How to Care for Injured Birds
How to care for and transport injured birds and other small wildlife.
How to Care for Injured Birds
How to Care for Injured Birds
How to Care for Injured Birds
How to Care for Injured Birds
Birds seen on the ground are treated differently than birds caught by your companion cat. The first part of this article is about seeing a bird on the ground and deciding what to do. Secondly in this article I shall address the care of birds and other small wildlife caught by your cat.
First and foremost, take a moment to espy if the bird is truly injured. Is it limping, dragging its wing or falling over? Then it probably is hurt. However, just because the limited flyer is perched on the ground does not mean it's injured. If there is no evidence of injury leave it alone. The same rule of thumb goes for any other small animal. The accepted rule of thumb is the "20 minutes rule". inspect the bird or other animal for about 20 minutes to for real find out if it is injured and in need of rescue. It is important, especially in the case of small animals, to remember mothers often leave their young to feed and always return very shortly to continue caring for their babies. If you pick up and reMove the baby you could do more harm than good.
If the baby bird has simply fallen from a nest, moderately pick it up and return it to the permissible nest. Do not fear leaving your scent on the bird and thus having the parent reject it. Birds, in general, are not able to smell very well and will not observation your fragrance on the fledgling. Note that many species of birds - robins, jays, towhees, for example - close their growth and schooling at ground level. Thus just because you do find a fledgling on the ground is not intuit sufficient to deal with it. Remember the "20 limited rule"?
If you decide, following observation, that the bird or other animal is in fact injured and in need of care call a recovery center. Your best bet for birds is the National Audubon Society. Often the Audubon community site will point you to a local recovery center. Give them a call and succeed all directions.
Gently pick up the bird and place in a box or paper bag. Line the container with soft cloth or tissue and poke breathing holes in the side (small holes). If the bird is a nestling (small, no feathers or just fuzz and some pinfeathers) it needs a small, cup-shaped nest of tissue. The cup shape is foremost because they need the bodily support. If they sprawl out they can be injured. Your bird is in shock and thus its body temp is low, so place the container in a warm and quiet place. A Heating pad on low, on a hot water bottle or under a Light is helpful for warming the nestling. Do not place the bird in direct sunLight - it can get too warm. The bird is not in need of food or water, and placing a bowl of water in the container can only add to its pain if the water spills. And, please, don't keep peering inside the box or bag to check on the bird. And, as soon as inherent transport your bird to the nearest recovery center.
Now let's discuss what to do when your cat brings you a prize bird, or you intervene before the final capture of the bird.
The first question to retort is, is the bird dead? Often cats worry their prizes before presenting them to us, and the bird doesn't survive. If the bird is still alive gently reMove it from your cat's reach. It is in shock, and a visual examination will not always tell you the extent of it's injuries. So warm it up as swiftly as possible. A box with tissue molded into a bowl shape is a great holder. Make sure the box has breathing holes and a top, and find a way to warm the box - Heating pad or hot water bottle are ways. Do not deal with the bird extensively. straight through our handling we can cause supplementary injury to broken wings/tail feathers/legs and place the bird into supplementary shock.
As soon as the bird is placed call a wildlife recovery group and succeed all directions. On line you can get local links by going to the Audubon community (visit the web under audubon ) or to NetPets ( www.netpets.org/birds/birdresc/birdgrp.html ) which is a consortium of groups dedicated to birds.
Other small wildlife your cat might hunt could consist of squirrels, bats, opossums, etc. All are at risk to our fearless feline hunters. And, just like with birds, the first order of company is to reMove it from your cat's reach. Remember to wear accepted clothing - depending on the severity of injury and type of animal nips and scratches might be the name of the game. Use a plane cloth to cover the head (lessening chances for nips and surface eyes to help relax the animal) and moderately gather the animal, using as limited pressure as possible. Then place it in a covered container. Remember to give it air holes and keep it warm (the old heating pad or hot water bottle trick, again). Just as with birds, no food or drink, and no peeking! Now, call your local wildlife recovery center and succeed all directions. This is the link to find national wildlife recovery information: http://wildliferehabinfo.org/.
Each year our companion cats do quite a bit of damage to the local wildlife and songbird population. The cats are native hunters and only following their instincts. We, the companion animal owners, have a occasion to offer respite and help to the injured animals our cats have caught. Let's join together to offer support to those injured by our companion pets.
If you found this article helpful please succeed my blog, Animals Galore, to learn other health, wellness and training tips for our companion animals
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