Sydney fell

[birdie]

I was making Syd's favorite treat, a PB sandwich. She got SO excited I think she tried to fly! She can't fly. She hit the floor and skinned herself. No blood. Vet trip in the morning. Is there anything I can do tonight??
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo306/birdiecbl9/sydney/Sydsowie.jpg

[Diane, Clouds assignment]

Poor baby! I would agree with a trip to the vet tomorrow, unless she shows signs of breathing difficulty tonight. :pat:

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

OH POOR BABY! Syd AND you!! The vet can give you something for it. Bacteria passes easily through that thin skin. No swelling?
On the brighter side, look at all those new feathers!!! Hugs!

[birdscomefirst]

I think she will be OK. I am glad that she will be checked tomorrow. That is a very slight abrasion. Don't do anything and in two or three days you won't even notice that little abrasion. Get her checked out and please let us know what you find out.

Thanks,
Bill

[lcarle]

Poor baby!!!!!!! Please let us know what happened at the vet. Prayers.

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

ohmygod let us know if Sydney is ok

[too&me]

Looks minor and I am certain it upset you more than her but a quick trip to the Vet's for peace of mind is a great idea. Will be looking for that update.

[CrystalinNC]

I'm waiting to hear how Sydney's doing...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good news.

[Julie]

Oh, poor sweetie.... Next time you know to not tease her with the sammich momma!

[birdie]

morning update~
Last night I put some neosporin on, and again this morning {not an easy task}
It's not red or swollen and has sealed itself over. Syd is acting like nothing has happen and is her usual cheery self. I will watch the next couple of days but think I won't take her to the vet to stress her out, my usual vet isn't in today and I don't like the other guy.
Please send her some healing thoughts.

[too&me]

Doing now! Happy healing Syd, I knew it was much harder on Mama than Syd.

[FoxersArtist]

Oh Syd! You scare the Auntie Anna! That little sweetie is just a bit accident prone, I think! How are you doing today Brenda? These babies are our kids, so I know how easy it is to worry.

As far as your decision to not take her to the vet, I would keep an eye on her keel and if it starts to turn purple I would absulutely have her seen by a vet ASAP. Deep purple coloration can be a sign of internal bleeding. Sometimes the bleed is small but sometimes it can be much larger than it appears. Considerable blood loss can obviously affect her overall health. If it stays pink and does not swell, it is likely just a little scrape. Also - upon talking with my vet in the past, I learned that Neosporin is absolutely not safe to use on a bird as it contans zinc oxid. There are ointments made specifically for avians, but I was instructed never to use the stuff for humans. Maybe the next time you talk with your vet you can request a tube of ointment for birds, in case something similar happens again.
-Anna

[iti hoa's mom]

Oh Syd! You scare the Auntie Anna! That little sweetie is just a bit accident prone, I think! How are you doing today Brenda? These babies are our kids, so I know how easy it is to worry.

As far as your decision to not take her to the vet, I would keep an eye on her keel and if it starts to turn purple I would absulutely have her seen by a vet ASAP. Deep purple coloration can be a sign of internal bleeding. Sometimes the bleed is small but sometimes it can be much larger than it appears. Considerable blood loss can obviously affect her overall health. If it stays pink and does not swell, it is likely just a little scrape. Also - upon talking with my vet in the past, I learned that Neosporin is absolutely not safe to use on a bird as it contans zinc oxid. There are ointments made specifically for avians, but I was instructed never to use the stuff for humans. Maybe the next time you talk with your vet you can request a tube of ointment for birds, in case something similar happens again.
-Anna
Bacitracin Zinc is not present in the extra strength/cream as it is not stable in cream form. No zinc.

For those into wound care just clean the wound with a little soap and water. many vets use a wound gel now to put on the wound. I have to see if the drug stores carry wound gel yet. Wounds that are kept a little moist (ointments) heal quicker. Dried out wounds take longer to heal and leave more scarring.

[Sandi & U2 Cody]

Sounds like it's healing on its own. Hope everything turns out okay. Awaiting to hear news.

[Julie]

My vet gave me this (http://www.exoticdvm.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=healx.collection&productGroup_id=124&parentGroup_id=82&) for small abbrasions and such. Since Carl is a mutilator he thought it was very important for us to have at all times, as well as anyone who has a bird with plucking issues for times like little Syd's.... How was she doing last night?

[birdie]

Sydney's owie looks pretty good this morning. It has scabbed over and there is no redness or swelling.
I called the vet and talked to her a bit, we decided not to stress Syd but I am to continue to watch her for a few days. I took in a dropping sample and had a gram stain done, results came back perfect.

[FoxersArtist]

Good for you brenda! Sounds like the little sweety is on the mend! :)

Interesting about the Neosporin. Now I'm curious to know whether I heard my vet wrong or she was mistaken.

-Anna
Sydney's owie looks pretty good this morning. It has scabbed over and there is no redness or swelling.
I called the vet and talked to her a bit, we decided not to stress Syd but I am to continue to watch her for a few days. I took in a dropping sample and had a gram stain done, results came back perfect.

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Here is my bottom line... I would never apply any type of medication that is designed for humans to any animal.

My vet told me the same thing about Neosporin... not good for birds or any animal... it contains zinc. Just do a google on Neosporin contains zinc and you will see this to be true.

Since Baby is a plucker I always have to be on the watch for self-mutilation. Thankfully she has not progessed to that point but I hold my breath for that horrible day. So, a while back I asked my vet for a safe ointment that I could keep on hand that I could apply to Baby in case of mutilation or minor cuts and abrasions. She prescribed Sulfadiazine. I keep it in the fridge to help preserve it.

Now back to the zinc thing...

Birds have a natural level of zinc in their system. For most birds the normal level is around 1.8. Avian scientists have discovered that Cockatoos have a little higher natural zinc level of 2.2. Levels higher than the natural levels can cause many serious health problems including attacks to the central nervous system.

The seriousness of the ill-effects are dependent on many factors including: overall health of the bird, the size of the bird, diet of the bird, activities of the bird, and the amount of zinc ingested.

Animals, including birds, lick their wounds. So, anything you apply to the bird's skin will most likely be licked and ingested by the bird. In addition to ingesting by licking, anything applied to the skin is absorbed into the body and distributed to the organs. In fact, with some types of drugs, applying medications topically to the skin is more effective than ingesting and then digesting the medication... applying to the skin bypasses the stomach and intestines for distribution to the organs.

So - how much zinc ingested is too much zinc? No one knows. When I went through the lead and zinc in cage paint mess, I had several conversations with Dr. Peter Jowette, the chief avian toxocologist at LSU labs. He told me the danger levels of zinc in birds the avian medical community have set are scientific calculations. He said no one has ever fed birds paint chips laden with lead or zinc to see the effects.

So - did applying a little dab of Neosporin to Syd's boo-boo put her at risk? I doubt it. One dab - one time - no ill effects... but why take the risk?

While we are on the subject... Vitamin E applied to the skin... NEVER do this either.

It is a 100% myth that Vitamin E promotes healing and/or prevents scaring... in animals or humans.

I won't take the time to go into details of Vitamin E, but to say I did my reasearch. It even says on the bottle... DO NOT use on animals!

Lar