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afk1234566

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
11/16/21
Messages
1
Hello,
I wanted to join this forum to give back all the help and information that I have gotten so that if someone were to Google this information it might be helpful to them like it was for me.

I have a 10 year old lovebird named Kai who is fully flighted as of right now. On Saturday October 2nd 2021 he got into an accident. My father was leaving on a trip and had a wobbly suitcase- my bird went on the suitcase and it started to fall and he got trapped underneath it. My poor bird could not breathe properly, was in shock, could not fly properly and lost feathers to the front of his face. Within 5 mins we were on our way to the vet but the vet told us that we needed to take him somewhere else because she had too many bird emergencies that day and recommended another avian veterinarian. We took him and that avian vet put him in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for 45 mins and gave us an anti inflammatory metacam and pain medicine buponephrine along with milk thistle for and enlarged liver, calcium for his bones and a multivitamin that I give him twice a day everyday. My baby Kai was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and mild concussion with moderate to severe soft tissue damage of his tendons, ligaments and muscles- my birds whole right side of his body was very swollen. He told us to see him in a month and to keep him in his cage this cost me $600. On Monday October 4th 2021 I took him back to the vet we saw because his right eye that got hit was closed, swollen, and bruised. They put him in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber for 3 hours and told me to keep on doing what I’m doing and to come back in a month this cost me only $30.

The whole month of October was filled with taking care of him but I was starting to notice that he was getting startled on the right side. When I took him back by the vet in November 1st 2021 the vet confirmed he was blind in that eye but that the eye itself was fine it was just that the message from the eye wasn’t getting to the brain and he suspected it was a hematoma on the optic nerve but not to worry it might take 3-6 months to clear up. The vet told me to get a bigger cage and make a pillow room for him so that I can take him there where there is a soft bed and blankets on every hard surface so that if something happens he will bump into something soft this cost me $30 as well. I did that and he will fly a little and snuggle in my hand the whole entire hour we are there.

I decided that I wanted a definite answer and set up an appointment with an avian ophthalmologist on November 15th 2021 which was today. The avian ophthalmologist told me that the accident caused his retina to detach however it healed and reattached but improperly then it degraded. She told me that unfortunately there are no surgical tools small enough to do the retinal attachment surgery for birds because the technology is not there at this time- they can do the retinal attachment surgery in cats and dogs when it occurs within 3 days because the tools they use are pediatric not veterinarian. However, there are other eye surgeries that can be done to a bird to help them with their vision just not with the retina. She also said he still has inflammation and bright lights will hurt his eye even though he can’t see until the inflammation goes down. I asked her if I had come on that Monday after to see her for his eye would the outcome be different and she said no, that I did everything that I could have done for him and for this type of injury the only treatment is medically with anti inflammatory drugs and pain medicine to hopefully have the retina attached by itself. Birds can reattach their retina within a couple of days to a week when an accident happens but in his case it was improperly formed and degraded. So he is permanently blind in that eye. He can live a happy life but I need to clip his wings, get a bigger cage and put him in a room where he can fly unsupervised where everything is soft like the pillow room I created. But I told her that he is in the living room with us because we are mostly there and she said that to give him freedom to still clip his wings where he can only hop and only have him out under supervision- this visit cost me $140.

I am devastated and feel tremendous guilt. He is like my child and is very valued and loved. My heart breaks for him. But I wanted to write this to tell other bird owners my story so when something happens to your bird and you’re looking for information on what could happen and what might be the outcome and how expensive things are you have it.

I have set up an appointment next week with his original avian vet to let her know what’s happening and to clip his wings and get advice on the long term care for him now.

For anyone out there looking for information I hope this helps and you get comfort in having the knowledge and what tools are available to you to help your bird family member. I live in Miami, Fl just in case anyone wanted to know.
 

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Gribouille

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
7/10/17
Messages
2,399
Location
Norway
hi, how is your bird doing? Did he manage to get used to clipped wings? My budgie is blind from one side too now but I don't think clipping wings will get him off the habit of jumping and trying to fly, as he has done all his life? What do you think?
 

Gribouille

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
7/10/17
Messages
2,399
Location
Norway
Update: My budgie quickly realised he couldn't fly anymore because he didn't see, and he just stopped trying. He climbs around and seems to manage quite well. I still have an inflated mattress under the cage so he doesn't hurt himself when he loses his footing and falls.
 
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