Burned feet...I feel terrible

[Strawfrawg]

I always put Marvin in his cage when the stove burners are on, and I put a "cage" I made over any burner that has been on anytime recently. But fate stepped in the other day and a houseguest (my sister) turned the stove on while I was in the shower. She didn't know she couldn't witout caging him...I never expected her to use the stove or I would've mentioned it. Marvin flew into the kitchen to see what she was up to and landed right on a red-hot burner with both feet. The scream brought me running to him, soaking wet, and he was flying around along the ceiling, unable to land. I literally had to grab him mid-flight. I put cold water and ice in a shallow bowl and held his feet in the water until he calmed down. I kept talking to him and stroking his neck to help keep him from going into shock. The smell of burning flesh was all over the house. The bottoms of his feet were browned. I wanted to drop dead right there...could have, for as hard as my heart was pounding. While my sister held him in a towel I strapped an ice pack around the perch of his travel cage, wrapped a moist paper towel around it, and we rushed to the vet.

Despite how bad it looked, the vet said the burns were actually superficial and there were only two small lesions. Marvin could stand okay and he had full motion in his feet. Marvin was a champ at the vet's office, very calm and cooperative. We left with antiobiotic drops, an anti-inflammatory pain reliever, and burn cream. He ate well that afternoon and his droppings were good by evening.

The vet told me he has seen birds whose feet were melted on a stove, and had one patient whose GCC went up in flames. My God, Marvin and I are so lucky. My sister felt terrible. I felt even worse. What a day. This will take some time to get over for me...though Marvin is doing very well and has been very good about taking his meds.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Don't blame yourself. You were always careful and as much as you nag people you can never guarantee what other people do. You did everything right!!!

This happened to one of our cockatiels once and he lived till he was 27! Just keep the cage and perches extra clean

[Michael]

That's just terrible, sorry to hear it.

Did he land on the actual burner or on a pot/pan that was placed on it? I can't imagine how the bird would have the chance to land on the actual burner.

Has your parrot ever been on the (cold) stove before? This is why I was so taken aback when I saw someone posting pictures of their parrots being taught to land on the stove using positive reinforcement training.

I am actually 98% confident that I could regularly cook with my parrots out and that they would not land on he stove just because they never land on there during all the times they are out and have access to it. By never being involved with the stove when they are out, they've never developed an interest or even feeling that they could go on it. Furthermore, I once intentionally put Kili over a hot pot to scare her away from the stove and she never went on it. All that said, I still never cook when they are out but it may not be a bad idea to establish preventative measures. Of course, now you won't have to but still don't test it.

Hope he recovers soon! Glad to know he's alright.

[Eric&Rebecca]

I know ours landed when he'd never been able to land before in his life. Sometimes they do get interested when a place is available to land that wasn't before, also if someone is doing something in that spot they will get even more interested but every bird is different depending on how they've been bought up.

As Strawfrawg says she usually has a cage on over it and I believe she's only had marvin around 1 year or less and she's had the cage over the stove since she's had him... is that right Strawfrawg?

[KimberlyAnn]

I'm so very sorry that happened to you! I know you take such great care of Marvin and you know what? You did the right thing! Because you did the right thing to help him, he's better off then he could have been. Good job for acting fast and getting to the vet! Accidents happen no matter what.

I hope you all feel better soon. I'm sorry for your sister too. It's an every day normal thing to turn on a stove if you don't spend hours a day researching parrots.

[Strawfrawg]

Thanks, guys. The name's Jen, by the way.

Rebecca...Marvin is 17 weeks old. It's easy for me to forget that sometimes because he acts like a Big Boy in so many ways. I swear he is the calmest bird ever. I have yet to find anything that fazes him...except hot burners.

Michael...Marvin touched down on the actual burner. My sister was about to put a pan on it. Why she let it get to full heat before doing that is beyond me. She said Marvin was there for only about a second when the pain hit and he flew off. He sits on my shoulder in the kitchen every morning while I make his breakfast, but he has never shown any interest in flying down to the countertop or stove (he does like the sink) so I haven't done anything to draw attention, positive or negative. This time, however, the burner was bright and shiny and orange...his favorite color, unfortunately. He flies right to anything that's orange or yellow.

Kimberly Ann...I read on up burn care when I had my cockatiel. I also trained Marvin to allow me to hold his body with his feet hanging loose below, just in case he was ever burned or cut, since his instinct is to grab on. Man, did that come in handy. He was calmer than I was once I got him down from the ceiling. That part was awful...fly like hell, land, scream, fly like hell, land, scream...it felt like hours before I could reach him. I was also afraid the ice water could put him into shock, but luckily he loves ice cubes as toys (great way to get him to hydrate) so the cold wasn't unfamiliar.

The burner cage is an aluminum pie-cooling rack, a few inches bigger than the diameter of my largest burner, with three layers of aluminum foil covering everything. If a burner has been on, the cage goes over it until it cools to room temperature. It never gets hot enough to burn anything/-one.

[Pajarita]

Please wrap all his perches with paper towels or actual hand towels to make them softer on the bottom of his feet. And, if he usually perches on the side of the bowl with his food, please put the food on a paper plate at the bottom of the cage to make it easier on him. Things do happen. Even when we think we got all the loose ends covered, they are always able to find one! I only allow one bird into the kitchen and only when I am not cooking because although she has never left my shoulder, she is fully capable of flight and I don't want to risk a surprise. You might want to nix his going into the kitchen from now on.

[janetafloat]

Oh no, that sounds dreadful! Poor Marvin, and poor you, I can't imagine how you must have felt, though it sounds like it was just one of those things & nothing you could have done. Thank goodness he's okay and has taken it all so well. Sounds like he'll be right as rain before you know it

[Strawfrawg]

Thanks, janetafloat, and for the suggestions, parajita. I've been doing everything you suggested since the burn...my vet said the same things. He ended his course of meds yesterday and his feet look 100% healed. I'll still keep things extra sanitary for a while longer in case there are still micro-lesions I can't detect.

[KimberlyAnn]

Oh that's great news! I'm glad Marvin is better.