Hi all! I've not been here for a while and hope all is well with you. I started working more than full time lately and real life gets in the way too. But here's a story ... an on going one ... about a bird I am caring for right now.
It's a loooong story because he's been here more than week but it was well worth for us to meet one another. ;D
He had an accident.Hello all. He was flying across the street without looking both ways first and was struck by a car. Luckily the people in the very next car witnessed the accident and stopped to pick up the unconscious American Robin. They placed him in a box and immediately brought him to see me.
Having recovered somewhat, the Robin was fluttering in a panic and perhaps he ~could~ fly be I needed to make sure all was well before he could be released.
Well ... CRAP!
He had a slight head tilt to the right, his right eye was closed and he was breathing very rapidly. Upon closer examination, his right pupil was the size of a pinpoint and the other eye appeared normal. That is a sure sign of brain trauma. There is a *slight* dent in the top of the skull too. I could find no other fractures.
His head drifted to the side a few times as he lapsed out of consciousness but I told him to hang in there ... and he did.He was given intravenous steroids for the control of shock, brain swelling and pain control, some fluids and was immediately placed in an oxygen tank to get a higher concentration of oxygen. That is the most important part of the therapies for brain swelling and concussion. The system had added heat to keep the little beat up Robin warm.
And we waited....
Within 20 minutes he was able to keep his head up without falling over. Within 30 minutes his right eye opened and I could see the pupil was not as contracted as it had been.
RAH!
He's doing better! And then he started to move around his toweled enclosure. I covered the oxygen tank with a towel so he would not flutter and further stress himself. The lady who brought him in asked if she could see him and she was happy to see him standing and walking around.
"What's his name" the lady asked?
Barry! His name is Barry.
Barry continued on oxygen through the day. Later in the afternoon he was given a bowl of water, chopped grapes, pine nuts and mealworms. He did appreciate the grapes and went to sleep .........Later in the day he finished the mealworms, the grapes, had a drink (and a poop) in the water.
The right eye was intermittently closed. I brought Barry home and continued the oxygen supplementation, the heating pad for added warmth and more food. He ate many mealworms, waxworms and earthworms. Barry has had medication for his pain, concussion and antibiotics plus the oxygen for three days. The supplemental oxygen concentration was slowly decreased yesterday afternoon and today he has been without the added oxygen for four hours now. He continues to do well.
In a few days I'll take him to the avian specialist and the ophthalmologist to have a more thorough exam and evaluation. She types with fingers crossed .... I believe Barry will survive his trauma. The only issue would be if there was damage to the eye. I saw no bleeding within the eye as we did with Mr. Cardinal so maybe he'll be OK. Hopefully once his skull fracture is healed and his eyes are verified as healthy, Barry can once again go outside and do what Robins do.
~*~*SIGH*~*~
And so the struggle to help the birdies, or whoever, continues......
Here's Barry within hours of his arrival in the oxygen tank.
~~~~~~~>Barry continues to improve and get stronger. His right eye stays open almost as much as his left although he still seeks the darker area of his ICU. He also tends to stay where the heat source is located more than not. The pupils appear to be the same size now.
Mr. Cardinal wanted to be kept warmer for a few weeks as he recovered; Barry will decide for himself when he no longer needs the added warmth. Mr. Cardinal had the chamber of his eye filled with blood ... just like one would see in a human eye injury of his severity. Barry doesn't have blood in the chamber. His trauma is more of the brain and reflected itself in changes of the eye.
Too early to tell about his ability to be released. He will get an evaluation by the avian vet and another opinion from the vet ophthalmologist. I don't know if there are specific vet. avian ophthalmologists but this vet ophthalmologist will evaluate eyes of birds and most everything else. I know of one vet ophthalmologist who will examine all species except reptiles. Personal choice I guess.
It may be that the best measure of the severity of the injury has nothing to do with pupil size or head tilt but rather our
Receptionist, Olive the Yellow-naped Amazon Parrot. When she saw Frosty the baby squirrel she thought his conditions was
"Very worrisome." Our little beat up mouse was determined to be
"Ooooooohhhhh!" I brought Barry in and set up the oxygen tank at home with the usual questions of
What's that? Whatcha doing?... " She saw the Robin and asked in her most proper English ..
Who dat birdy? I told her that this is Barry."
Well, HiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! How are you? You're a pretty birdy. HiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" It seems she knows he has a better chance. Barry continues to get his medication and he's eating very well. So far so good.
Then a day or so later ... Barry * He flies! And poops on the curtain rod! LOL!
All is well. We enlisted the help of our esteemed ~welcoming comittee~, namely his speckled highness, Kramer the Starling and baby Cheeky the Ring-necked Dove. I opened the door to the aviary and called Kramer and Baby Cheeky out into the living room. Being the good boys they are, they promptly came out to see what's up.
While they were given some treats and I went about giving Olive the Parrot some grapes and water ... Barry was watching. Soon Kramer took up his favorite position .. on top of my head! Baby Cheeky was perched on my shoulder and I went about whatever I needed to do. Barry flew down and landed on a branch next to Olive.
Oooooooo! She's in love!
HiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiii Sweetheart! You the pretty bird? You the pretty bird! Kramer flew over to Barry and they just looked at each other. After about a half minute Kramer introduced himself.
I'm sweet sweet Kramer! Sweet! Sweet! (~Wolf Whistle~) He's always the *perfect* host.
I'm sure Barry had no idea what to make of these characters but seemed to be put at ease that these birds are NOT frightened by me. I sat on the couch and played with Baby Cheeky and Barry flew down and ran past me and went up on the planter next to where I was sitting. I talked to Barry and told him that although he looks *very* delicious, I was not going to eat him. As I talked to him I got ready to grab for him.
GOTCHA!
He was placed back in his ICU. Sooooooooooo...... How did Barry get out?
I was holding him and giving him his medicine. He started to wiggle and soon I had him by the end of his body rather than the center of his body. I said out loud:
"OH NO! NOT THE TAIL!" and promptly released him!
He gains little altitude at the moment. He does fly but can go up maybe 3 ft. at a time. So up on the coffee table ... over to the couch ... the back of the couch ... over to the table with plants on it ... to the tree on the table and up to the curtain rod!
There's blankets covering the couches in anticipation of a first flight so that was easy to pick those up and give them several washings. Took more time to pick up the overturned orchids and pots that were on the carpet.. Barry tried to find worms in the soil of the banana tree. And we needed the exersize to climb up and down the ladder a few times to de-poop those areas. No real harm done. We're just happy Barry has improved so much!
Barry will meet with the avian specialist and the ophthalmologist on Monday.
Barry has changed soooo much just since yesterday morning! He's bouncing around his enclosure. He's eating everything he's given and the refills. He's a pooping machine! He's singing a variety of sweet Robin songs and seems to feel much better. It is as though he suddenly became fully aware of his surroundings and he wants OUT!
We explained he needs to get a little stronger and go through the parole board before he is released. So far he looks and acts *very* good! We just need to make sure his eye is OK then when he can fly and gain altitude properly he can go and find a Mrs. Robin.
Yesterday morning he was put into a large flight area where he can gain his strength prior to leaving our Birdy Bed and Breakfast. Need to make room for the next guest, dontchaknow? Don't know if the next guest would be so gracious as to de-worm the banana but I'm sure they'll fertilize something!
And this morning ....From what I have seen, Barry is A-OK and ready to leave our bed and breakfast. He flies. He sings. He eats. He preens his gorgeous feathers. (Gotta look nice for the ladies, dontchaknow? ) He wants to leave! As much as we have enjoyed his visit here, we too want him to leave and enjoy his life renewed.
All that stops him now is the final exam by the parole board made up of the avian specialist and ophthalmologist. If they say he's ready to leave then he will be released.
When he was moved to the larger free flight area Olive interrogated me.
"Whatcha doing? ... Are you sure? ... How's the pretty bird? ... OhhhhHHHHHhhhoooooooo! ...:Once she saw he really can fly and he is stronger and he's sooooo very active ... she agreed.
Very well. Pretty birdy is very well!So there you have it. Olive's expert opinion.
Maybe we'll cancel tomorrow's appointments?
I'll letcha know how Barry does.
Just Me C3D
I'll letcha know how Barry does.
about Barry (?? 
!!) the Robin 
