Broken blood feather fun

[Wilder]

Who needs children! Animals cause enough grey hair as it is!

Mira broke a blood feather this afternoon, though from the looks of her cage there appeared to have been a mutilation blood-bath going on. We rushed her off to the vet and then had to wait an hour for them to see us. An hour! While I can appreciate that a broken blood feather isn't necessarily a horrible life-endangering catastrophe, I was still worried silly with all the blood she had lost -- and I generally don't panic at the sight of blood. It's just there was so darn much of it I figured better safe than sorry. I've had budgies with broken blood feathers that I've pulled just fine, but none of them had ever lost so much blood as Mira seemed to.

When the vet finally remembered we were there, she breezed in and declared the problem to be a broken blood feather, told me to not feed seeds and to keep her on just pellets, and then suggested we do the well bird visit we had planned to do next week anyway. All is fine in the end, but the relatively uncaring manner of the vet and being treated as if I have the intellect of peanut butter when it comes to caring for my animals really didn't help my mood. I had called ahead to be sure they could see us, and you know, if they were so busy we had to wait an hour with a bird that just lost a lot of blood, they could have told me to call another vet. Even if Mira wasn't in danger, having someone pop their head in during that hour wait to see how we were doing would have calmed me greatly. It's sad that they're the only board-certified avian vet in the area; next time there's an emergency, I don't know that I will be going back to them.

I'm just glad Mira is all right, and a bit surprised she behaved so well. Hard to believe just so short a time ago she didn't want a hand anywhere near her, and now she let me hold her and manipulate her wing to check the wound with no issue. Well, almost no issue. I did get a few nibbles for my efforts, but she was otherwise an angel. I would have been heartbroken if anything had happened to her.

Really wasn't how I expectedto spend my afternoon, let me tell you.

[cpryslek]

in cases like that if you have a really good bird only store,i'd call them 1st, and explain to them what happened. why? because they more than likely know how to deal with a broken blood feather. i had a a bird that broke couple of blood feathers in her tail. i called a really good bird only store(casa la parrot in grand rapids,mi) and dawn pulled out the feathers for me. and she told me to bring her back in couple days just to check her. dawn had to get the rest of the feather out of the folicle, thats where it had broken at.

[cpryslek]

btw, my opionion should not take over medical care but it is an idea to think about for such things as a broken blood feathers and if your vets office is closed. at casa la parrot i know dawn and roy both knew what they are talking about. and if it was something they didn't feel comfortable dealing with then they would tell you to take to the vet.

[Tullysmom]

I am so sorry that happened to you and Mira. I don't blame you for being scared, I would be scared myself, especially that much blood for such a tiny little thing. I agree with cpryslek too. If you have a great bird store, or a respected bird rescue in your area or a bird club. Most of them will know how to pull a blood feather. My vet actually taught me how to do it. My birds have never actually had one, knock on wood, but it doesn't hurt to know how to do it just in case. This vet didn't show you?

Well, I'm glad everything worked out and Mira is fine. Poor little thing! Both of you!

[Zoe's Mom]

though from the looks of her cage there appeared to have been a mutilation blood-bath going on.

I know exactly what you mean. Zoe pulled a blood feather (a flight feather no less) on new Years Eve right in the middle of a room full of company. By the time I got her to the kitchen and got out the cornstarch, it looked like there had been a murder. I was wearing a white shirt and every time I tried to get a hold of her to apply the cornstarch she would flap her wings and splash blood across my face,chest and what ever other surface that got too close. Took almost an hour to clean the walls, floor, cabinets, refrigerator, stove....I think you get the picture. It amazed me how such a little thing could bleed so much. I got lots of great advice here to help her get better. I found that feeding her apples made her the happiest. They replenished her fluids and offered nutritional value at the same time. Good luck with Mira. I hope she is feeling herself real soon.

[Wilder]

I'm happy to report that Mira is back to her normal self. She was a bit sleepy and not so active the past two days, which the vet said was likely to happen due to the blood loss. Today, you couldn't tell a thing was wrong with her, and judging by her chattering and running around she's feeling just fine.

Now, if this ever happens again hopefully I won't panic quite so badly. I have pulled blood feathers before with my other birds, but none have bled quite so much as this darn thing had. Oh well... it's all a learning experience, right? At least we know she's healthy!

Oh, and Zoe's Mom -- thanks for that suggestion, Mira tore into a piece of apple and had a lot of fun flinging it around while eating it. I'm sure it helped perk her spirits up a bit as well, judging by the fun she had attacking it.