi doesn't even need to be held - just hold up the needleless syringe and go. As it is a concern, ask them if you can mix it with some baby bird formula (takes them back to hand-feeding while getting medicine in and providing nourishment).

You can do this and don't be afraid to do it. Make that avian specialist you find your best friend and follow those instructions to the letter. You cannot do this alone without that expertise.

Bless you and your fid!

I would like to say thank you to everyone who gave me advice. He was spending the night at a lady who is experienced with injured birds on friday (was recieving fluids, going to be seen by her avian vet), and today I got a message on my cell phone that had died..I should have got him to an avian vet sooner, and should not have left him at the sanctuary, he died without me there, i was the only one he liked and would not bite..and now he died alone in a dark room, he should have died with me at home, i feel so terrible

dd24, I am sorry for your loss.

Please don't blame yourself. You did the best you could at the time and I think your fid knows that.

I'm so sorry. He knows you loved him, you worked very hard to save him. Sometimes, no matter what we do, it ends the same way.
Not really much to say but sorry.