- Nov 12, 2010
- 16
- 1
- 75
Hello, I have some new babies, and had them in a crate with fine (1/4") wire all around, except the very top. I did not realize they had started to fly a bit, and I had a cat jump up on top (I honestly do not know how it got up there, as I had it up very high, and had nothing around it for it to get any leverage from). The cat apparently reached through a small hole in the top, and as this one baby Polish chick flew up, it must have caught it, and apparently pulled it up and tried to bite it's head/neck up through the top.
I heard the commotion and ran out and chased the cat away, but found this little one with bite marks around her head and neck, and a large sort of puncture/flap on the right side, just where her neck joins her body. She is so tiny, that even though I washed her, dried her and just held her in a warm towel until she was dry, and then put antibiotic ointment in the "hole", as hard as I tried to find a way to bandage it, no matter what I put over it (she had started pecking at herself, is why I went back and tried to come up with a bandage), it is too heavy for her - and she just falls forward and cannot hold her head up.
I didn't think she would make it the first night (this happened Friday am), but I slept in the spare room and kept her on a towel on a heating pad, in the bed with me - she was so upset that she could not be with her little friends. But, I awoke just about every hour and would just touch her enough that she would move a little or flicker her eyes, so she made it.
I have tried the neosporin pain relief cream and ointment, the wound coat spray, and she does seem to be doing much better - she is quite active and hops all around - I have her in a seperate crate facing the others, so she IS right next to them, but she is still upset.
The main problem is that this wound/flap thing, is still fully open and even though last night, I was able to manage to make two tiny butterfly bandage tapes stay on just barely, it keeps filling up and bulging out. Plus, when I put the bandages on, it really causes her a lot of anxiety, and she runs all around, backwards. I watched her drink today, and a second or so after she drank, I noticed the water come out the hole - so I know her esophagus is punctured. She must be getting enough food and water down there, but the stuff that is coming out - I think is a combination of food and pus.
I have called several people, but haven't had any luck getting any help - because I think that she just needs to have that thing stitched shut - and if I had local anesthetic and dissolving suture thread and a proper needle, I think I could stitch it myself - but I can't get anyone to help me. At first, I thought perhaps it would start to form a scab and close up, but I don't think that is going to happen.
She is such a plucky little thing - and I know that if this is not closed up, she will only be able to last for so long. I even called the "Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary" (I'm in FL) which takes in all injured birds, but if I take her there, I have to surrender her to them, and she is my pet, so I am NOT doing that.
I would try superglue, but if it dripped into her esophagus, that would kill her for sure, so that is not an option.
Any ideas? Please feel free to email me at "[email protected]"
Thanks!
I heard the commotion and ran out and chased the cat away, but found this little one with bite marks around her head and neck, and a large sort of puncture/flap on the right side, just where her neck joins her body. She is so tiny, that even though I washed her, dried her and just held her in a warm towel until she was dry, and then put antibiotic ointment in the "hole", as hard as I tried to find a way to bandage it, no matter what I put over it (she had started pecking at herself, is why I went back and tried to come up with a bandage), it is too heavy for her - and she just falls forward and cannot hold her head up.
I didn't think she would make it the first night (this happened Friday am), but I slept in the spare room and kept her on a towel on a heating pad, in the bed with me - she was so upset that she could not be with her little friends. But, I awoke just about every hour and would just touch her enough that she would move a little or flicker her eyes, so she made it.
I have tried the neosporin pain relief cream and ointment, the wound coat spray, and she does seem to be doing much better - she is quite active and hops all around - I have her in a seperate crate facing the others, so she IS right next to them, but she is still upset.
The main problem is that this wound/flap thing, is still fully open and even though last night, I was able to manage to make two tiny butterfly bandage tapes stay on just barely, it keeps filling up and bulging out. Plus, when I put the bandages on, it really causes her a lot of anxiety, and she runs all around, backwards. I watched her drink today, and a second or so after she drank, I noticed the water come out the hole - so I know her esophagus is punctured. She must be getting enough food and water down there, but the stuff that is coming out - I think is a combination of food and pus.
I have called several people, but haven't had any luck getting any help - because I think that she just needs to have that thing stitched shut - and if I had local anesthetic and dissolving suture thread and a proper needle, I think I could stitch it myself - but I can't get anyone to help me. At first, I thought perhaps it would start to form a scab and close up, but I don't think that is going to happen.
She is such a plucky little thing - and I know that if this is not closed up, she will only be able to last for so long. I even called the "Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary" (I'm in FL) which takes in all injured birds, but if I take her there, I have to surrender her to them, and she is my pet, so I am NOT doing that.
I would try superglue, but if it dripped into her esophagus, that would kill her for sure, so that is not an option.
Any ideas? Please feel free to email me at "[email protected]"
Thanks!
