Blog

December 17th, 2022

As owners of exotic, high-maintenance pets who need specialized care when sick or hurt, it can be scary seeing something happen to your pet parrot. Many of us know that getting a bird the care it needs may not only be tricky but also expensive. Sometimes it can be difficult to get to an avian veterinarian, or perhaps you do not have one in your area. Bringing your bird in to just any vet clinic may not be a viable option, either – and it may not also be ideal, as birds need someone who is well-versed in their physique to give them the care that they need. Going to see a veterinarian who is not a registered avian vet may cost you money and precious time. Sometimes being resourceful and helping your pet bird at home is your only or best option.

This blog post is meant for those of you who are looking to collect supplies for your own DIY home emergency kit, or those of you who want to know what you can do in an emergency to ease your bird’s pain or even potentially save his or her life.

As a disclaimer, it should also be noted that we at Cretaceous Critters Aviary are not licenced avian veterinarians or any type of veterinarians, either, in any way, shape or form. If you have received guidance from your vet, follow those instructions. However, we have encountered and dealt with our fair share of parrot scares and emergencies at home when no one else was available. That being said, we are only sharing what we have deemed to be useful practices in times of need, and what you can try at home as your only or last resort if an emergency arises and vet services are out of the question for one reason or another.

URGENT CARE TIPS

An emergency? The very first step is to stay calm, as birds are quick to pick up on our energy. Talk to your bird in a calm voice. Remember: WARM, CALM, DARK. Then, follow the steps below depending on your emergency:

- Bleeding: cover area in quick blood stopper, flour, or cornstarch and apply pressure to the wound (use paper towel, toilet paper, or tissue paper). These will work as coagulants. After treating the wound, you may place the bird somewhere warm (heating pad/basking light etc.).

- The bird is completely wet (soaked – not the same as them bathing!): Watch out for hypothermia! Keep the bird warm and help dry its feathers! Place the bird under an infrared basking bulb (red bulb) or in front of a bird safe, ceramic heater. Do not leave the bird especially if it seems a little out of it! Stay with the bird until it is almost dry. Birds go into shock pretty fast after getting soaked.

- Tail bobbing/lethargy/at the bottom of the cage: place under a basking bulb or onto a heat pad, keep somewhere dark and quiet, and call your vet if possible.

o Consider the following: 1) Have you used Teflon coated pans, cleaning detergents, paints, scents, or smoked? 2) Has the bird eaten something toxic? 3) Have you routinely cleaned the bird’s cage and bowls, replaced its water?

1) Possible inhalation: Try activated carbon (charcoal). Unfortunately, there is not much you – or anyone else – can do about a bird inhaling toxins. Teflon inhalation will lead to the bird’s death within a 24-hour period, but often, the death is much more sudden. Pretty much the only thing that can be done about a bird that has inhaled toxins is keeping it warm and somewhere dark and quiet.

2) Possible ingestion: Give your bird activated carbon (charcoal) and keep monitoring the bird. Charcoal helps with getting toxic bits out of your bird’s system. Sometimes, birds can be just fine even after eating small amounts of toxic plants, vegetables or fruit, such as avocado.

3) Maintaining good hygiene is imperative when living with a bird. They get sick easily, so do not skip cleaning days. You can try giving the bird charcoal (see above point 2).

- Suspected concussion (e.g., flying into the ceiling, window, mirror): severity varies! (Please keep your birds clipped.)

o Gently pick up the bird

o If the bird is on the floor, gently pick it up and support its head to prevent further neck injuries

o DO NOT place the bird on its back! This causes a dramatic drop in their blood pressure!

o Keep warm and wrap in a towel (if you can, warm your towel up first). Keep monitoring the bird. Depending on the severity of the impact, your bird might be fine within 15 minutes. Sometimes, however, concussions are unfortunately lethal.

o Do not attempt to feed or offer water before the bird is fully alert.

Please, contact an avian veterinarian if at all possible if there is no improvement!

GATHERING SUPPLIES: AN EMERGENCY KIT FOR HOMES

There are certain items that any and every bird owner should preferably have at home in case your energetic little ball of feathers gets hurt. Here is a list of supplies we make sure we have at all times in case of accidents:

- Quick blood stopper (found at most pet stores) or an alternative (corn starch or flour) to stop bleeding.

o Parrots are tiny creatures – even the larger ones in comparison to mammals –, which means that they do not have much blood to lose. If you notice that your bird is bleeding, use one of the methods above to make it stop faster.

- An antiseptic solution for treating wounds afterwards (improves healing times and fights infections) and can be used for toe wounds, after plucking:

o You can typically purchase antiseptic solution from your veterinarian (we have some sold under the name Betadine at home), but diluted human-grade antiseptics would work as well.

- Natural pain killers: cayenne pepper, aloe vera, alfalfa…

o We are not recommending the use of aspirin, ibuprofen or similar be given to a pet bird without getting the OK from your vet first. Veterinarians, in our experience, have prescribed birds with other pain killers such as meloxicam and gabapentin, and even when these are given to birds, the dosage needs to be just right. Please do not mix any cocktail solutions at home without consultation.

o While we have meloxicam and gabapentin at hand from our vet, we also have an aloe vera plant at the ready if needed. You can use the plant both internally and externally, and the same goes for spices like cayenne pepper, which works well as a pepper-water mixture.

- A basking bulb (infrared), a heating pad, or a makeshift brooder for keeping your bird warm

o If your bird is hurt, keep him or her somewhere warm, dark, and quiet. We have brooders we put our injured birds in (incidentally, they are also needed for raising babies), but heating pads can work fine instead of having a bird underneath a red basking bulb, depending on the injury.

- A ceramic space heater (ceramic ones are usually safe for birds; please note that not all space heaters are safe!)

o We have used space heaters to quickly dry and heat up our birds before. If you bird has gotten properly wet as a result of falling into a bowl, fish tank, the sink full of water or the like, it is imperative that you act fast and monitor the bird while it dries and warms up. Hypothermia is not a joke around here!

- Charcoal (activated carbon): if your bird has ingested something it shouldn’t have

o This one can save your bird’s life!

o If your bird has eaten a plant or a vegetable that is toxic, offer your bird some charcoal from HARI or a similar brand in a bowl.

o Here is an example product: https://hari.ca/our-products/bird-supplements/bird-charcoal/coconut-derived-activated-carbon-for-all-pet-birds/

Hopefully the above has been helpful to you whether you are preparing yourself for accidents or have come here after something has happened and would like to be more prepared in the future! We always advise those who adopt a bird from us to contact us if they need help with their bird but can’t get to a veterinarian. We always recommend people to research the avian veterinarians in their area and can recommend select veterinary clinics or vets to bird owners depending on their location.

Remember, once again, that in case of an accident, the most important thing is to respond with authority and calmness. Your birds trust you in their hour of need and they are very quick to pick up on your energy. And, always remember the trifecta of caring for injured birds: WARM, CALM, DARK. We also recommend playing your bird some calming, instrumental music (such as meditation music), as this usually works wonders in calming down a bird who is in shock or pain.

Thank you for reading and stay safe, everyone!

October 14th 2022

Whenever a pet passes away, it can be met with a certain refusal to move on as their memory, scent and feel are still fresh and we are trying our hardest to hold on to those. We don't want to move on, as we don't want to forget. We think that hanging onto sadness keeps us closer to our pet somehow, for that is how they left us to feel after they left.

Sometimes, we need a conscious decision to get rid of any feelings of guilt that may have surrounded the pet's death and final days. Don’t blame yourself for the death of your pet. You did what you could with the information you had at that time. Know that some things can’t be changed and that it was your pet's time to go.

Sometimes, we may have to realize that perhaps the best way to honour their memory is by remembering how they made us feel on the best days, not the last.

Pain and grief will eventually morph into nostalgia. The memories and the lessons learned will remain. The sun will shine again, and we will remember and feel gratefulness for the time we had together.

To get there, we may need to remain acquainted with sadness for quite some time and sit with her for a while, and that's okay.