Avian First Aid

For more information on specific symptoms and whether they need immediate vet care, read here. Always consult with a vet about your bird’s condition, especially if it appears sick or injured. This post is intended to help you do immediate care before actual medical treatment is administered.

Short Term First Aid Instructions:

You need to provide several things in order to stabilize your bird before taking it to a vet. Most of these things can be covered by basic care and a hospital tank or cage:

Great hospital tank for smaller birds.

Hospital Tank/Cage:This is a cage or flat bottomed tank that has no perches. The bird must save energy by sitting on the bottom, preferably on a soft towel. Food and water should be immediately accessible to the bird from where they sit, they should have to make no extra effort to nourish themselves. Give favorite foods that are never turned down at this time- the point is to make sure calories are being consumed!




Warmth:

Great tank to adapt for a larger bird.

Keep bird in warm environment (unless indicated otherwise in the chart above) of 85-90 F (29- 32 C). A heating pad or water bottle under or clipped to a corner the cage (with a perch or nesting area there in the corner), a reptile heater or lamp (75-100 watts, away from where bird can come into contact), or an incubator specifically for this purpose can be used. Be careful not to overheat. Monitor the bird every so often to ensure this. Too hot would be panting, holding wings out away from the body. Too cold would be feathers fluffed up for an extended period.

Food and Water:
Keep favorite foods and water close to sleeping area, so little effort is exerted on looking for food. Millet spray or nuts are usually treats for birds and eaten.

Also a great hospital tank, without the perch.

Sleeping/Resting area:
Birds who are too weak to perch, have paralysis, or fractures should have perches removed from the cage & given a soft clean place to sleep (paper towels are insulation & can be easily cleaned up & replaced and make a good sleeping area) at the bottom of the cage.

Energy:
Small birds become debilitated faster than larger birds. A few drops of warm (not hot), strong coffee solution (That’s right! We said coffee! We KNOW it’s toxic in frequent doses, but it will not hurt your bird in this small, one-time amount) with a high concentration of sugar, administered with a syringe or eye dropper can provide a burst of energy in order to get the bird to a vet if they are on their last legs. Gatorade or Pedialyte can also be given at any point during this time for hydration.

Medications:
Do NOT give the bird over-the-counter medications from the pet shop, especially antibiotics. These are too weak to work & may skew vet lab results, delaying proper treatment.

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Over-the-Counter Medicines and Birds

Why should you avoid giving your bird ANY meds without first seeing an avian vet?

1. While saving money is important in these times, saving your bird is even more so. Most over-the-counter medications (especially the antibiotics) DO NOT WORK. They are too weak to do the job you want them to do.

2. You also may be using an improper medication, as you are not a vet and have done no tests to determine what the problem is with your bird. (Commonly people treat for bacteria when their bird has yeast- I’ve seen that one plenty of times.)You will either wind up taking your bird to the vet after using these meds anyway or having the bird die, I guarantee you.

3. Further, using these “medicines” will skew the tests that the vet will inevitably need to do, thereby delaying proper treatment even further.

Do your bird a favor- when it seems sick, take it to a (preferably Board Certified) Avian Vet. Get it tested and get the real stuff. Your bird will thank you.

Any store that would sell you over-the-counter medicines is a bad store, period. They just wanna sell you something, even if it means killing your bird or extending its suffering in the process. There’s even one that “vets” put their name on that will do this, and it has gotten them in trouble with their vet peers- because it is unethical to take advantage of people using your vet reputation and degree to sell snake oil.

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Hospital Tanks

Sick parrot?

A hospital tank or cage is a place that the bird can rest and stabilize when it is sick or injured.

Therefore, it has no perches they must balance on- it is a small enclosed space with a flat bottom. It is soft on the bottom (towels are great for this). It has easy access to food & water, and is kept warm on one half of the enclosure (one half, so that if the bird feels overheated, it can self-regulate by going from one end to another).

If you have birds, you need to have one of these already. You don’t want to be unprepared in an emergency and have to leave your bird in critical condition while you search for one at the 24 hour pet store (is there such a thing?).

For small birds, a “critter keeper” (used to temporarily house hamsters, mice or tarantulas) works very well. For medium birds, a small cage with perches removed is good and for large birds, a large dog kennel or rubbermaid storage bin works well.

(Here’s what a critter keeper looks like):



Things you must have for your hospital tank:


1. heat source.
Half of the hospital tank is warmed by a heating pad (outside the cage, not in) or a ceramic or infared heat bulb. It is important to keep sick or injured birds at least 85-90 F (29- 32 C). The other half is kept at room temperature, so that they can regulate their own temperature by walking from one side to another. Be sure and monitor the temperature on the warm side. Sometimes things get a little too hot, especially if the heat source is directly touching the tank. Panting is a sign that they are overheated and you should try a different method or turn it down.

2. easy access to food and water.
I use small heavy shallow ceramic crocks in my hospital tanks. They do not easily tip over and are easily accessed by a sick bird.

3. towels.
Clean ones to change on the bottom (note: pick tightly woven discloths rather than looped terrycloth for small birds- their tiny talons get caught in the loops, causing them to fall and struggle) and one to drape over part of the tank to calm the bird down.

4. food- any food that the bird will eat.
Now is not the time to be persnickety about avian nutrition. A bird can take a serious nosedive if not eating when sick or injured.

Think: they poop about every 15-20 minutes. Their metabolisms are really fast. They need a constant source of high energy food. So if your bird won’t eat their regular nutritious diet, lure them with something they love but isn’t all that great nutritionally- millet spray, peanut butter, avi-cakes, whatever!

If your bird is really going downhill fast and needs a last minute boost as you are taking them to the vet, strong black coffee with sugar, administered with a dropper or syringe can make the difference between life and death. This is not something you would normally give them, as it is hard on the organs, but it can kick start their metabolisms in an emergency.

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Emergency!

OK- your bird has managed to get sick or injured on a Saturday night and the vet isn’t around until Monday AM. What should you do?

FIRST- don’t panic.
I know it’s hard, but calm down and breathe.
Panicking will only make your judgement less than accurate and probably freak out your bird.

SECOND- assess the situation.
Is the bird stable, even if harmed? Do they accept scritches, eat and drink and poop regularly?
You need to determine if triage is necessary with a non-avian vet or of the bird is stable enough to wait it out in a hospital tank until your vet is available.
If the bird flinches, screams, or acts aggressive to your hands coming near (especially if this is out of the ordinary behavior for your bird) that is a sign that there is a lot of discomfort. indeed, any sudden change in behavior, even “positive” ones (like a stand-offish bird suddenly wants to cuddle) is a sign that something may be wrong.

This wingabago carrier can act as a perfect
hospital cage for a larger bird.

THIRD- accomodate your bird being sick or injured.
This requires you to have certain items on hand BEFORE your bird is harmed. So plan ahead with a gram scale, bird first aid kit and hospital tank. See below for info on what is in a hospital tank and first aid kit. Read further to get short term first aid instructions.

FOURTH- call your regular vet and leave a message that you will be coming in as soon as they open on the next available vet day. Call your work and let them know you will not be in as you are taking an animal to the vet. And if your bird needs immediate care (a broken limb, an animal attack, on the bottom of the cage, listless are all examples of need for immediate care), find the nearest 24/7 emergency vet clinic. They can do triage in the meantime.

Tip: I keep magnets on my fridge of all the avian vets and all the emergency vets in my area (as well as my vet’s contact info). Even though I know the information professionally, having it right in front of me when I am freaking out makes a world of difference, believe me.

This post was written by Squawk and Howl. 

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Medicating Your Bird

NEVER buy over-the-counter medicines to treat your bird. Please establish a relationship with a Board Certified Avian Vet (BCAV) and take your bird to them when s/he is sick. Read more about that here.

Once you have real medicine that has been prescribed by your vet and a sick birdie to orally administer them to, the task can seem overwhelming. Read this great article on medicating birds for good technique.

How to find a Good Avian Vet

The term "avian vet" can be misleading. Any vet can use that term, regardless of their education, certification, or experience. All that is required is a willingness to treat birds! Therefore, it is best to find a "Board Certified Avian Vet"- one who has worked on birds a minimum of 6 years and has taken a rigorous exam (and passed).

How to find a Board Certified Avian Vet vet near you: ABVP.com (Search the "Find a Diplomate" database and pick "avian" as the specialty.)

You need to plan for emergencies, which means buy a Gram Scale! Assemble a First Aid Kit! Keep it stocked!

While we in the Bay Area are lucky to have several wonderful Board Certified Avian (BCA) Vets nearby, if you found this page and do not live here, the nearest avian vet may be hours away from you. This is due to the fact that there are only a couple hundred avian vets in the whole WORLD. If this is the case, you should do a bit of research and find a second if not third vet within a proper travel distance. Find the nearest BCA vet in case you birds life is in danger and you need someone that KNOWS what to do about it and fast. Then, find the nearest non-certified avian vet that specializes in birds. If that vet is quite a distance away local your nearest vet that accepts birds. Some vets only take dogs/cats, cows, horse, ect ect... You need contact them and speak with them to find out.
Given that avian medicine and nutrition are a new science that is advancing all the time, you may find that there is no Board Certified Avian Vet near you. In that case, ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS of any prospective vet. Many of these avian vets are wonderful- and are indeed studying toward the Avian Medicine Exam. (It does take 6 years of practice before they can take this test, remember.) The first question on your list should be, "How many birds do you see in your practice DAILY?" The answer that is best for your bird will be at least "four". Any less and they most likely do not have enough experience. Then ask what sorts of birds they have treated, and what sorts of conditions. Here are links to find vets treating birds:

toolady.com
babybirds.com
AAV.org
parrotmag.com

Also research emergency care. What happens if your bird gets stepped on at 9 PM at night? If it can't stand or is bleeding out its mouth. A broken wing or leg. An accident in the kitchen. What do you do? Who do you call? You should already know. Not knowing is irresponsible neglect of any pet. Researching vets does not cost you a penny but can save you a bundle of money and grief in the future.

Other Emergency Medical Contacts:

ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center (USA) 24-hour emergency phone number: 1-888-426-4435
(Vets are available to help 24-hours a day, but you are charged a fee for the call)