GRAPHIC PHOTO WARNING! Cali's healing!!

Ltygress

New member
Jan 6, 2015
49
0
Atlanta, GA
Parrots
Blue and Gold Macaw named Stewie, Blue and Gold Macaw named Bazinga, Male Eclectus named Nicholas, Unknown Severe Macaw named Zander
First, the story. I own three macaws and this one cockatoo. So I've posted her story, but it was lumped in with that of my other three birds on the macaw forum.

Cali is a 20-year-old Moluccan Cockatoo who has been through hell in her short life. Twelve years ago, her owner 's daughter stabbed Cali in the head. I don't know the circumstances around the stabbing, but I know she has bad hearing and is almost completely blind. One side of her head (her right) seems to be her normal thick skin, but perhaps stretched. It keeps that eye from closing completely. As a result, the eye has dried out and scabs over regularly. This same side of her head has a hole in the skin for her ear, but it isn't rigid, and the hole actually sits about 1cm below the ear canal. The other side of her head has some very thick skin with feathers sagging right by her eye, and then VERY THIN skin behind that, which completely covers her ear canal. There is no hole at all. The sagging skin also pulls thinner skin over about 3/4 of her eye socket giving her a VERY reduced range of vision. But the eyeball itself is healthy! For this issue, her vet (not even an avian specialist) suggested a skin graft. But the owner couldn't afford it, so she never got one.

Several years later, the owner's dog attacked her. No skin graft was recommended this time, but she did lose part of her toe. As a result, she will never have a claw on the longer back toe of her right foot.

And then last year, something changed and Cali began self-mutilating! I don't know what those circumstances were, but she had a wound about the size of a half dollar, and pretty deep too. That's when her owner FINALLY decided to give her up, and she came to me. The day I picked her up, she was actively bleeding with huge chunks of dried blood on her feet. She was also very lethargic.

She went onto antibiotics and was bandaged up. The vet wanted to put her in a collar, but I wanted to try something from flightquarters.com. It was actually a hoodie for my bare macaw, but the macaw refused to get used to it. So I tried it on Cali. She tore up the parts of the hoodie, but it successfully kept her off of the bandaging. THEN she discovered my long hair, and the hoodie was left alone too!

Today her bandages came off again for a dressing change, and the pic is gross but shows SO MUCH improvement!

ltygress-albums-my-birds-picture13625-cali-s-healing-wound.jpg


Most noticable is the new growth on the left, in the shape of a triangle pointing inwards. The wound was almost perfectly round, so all of that is new skin growth! But in addition to that, she has an actual scab over the entire wound! It now has it's own barrier against infections! The bottom of the wound also shows some new growth as well! And the blood feather growing out right under it is great news!

The area over and all around the wound looks wet, but that's actually heavy application of vaseline to keep the gauze from sticking to the wound. We're waiting now for antibiotic injections in the wound, and then it will be redressed. But the entire time I have been typing this, she hasn't touched the wound like I expected her to! So it's very likely that the cause of mutilation has also been fixed!

Once the wound finally closes, we'll begin working on fixing her eyes, and possibly her ears. But I was so excited about the new skin growth, I had to share! Sorry forvthe gross pic...
 

Dinosrawr

New member
Aug 15, 2013
1,587
8
Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Parrots
Avery, a GCC born on March 5th, 2013 & Shiko, a blue IRN born on February 25th, 2014
Oh my word... the life that poor Cali has lived. I'm so glad she's in your home now and properly being taken care of and loved. It's wonderful to see the healing process happen, I hope she heals fully and can peacefully (well, as peaceful as a 'too can be :rolleyes: ) enjoy her days with you :)
 

sonja

New member
Jul 31, 2012
650
0
Yea, Cali! Please keep updating us on her progress. M2s are my favorites!
 

4dugnlee

New member
Apr 27, 2014
1,133
3
Ohio
Parrots
Sassy - 13 y.o. Blue Front Amazon, Cisco - 6 y.o. Sun Conure, Peanut - 8 y.o. U2
Fred - 2(?) y.o. Cockatiel, Ginger - 3 or 4(?) y.o. Cockatiel
Oh my goodness..poor Cali! So happy she found you and that she is beginning to heal. You've done great! Thank you for making Cali's life so much better!!
 

kq_fan

New member
Jun 26, 2013
1,443
Media
4
0
Seattle, Washington
Parrots
Lilo - Female Green Cheek Conure ~ Pal - male cockatiel ~ Pheobe - female cockatiel
Wow! That is a horrible life! Poor baby! She must be so relived to be in a non harming house full happy birds! Thank you so much for rescuing her! Why would anyone stab an animal!?!? Ok I know I can't get a reasonable answer because well there isn't one... :(
 

Betrisher

Well-known member
Jun 3, 2013
4,253
177
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Parrots
Dominic: Galah(RIP: 1981-2018); The Lovies: Four Blue Masked Lovebirds; Barney and Madge (The Beaks): Alexandrines; Miss Rosetta Stone: Little Corella
Thank you for sharing the great news about Cali! I don't think the pic is gross at all: it's wonderful. I keep asking myself what kind of person raises a child capable of stabbing a bird? I hope that child is being carefully watched - could be she'll be in the news later in life. :22_yikes:
 

Amanda_Bennett

New member
Sep 27, 2014
1,272
2
Gresham, OR
Parrots
Zilla 29 Y.O. Orange Wing Amazon
The pic is not gross! It's showing what a loving, caring person you are to help this poor abuse girl! And whatever you are doing is working! She is healing and that is AWESOME!

Great job!
 

Sunset_Chaser

New member
Sep 25, 2014
1,000
2
Minnesota
Parrots
Bella (B&G Macaw)
2 Yellow Naped Amazons,
8 Lovebirds,
2 Green Cheeks,
2 Sun Conures,
2 Indian Ringnecks,
2 Quakers
Not gross, just sad that anyone could inflict this on any animal. Thank you for taking Cali in and giving her the love and help she needs and deserves!
 

Brisch

New member
Jul 26, 2012
150
0
British Columbia Canada
Parrots
I have a Cinnamon GCC (Honey)
and a BCC (Conrad)AKA Connie
GCC (Jinx)
3x Goffin2 (Liam)(Mya)(Goose)
2x B&G Macaw (Cozzy)(Blue)
I look forward to hearing more updates on this poor girl. Thank you so much for taking her in and giving her the vetting she obviously needs.
 

Allee

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2013
16,852
Media
2
212
Texas
Parrots
U2-Poppy(Poppy lives with her new mommy, Misty now) CAG-Jack, YNA, Bingo, Budgie-Piper, Cockatiel-Sweet Pea Quakers-Harry, Sammy, Wilson ***Zeke (quaker) Twinkle (budgie) forever in our hearts
Thank you for giving this beautiful girl a better life. I'm sorry she suffered so much in such horrible circumstances. I hope to hear more updates on her wonderful progress.
 

weco

New member
Nov 24, 2010
3,342
12
USA
Parrots
Nanday, suns, parrotlet, Patagonian
Hi Ltygress...was wondering who you might be using if she needs grafts? I'm just up I-75 a bit from you.....

Thanks for posting the thread.....

Gook luck to Cali.....
 

Minimaker

New member
Jul 29, 2014
540
0
Illinois
Parrots
GW Macaw-Sailor, Goffins Cockatoo Mako, GC Conure-Tazzy, Turquoise Conure Yuki, Budgies-Percy, Annabeth, Elsa
Oh my gosh, poor darling :( Thank goodness she found a safe home with you. The other home sounds like pure h*ll on earth, quite frankly. No place for anyone, let alone helpless animals who can't save themselves. Thank you for saving her. Good luck on her continued recovery.
 
Dec 14, 2014
686
2
Parrots
R.I.P Kiwiberry, GCC.
Oh my god, who in their right mind stabs a bird in the head? I'm sorry but what a moron!
Anyway, thanks for sharing, please keep us updated.
So great of you to take her on and give her a better life! :)
 

Birdman666

Well-known member
Sep 18, 2013
9,904
258
San Antonio, TX
Parrots
Presently have six Greenwing Macaw (17 yo), Red Fronted Macaw (12 yo), Red Lored Amazon (17 y.o.), Lilac Crowned Amazon (about 43 y.o.) and a Congo African Grey (11 y.o.)
Panama Amazon (1 Y.O.)
Yep! I've worked with a bunch of these, unfortunately. Poor Casper had 3 or 4 of those, and zero feathers when he came home...

THIS is EXACTLY why I say even though I love them dearly, I regret M2's ever being introduced into the pet trade.

What's the statistic?! Something along the lines of 7 OUT OF 10 OF THEM END UP LIKE THIS?! And it's tragic!!!
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
I'm so glad Cali has such a loving person to care for her incredible medical needs. You are a wonderful role model!!

Unfortunately a sizable proportion of societal misfits (and worse) have histories of animal abuse. I cannot imagine the minds that are capable of such horrific debauchery.
 

SoCalWendy

New member
Jun 29, 2013
1,571
0
Kihei, Hawaii
Parrots
None at the moment
Has anyone ever tried colloidal silver on birds. I know it works wonders for people inside and out. But not sure about birds.
 

Taw5106

New member
Mar 27, 2014
2,480
25
Texas
Parrots
Buddy - Red Crowned Amazon (27 yo)
Venus - Solomon Island Eclectus (4 yo)
Buzz CAG (2 yo)
Sam - Cockatiel 1997 - 2004
Tweety - Budgie 1984 - 1987
Sweety - Budgie 1985 - 1986
Thanks for taking her in. She really needs TLC and it looks like she found the right flock for that. Prayers that she continues to improve and quickly!
 

AmazinglAvians

New member
Dec 10, 2014
10
0
Texas
Parrots
I own 1 female (?) rescued Quaker parrot
good luck! remember to remind your avian vet about derbiding the wound, and giving it time to air dry,too! a bird's body is kind of funny, in that it won't regenerate healthy tissue if anything (including scar tissue or feathers) are covering an open wound. I'm so glad you were able to get Cali out of that horrible house!
 

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