tail feathers

[SPRITE]

My dog just pulled out every one of my cockatiels tail feathers. Is his life in danger? Will they grow back? If so, is there anything I can do in aiding in the regrowth? The bleeding has stopped, but I'm still very worried. Please, if you have any info, I'd like to hear from you.

[Freedomoflight]

Was your cockatiel bite by your dog? Are there bite marks or pucnture wounds on your bird? If so, rush him ot the vet, as dog and cat salivia is life threatening to our fids.
If if the only grabbed the birds tail, and did not touch any other part of the bird (inspect the bird carefully to make sure) give your bird a bath and a once over. Rub some antibiotic ointment on his tail area, I would suggest neopspoirn with pain reliver, and watch to see that he does not pick at the area. If he does, wrap him up in some gauze bandages or an ace wrap. You do not want him to pick at his wound and make it worse, it will cause him pain and will delay the wound from healing.
You might want to add some gatorade or some sort of sport drink to his water (just a small amount) for the electrolytes, having your tail pulled out by a dog is a tramuatic event. Keep your eye on him for the next couple hours. Does he look lethargic?
Sit on the bottom of his cage, fluffed up? If so, take him to the vet, immeditatly.
The tail feathers will start growing back immediatly, tail feathers grow back as soon as they are lost, but some of the follicles might have been damaged by the dog. So he might have a scimpy tail. Time will tell. If he looks and acts Ok, and his droppings look normal and his tail starts growing back, great! Keep your eye on him, but still take him for a check up in a week or two, just to make sure everything is going allright.

[Skyebirdsmom]

Gosh keep that dog AWAY from your bird!!!!!! Hope he's alright!
Linda & Skye~

[The Outlaw]

Please listen to me:

Your dog has now successfully hunted your bird. That means that he will ABSOLUTELY attempt more in the future. To protect your bird, you MUST make certain that the dog NEVER again has contact with it. If you cannot do so, then please find your bird a safer home.

I know that sounds harsh, but that's really the way it is. You have to understand the real danger here. Your bird will NEVER be able to outfight any dog and your dog now has something to stalk. Its really the way it is.

If your bird has sustained no back injury (pulling all of its tail feathers might very well hurt its back) and the bleeding is under control, you may have been lucky this time. The feathers should start regrowing very quickly. Your bird loves you and depends on you for everything. Don't let him down. JMHO

[SPRITE]

Cypher is growing his feathers back. He has six so far. Quite an accomplishment. I never thought they would come in so fast. Maggie is no longer allowed in the house. Now when Sassy and Bojangles are in the house Cypher and Lynnard are safely locked in their cage. I am wondering if the calcium powder that we put in his food helped in them growing back so quickly. He was already on a strict regiment of vitamins, fruits, vegetables, bread, sunflower seeds, and seeds in his diet. He was severly undernourished when we got him. I had never seen a bird so skinny. The other thing that I am extremely happy about is that although this event was definantly traumatizing he still ate like a pig and now you can hardly see his breast bone. He is growing stronger and stronger every day. Because the "breeder" cut his feathers in such a wierd way - all of them cut on one side and the other side left 3 or 4 flight feathers and cut all of the others - he was/is able to use his long flight feathers as a balancing tool. Anyway, I apologize for taking so long in replying to your comments. I was so panicked that I posted my message in a couple of places and was checking there.

Outlaw, your message wasn't harsh, you're right it was the truth. My little ones can't defend themselves against much. It was just so wierd - the dogs and the birds were together lots and lots but not without us. It was raining and the dogs were on the front porch. Cypher flew down on the floor and no one was there to protect him. It was an accident, an avoidable accident, and one that won't happen again.