tonkatiel
09-10-2013, 07:28 AM
So I've been putting off sharing this as I feel so terrible - especially after saying just the other day how much I love my birds and that I'll make sure they all have fantastic long lives...
On Thursday night last week I woke up to Skittles (my newest Fid, the lorikeet) screaming... I ran out to the loungeroom to find a rat trying to pull him out of his cage by his wing... I live on a farm and I've always known we had rats outside in the sheds and what not, but I have NEVER seen evidence of them being inside, and had (stupidly) never thought my birds were in any danger from them...
Anyway, he was definitely stressed and in shock... I had lent my car to a friend the day before (and she then refused to answer her phone all night grrr!!!!) so I wasn't able to take him to the vet and our local vets will only do out of hours house calls if its to do with cattle :/ so I waited for him to calm down a bit, cleaned the wound (on the top of his wing, if he were human I would probably call it his shoulder), and then sat there in tears holding him for the rest of the night pretty much just waiting for him to pass...
After a few hours it was obvious he wasn't going anywhere quickly so I put him in a small cage next to my bed... He had a big feed and drink and then fell asleep perched on a branch... I decided these were all good signs so I tried to get some sleep...
Woke up a few hours later and then got a friend to drive us to the vet as soon as they opened... they gave his wing a proper clean and prescribed antibiotics to fight off any infections the rat might have shared... Skittles was stretching and flapping his wings lots which they said was great news as it meant there was no serious damage to his wing...
We went to a regular vet, as the closest avian vet is 4 hours away and with Skittles already stressed I wasn't sure how well he'd cope with the long drive. I've been to this vet with my other fids before though (just for the new bird health checks) and he seems very knowledgeable about avian health compared to what I've heard about other regular vets...
Anyway, Skittles seems to be doing well, he's just as friendly (and crazy) as always, is eating and drinking fine, 'cleaning' his wound, climbing around his temporary small cage a lot etc... He can't fly at the moment but he does keep trying, but he cant really gain any height and just drops :( I spoke to my vet earlier and he said thats normal but if I'm still worried at the end of the week I should take him back and they'll maybe put him under anesthetic so they can have a better look...
I know (and hope!) that rat attacks on companion parrots aren't that common - but just wondering if anyone has been through anything similar with there fids and able to tell me if the not being able to fly thing is temporary or not... I'm also wondering if maybe I should tape his wing to discourage him from trying to use it until its healed? I was meant to ask the vet earlier and completely forgot...
Sorry this is so long... I haven't decided yet if me or Skittles was in more shock when it happened lol, I'm just so happy he's still with me. I was absolutely devastated when it happened and just kept thinking that I hadn't even had him for a week yet and maybe everyone was right when they said I need to stop getting birds. If I hadn't bought him he'd either be safe with the breeder still, or with different parronts who don't have horrible bird eating rats...
I've already started looking for somewhere else to live... We're renting so its reasonably easy to move - my partner isn't too happy about it, but I can't risk this happening again...
On Thursday night last week I woke up to Skittles (my newest Fid, the lorikeet) screaming... I ran out to the loungeroom to find a rat trying to pull him out of his cage by his wing... I live on a farm and I've always known we had rats outside in the sheds and what not, but I have NEVER seen evidence of them being inside, and had (stupidly) never thought my birds were in any danger from them...
Anyway, he was definitely stressed and in shock... I had lent my car to a friend the day before (and she then refused to answer her phone all night grrr!!!!) so I wasn't able to take him to the vet and our local vets will only do out of hours house calls if its to do with cattle :/ so I waited for him to calm down a bit, cleaned the wound (on the top of his wing, if he were human I would probably call it his shoulder), and then sat there in tears holding him for the rest of the night pretty much just waiting for him to pass...
After a few hours it was obvious he wasn't going anywhere quickly so I put him in a small cage next to my bed... He had a big feed and drink and then fell asleep perched on a branch... I decided these were all good signs so I tried to get some sleep...
Woke up a few hours later and then got a friend to drive us to the vet as soon as they opened... they gave his wing a proper clean and prescribed antibiotics to fight off any infections the rat might have shared... Skittles was stretching and flapping his wings lots which they said was great news as it meant there was no serious damage to his wing...
We went to a regular vet, as the closest avian vet is 4 hours away and with Skittles already stressed I wasn't sure how well he'd cope with the long drive. I've been to this vet with my other fids before though (just for the new bird health checks) and he seems very knowledgeable about avian health compared to what I've heard about other regular vets...
Anyway, Skittles seems to be doing well, he's just as friendly (and crazy) as always, is eating and drinking fine, 'cleaning' his wound, climbing around his temporary small cage a lot etc... He can't fly at the moment but he does keep trying, but he cant really gain any height and just drops :( I spoke to my vet earlier and he said thats normal but if I'm still worried at the end of the week I should take him back and they'll maybe put him under anesthetic so they can have a better look...
I know (and hope!) that rat attacks on companion parrots aren't that common - but just wondering if anyone has been through anything similar with there fids and able to tell me if the not being able to fly thing is temporary or not... I'm also wondering if maybe I should tape his wing to discourage him from trying to use it until its healed? I was meant to ask the vet earlier and completely forgot...
Sorry this is so long... I haven't decided yet if me or Skittles was in more shock when it happened lol, I'm just so happy he's still with me. I was absolutely devastated when it happened and just kept thinking that I hadn't even had him for a week yet and maybe everyone was right when they said I need to stop getting birds. If I hadn't bought him he'd either be safe with the breeder still, or with different parronts who don't have horrible bird eating rats...
I've already started looking for somewhere else to live... We're renting so its reasonably easy to move - my partner isn't too happy about it, but I can't risk this happening again...