Ruperts bad night and rush to the Emergency Vet

[rebeccaturpeinen]

thats great news!! poor little guy

[a.susz]

poor rupert!! im glad hes feeling a little better

[pchela]

He seems to be back to normal now. I would guess that his tongue is probably still a little sore but maybe I'm wrong. He gives no indication that it hurts now and the vet did say that tongue wounds heal quickly.

I put plexiglass over the tops of all of the cages so they can't fight if one happens to land on anothers cage. I hope we can avoid any future incidents of this type. They both just love to pick on Rupert. I've suggested to my husband that if only Rupert had a friend on his side, things would be better but he just rolls his eyes.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

If you are using full-spectrum bulbs and they are now shining through the plexiglass, you'll want to move the bulbs so there is no material between the bulb and the bird... plexiglass will block some of the radiation from the bulb. FWIW.

[lzver]

Glad to hear Rupert is getting better so quickly.

That's a good idea to use the plexiglass on top of the cages. Lucy likes to fly over to Jessie's cage and he always goes after her. Right now I just cover the top of his cage with a blanket and that seems to serve the purpose.

[Michael]

That's great news. You're lucky it all went by so fast and that he's ok now.

[pchela]

I am extremely lucky that he healed so quickly and damage was minimal. He is also back to his normal personality so I don't think he was too traumatized by the event. Thank you all for the support.

Entranced, thanks for the heads up on the lights. I didn't even think about the plexiglass and full spectrum light. My lamp is currently broken (thanks to some bird who I won't mention who chewed up the wires) but I will keep that in mind when I get a replacement.

[tieltoro]

I know this is an old thread so hopefully you see this birdvet.

My cockatiel got a pretty good bruise on her head and her beak has been tender because she flew into a window when she got scared of something outside. There were no other issues (no siezures or bleeding or anything) other than her just not feeling well/being sleepy and avoiding harder to chew on foods. The vet checked her out and found that, other than the bruising, she was in great shape so she prescribed 0.06ml of the 1.5mg/ml once a day for 5 days to help reduce the swelling and pain from the bruises so she could eat easier. Is that too much for her? I used your calculations and it was more like 0.03ml. Should I reduce the dosage to that? I've already given her the first 0.06ml dose and while she is still sleepy (active here and there) she seems to be feeling better already. She slept on both feet last night but just now, about 3 or so hours after the dose, she started napping on one foot again. I just don't want to give her too much. This was her first vet visit but this avian vet is supposed to be a good one so I don't want to second guess her dossage. I hope you see this post. It's 6 years late to the board ha ha.

Poor Rupert!!! Metacam is fine for birds, as long as the vet prescribed the correct dose. Here's a formula so you can check.

Rupert's weight in kg (eg. 0.120) multiply by 0.4mg/kg then divide by the concentration of the drug. Here in New Zealand metacam oral comes in 1.5mg/ml (the dog formulation) or 0.5mg/ml (the cat formulation). It should be written on the bottle.

So assuming it's the 1.5mg/ml formula and assuming Rupert weighs 0.120kg then the formula should look like this.

0.120 X 0.4 = 0.032mls of metacam
1.5

Make you sure you give it with lots of fluids so the kidneys are protected. Only give it for 3 days. The tongue should heal super quickly so you shouldn't need it for any longer than that.

Cheers

[Wolf]

No, I would not change to dosage that the vet prescribed for the bird, to begin with we don't know the concentration of the drug in the suspension so if you were to reduce the amount being given then you may not be giving enough to be effective. If you are concerned about the dosage then I suggest that you talk to your vet about it before making any changes.

From the description of the birds actions it sounds to me like he has sustained a concussion as well as the bruising and I would very definitely keep a close watch on him until he returns completely to normal.

While some of use interested in the medical issues that go hand in hand with caring for our birds and will even make some suggestions in this area, these suggestions are only intended to help you get by until the bird can get in to see the vet and be properly examined. Our suggestion should never take the place of the vets advice and instructions.

[Pajarita]

And we have no way of knowing if this person who signs him/herself birdvet is actually a vet... one can make all kinds of claims online because nobody can actually verify them.