Bowie Needs Positive-Energy, Prayers, Whatever You Can Do...

[EllenD]

So I'm a mess right now, I figured coming on here would distract me a little from what's going on...Without going into too much detail right now (only because I just can't right now), yesterday after lunch I went to use the bathroom, Bowie followed me in like he always does, and sat on the shower-rod like he always does, he follows me all over the house, everywhere I go, every day. So this is just routine and I guess that's the problem, I wasn't paying attention, just going along on "Auto-Pilot"...I always keep both bathroom doors in my house shut because of how many pet birds die by falling into the toilet and then can't get back out, or they get in the sink, etc. Well I thought Bowie was already out the door, but I shut his head/neck in the door instead...

He's alive, and he has nothing broken, no brain trauma thankfully, but he has a horrible concussion and the entire back of his neck and around the sides of his neck, down his back, his shoulders, the top of his wings, etc. are nothing but one big black and purple bruise. He can't hold his head up at all, so it's bad...

I'll be back later with an update. Obviously he went right to my CAV yesterday, I thought he was dead, it was just awful...Just send positive energy, prayers, whatever it is that you do to my little baby boy...

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Oh, Ellen, I'm so, so sorry to hear what happened to Bowie. I'm so glad that your CAV was able to see him right away and that Bowie can recover from this.

I know both you and he are in a pain right now. Warmest thoughts to you both. Take all the time you need for you and your flock <3

 

[Jen5200]

Positive vibes and hugs to both of you.

 

[HEEDLESS]

Oh Dear.....

Stay strong..... Hang in there Bowie and Ellen. **HUGS** **CHUUUUUUU***

**Sending red feathers' love from Kise**

​

 

[itzjbean]

Come on Bowie, you can pull through this!!! Sending prayers and lots of hugs your way.

 

[saxguy64]

Oh poor Bowie! I'm so sorry. Prayers, hugs, loves, skritches, positive energy, and anything else I can send are heading your way. Be strong little guy.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[gracebowen]

I hope he gets better soon. It could be easily me posting this.

My lovie loves to fly into the bathroom when I open the door.

At first we had lots of close calls. Several times she wouldn't fly till I started closing door.

I've over time become hyper viligant.

 

[Kiwibird]

Poor little guy, I hope he feels better tomorrow! Make sure he gets plenty of love and his favorite treats. My mom did something similar to my dads cockatoo years ago, slammed his head in a cage door by accident because she was trying to get her hand out before he could bite it. She thought he was a goner but he was totally fine and back to being a complete jerk in days.

Also- don’t beat yourself up, accidents happen and this was clearly a total accident and in no way a reflection on you as a bird owner.

 

[Flboy]

Oh! I am so sorry! Poor little guy!

 

[Parrotsrok]

That's really sad, I'm sorry, I wish your bird a speedy recovery.

 

[LaManuka]

Ellen I’m so sorry to hear about Bowie’s mishap - accidents happen so quickly! Please don’t blame yourself (although you probably will anyway) We are sending all positive wishes your way.

 

[GaleriaGila]

We hereabouts are ALL on Team Bowie!
Hugszsz, love, and hope!

 

[Terry57]

Ellen, I am so sorry! How is he doing today? I so hope he is doing better.
Sending massive prayers and healing thoughts his way.

 

[Allee]

Ellen, I just read Bowie’s thread. What an awful accident and a terrible thing to go through but please try hard to remember it was just that, an accident. I’m glad Bowie’s injuries are treatable, I hope he recovers completely in record time. Hugs, prayers and hope for both of you.

 

[ChocolateChipCookiez]

Oh my, I hope he get's better as soon as possible!

Wishing Bowie a speedy recovery!​

 

[dhraiden]

Good reminder this sort of awfulness can happen to the most diligent and careful among us! Hope Bowie shakes it off, glad to hear it doesn't appear to be worse than some bruising...let us know.

 

[Scott]

So sorry to hear about Bowie's incident, Ellen. With all the good you do for your flock and member's fids, accidents do happen. I hope Bowie heals quickly and completely. Looking forward to a positive update when able.

 

[EllenD]

I was waiting to see how things were going to go before I posted another update (and I haven't really left Bowie's side since after getting him back from my CAV's office, so I haven't been online at all until now)...Bowie is doing okay, he's eating and drinking normally, he is flying normally (though I don't want him to, I want him to rest but you know how that goes), he's just in a lot of pain all the time from the bruising around his neck and shoulders/wings. The poor guy screams out-loud every time he tries to lift his head up or turn it...literally screams. And he's on both an anti-inflammatory and an opiate pain-med similar to morphine. He's been keeping his head hanging pretty much all the time, but when he's eating or he is startled by something and he suddenly lifts his head up to see what it is, he screams out loud and then puts it right back down...I feel so badly for him...

We just got back from his re-check with my CAV this morning, he took another X-ray to see if the swelling in his neck is going down, which it is, and to make sure no small, hairline-fractures have formed anywhere in his neck, spine, or skull...I give my CAV credit because his vertebrae are so tiny that I couldn't see anything at all, but he said they all look normal. There's also no free-fluid (blood) or air/gas in his belly, chest, abdomen, etc., so somehow he escaped any internal injuries or bleeding, and his head looks completely normal now...He was talking about possibly putting him on a medication to lower the pressure inside of his head if there was any additional swelling on this X-ray today, but he was able to confirm that he had no head-trauma besides a severe concussion from the edge of the door hitting his head and that's it. And the concussion isn't bothering him anymore as of today, up until last night you could tell that he was having a headache, he kept trying to actually "hold" his head with his foot...I'd never seen that before but you could absolutely tell that that's what he was doing...He hasn't done it today at all...

***We got so lucky, I can't even begin to describe just how lucky we got...I'm sitting here knowing that the only reason that Bowie wasn't killed instantly (and probably decapitated based on where all the bruising is around his neck) was because he immediately let out a scream the second the door touched him, and because of his scream I let go of the door...Had he not have screamed I would no doubt have shut the door completely on his neck and that would have been it...It's really getting to me, every time I walk in or out of a room I'm freaking-out and checking to make sure that no one is anywhere near me or the doorway...It's almost like I'm having a little bit of PTSD...I realized after thinking about it that I've never really had a bird, dog, or any other pet seriously injured or sick before, the worst injury prior to this in my entire life was when my Cockatiel, Duff, broke a blood-feather a year and a half ago, and I couldn't get the bleeding to stop and she was going to bleed to death, so I had to pull it out of her humerus bone with pliers, which injured the muscles/bone around it, and it permanently grounded her (or so I thought)...She just started flying again a couple of weeks ago...So that wasn't even that big a deal...Not like this...

I guess what I need to take away from this accident (and hopefully remind others of too) is that when you have birds in your home who are fully-flighted and who are out of their cages 100% of the time when you're at home, you cannot be too careful with not only bird-proofing your home, but you have to stay vigilant and not just take it for-granted that they're fine and nothing can hurt them as long as they're inside. Bowie is sitting on my shoulder while I'm typing this and all I can look at is his completely bald, scabby, purple and black neck, head, and shoulders/wings and think about the fact that it's a miracle that he's still here with me and able to fly, walk, feed himself, see, etc...I couldn't help but to think about one of our new members who also has a Yellow-Sided Green Cheek that has been going through a very long and painful recovery from a very serious head-trauma, and who is eating, drinking, walking, flying, and actually speaking again and saying words that he learned before his accident...Yet another miracle...And I can't help but be eternally grateful...I love my little Bo-Bo more than anything in the world, and he turns only 3 years-old next month, and is supposed to be with me into his 30's...And in the blink of an eye I almost lost him at the age of 2, due to my own complacency...

So everyone, please, take this opportunity to check yourselves as far as your safety-practices when you have your birds out of their cages, and to check your homes to make sure that they really are as bird-safe as they can be...I keep remembering the story a member here posted a year or so ago about their Lovebird, who was very much their child, went everywhere with them, literally everywhere, and I remember her describing how he slept in a little bed she had made him that was placed inside of the drawer in the nightstand right next to her side of the bed, so that he slept with her every night but was safe because he didn't actually sleep in her bed...She was a wonderful, responsible, loving bird owner, and she loved that Lovebird as much as anyone could love any child...And when she went on trips/vacations he always went with them, and she would pack all of his toys, his perches and play-stands, etc. and set them all up inside of their hotel rooms...And I remember how completely heartbroken and just absolutely devastated she was when she and her husband had returned to their hotel-room after eating dinner out in a restaurant...She had set-up all his little play-stands and toys and perches in the hotel-room so that he could be left free and not locked inside his cage...But when they returned to their hotel-room they found him dead, he had drowned inside of the toilet...With everything they had done and always done everywhere they went to make the hotel-room safe for him while still creating an enriching environment for him to be in while they were out, they had simply forgotten to pull the bathroom door shut so that he couldn't get in...And somehow he went into the toilet, maybe for a drink once he saw the water in it, he fell in the water and couldn't get back out and he drowned...I have been thinking about that story constantly since Bowie's accident...You can't lock-up your pets or your human children 24/7, and you can't protect them from all of the dangers that the world is going to present to them, but damn it you should be able to protect them from dangers in their own home...That's what I'm having trouble with...


Thanks everyone for your well-wishes and positive-energy, it's unbelievably comforting to be able to talk to other people about how much I love my birds and how they really are my children, and to have them understand what I'm saying and feeling and to not judge because "It's just a bird". I was absolutely inconsolable right after the accident happened, I'm not a crier at all, and I don't really get horribly emotional about things very often, but I literally lost my mind and could not stop balling my eyes out after this first happened. I thought he was surely dead or going to die soon and I just couldn't deal with it, it was weird because that has never happened to me before...I had to call my mom to come over right away and help me look at his injuries and get him to the Vet because I couldn't even look for bleeding or anything, I just shut-down...So maybe that's a good thing because I now realize how much I love that little lump of feathers, and I am now going to be the most vigilant Parront in the world, and not ever take him or any of my Fids for-granted ever again...

 

[Terry57]

I am so thrilled to hear how well Bowie is doing! This really made my day.
I hope he continues to improve by leaps and bounds, and that the pain quickly goes away.

 

[Jen5200]

So happy that Bowie is on the mend, and hoping that the pain subsides quickly! I can imagine how distraught I would be if this happened to any of my fids...and this is a great reminder to be extra vigilant about their whereabouts (mine are all flighted).