Did I make the right decision with my Timneh African grey?

ShanonandLogan

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Feb 17, 2020
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Houston, TX
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Timneh African Grey, Logan
(I somehow lost my much longer, more detailed post)

Hi, I'm new here and I'm very distraught. My Timneh, Logan, got scratched on his toe, the whole length of it, on Saturday night by my cat. For some absurd reason he decided to fly low towards my cat (he usually flies around the house) and the cat casually reached a paw out and got his middle toe. It bled just a little, and I calmly ran Logan's toe under the water faucet, applied pressure and it stopped. I was completely panicking because I KNOW what a cat scratch can mean for a bird. I kept telling Logan "it's ok", to which he always repeats "it's ok" and leans in a for a head kiss.

I found an ER Avian vet open at 10pm on a Saturday, and my husband and I got Logan into his travel cage. All of this of course made the toe bleed a little more.

We got to the vet and they immediately took him back to check his vitals. After a long while, they told me he was quite stressed and they wanted to give him a mild sedative to keep him calm enough to examine and clean wound. So we waited a while longer and then were told - the wound was not too bad, it should heal on it's own and they bandaged it. They want to give him an injectable antibiotic every 8 hrs to get ahead of a certain cat pathogen, along with an anti inflammatory and some gabapentin to keep him calm. They wanted to keep him till Monday to guarantee he was getting the antibiotics.

They asked me if I would be able to towel him and give him 2 oral antibiotics and an oral pain med twice a day for 10 days. I should mention here that Logan is a VERY stubborn guy, very smart and cannot be forced to do anything. He will be furious at me over much smaller things. He HATES towels or any square shaped cloth, to the point you can't even walk by him with a washcloth in your hand without him throwing himself across the cage, due to being toweled by a vet in the past.

He is 10 yrs old, I have had him since he was 5 months old, he is like my child. I would pay any price and do anything for him. But I will not towel him and force 3 different medicines in his mouth twice a day for 10 days. I KNOWhe will hate me and I will break his trust. My husband also doesn't want to be hated by him, and I have no one else willing to handle him and administer medicines to him. The vet said it's too much medicine to try to hide in food, and he has to get ALL of it everyday.

So I decided to board him at the vet for the length of the 10 day antibiotic course. I am sick to my stomach, I dont know if this is the right choice. He has never been away from me, he is my whole world, we are very bonded. I am terrified this will psychologically traumatize and damage him. I'm afraid he will be a completely different bird when he comes home next Monday. I'm afraid he will still blame me and hate me for all of this. He's so smart but emotionally immature. Like a toddler.

The vet has been updating me every morning at 10. They are keeping him a little loopy with the gabapentin, they decided to put a couple stitches in his toe since it does keep reopening when they change bandages, but it's not infected. He's eating the seed mix they have (seeds are his favorite thing in the world), walking around his cage, pooping normally, looking around, stepping up to everyone just fine. But I still am distraught at the thought of him being terrified for 10 days, away from home.

What would you all have done? Did I make a terrible mistake? I can always go there and take him home earlier. Thank you for listening to me and any advice you have.
 
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chris-md

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Feb 6, 2010
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Iā€™m sorry your going through this!

I think if you were up to toweling and dosing, you probably made the right decision leaving it to the professionals. Sounds like you have a great CAV, if not perhaps overzealous with 10 days of pain relief for a small cut.

Take a breath, sounds like youā€™re in good hands and have taken all the right actions for your instance. Moving forward though, cat and bird must not be roaming free in the same room. Cat should never have an opportunity to get to the bird, period.
 

1oldparroter

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I am 71, married and fairly private. I have PM privileges but prefer the phone. Printed messages, are so limited. jh
It may cause issue's but at least the bad feelings will be pointed elsewhere. I hope you can afford this and have found another home for the cat. jh
 

LaManuka

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What a frightening accident! But thank you for posting this - there are so many people who simply donā€™t understand how quickly a situation with a cat can go bad so in sharing your story you may help many others.

Cats harbour all sorts of nasty bacteria in their claws and teeth which can easily infect even the smallest scratch. Your vet sounds like they are doing the right thing because you cannot be too cautious when dealing with an injury like that. In terms of how your and Loganā€™s relationship may be affected I really couldnā€™t say, but it may be a good thing that you are not the one administering the meds, that way Logan may perceive the vet as the bad guy with the towel and the yucky meds :)

I am sending all my very best wishes for a full recovery to Logan and a great big cyber hug to you to help you get through this!
 
OP
ShanonandLogan

ShanonandLogan

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Feb 17, 2020
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Houston, TX
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Timneh African Grey, Logan
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Iā€™m sorry your going through this!

I think if you were up to toweling and dosing, you probably made the right decision leaving it to the professionals. Sounds like you have a great CAV, if not perhaps overzealous with 10 days of pain relief for a small cut.

Take a breath, sounds like youā€™re in good hands and have taken all the right actions for your instance. Moving forward though, cat and bird must not be roaming free in the same room. Cat should never have an opportunity to get to the bird, period.

Thank you so much for your reply. I do want to make clear- this was right when I was putting Logan to bed in his cage, my cat made a loud noise in the kitchen and Logan flew out to the kitchen toward my cat (my cat who usually does not care about my grey). I do usually keep them separate except for this one-off, brief moment.

Thank you again, for taking the time to reply to my very upset, stressed out self :)
 

Scott

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Aug 21, 2010
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Welcome to you and Logan, hope your future posts are of happier occasions.

Agree with the previous advice. Perhaps overzealous but Logan is being afforded the gold standard of treatment. Greys are indeed stubborn and 10 days of toweling may have led to an uncomfortably hurt relationship.

I'd leave him for the duration. Are you able to visit Logan daily and spend some quality time, cuddle, and give a special treat?
 
OP
ShanonandLogan

ShanonandLogan

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Feb 17, 2020
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Houston, TX
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Timneh African Grey, Logan
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Welcome to you and Logan, hope your future posts are of happier occasions.

Agree with the previous advice. Perhaps overzealous but Logan is being afforded the gold standard of treatment. Greys are indeed stubborn and 10 days of toweling may have led to an uncomfortably hurt relationship.

I'd leave him for the duration. Are you able to visit Logan daily and spend some quality time, cuddle, and give a special treat?

I am actually struggling with whether I should go and visit him or not. Would it be better to visit him and cuddle him, just to leave him over and over? Or should I do it so that he doesn't like, lose hope? So that he knows I'm still here? Or will he think, "why are you leaving me again and not taking me home?", so that eventually when I visit he will just be mad at me because he knows I'm just going to leave him. These are all the things that keep going around my head. I can't even sleep. I'm just so upset.
 

Scott

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Aug 21, 2010
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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.
Welcome to you and Logan, hope your future posts are of happier occasions.

Agree with the previous advice. Perhaps overzealous but Logan is being afforded the gold standard of treatment. Greys are indeed stubborn and 10 days of toweling may have led to an uncomfortably hurt relationship.

I'd leave him for the duration. Are you able to visit Logan daily and spend some quality time, cuddle, and give a special treat?

I am actually struggling with whether I should go and visit him or not. Would it be better to visit him and cuddle him, just to leave him over and over? Or should I do it so that he doesn't like, lose hope? So that he knows I'm still here? Or will he think, "why are you leaving me again and not taking me home?", so that eventually when I visit he will just be mad at me because he knows I'm just going to leave him. These are all the things that keep going around my head. I can't even sleep. I'm just so upset.

A difficult decision and my advice comes from emotion, not actual experience. I've never left a bird with vet for medical care for more than a day or so. We tend to anthropomorphize parrots without truly understanding their innate comprehension of the world. I do know parrots respond well to Skype and FaceTime cyber visits while owners are on vacation. If your vet believes personal visits are detrimental, ask whether video is an alternative. One thing for certain, if you trust the vet, go with his/her judgment and you'll feel much better.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Just my two cents here. I'd visit Logan daily..I had a Timneh for twenty six years before she passed away. I know how stubborn they can be. I left mine at a pet shop for a week to go on vacation with the family ( her CAV didn't have room to board) and when I got her home she was P.O. for days!


Jim
 

charmedbyekkie

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May 24, 2018
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I don't have a TAG, but when our ekkie was hospitalised (I was working overseas) my partner visited him. It did help relieve his stress a bit, I believe. My partner skyped me into the visit, so I got to see Cairo be really stressed inside his crate (he had an IV in). Then I watched as Cairo calmed down to interact with my partner and eventually perk back up even to voice his opinion at a nurse entering the room. It put both Cairo and myself at ease to see this semblance of normalcy. Eventually, they discharged him to see if a home environment would help increase him appetite - so a familiar face does go far.

When we boarded Cairo for a long trip overseas to visit family, I made sure to put Cairo there a night early, then visit him the next day to reassure him I would be back for him. He was able to acclimatise better to the boarding place - I made sure to do trick training there and just play with him there. He eventually calmed down enough that the following days he decided to claim the place as his. Sure, he didn't want to go back in his cage at the boarding place, but I do think it kept frame his mindset about the place. And yes, he was thrilled to see us when we returned.

So my vote is to visit if possible.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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I would visit vet, and work with foods to hide medicine. I've had good success in letting the bread soak up the medicine. If you knew you could get the medication in him, I would take him home.

You did great to get ahead of any infection. I can see both sides of this.....
For me, I would bring my bird home. You should follow you gut it heart, both staying at the vet and bringing him home can be argued for.

I'm hoping all is better soon, sorry for you guys. We love them so much.
 

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