Avian first aid kit

[Dave007]

Not all of thiese items are needed but seeing what's available and what might be needed is a good idea. What applies is what you need---------

 

 

THE AVIAN FIRST AID KIT

 

 

One of the most important items a responsible bird owner should have is a special First Aid Kit just for your bird.

Having a well stocked avian First Aid kit handy can prepare you to handle minor emergencies yourself or enable you to stabilize your bird's condition while getting your bird to your avian veterinarian. A sturdy, medium sized, plastic or metal tool or tackle box makes an ideal Avian First Aid Kit. Decide before hand where you wish to keep this kit. Any easily remembered place....kitchen, bathroom or the bird room itself are good locations.

 

Write your regular avian veterinarian's name, address and telephone number taped in the lid of the First Aid Kit, along with at least one 24 hour emergency hospital, clinic or doctor's name and number. Also keep a copy of your bird's medical records, particularly any chronic diseases or recent injuries/illnesses the bird has been treated for in the kit.

 

Basic First Aid Kit

There are some "musts" for your kit. The following are items we suggest for inclusion in a Basic First Aid Kit, with a brief description of their uses.

 

• Towel - for wrapping and securing your bird
  
  
• Scissors - for cutting tape, bandages.....and strings which can wrap on birds toes
  
  
• Quik-stop and/or Styptic Pencil (silver nitrate stick) - to stop bleeding from broken blood feathers or cuts. Avian blood has very few clotting agents in comparison to human/ mammal blood. A bird can literally bleed to death from a broken blood feather.
  
  
• Hemostats and tweezers - for removing broken blood feathers, and/or splinters
  
  
• Plyers, needle nose - for pulling blood feathers or unbending chains and quik links which birds are known to injure themselves with.
  
  
• Wire cutters - once again, birds are known to wrap themselves in chain and/or wire.
  
  
• Gauze pads - for covering wounds, burns
  
  
• Cotton balls - for cleansing
  
  
• Q-tips - for cleaning out small wounds, getting stuff out of a bird's mouth or throat.
  
  
• Vet wrap (cut into strips and rolled) - for wrapping broken bones, wings, or binding gauze pads to wounds.
  
  
• Micropore tape (paper surgical tape) - for holding gauze in place
  
  
• Penlight or small flashlight (A head-mounted light is even better.)
  
  
• Magnifying glasses or "jewelers loop" - especially necessary for those of us at "that certain age"....but since birds are so small and delicate, a pair of magnifying glasses can come in handy for anyone trying to do detail work.
  
  
• Sterile water - for flushing wounds or mixing with food
  
  
• Pedialyte (or generic equivalent)- for rehydrating a dehydrated bird. Can be mixed with food. Pedialyte contains sugars and electrolytes which avians quickly lose when dehydrated or sick. Must be discarded within 24 hours of opening since it is a wonderful media for bacteria to grow in. An alternate to Pedialite such as Gastrolyte, Rappolyte powders can be used. These should be mixed with sterile water. Both are available through veterinarians. Pedialite, however, is readily available at any grocery store in the baby food section.
  
  
• Hand feeding formula, jars of human baby food such as veggies, cereals or squash. Often sick or injured birds will be too weak to eat on their own for a few days. During this period of time we may find ourselves having to spoon or syringe feed the bird to help keep their strength up.
  
  
• Feeding syringes, spoon with bent up sides to facilitate feeding (for above.)
  
  
• Pellets/seeds - If your bird needs to stay at the hospital, they may not have the type/kind of food your bird is accustomed to. It is a good idea to have several baggies of fresh seed and/or pellets available to take with you.
  
  
• Betadyne or hibitane (chlorhexidine) - as non-irritating disinfectant. Avoid hydrogen peroxide which is caustic to skin
  
  
• Aloe Vera - for very minor burns. Many creams and lotions made for humans are toxic to birds, so make sure that you get 100% pure Aloe Vera
  
  

Additional Supplies:

For those who are more experienced you may want to add:

 

• Popscicle sticks - for immobilizing broken legs
  
  
• Ophthalmic ointment - for scratched eyes, minor conjunctivitis
  
  
• Suturing materials (surgical needles and thread)
  
  
• Gelfoam - stops bleeding from flesh wounds. Available from your veterinarian.
  
  
• Tegaderm dressing - helps healing for burns and certain open wounds. Encourages granulation (healing/scabbing.)
  
  
• Lactated Ringer's solution - used for IV rehydrating of dehydrated avians and flushing wounds.
  
  
• Syringes - for injectable medications and irrigation of wounds.
  
  

Danger Signals and Emergencies

There are many problems which you should be prepared for. We do not intend to list them all. Any time a bird has any of the following symptoms: stops eating, sits fluffed on the bottom of his cage, is bleeding from mouth or vent, has uncontrollable bleeding, has runny eyes, can't breathe, sneezes with discharge, has diarrhea, has constipation (straining to defecate), has loss of balance, depression, lethargy....do not wait! Take your bird to the veterinarian!

 

Birds do not have much clotting agent in their blood. A broken blood feather, or a minor cut can be life threatening. The blood feather must be removed, or bleeding stopped by use of Quik-stop or a styptic pencil. If bleeding does not stop, apply pressure and rush the bird to the veterinarian.

 

Books

A small Red Cross type first aid booklet may be kept in the avian First Aid Kit. An avian book with descriptions of first aid procedures may be even more handy.

A good book to have around the house is

THE AFRICAN GREY PARROT HANDBOOK BY

MATTIE SUE ATHAN AND DIANALEE

 

Traveling and Carrying Your Bird

Even if you only are traveling an hour away, take your First Aid kit with you. Bring additional water and food. If your car breaks down, or worse, you are in an accident, the first aid kit and additional supplies may save your bird's life!

 

A safe, traveling cage or carrier is also necessary. Covering the carrier minimizes stress on the bird as well as keeping the bird out of drafts.

 

Antibiotics

The question of antibiotics has been raised on many occasions. Should the bird owner administer antibiotics without having the bird seen by a veterinarian? The answer must be a resounding NO! The reason for this is that not every antibiotic can eliminate every bacteria. And, of course, antibiotics do not work on viruses. It is most important that the bird is seen, that blood work or cultures are done by the veterinarian before any antibiotics are given. Most antibiotics need to be taken for specific amounts of time, with varying dosages not only by weight of bird, but by species, since some birds are far more "sensitive" to drugs than others. Also, most veterinarians will wish to administer an anti-fungal medication along with the antibiotic. Avian internal systems are extraordinarily susceptible to yeast and fungal infections, which can sometimes do more harm than the original bacterial infection!

 

There are antibiotics available over the counter at pet stores. Do not use them. The most common antibiotic available "over the counter" is tetracycline which is of value in very few, and only very specific, avian illnesses. Tetracycline can cause severe fungal infection if not used with systemic anti-fungal drugs and should be avoided unless under veterinary care!

 

In closing.....

 

I'm sure I havent not covered every possible emergency which will arise. The suggestions made are based on experiences as well as the experiences of other bird owners, breeders and avian professionals. I hope that in an emergency, the information we have provided you is helpful.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2011 by Dave007

[judygram]

Thanks so much Dave for putting this list together for us, if and when accidents happen we should have all this stuff together in one place so we can do what is needed to save our bird's life, a very comprehensive avian first aid kit.

[Barbara2]

How important is it to keep one of those heat panels on hand?

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Two products I have available all the time, is Dermabond( in case they pull a flight feather and they don't stop bleeding). Neosporin, if they pull a feather that needs antibiotic care. Everyone who owns a bird, should have experience in CPR. Kiki once got trapped under wooden cage, was on her last breath, required CPR. It worked, Nancy

[matt006]

To be honest i never been have a first aid kit to my pet and it is a pleasure to know it.In Finland country many people also don't have it and most of the time they are going to veterinarian at http://www.jar-vet.fi/ in part of Helsinki for the fastest way of curing of their pets.