Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:35 pm Post subject: Kak with sore eye, Plz help!
We got our first kakariki about 2 weeks ago. we were told that he had been slightly attacked and there were feathers missing around his eye.
This morning i noticed he couldnt open his eye, and it was very swollen and had puss coming out of it. What shall we do? Ive suggested bathing it and putting some anti-septic cream on, but do we need a vet?
Any animal with swollen anything and oozing puss says to me INFECTION.
And as birds can go downhill really fast eg hours, I am a new kak owner and dont have the pleasure of a hospital cage,so I would put the bird in a smaller cage with no perches,towel on the floor for bird to sit on,Very luke warm hot water bottle under the towel and a trip to the vet for antibiotics.As I said Imk not as experianced as some other members of this site but with my limited resources, thats what I would do.
Cant stress enough NOT hot water in the bottle only warm,you dont want the bird to get too hot, just nice and warm.
Hpoe he feels better soon and keep us posted on how hes doing.
Kakariki are very prone to eye disease. This can be fatal if not treated promptly and correctly. Defianately take it to a vet who has experience with birds. In the short term follow the directions of Princess. Keep the bird quiet and warm. Also make sure any other birds are kept away from the sick bird as eye disease's can be very contagious.
well, took eric back to the vets today. the swelling has gone down a little bit.
He's ruptured his eyeball though dont know how he's done it. gotta give him anti-biotics for a few days (2mls Baytril 2.5%), take him back next week and see if it needs to be removed
Sry to be 'practical' at this point.
On the other hand, a bird, blind in one eye, in a mixed aviary, with possible stress, would be at a great disadvantage.
We had a finch with one eye in a mixed non stressed aviary, and it was disadvantaged.
A reputable breeder will NEVER sell a sick, or a damaged bird that has not healed....EVER...In saying that, occasionally a person insists on that bird.
It would only be sold if if it had been damaged (a toe missing) and had healed...even then sold at well below market value.
As sick bird would NEVER be sold because of the risk of spreading infection to other aviaries...It should never have been in a holding flight or with other birds at all, but in a isolation flight, separate to any other flights.
The later are std practises for a reputable breeder...
I will go further to say, and this is not something that is generally published.
Many breeders, if get a sick bird (sick not damaged), in many cases, will destroy it. In the long run this is the most cost effective action. The cost of Vet fees, risk to the rest of breeding stock, and the 'holding' stock, risk to the breeders reputation for healthy birds and future sales far out weighs that one sale.
Personally I would be asking for money back plus costs.
Unless u KNOW the breeder and KNOW their stds of practise, never introduce a bird to a flight with your other birds, I know of a couple local pet owners who have ended up with major problems with introduced birds.
This issue has been discussed very recently, in private ,between several of the breeders here....althu we have absolutely no control over members, we where discussing publishing a 'Standard of Practise' for the market place.
Please do not let this put you off kakariki or birds...It is very unfortunate yes...we all have unforunate insidences, Kaka-riki also had one very resently, we have had them...To have one just as u are setting out on a new hobby is unfortunate timing.
Going from your posts, the 'tone', interest, prepared to research, ask questions, I think you will make a very successful hobbist like many others here. I dont make comments like that lightly.
Steps _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
This is sad news.....I am sorry for your loss....esp after you fought so hard for him............I too think you should talk to the breeder you got him from.....its really not good enough
It is sad that a bird loses it's fight when their owner has made such a big effort to help them. Unfortunatley the results dont always justify the effort and expense involved when taking birds to the vet.
But, you did all the right things and dont give up on seeking advice in future if ever the need arises. Too many breeders and pet bird owners simply give up and the next time a bird gets sick they decide very quickly that it isnt worth the time and effort to take a sick bird to the vet. Their excuse is usually along the lines of "they couldn't save the last one, so why bother". But, from my experience I would have lost a lot more birds than we have saved by asking the vet questions and taking birds to him that we couldn't help ourselves.
As for going back to the original owner of your sick bird, I would suggest that it is very hard to totally blame them without significant proof. From your earlier posts it seems that your Kakariki was bitten by something that carries disease. My guess would be that it may have been attacked by a rat or wild bird. The best course of action when dealing with a recently purchased bird that dies is to take the bird back to the vet and get them to perform an autopsy. That will give you all the answers and certainly makes it very hard for the previous owner to dispute a written autopsy report.
If you cant get back to the vet straight away after the bird dies, wrap it in newspaper and place it in the fridge. As long as you have it to the vet within 72 hours the autopsy should still reveal the causes. It will also tell what other problems (if any) birds from that breeder may be carrying.
Good luck. Perhaps if you approach the original owner and explain the efforts you went to in an effort to save the bird they will see you are the type of breeder who cares about their birds and I am sure they will help you out with a replacement bird.
My opinion was that eric had just had some feathers plucked from around his eye by another kakariki. If this was the case then surely eric wouldnt have died from a disease, and it not be the breeders fault?
Im still curious as to how he managed to get a ruptured eyeball, do any of you know how these occur?
I put his death down to stress, as he was still a young bird, and probably the stress of having the ruptured eyeball in the first place, then being handled more than usual because of being taken to the vets. Just couldnt cope with it maybe?
Guess it was kind of for the best, if he was gonna probably have his eye removed, and be of a disadvantage, although he would have been in a cage on his own.
Many breeders, if get a sick bird (sick not damaged), in many cases, will destroy it. In the long run this is the most cost effective action. The cost of Vet fees, risk to the rest of breeding stock, and the 'holding' stock, risk to the breeders reputation for healthy birds and future sales far out weighs that
Kaka-riki in the following , elaborates correctly on this point.
Quote:
Their excuse is usually along the lines of "they couldn't save the last one, so why bother". But, from my experience I would have lost a lot more birds than we have saved by asking the vet questions and taking birds to him that we couldn't help ourselves.
In in regards to NZ as we don't have a market for our kakariki, and birds are not accepted for wild release. There is no way to recover any costs, this is often the general practice for non breeding stock. These birds will be euthanized anyway due to Our NZ Dept of Conservation policies (DoC)
I also note that IF one does manage to sell a kakriki in NZ a top bird is about $40 NZ retail..not much more than a pet budgie...often they are given for free or as a swap with another breeder...we do not have more expensive mutations And retail outlets require special permits, housing to sell that the expense far out weighs any commercial value.
Personally, When (if)we do get a 'sick' kakariki..this is because of an accident or birth defect, egg binding or similar incidence, we do our best to isolate and recover the bird. If the cause is due to suspected dease, we do follow up with treatment/autopsy. The latter because as Kaka-riki says
Quote:
It will also tell what other problems (if any) birds from that breeder may be carrying
A practice NOT carried out by many breeders, TOO OFTEN, because of short term thinking and $s as the motivation. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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dont know how he's done it. gotta give him anti-biotics for a few days (2mls Baytril 2.5%), take him back next week and see if it needs to be removed 
