# Emergency Help please



## BirdBoy (Jun 15, 2011)

I just noticed that this has happened to my pearl cockatiel and I think the area is still bleeding! Can I do anything to help her? Please help us


----------



## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Oh no! What happened? Has the bleeding stopped? I think you can use flour or cornstarch to stop the bleeding.


----------



## corgie (Jun 24, 2013)

Use flour/cornstarch to help stop the bleeding if you don't have styptic powder.


----------



## BirdBoy (Jun 15, 2011)

I don't have styptic powder but I applied flour on the area after I washed it with warm water. I have no idea how it happened either! I just gave her millet spray and her appetite is fine. I hope she'll be fine soon.


----------



## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

For now I would put her in a small cage and keep her warm. Tiels don't have much blood so she's probably worn out. Just keep her eating and drinking.


----------



## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

She needs to see a vet. Just because the bleeding is stopped, that doesn't necessarily mean she'll be fine.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Can you identify what the problem is? Is she bleeding from the wing (possibly a feather quill) or is there a wound on her body?



> I don't have styptic powder but I applied flour on the area


This is good. Flour is safe for flesh wounds. Styptic powder is OK for bleeding toenails but it should NOT be used on flesh wounds because it can cause chemical burns to the flesh.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Oh my gosh, what happened to her? Poor girl.


----------



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

enigma731 said:


> She needs to see a vet. Just because the bleeding is stopped, that doesn't necessarily mean she'll be fine.



I second this. It doesn’t look nice, I would have her checked out by a vet as soon as possible.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

This doesn't look like a blood feather injury. You can see the layers of skin go down as the wound gets deeper.


----------



## Abby (Jul 30, 2010)

Oh no, I hope everything is alright...


----------



## BirdBoy (Jun 15, 2011)

Sorry for the late post, right now the area seems dried but I take her out more to keep her safe because I am still not sure if other birds in the cage did this. Overall she seems energetic. Unfortunately I am not able to see a vet. Is there any way of training oneself to help them?


----------



## RexiesMuM (Sep 7, 2011)

That is a wound that needs a vets attention , It looks pretty nasty and might require antibiotics . For now until you can get to a vet make sure to keep the area clean , Keep her away from the rest of birds and keep her warm


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

There is no way at all to see a vet? You really should figure a way to see a vet with her. If an infection sets in then your vet bill will be much more expensive, or worse there is a possibility of death. 

If you really really can't see a vet then try to keep the area clean and cross your fingers that lack of antibiotics/pain meds doesn't hurt her. 

Think about this...that may look like a small scrape to you, but if you think of the body area it covers that is like a human's entire rib cage being skinned..you would go to the doctor/hospital for yourself if that happened, right? That is a very large area of her body that's injured.


----------



## blueybluesky (Jul 9, 2013)

I agree with everyone else I would definately try to get her to a vet if you were able to but if it really is impossible I would put her in a seperate cage, keep her warm and make sure you clean it and keep it dry.
Do you know if there was a lump there to start with, because I was told by the vet (normal vet though) that sometimes birds will chew one because it's a foriegn object on their body. However if it was a lump I think that would really need a vet.

I hope she gets better and that it's not something to serious


----------



## dearblythe (Nov 15, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> There is no way at all to see a vet? You really should figure a way to see a vet with her. If an infection sets in then your vet bill will be much more expensive, or worse there is a possibility of death.
> 
> If you really really can't see a vet then try to keep the area clean and cross your fingers that lack of antibiotics/pain meds doesn't hurt her.
> 
> *Think about this...that may look like a small scrape to you, but if you think of the body area it covers that is like a human's entire rib cage being skinned..you would go to the doctor/hospital for yourself if that happened, right? That is a very large area of her body that's injured.*


brilliant way to look at it.


poor little birdy, i hope you can get her seen by a vet very soon, and that she'll be okay.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

It looks like it would be very prone to infection... I hope you find some way to take care of her, she needs help.


----------



## Mezza (Feb 19, 2013)

Oh dear. 
I agree...get her to the vet. That looks pretty painful.


----------



## catalinadee (Jan 1, 2011)

Please please take her to your avian vet. They may do a payment plan, anything  it could get infected. Do you know what caused it at all? Did you see anything happen?


----------



## CountryGirlUK (Aug 8, 2013)

Seconding getting her to a vet ASAP. That is a big wound for such a little bird. It could get infected or something and then she'd be in real trouble. It's too high a risk. I imagine the vet would be able to give you some special wound wash and/or ointment or something and maye even a supplement. Meantime make sure everything around her is a clean as possible (rinsed with boiling water). If the vet is a long drive away or doesn't do home visits and the wound still seems to be wet/bleeding it might be an idea to dress it with some very very clean, dry cotton or bandage (nothing adhesive) to get a little pressure on there but then she would need CONSTANT supervision in case she snags her foot in it or something. That's what I would do personally (if she's very tame) but then I do have some first aid training (for humans). All that said, I AM NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE ADVICE ABOUT ANIMAL CARE/TREATMENT. She needs to visit the vet.


----------



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Why are you unable to get her to a vet?


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

How is your bird doing?

The way I count it, the OP has now been told or reminded to see a vet 10 times, which seems like enough repetition to me. Seeing a vet is obviously the best thing to do, but if the OP is unable or unwilling to do it then all this hammering could make them reluctant to stay here and ask for advice about treatments that they're able/willing to provide. It might not be ideal but getting home remedy advice is better than doing nothing or making a flying guess by themselves.


----------



## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

tielfan said:


> How is your bird doing?
> 
> The way I count it, the OP has now been told or reminded to see a vet 10 times, which seems like enough repetition to me. Seeing a vet is obviously the best thing to do, but if the OP is unable or unwilling to do it then all this hammering could make them reluctant to stay here and ask for advice about treatments that they're able/willing to provide. It might not be ideal but getting home remedy advice is better than doing nothing or making a flying guess by themselves.


Came here to say this.

It isn't fair to treat the OP badly if they genuinely can't see a vet. No one here can possibly know their situation and it isn't fair to assume things.

OP obviously cares about the bird, which leads me to believe they would take the bird to a vet if they could. But if it's not possible - whether it's financially or the nearest vet is hours away - then it's simply not possible and that's no fault of OP's.


----------



## cknauf (Aug 27, 2012)

OP, I hope your bird is still doing well.

You could try Neosporin (or similar antibacterial) on her wound, being careful to avoid her feathers, and sealing that with petroleum jelly (again being careful to avoid her feathers). A small QTip works well for application. If the bleeding is controlled, the next important thing is preventing an infection. Try to prevent her from picking at the scab, if at all possible.

Have you managed to get a better look at the cut?


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

The picture looks horrific, like a large piece of skin has been stripped away from her side, and I think that's why people are talking so urgently about the vet. But I think that the picture is probably deceptive. Feathers seem to be growing out of the "skinned" area, and I can't imagine how she could suffer a wound like that in this area. Self-mutilation is the only explanation that begins to make sense, but this is rare in cockatiels and birds that do it usually start by ripping out all the feathers in the area.

I think it's likely that this is intact or mostly intact skin that got blood smeared all over it while she had her wing closed. I think it's also quite possible that the blood is coming from a primary quill that got knocked loose, not from her torso. I have way too much experience with bleeding quills, and it can look like bloody murder on the side of the body without having any blood on the top side of the wing. If this is not a bleeding quill, it's likely to be some kind of puncture or cut on either the body or the wing, hopefully something fairly superficial that happened to bleed a lot.


----------



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Amz said:


> Came here to say this.
> 
> It isn't fair to treat the OP badly if they genuinely can't see a vet. No one here can possibly know their situation and it isn't fair to assume things.
> 
> OP obviously cares about the bird, which leads me to believe they would take the bird to a vet if they could. But if it's not possible - whether it's financially or the nearest vet is hours away - then it's simply not possible and that's no fault of OP's.


No one has said the OP doesn’t care, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t of came here to seek help on what to do, so we obviously know they DO care. 

I only asked why they couldn’t take their ‘tiel to the vet because, I was going to suggest, if it is financially, care credit, or if there is no AV close-by, to see a regular vet which is better than nothing and they may be able to help out the best they can at least. 

This is not directed at the OP, but if someone can’t take their bird(s) to the vet for financial reasons, this is why it is good to have funds set aside for emergencies.

Anyway, I do wonder if the bandage idea would work, for now, to prevent infection from setting in.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> Anyway, I do wonder if the bandage idea would work, for now, to prevent infection from setting in.


At this point it's been three days since the injury occurred, so probably not; whatever is going to happen has already happened . We still don't know exactly what the injury was, whether it was a feather problem or some kind of cut/puncture, and we cant give good advice without that information.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

No one here was rude or mean the the OP. I made a human analogy so they could understand why everyone wanted them to see a vet.

They've already gotten plenty of at-home care information so at this point it is up to them what they do with their bird..I do hope she is okay though, and everyone would appreciate an update on the bird's condition.


----------



## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

I agree, nothing anyone has said was meant to be rude or mean. We are just concerned for the poor 'tiels health and wellbeing.


----------



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

tielfan said:


> At this point it's been three days since the injury occurred, so probably not; whatever is going to happen has already happened . We still don't know exactly what the injury was, whether it was a feather problem or some kind of cut/puncture, and we cant give good advice without that information.


I don’t know if this is possible, so this is just a thought, but could an old wound have been opened? Or perhaps, like you said, a quill, or puncture/cut. 

I had just thought, maybe if a bandage wrapped around from under the wing and around the side of the body or something, but she may pick at it a lot so not a good idea after all, never thought of that until now actually. I just hope it doesn’t get infected because an infection is only going to make more problems arise.

Edit: It is hard to give more advice when we don’t know the cause in the first place, but if the OP doesn’t know what happened then it makes it harder to do so.


----------



## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> if the OP doesn’t know what happened then it makes it harder to do so.


This is why a vet visit would have been really nice. If we knew that it was just a damaged blood feather it would be easy enough to deal with it at home, but if the family cat got hold of the bird and punctured her with a claw it's a deadly dangerous emergency. A vet would have been able to determine what the actual problem was, and if it was a blood feather (which I think is the most likely scenario) they could have pulled it and solved the problem once and for all. I worry about blood feathers that aren't pulled because it doesn't take much for them to start bleeding again. 

Bandages are a tricky issue. It's my understanding that in general wounds heal better if they're not covered up because the bandage traps in body heat, moisture etc which actually provides a better environment for bacteria to grow. But some wounds are better off being covered up because they're less likely to get more damage or cause unnecessary pain that way. For example, a small cut on your upper arm probably isn't going to be a big deal but that same cut on the tip of your index finger is going to cause problems if you don't cover it up. A bird is going to pick at a bandage, but if there's no bandage she might pick at the wound itself and that's obviously not good. The issue probably needs to be decided based on the individual case, and I think it would be best to leave that call to a vet if possible.


----------



## ollieandme (Mar 25, 2013)

Oh dear! I'm waiting for an update  best wishes OP.


----------



## hanna (Apr 14, 2012)

OMG hope she's getting better, PLEASE let us know how she is


----------



## WhiteCarnation (Jul 14, 2013)

I'm hoping to see an update soon, that picture looked bad 

I wonder how it happened. I hope the bird gets better soon


----------

