A horrifying bloody mess

[Kiwibird]

If ever you need a 'reminder' to have your jar of styptic in one hand when your nail clippers are in the other, the pictures I got of the carnage after our emergency with Kiwi today should sum it up. I have been clipping Kiwi's talons for years, and only once did I ever draw blood and even then it was one tiny drop that did not even require more than pouring some peroxide over it. Yet, I've always had a jar of styptic, in the medicine cabinet "just in case".

As Kiwi had tore some sizable scrapes into my arms with a few particularly sharp talons recently, I decided I would clip the points off this morning. I clipped UNDER 2mm off the last talon and low and behold, it began bleeding. No big deal, I had a jar of styptic in the medicine cabinet.....Right?..... RIGHT?! Where the BLEEP is that styptic at???!!! After 10 minutes of frantically searching and Kiwi bleeding a significant amount (while merrily DANCING up and down his bloody perch for no good reason), I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I had to drive like a million miles and hour to Petsmart. I think it's normally a 15 minute drive, I was there, got styptic and home in that timeframe. I don't even know if I was coherent with the poor saleslady, just barely uttered "STYPTIC:52:" I was so panicked and scared he was going to die of blood loss before I could get home to him. Poor Kiwi did bleed A LOT. I feel like the *worst* parrot owner ever for this. I just can't imagine where the bottle went that has ALWAYS been there, replaced every December like clockwork so I never have a god-knows how many years old jar. I will NEVER EVER EVER clip him again without physically checking and rechecking that I have styptic out and ready. I failed my bird when I *should* have known better:17: Now he has blood all over his beak, face, back (don't even know how it got there). I just feel awful I fed him some apple and grapes to get his blood sugar up, because he bled quite a bit for such a tiny animal. Thankfully, he has no loss of appetite after his ordeal, and is now resting his little foot. HEED THIS BLOODY MESS AS A WARNING ANYONE WHO CLIPS AT HOME!!!:

Front of his perch

Back of his perch

All over his face and beak

Picture doesn't show it well, but there is blood splattered all over the bathroom sink area

 

[MomtoPercy]

Awww, April, I can just imagine how terrified you were! I'm so happy it all ended well. Kiwi seems none the worse for wear, as gorgeous as always. Don't blame yourself too muc, we all know you always have his best interests at heart and silly accidents do happen.

(Hugs))

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm so glad Kiwi is okay! Whew

I don't trust myself with clippers unless the nails are clear/white. I only clip my budgies. Even then I barely trust myself since they're so tiny. For parrots I prefer to get them dremmeled.
Reminds me, as I've been saying for YEARS now, I really need to invest in my own small dremmel. It grinds and spins so fast that it actually cauterizes any blood if it should go a little too far.

Thanks for the reminder about styptic powder though!

 

[hacatta]

how scary,my mother's gala had a broken blood feather once,it still hunt's me.
I am glad kiwi is okay.

 

[noblemacaw]

Last fall I had an accident with Valentino in which his toenail was smashed by the broom handle. I don't think I ever saw as much blood as it looked like a crime scene from CSI. the blood was all over the cage bars, perch, cups just everywhere.

I used cold water and pressure to try to get it to stop bleeding. Of course it happened after hours when the clinic was closed. We do have an emergency clinic that can treat avian near my home so I knew if I was not able to stop the bleeding I would of rushed Valentino to the ER.

Even with what I was doing I could not get the nail to clot. Finally I had to take flower (my powder was too old and I was afraid to use it) and used that to form a clot for him and the wound stabilized.

I did check on Valentino during the night to make sure his nail didn't open up again and begin to bleed. The next morning I took him into the clinic and Dr. Blair told me the nail was crushed so badly she had to put a local on the toe and cut away the juicy part (not sure what that is called) and cauterized the wound. She gave me celebrex for his pain. Unfortunately when I handled the celebrex my hands turned bright red and began to itch. I am severly alergic to NSAID and that is what Celebrex is. I ended up not medicating Valentino because I could not prepare the drug for him.

Valentino's nail grew back to normal and you cannot see it was ever damaged. Interesting enough Lupe was the one who panicked with freaking out of what to do because there was so much blood. She is in the medical field where I am in IT so here is a medical professional freaking out while I am working to help Valentino and stop the bleeding.

I have experienced bleeding before from broken blood feathers, chipped beak point, toe bleeding but not with so much blood. Other than being in pain Valentino did not seem to suffer from blood loss. I described the "scene" to Dr. Blair and she said it may of looked like a lot but Valentino did not loose enough blood to affect him.

I will always do what I need to help any animal in distress. Emergencies happen but I am thankful they don't happen a lot but when they do I am able to keep my head and react appropriately.

 

[TessieB]

You're not the only one to do that. I've used flour when I couldn't find the styptic powder. Kiwi will forgive you. Amazons are tough like that.

 

[Kiwibird]

Thanks everyone. This was such a terrifying situation. He just kept bleeding and bleeding and it seemed like so much for such a little guy I actually did dip his toe in flour, and it did nothing but get bloody flour that dried like cement on everything. He got blood on all his stuff too, his perch, his tree, his cage..... I took it all out and power hosed it. I don't know if blood would grow any particularly nasty germs, but I surely didn't want to find out. Thank god we have the carrier and it was in a different room while this was happening, or he wouldn't have anywhere to be right now. He's all cozied up in there napping. I do think his toe hurts him I will have to sterilize and examine again here in a little while. Don't want him to get an infection on top of the painful talon and blood loss. I just can't believe this happened.

 

[RavensGryf]

Poor Kiwi... He'll be okay
These things happen unfortunately even to the most conscientious birdie moms and dads like you.
I'll never forget when I was clipping my mom's Princess of Wales keet's nails when he was new, I thought I was going to completely bleed him out! :11: styptic powder didn't even work at first because it was so bad. He was exhausted from blood loss, and I'm sure it hurt too, but he recovered just fine the next day.

 

[Sambamama]

I can't imagine your panic! Does sugar work to stop bleeding on bird nails? I have used sugar to top bleeding on my dogs, but never had tried on a bird.

 

[thekarens]

I wouldn't use sugar on birds or dogs. In an emergency we use corn starch, but mostly we use styptic powder. It's not that expensive and lasts a long time.

 

[BirdyMomma]

Aww. I'm glad he is OK. You're an awesome bird parent, and thank you. I do not have any styptic, but will go get some tomorrow.

 

[Mekaisto]

Oh no! At least he's quite a big bird, if it were a little budgie or lovebird I'd really be worrying.

If you ever find yourself in an emergency situation with no styptic or cornstarch - KY jelly or soap will also stop bleeding.

 

[strudel]

Thank you for the reminder. I'd bookmarked a list of "stuff" to keep on hand for first aid, you've reminded me that I must have a look at that and get properly prepared. (Hopefully, I won't need any of it). Poor kiwi, he still looks cheerful, despite his mum's ordeal.

 

[aliray]

When I cut my canary's nail to short once and he started to bleed I used a combination of cornstarch and pressure on the end of the nail until it stopped. That also works on a dogs nail. I always have it in my kitchen.

 

[Kiwibird]

Well, he seemed to be fine this morning. No signs it broke open over night, no weight loss. He was standing on and not favoring the foot this morning either. I did do one more pour of peroxide, but the foot didn't feel 'hot' and the toe looked normal (not swollen). I do think Kiwi shall be fine. He does have some stained feathers though, and I want to give it another day before I bathe him. I hope the blood washes out and he doesn't have yucky bloody feathers until his next molt. Kiwi is very proud of his plumage you know?

 

[strudel]

Kiwi is very proud of his plumage you know?

With good reason!

Glad he's ok. (how are YOU doin'? Has your heartbeat returned to normal? )

 

[goalerjones]

Clarissssse...have the lambs stopped screaming?

 

[Terry57]

I am so glad that Kiwi is okay! Talli broke a blood feather when we first got him and there was blood everywhere - ceiling, all over him and his cage! Took awhile but after we got the feather out it finally stopped bleeding, we used styptic powder and cornstarch.
I don't think there is anything so terrifying as seeing a lot of blood come from your beloved baby!
The blood came off him after just a couple of baths

 

[MikeyTN]

Corn starch or flour would stop the bleeding if styptic powder isn't available!!!! Also like it's mentioned, soap and petroleum jelly would do it too!

 

[Kiwibird]

I had actually tried flour. I got a tablespoon full of it and dipped his toe in a few times, but it did nothing. Kiwi just wouldn't sit still long enough for it to do anything.