Feral Baby with injured eye

My newest little rescue found last Saturday is a baby feral no more than 4/5 weeks old.

When I found him or rather when my dog Pookie found him, he was grounded, unable to fly, very, very thin and weak, half his tail feathers gone and had an awful looking eye injury. I began syringe feeding him Kaytee, cleaned the eye, applied neosporin, and put him on amoxicillin as per Charis's instruction. AS the weekend passed the eye injury became worse and looked absolutely awful. Yesterday I arranged an appointment with Dr. Hauck/Flamingo Pet Clinic for evaluation.

When Dr. Hauck examined him, he determined that he was only about a month old and very undernourished. Although there is no way to be 100% certain Dr. Hauck didn't think he was attacked by a cat, but the eye injured was either caused by another bird that had pecked at it or he had possible run into the spikes that one on my neighbors has now placed on their roof.

The eye cannot be saved. It has been punctured completely through. Dr. Hauck hopes that within the next two weeks the eye will shrivel up and form a scab and hopefully will fall off when the scab is removed. Hopefully this process will occur, otherwise this little one will need surgery to remove the eye from the socet.

I was instructed to give him amoxicillin 0.5 cc's BID. Continue to syringe kaytee 15 cc's TID, and to keep the eye clean and dry (no more neosporin) and allow the scap to form. I will return to Dr. Hauck in two weeks.

I just want to let everyone know how absolutely wonderful Dr. Hauck and the service his clinic provides is. There is never a charge for his service or medications. Amazing as it seems if this little one needs the surgury if will be free of charge as well. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Without this resource here in Vegas I have no idea what I would do.

Please say some prayers for this little one, that the eye dries up on it's own and he woun't need surgery. For sure he has been through enough already.

I will keep everyone updated as to his progress.

Louise

What a wonderful man! Our Reggie had to had an eye removed a few weeks ago, the bill was £129 ($216)

Thanks for the update, Louise.
I will definitely be thinking, and sending your way, positive thoughts for this little one.

Bless you for all that you do to help keep your feral flock safe, happy and healthy.
With regard to Dr. Hauck, he's a Godsend.

Please do keep us posted.

Louise you have found an angel in Dr. Hauck, he is a very special man.

And it goes without saying that you are a very special person too

We will keep the baby pij in our prayers for an easy recovery minus the surgery.

EgypSwiftLady wrote:

Louise you have found an angel in Dr. Hauck, he is a very special man.

And it goes without saying that you are a very special person too

We will keep the baby pij in our prayers for an easy recovery minus the surgery.

I agree on all counts.
This is a perfect example that Matilda's List works.

Why don't you try Coloidal silver drops in the eye? Just to prevent infection.

How the Pigeon tonight, Louise?

The baby is so much better tonight. I quess the antibiotics and the hand feeding are working. Usually when I take him out of the basket to hand feed him I place him on the kitchen counter while I mix the Kaytee. Tonight he took off on me, I had to retrieve him from the chandlier. HE IS ABLE TO FLY AGAIN!!!!! I am so pleased with his progress, he is so much stronger. Three days ago, he was grounded and was bearly able to stand. These little birds are so resilient. It is just amazing what a differnet little guy he his today.

The eye still looks awful, however it is showing the first signs of drying up and is starting to form a scab.

Thanks for all the concern and help.

Louise

That's good news.

Thanks for the update, Louise.
It's great to hear the little one is doing so much better.

I've been reading about your little baby bird and I'm so glad that he is doing better.
Sounds like he is on his way to healing thanks to you!!

Hi All............The baby is continuing to recover. He is getting stronger and feister every day. I think he has actually put on some weight with the hand feedings. The keel bone is not as prominent, but he has a way to go before I would consider him normal weight.

He is still on antibotics for another week and the eye is starting to shrivel and dry up. I am hoping and praying that no surgery will be required.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and good wishes.

Louise

Louise - I send all my loving thoughts for your little one to heal again

Good moring Louise,
I'm so glad to hear the little one is doing well.
Your dedication and diligent care got him to this point.

Thank you for the update, Louise!
Wonderful news -- I'm thrilled for him and for you!

YIPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!

I HAVE FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!!!!

I was feeling kind of sad, as most of you know I shipped my "Birdy" to Robin today. Also my little sweet poodle "Pookie" was to the Vet today and had nine........yes nine teeth extracted. I picked him up around 5:00PM and the poor little boy is miserable. He is wimpering with pain and it is obvious how horrible he is feeling. I gave him his pain medicine and antibotic and made him as comfortable as possible. Then is was time to hand feed this little baby with the injured eye.

He ate about 20cc's of Kaytee, and then had his antibotic. Following each feeding I clean his eye with a cotton ball and warm water and then pat it dry with soft tissue. Tonight when I went to clean his eye.....IT CAME OFF BY ITSELF.........HE WILL NOT NEED ANY SURGERY!!!!

The empty eye socket looks clear, and I have applied some neosporin directly into it.

I am so happy and pleased.................I was not at all optimistic about the eye.

It has been a challenging day.........but it has become a very happy day as well for me.

I am so thankful that this little one will not need any surgery and is doing so well. Hopefully if I get clearance from Dr. Hauck he will be able to go to his new forever home soon.

I wish I knew how to post the little emoticons...........I would post all the happy ones.

Jackie\'s Mom wrote:

I HAVE FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!!!!

I was feeling kind of sad, as most of you know I shipped my "Birdy" to Robin today. Also my little sweet poodle "Pookie" was to the Vet today and had nine........yes nine teeth extracted. I picked him up around 5:00PM and the poor little boy is miserable. He is wimpering with pain and it is obvious how horrible he is feeling. I gave him his pain medicine and antibotic and made him as comfortable as possible. Then is was time to hand feed this little baby with the injured eye.

He ate about 20cc's of Kaytee, and then had his antibotic. Following each feeding I clean his eye with a cotton ball and warm water and then pat it dry with soft tissue. Tonight when I went to clean his eye.....IT CAME OFF BY ITSELF.........HE WILL NOT NEED ANY SURGERY!!!!

The empty eye socket looks clear, and I have applied some neosporin directly into it.

I am so happy and pleased.................I was not at all optimistic about the eye.

It has been a challenging day.........but it has become a very happy day as well for me.

I am so thankful that this little one will not need any surgery and is doing so well. Hopefully if I get clearance from Dr. Hauck he will be able to go to his new forever home soon.

I wish I knew how to post the little emoticons...........I would post all the happy ones.

I so glad to hear the little pij will not need surgery.
I'm sorry to hear about Pookie. Sending get well wishes his way.

Posting the emoticons are very easy, Louise.
Just left click your curser where you want the emoticon to go (you'll see the black line blinking), then go over and left click on whichever emoticon you wish to use.

If you want to change it, just left click on the emoticon and hit your back space button.

That really is wonderful news. I'm so gald he won't need surgery.

Lovely news Louise...i guess this is the same baby you were referring to in a different thread...ever since i read that I was wondering how it would be doing. Glad it didn't need to undergo surgery and is on the way to recovery

A big hug to you for caring for this one. Sending prayers and good wishes for the baby to heal completely.

This little one is continuing to get stronger every day. He has put on some weight and is flying very well. He's getting harder and harder to catch him. He is really very strong and fiesty now. His eye socett is infection free and weeps clear fluid which is normal for this type of injury.

Here's the problem. When I first rescued him 2 weeks ago, he was eating seeds on his own. However, because of his injury and his extreemly malnourished state I began to hand feed him. He has been receiving 15/20 cc's of Kaytee three times a day. He has stopped eating on his own. He has an ample supply of seed and water in his cage, but won't touch it. I have tried in the morning to delay his hand feeding, hoping hunger would prompt him to try eating some of the seed. He is not even curious of his dishes.

Should I stop handfeeding him during the day and let hunger motivate him to try his seed. I would not stop the handfeeding entirely and would still feed him just at night.

I'm really at a loss here as to how to proceed. He has put on weight and I don't want to set him back by stopping the Kaytee, but I need to have him self-feeding prior to sending him on to his new forever home.

All suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated.

I think Cindy and Jenn are good ones to offer advice on this one Louise.

Thanks Charis..............I look forward to their imput.

Jackie\'s Mom wrote:

This little one is continuing to get stronger every day. He has put on some weight and is flying very well. He's getting harder and harder to catch him. He is really very strong and fiesty now. His eye socett is infection free and weeps clear fluid which is normal for this type of injury.

Here's the problem. When I first rescued him 2 weeks ago, he was eating seeds on his own. However, because of his injury and his extreemly malnourished state I began to hand feed him. He has been receiving 15/20 cc's of Kaytee three times a day. He has stopped eating on his own. He has an ample supply of seed and water in his cage, but won't touch it. I have tried in the morning to delay his hand feeding, hoping hunger would prompt him to try eating some of the seed. He is not even curious of his dishes.

Should I stop handfeeding him during the day and let hunger motivate him to try his seed. I would not stop the handfeeding entirely and would still feed him just at night.

I'm really at a loss here as to how to proceed. He has put on weight and I don't want to set him back by stopping the Kaytee, but I need to have him self-feeding prior to sending him on to his new forever home.

All suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Reduce handfeeding gradually but dont stop. This way he will not be stressed and will start eating alone. Skip midday feeding first, then after couple of days give 10 ml mornings etc.

palmenh will have some good advice too.