Bobcat Attack: No Apparent Injuries, But Now What?

[boopsqueak]

Hello,
Our Cream Legbar, Marjy was attacked earlier this afternoon by a bobcat. The cat was hiding under our front porch, and pounced on her as she was about to go under. My sister and I were able to chase the bobcat away, and it left poor Marjy and fled toward the woods. Thank God it didn't take Marjy, and didn't grab any more of our birds.
Marjy began fleeing toward the coop, but she was obviously very badly scared. We brought her inside, and she is now in our basement with a heat lamp and a bowl of water with sugar and electrolytes. She is alert, aware of what's going on, and can stand up, but seems weak and in shock. We dipped her beak in the sugar water mixture, and she drank a little, but I'm not sure if she's drinking much on her own. She did just eat a little bit of moistened watermelon, though!
I haven't checked her for injuries yet, as I didn't want to stress her. When should I check her, should she have a little more rest if she is in shock, or is it okay to handle her now? If she has any wounds, we have FishMox on hand, as well as FishFlex and Baytril.
Is there anything else we should be doing? If she does have woulds, what should we use to clean them? We have Veterycin, Chlorhexidine, povidone iodine, and could probably mix up a bit of Dakin's solution! Thank you!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I would check her ASAP. If she has wounds, the sooner you treat them, the better. Don't start antibiotics unless you see evidence of infection. If you see wounds, clean with the Chlorhexidine, pat dry with a clean towel and coat with triple antibiotic ointment that does not have pain reliever ointment in it. Bruising may show up green in a day or two.

 

[boopsqueak]

I actually did check her over soon after the first post. I checked her neck, as well as her back and under her wings. I didn't see any blood, even when I parted her feathers, though I didn't part them down to the skin, because she seemed to be getting stressed. (I can't imagine checking a Cochin for wounds, they're so fluffy it would be a nightmare!). I would imagine if there were any wounds, however, there would be more blood, but if you think I should check again, then I will. Thanks for the advice! I'm glad we have a relatively well-stocked first aid kit.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is the heat lamp necessary? Be sure she can move to a cooler area if she wishes.

 

[boopsqueak]

Is the heat lamp necessary? Be sure she can move to a cooler area if she wishes.

She can move away from it. I had read that it is best to keep a chicken in shock in a warm place. It's not terribly hot here today, and she is in the basement, which is always rather cool.
We checked her again and she doesn't have any wounds, which is a relief. She still seems weak, though, and I'm not sure how much of the electrolyte water she has been drinking without assistance. She ate some more watermelon, though. At what point should we try to syringe water into her? She got rather stressed when we checked her for wounds.

 

[boopsqueak]

Update! Mar just ate a lot of watermelon! Though still weak, she is moving around a little and bending down to pick things out of her food dish, which leads me to believe that she is probably drinking as well. (Her food is moistened).

 

[ChicNmom]

I wouldn't syringe water into her unless she starts to look dehydrated. Maybe offer some scrambled egg if she likes that. I wouldn't do too much sugar water. Does she have the option of plain water to drink?

She could be sore from being pounced on. In my experience, chickens in pain don't have much of an appetite. If you think she is in pain you could give some low dose aspirin if you don't have something in the meloxicam family of meds.

I'd just let her rest and keep an eye on her for limping or wing injuries.

 

[boopsqueak]

Marjy is looking a lot better this morning. She is still moving rather slowly, but ate a lot of watermelon and some black soldier fly larvae. She appears to be somewhat stiff/sore, however. She kept looking as if she wanted to preen, but couldn't really turn herself enough to get to her preen gland. We have Ibuprofen, but we may wait to use that. I don't really like using it with birds.
No sign of internal injuries yet. Her output seems normal, though a bit liquid (she hasn't been eating much except watermelon).

 

[boopsqueak]

Good news! Marjy is back out in the coop with the others. Later on Thursday afternoon, she began to wail and then wished to go outside. She walked across the yard to the coop, tail up, looking back to normal. Freckles, our rooster, was ecstatic. He kept running around and wailing. Marjy wanted to go into the coop, and after a good deal of wailing and adorable preparation of her nest, laid an egg! She seemed a little tired afterward, so she stayed indoors for another night, and was released into the general population the next morning. She is doing fine. It's not every chicken who can walk away from a bobcat attack without a scratch and lay an egg the day after—that's our Queen Marjy! Thanks to everyone who helped us out with this, and I'm sorry about the delay in posting.