Urgent What we came home to...(graphic pics)..

[Beanurita]

...scared me so so much!!

Hubby just got home after being gone a week so he decided to take us all to dinner for his first night home. I put Charlie away, checked on all the birdies, gave them all something yummy to eat.....all was good, every birdie was happy & off we went! This was about 4:30 PST....

Fast forward to about 7pm.....we (Jake & I) went to say hi to the birdies (which we always do when coming home) and when I got to the boy budgies We were horrified! Loshi's head was covered with blood!!! We acted quickly by removing him from the shared flight cage which he barely resisted (no surprise)! He shares a house with Rio & Sparrow. We did have to towel him since even thought he wasn't trying fiercely to get away he sure was still biting us as hard as possible. Loshi definitely have a big bite for such a title one!! One he was toweled he calmed down and seemed much more comfortable.

We took Loshi to the bathroom to clean him up a bit so we can see what was under all that dried blood! He jus layed in the towel as if he knew we were helping him. Once we got a lot of the blood off we were able to see a bite on the top of his head! Thankfully, Loshi's eye and nare are unharmed.

I've called the ER vet here and they don't have anyone to care for him that has the knowledge of birds. There are no AV in my area but there is a vet that has tons of experience with birds but he isn't available till Monday! With tomorrow being Easter its seems that I will have to wait till Monday to get Loshi seen! In the meantime, I've noticed that he is still bleeding slightly from the bite....what can o use to stop any further bleeding? I seem to remember cornstarch is something that can be used to stop bleeding?

We have set him up on a small hospital house for now as he recovers from his injury. Jake is keeping him close by to keep an eye on Loshi & plans to sleep with Loshi next to him (in his hospital cage of course)!

In the meantime, is there anything else we can do for Loshi other than the hospital cage and making him comfortable?

Pre-cleaning (warm water & a q-tip used only)


Post cleaning....if you look close you can see the bite marks

Sorry, the towel kinda disguised Loshi in the towel



Loshi is currently quietly resting in his hospital cage next to Jake as he reads

 

[Beanurita]

We found the culprits of the bite!! It was Rio....or so it seems since he has a few blood spots on his cheek.....Rio in not injured!!

 

[camelotshadow]

Sorry, I guess its best to wash the wound & put something on it for germs & lately seems some people don't like peroxide though I'm not sure what the problem is with it. Maybe something like betadine

Caring for Parrot Bite Wounds

Common Bird Injuries & First Aid

Peroxide is listed as OK

If it doesn;t stop bleeding can mix cornstarch maybe with some flour & cayenne powder.

I'd clean & disinfect first & perhaps apply antibiotic ointment as suggested.

See if it stops bleeding then apply cornstarch.

I think its important to clean the wound first so that it does not get infection

Hopefully he won't need a vet or this helps til Monday

 

[Heather F]

Oh no, poor Loshi! What unfortunate timing that you can't get him seen right away! I'm sure that keeping him warm and quiet will help in the mean time, but I'm sure that folks will be chiming in with expert advice soon.

Hugs...

 

[fluffypoptarts]

Oh goodness! I'm glad the poor little guy is still in one piece, more or less! I hope he recovers well.

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

I am so sorry!

Even if he wasn't able to be seen by the vet... do you think taking him in and getting him weighed, then having them send you home with a pain medication would be a possibility? As in maybe another vet there could at least authorize it?

I am starting to think having pain meds on hand for birds wouldn't be a bad thing. I felt horrible for Yoshi when his toe somehow got severed, waiting for his appointment time and no pain meds to give him.

 

[Sylvi_]

I'm so sorry this happened! Poor Loshi.
I'm glad you came home just in time, all I can recommend is to keep him calm and warm, and the wound as clean as possible till Monday.

Sending hugs for you and him, as well as prayers for a speedy recovery.

 

[rompydompy]

Poor thing! I second what everyone else has said; if it were me, I'd have cleaned him up as you did with a q tip and soapy water, then gunked the wound up a bit with triple antibiotic. Ive heard cornstarch or even flour can be used as a clotting agent. Maybe a heating pad under his cage and keep his cage covered.... Hope he's on the mend soon!

 

[JLcribber]

You may need to reconsider keeping an odd number of birds in one cage. It leads to trouble more often than not.

 

[rocky'smom]

Corn starch or all purpose flour mixed with 50 /50 with cayenne pepper.

 

[Beanurita]

Thank you everyone!! I did go back and clean the wound better with a tiny bit of soap (blue dawn) and put some ointment on it since it stopped bleeding. Before bed, he started to chatter and sing a bit while sitting next to Jake in his little cage which is good sign, I think. Right now, Loshi is in his little cage covered and settled in for bed in my 2 older son's (Jake, 14 & Josh, 11) room for the night. Jake want to keep Loshi close by in case of...well.....anything!

Tomorrow AM, well see how Loshi is going wand chemo on the wound and of course update you then! Thanks again!!

 

[rocky'smom]

just be careful not to get any cayenne in or near his eyes. Rocky had horrible eye infection from it.

 

[camelotshadow]

Good point about the cayenne as it could fall into his eyes or be brushed by his foot across the eye area.
I guess in this case leave out the cayenne.

If the wound has stopped bleeding by itself let it clot naturally.

Hope he is OK

 

[enigma731]

One of my birds had a bite wound just like that on her head (also from a former cagemate), and the vet advised me to clean it but not put anything on it because leaving it open would be best for healing. He was right -- it looked totally horrendous when it initially happened, but it healed just fine in a couple of days. Skin on the head is tender, so wounds there often look nastier than they are.

 

[Beanurita]

You may need to reconsider keeping an odd number of birds in one cage. It leads to trouble more often than not.

The odd # was a recent change as the 2 boys from January's clutch went to their new home this last weekend.....we are considering looking for a young unrelated male to join them......and yes we understand they may not "like" a new fellow but hopefully after quarantine and chatting from afar then putting their cages next to each other for a bit before starting introduction during out of cage time before seeing how they get along in the same house. So far I've had some pretty good luck with introducing Budgies to each other.......otherwise, we'll have to play it by ear!

 

[Beanurita]

just be careful not to get any cayenne in or near his eyes. Rocky had horrible eye infection from it.

Thankfully, the wound stopped bleeding on its own!!

One of my birds had a bite wound just like that on her head (also from a former cagemate), and the vet advised me to clean it but not put anything on it because leaving it open would be best for healing. He was right -- it looked totally horrendous when it initially happened, but it healed just fine in a couple of days. Skin on the head is tender, so wounds there often look nastier than they are.

I did put a very very small amount of antibiotic on the wound so that the area can still "breath" for the night.....don't plan on putting on alymore but will still clean the area as needed

 

[iamwhoiam]

Sorry about Loshi. I am applying some topical antibiotic drops on SETI's head wound but got those from the emergency vet. You can apply a little bit of Neosporin...not the cream one with the pain relief, just the regular ointment. Just be careful not to get it in his eye. The Neosporin was recommended by my vet in the past and I used it on SETI before I took him to the emergency vet.

 

[camelotshadow]

Anyone ever used 10 + rated manuka honey on wounds?
I don't know if its recommended on birds but I have used it on myself & it really seems to speed up healing.

 

[painesgrey]

I've heard of manuka honey being used by vets for wound debridement and healing on small animals, but I'm not sure it's something I (personally) would use on feathers. Since it's not somewhere he can preen and keep clean on his own, I think it'd probably just make things messy. Messy wounds are no bueno, IMO.

 

[enigma731]

Yeah, I've always been taught that you never want to put anything on a bird's head that will mess up the feathers too badly because their first instinct will be to wipe it all over the rest of their body and then you have a much bigger mess.