Cat bite wound treatmet help

[Bobi]

Hello! Saturday our 14 year old cockatiel, Bobi was snatched away by the neighbor's cat. There's a wound behind one of his legs. We took him to the vet immediately, he didn't bleed and was cheerful, didn't get into shock at all, so the vet got us an antibiotic ointment to be used twice a day. I asked for vitamins too, to help with feather growth (he lost almost all tailfeathers). I'm very concerned, I know bites of all kinds are very dangerous, and I am wondering if he needs injection or oral antibiotics. Our vet is a very good vet, but unfortunately not an avian vet. There is no certified avian vet in Romania or any neighboring countries. Anybody had bite wound experiences?
And though Saturday we didn't see bleeding, Sunday noon when we checked on him we found a pool of blood on the floor of his cage, I don't know what caused it, either he picked on the wound or moved about too much. He is really a dear about it, since he's getting extra attention now he gets very playful, it's hard to keep him still when it's not naptime.
We made a big mistake, we didn't check him out throughly and cleaned the area on Saturday, the vet gone directly to the ointment. Since he was so lively and we've seen just a little blood we thought maybe the cat got only hold of his feathers. Now after the bleeding and some days of ointment treatment the area looks a real bloody sticky mess. Do you know of any safe way to clean wound areas? is it ok to rinse it through with a diluted disinfectant from time to time or cut or pluck some of the dirty feathers from the area? I'm concerned now that I can't really see the wound, and how it's doing. Bobi is picking at the area often, and am concerned abot him chewing those dirty sticky feathers.

Thanks for any help!

Bobi

 

[antoinette]

You did the right thing taking the bird to the vet.

I know it is lethal for birds that have been bitten by a cat. Birds can die within 24 hours after being bitten by a cat because the bacteria multiplies rapidly, spreading throughout a bird's entire system.

You mentioned that the vet gave you antibiotic ointment to be used twice a day.

Birds that are attacked by cats need to be tested for pasteurella. Was your bird tested for this?

Wash your hands with soap or use a hand sanitizer to prevent you from transferring harmful bacteria to your bird.
Disinfect the wound with iodine, lemon juice, styptic powder, or some other equivalent.

If the bleeding persists place take your bird back to the vet.

Hope this helps you out.

Praying the bleeding stops and your bird is okay.

 

[Bobi]

Sadly, there is no such thing in my area as testing a bird. I've made lots of calls in the past to find vets when we had problems in the past, most vets would say tests are not needed, more honest ones send me away, or say that they don't have the background for it. I usually did a lot of research, and found two vets who I could work with, I usually figure out the problem, we talk about it and they can give me any medication we need like drops or ointments, but there's no injections, no surgery, no blood tests, no broken bones treatment. It's pretty horrible.

 

[antoinette]

Sadly, there is no such thing in my area as testing a bird. I've made lots of calls in the past to find vets when we had problems in the past, most vets would say tests are not needed, more honest ones send me away, or say that they don't have the background for it. I usually did a lot of research, and found two vets who I could work with, I usually figure out the problem, we talk about it and they can give me any medication we need like drops or ointments, but there's no injections, no surgery, no blood tests, no broken bones treatment. It's pretty horrible.

Sad situation to be in especially for your bird
Has the bleeding stopped?

Bobi what is your location?
Please check out the link below, perhaps there is a avian vet not too far away from you.

: Vets in your area !!!!!!!

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[Tangie]

Hopefully Bobi will be better soon! It's always upsetting to frantically look for an avian vet because there is none in the area you are in. I pray that you will be able to find one.

At this point I would be more worried about infection and diseases he could catch from the cat instead of any broken bones{although they are horrible}.

Use cornstarch for the wound instead of Stypic powder because Stypic powder will burn the wound and cause complications. I use cornstarch for any bleeding feathers Kiko has and small scratches{He's never had a 'wound' before, thank goodness}. Cornstarch helps bind things together and slows down, and could even stop bleeding all the way.

I think you should look at his wound so you know what you are dealing with. Disinfect everything that will come in contact with the wound{including your hands}and carefully push the feathers away to look. If Bobi is picking at the wound, he could also be making things worse. Try and refrain him from doing so by any way possible, and try and make sure he isn't too active, to give the wound a better chance of healing. Applying vet wrap might be a good idea, but I think a vet should do that.

 

[Bobi]

Hey! There wasn't any bleeding since Sunday, thanks for your good wishes. I called an avian vet from the UK, they were very nice and told me to send pictures and they'll see what they can figure out.

I'd like to tell you all to never keep your bird beside you, only in front of you if you take them outside. We were sitting on a bench, Bobi between me and my boyfriend, on the backrest, literally cm-s away from both our heads. We were heaving breakfast, we didn't even finish half our cereal. That darn cat crept up right behind us with no sound, though we don't like cats and chase them away from our yard, so they keep their distance. This one was pitch black, harder still to notice in the shadows. NEVER TRUST CATS to keep their distance! Keep your bird in front of you!

I would have never dreamed something like this could happen, I've never left him out of sight and still! Snatched away from right beside my ear!
DON"T TRUST CATS! They're freakin sneaky!

 

[JerseyWendy]

WHAT???

Are you saying Bobi is gone??

I am so sorry!! Your heart must be broken.

 

[antoinette]

WHAT???

Are you saying Bobi is gone??

I am so sorry!! Your heart must be broken.

From what I gather Bobi is still alive, have not heard that he passed on.

 

[antoinette]

Hi Bobi

Any word back from the avian vet in the UK?

How is your bird doing now?

Please keep us updated

 

[Bobi]

Hello! Sorry for not posting, we've been busy. It seems we were extremely lucky, Bobi is all right. And time flies so fast, we calculated that Bobi is actually 17 years old, not 14. I skipped a few years there.
The UK vet was really nice, he told me what kind of oral antibiotics work, and urged me to take Bobi somewhere for a proper examination, because not much could be seen now with the area all bloody and messy and sticky. I couldn't do that here however. the vet said to clean the wound under anesthetic, or else I could do lots of damage. I called around but nobody had experience with bird shots, so I didn't dare. I continued to research, about symptoms and how birds deal with these kind of attacks. Lucky I work from home and could keep him at my desk for observation, and I decided there couldn't be any damage to muscles, and studied the cat too. I let Bobi pick out the feathers in the area, he learned not to pick the wounds quickly. After a week I stopped giving him ointment, and a few days made it clear that he had two little healing punctures behind his leg, and a bigger but superficial wound, which couldn't be done by the cat, it was most likely a feather cluster tear. All wounds are gone now and new feathers started to grow, Bobi seems to have a really big appetite now. He spread the sticky stuff all over himself howeves and got very dirty, so were' looking forward for a big long bath. Thanks for all your interest!

 

[Dustbunny]

I'm so glad to hear Bobi is doing okay. That had to be a scary experience.

I've failed miserably at training my bird PB to leave our cats alone. She's now on maximum-security lockdown to prevent just such an accident.

 

[Allee]

Thanks for the update! I'm so glad Bobi recovered from his accident.