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Sharing a happy story

CassMarie

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Cassandra
Hello All,

I am new here, and signed up to connect with individuals who may have experienced the same thing as I have with my precious little birdy. Or, those in general living with a disabled bird.

I have a Red Bellied Parrot, her name is Beelzebub (Beelzies or short). Believe me, the name suits her sometimes :roflmao:. She is 9 years old. In May, we had a terrible accident that I never could have predicted or planned for in my history of sharing my life with parrots. It was beyond devastating.

My two parrots share a room together, but they live in separate cages. My other parrot is an African Grey named Bubbles. Beelzies I would keep in her cage when I wasn't around because of the two birds, she is the aggressor. She has never been fond of other birds and is extremely jealous. She does well with people, but only lets a select few pet her or hold her. My African Grey is the total opposite. Such a sweet bird, very shy though, not aggressive at all. Bubbles is a very anxious bird, and to alleviate her anxiety and stop her from plucking too much, I found it helpful to have her cage door open which allowed her to climb out of the cage and sit on top as she pleased. Almost a decade together has been without incident...

It was a Friday night and I had my partner put the birds to bed for the evening. Nothing seemed off. The next morning when I went to wake them up, I noticed that there was actually blood on the wall! My partner must have missed this the evening before. Immediately I start to panic. My first thought was that Beelzies had actually attacked Bubbles! I checked out Bubbles and she was totally fine. Then I saw Beelzies beak and it looked absolutely awful. I knew that something was really wrong here. From my best guess, Bubbles must have climbed down her cage the day before and went over to Beelzie's cage. First time she has ever done this. Beelzies I know for a fact would have tried to attack her through the bars, so her beak would have been in-between the bars, sticking out. She must have startled Bubbles or scared her, and then Bubbles bit her beak in defense.

I sent pictures of her beak to my vet, and upon examination of the images to them, it looked more like a surface wound. Something that would require antibiotics. At this time, Beelzies was still eating, drinking, dancing, etc. They recommend for me to go to Campus Estates in Guelph who could see her immediately as they were overbooked. Campus Estates was wonderful!

When they examined Beelzies, they found that the injury was actually much worse than expected. They had tried to give her a syringe of medicine, and she bit down on the syringe, and her beak essentially broke apart. They had to glue it back together to keep her stable. They referred us as an emergency patient to OVC and I took her over there ASAP. Beelzies was admitted and they went through what would happen, what examinations / tests they were going to do, etc. My partner and I went home. However, when we got home we got a call from the doctor who explained that the injury was absolutely much worse than even she had anticipated when Beelzies was admitted to the hospital. At this point, she was recommending to euthanize her because she was in so much pain and was showing signs of extreme discomfort. She also said that it was likely that the beak would fall off due to where the injury was. As you can imagine, I was just beside myself. This is my baby bird who has been my best friend for almost a decade.

We arrived back to the hospital that night to say goodbye. At this point, I think of what happened as some kind of "miracle" if that's what you want to call it. There was another emergency that happened which delayed us being let inside the building. Not saying that that emergency wasn't significant to the animal that it happened to, but it was a miracle in our situation. The time went on, and I got a call from the doctor. She said that Beelzies beak had actually come off and since it was no longer rubbing back and forth that she was so much more comfortable and was starting to relax. We went in to see her and it was probably one of the worst things I have seen. She was on medication, completely out of it ... it was just awful to think of what she must have been feeling. At this point the vet told us some GOOD NEWS, that because she was more comfortable, there was a chance now tp save her. A chance to do the testing, get imaging of the nasal cavity, and see what could be done. The only wild card was that if her sinuses had been crushed that would be another story. If that was the case, she would be painful for the rest of her life and would be prone to sinus infections.

The next day we got the results and amazingly, her sinus cavity was fine except for a small mm sized puncture that would heal. The vet felt strongly that she would have a good quality of life, as well. They sealed the "beak" with dental acrylic to prevent any bacteria from getting inside the wound and this would also promote tissue growth. For her healing I had to give her 5x medication daily multiple times a day for two months. Thankfully I was working from home, so I was able to be there with her. At night I kept her sleeping in her travel cage in the bedroom just in case. In July her dental acrylic fell off and there was healthy tissue growth that had completely sealed off the wound!!! At this point I had to apply a cream to the tissue to help it heal. In August, she was given a clean bill of health and is completely HEALED!! :heart:

I can't say enough about the medical team at OVC in Guelph. They are the most wonderful, kind, caring vets I have EVER been to. They saved my Beelzie's life, and I will be forever grateful. I will be taking all my animals there in future. Beelzies is back to her crazy self now. Flying around the house, screaming her head off! We lovingly refer to her as the alien bird now. She will always have to eat softened pellets, but she has adapted to the new normal. She will scoop up the mash into her lower beak and press it against the side of her bowl to get it into her mouth. She has also learned to turn her head sideways to climb up the bars of her cage using just her bottom beak. She has also learned to climb up the couch or chairs propelling herself up the pillows with just her wings. She is such a survivor and I'm so happy to share that there was a happy ending to this story and that I still have my baby!

Sadly, I have had a few comments from people saying that I should be more careful and that this is my fault. I think this is hurtful and not appreciated. I already feel bad enough. This is something as I said, that I could have never ever predicted or envisioned or planned for. It was an accident and it was devastating. I have already blamed myself and have been stressed out beyond belief. Parrots are unpredictable, and size difference in parrots is no joke.

I want to share some pictures of her! I will post some pictures of her beak when the accident happened, so just be aware that they are graphic. Then I will post some images of her recovering, and her fully healed! Posting in reverse order so the happiest photos show first. And the image where she has her wings up, her head extended with her dental acrylic on was taken right after we got her up to the bird room the first day she was home. That was her reaction seeing her cage again for the first time after a week in hospital. So sweet!
Beelzies 1.jpg
Beelzies 2.jpg
Beelzies 3.jpg

Beelzies 4.jpg

Beelzies 5.jpg

Beelzies 6.jpg

Beelzies 7.jpg

Beelzies 8.jpg
 

iamwhoiam

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Thank you for sharing Beelzies' story. It's wonderful that she got excellent care from you, from the vets and the beak has healed.
That beak looks great now.
Accidents happen and can't always be prevented or predictable. Glad that this story turned out to have a positive ending.
BTW, she is VERY cute!
 
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Zara

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Welcome to the Avenue! 1.welcome signs.gif

Thankyou for coming and sharing your story - and quite the remarkable recovery story it is too!
You really did go above and beyond to save your little Beezlebub ❤

Please don´t listen to anyone who tells you this was your fault and don´t blame yourself. These things can and do happen, even to the most careful of pet owners.

:hug9:
 

faislaq

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Welcome! :greet15:

How terrifying for all of you. I'm glad you didn't get to say your goodbyes right away and were actually able to bring her home instead! :bliss:Best turnaround ever!! I was really wondering when that "Happy Story" part was going to kick in. :whw:
 

CassMarie

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Ontario, Canada
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Cassandra
Welcome to the Avenue! View attachment 355842

Thankyou for coming and sharing your story - and quite the remarkable recovery story it is too!
You really did go above and beyond to save your little Beezlebub ❤

Please don´t listen to anyone who tells you this was your fault and don´t blame yourself. These things can and do happen, even to the most careful of pet owners.

:hug9:
Hi! Thank you so much for the welcome and your kind words. I really appreciate it. :) it also feels really good to just talk about it after all the months of stress and worry!

It's so hard sometimes to not listen to the negative, especially when I had already felt like it was my fault and that I didn't protect her. But accidents do happen and I'm so happy that she is still here and living her best (beakless) life.
 

Tiel Feathers

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Thanks for sharing your story, and I’m so glad it had a happy ending! She is beyond cute and obviously a very happy bird! :heart:
 

Ulis_Beast

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Welcome ro AA
:starshower: :starshower: :starshower:

Uff.. this is actually such an inspiring story... We give far too little credit to our feathered friends.. their adaptability is nothing short of incredible!
Beelzebub( :rofl:) is so cute! :heart:
...
I'm just curious... How does she preen herself? Side of lower beak tongue kinda thing?
Did the bone (or how much of it) in the upper beak come off too? Do you have x-rays maybe?
(Sorry, if I'm really nosey)
 

Shezbug

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I can't believe some of the things these little troopers can overcome with the right love and support.

Do the vets expect much more beak growth than what is there now? Is she by any chance a candidate for a prosthetic beak?
 

CassMarie

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Ontario, Canada
Real Name
Cassandra
Welcome ro AA
:starshower: :starshower: :starshower:

Uff.. this is actually such an inspiring story... We give far too little credit to our feathered friends.. their adaptability is nothing short of incredible!
Beelzebub( :rofl:) is so cute! :heart:
...
I'm just curious... How does she preen herself? Side of lower beak tongue kinda thing?
Did the bone (or how much of it) in the upper beak come off too? Do you have x-rays maybe?
(Sorry, if I'm really nosey)
I KNOW!!! I look at her sometimes and I think, wow!!!! She's adapted as if she's always had no beak and this is the way things have always been for her. She goes on with life, no problem. It's nuts :cheer:

LOL! Beelzebub ... it is honestly the perfect name for her. But thank you!! She is such a cutie.

She preens herself now by putting her feathers under her tongue!! She is also able to remove her pin feathers too when they are really soft. She can crumble them by getting them just in between the top of her tongue and the remaining beak tissue. I have to help her with her big wing feathers though, because she struggles getting those ones off. She doesn't really like when I'm poking at her wings and sometimes yells at me BUT it must be done. Hahaha. Unfortunately everything came off in the accident. The space below her nasal cavity where the beak begins, nothing was there. It was literally just an empty space. :sad4:. I have no xrays, but wonder if I could get them now that it's all over with. Hmmmm ....
 

CassMarie

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Cassandra
I can't believe some of the things these little troopers can overcome with the right love and support.

Do the vets expect much more beak growth than what is there now? Is she by any chance a candidate for a prosthetic beak?
I know!!! It's crazy how adaptable they can be!!

The vet doesn't expect any more tissue growth than what is there now. The beak was just too damaged so there was nothing left :sad4: ... she could potentially be a candidate for a prosthetic beak in future!! This is something I'm considering, but there are some things for me to think about. If she gets a prosthetic beak that is just stuck on with adhesive then it most definitely would fall off in future and also there may not be enough tissue for it to stick to. I would have to take her back to the vets every time it fell off and have it put back on. Then, next option would be to surgically attach the prosthetic. This option is way more invasive, and I would have to put her under anesthetic and it would be risky. I'm not sure I want to put her through anything like that if it isn't 100% necessary. The vet said that if she is doing well without the beak and she's eating and doing her normal things then she would actually just recommend leaving her as she is.
 

greys4u

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Great story, amazing how intelligent birds are. Don't worry about the trolls (as I call them) messages, they don't know what a great parront you are.
 

camelotshadow

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What a sad devastating injury & wonderful recovery story.
Its amazing that much beak grew back & that she has adapted.
So glad she is still with you & is living a happy life.

What a cutie she is even with her stubby beak.

:angel6: :cheer:
 
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