Urgent (Sad update) Cockatiel major eye injury

[MissBadLarry]

Hi everyone,

My bird Bad Larry is a older tiel (15+ not sure of an exact age because we adopted him from an animal shelter) and the love of my life. I came home to discover him hiding under a reclining chair with a major eye injury. No one was home so we have no idea what happened. He is lethargic, head tilted back and has his eye bulging out. I immediately brought him to Angel Hospital in Boston where he's currently being held in critical condition. I'm a breeder and can pretty much care for basic injuries and sicknesses but this was well out of my league. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any ideas as to what happened, if anyone has had any experience with this, how much it could potentially cost me... just anything. I'm beyond nervous at this point. I'm a college student so I have limited funds. Without any sort of surgery I've already invested $800 so I'm worried I won't be able to afford what he needs. HELP!

I've attached a picture of him in the incubator at the hospital. You can kind of see the eye.

 

[Kaylea]

awwww that poor baby...

 

[Milo]

Well ER care for avian patients is not cheap unfortunately in your area of the country it seems to be higher cost as well for even cats and dogs. If you are concerned about cost I would seriously consider CareCredit, it gives you 6 months to pay off the balance and in some circumstances up to 18 months.

As far as what could have caused that injury... my first thought is a mass or an abscess putting pressure on his eye but that's really a shot in the dark. Thank you for being willing to take this little one in, I'm crossing my fingers for him

 

[waterfaller1]

If no one was home, what was he doing out of a cage under a recliner? Is there a dog or cat in the home? If not then maybe he flew into something? He may lose the eye. Sending positive energy to him.

 

[Greycloud]

Poor baby. He may have flown into a wall and ruptured the socket. He is in the best place for now. If you cannot afford his care you can try contacting a local bird rescue in your area.

 

[Graeme]

I'm really sorry to hear about your bird, I hope he heals quickly and it is not too expensive for you.

We have an agreement with our vet and have been doing this for around 15 years. We pay a set amount each month into the vets bank and it is credited to our account. It is surprising how fast it adds up and when the time comes that one of our animals needs the vet, the money is already there.
We have had a couple of instances where the bill was in the thousands, but because we regularly make these payments, we had quite a lot of it already paid for and just paid rest off over time.

 

[macawpower58]

Hopefully it's not something tragic, but even if he looses his sight/or eye, he'll learn to get along just fine.

I'm guessing hitting the wall may have caused the injury. Poor old guy. Get better soon.

 

[Katy]

Hoping your faithful friend can make a recovery. So very sorry.

 

[MissBadLarry]

The only animals we have are two other birds (a cockatiel and a meyers parrot). They're their own little flock and get along well. The birds spend most of their time out of their cages and have their wings clipped. Someone is usually home with them but everyone had left for a few hours. The house is pretty bird friendly since we've always had them around.

When we found him it looked like he was hiding under the chair.

I'm just concerned what sort of surgery I need to expect and if any one else has had a similar experience. My poor little baby did not look good when i had to tear myself away from him at the hospital.

 

[JLcribber]

There's not a heck of a lot they can do for head trauma especially with such a small bird. They can try to keep the swelling down with some drugs but that is not a guarantee. If the eye is that damaged they will remove the eye and close the socket. This will require surgery and putting the bird under. This is risky at the best of times. If the bird is weak and traumatized the risks only increase.

It's not going to be cheap.

 

[Katy]

Even though the news is not good, I always appreciate your wealth of knowledge and "tell it like it is" attitude. False hopes help no one in these situations.

 

[Anne & Gang]

so very very sorry this has happened....It will not be cheap but perhaps you can make an agreement with the vet to pay it off slowly...also get the birdie a cage and keep him in it while you are out to prevent further accidents...many blessings and keep us posted about his progress

 

[waterfaller1]

The only animals we have are two other birds (a cockatiel and a meyers parrot). They're their own little flock and get along well. The birds spend most of their time out of their cages and have their wings clipped. Someone is usually home with them but everyone had left for a few hours. The house is pretty bird friendly since we've always had them around.

I know you think these birds get along, and it may appear they do, but my guess is this~ If your bird was "hiding under a recliner", he was trying to hide from someone..... so he would not be injured any more. My guess is bolded above.
I would not leave these birds together unsupervised or death may result. Hormonal influences could make a bird in a mismatched flock become grumpy. It makes them grumpy anyway.

 

[MissBadLarry]

Thank you for all of your kind words and thoughts. Unfortunately I got the heartbreaking news this morning that my little guy had gotten worse last night. I had to make the difficult decision to put him to sleep. The doctors said there was nothing that they could do for him because he was too weak. They suspected some sort of brain trauma, brain bleeding, or neurological damage. They offered an autopsy but I could hardly stand the thought of them injecting him let alone cutting him open. We'll never know what happened. All I know and care about is that he was loved more than I can say and he passed as peacefully as possible. RIP Bad Larry. </3

 

[Anne & Gang]

So very very sorry for your loss...fly free and high little one, free and high

 

[GuineaPigster]

Thank you for all of your kind words and thoughts. Unfortunately I got the heartbreaking news this morning that my little guy had gotten worse last night. I had to make the difficult decision to put him to sleep. The doctors said there was nothing that they could do for him because he was too weak. They suspected some sort of brain trauma, brain bleeding, or neurological damage. They offered an autopsy but I could hardly stand the thought of them injecting him let alone cutting him open. We'll never know what happened. All I know and care about is that he was loved more than I can say and he passed as peacefully as possible. RIP Bad Larry. </3

Soooo sorry for your loss. Fly high, lil' Larry.

 

[RJ Noodle]

So sorry. Fly high, Larry!

 

[hockeymomwood]

So very sorry, Kaitlyn.

 

[roxynoodle]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Birdbabe]

Oh, Im so sorry.