Ava
Please scroll down for updates
On 7/28/11, a Good Samaritan brought a Persian High Flyer that was "being picked on by gulls" into WildCare. Upon examination, she was found to be moderately thin, moderately dehydrated and otherwise fine. As a domestic rather than wild bird, she was transferred to Marin Humane Society but was losing the use of her legs. By 8/1 she couldn't stand. She was eating and gaining weight and otherwise stable.
It took time to contact and hear back from her person (she's banded) and when he was reached, he no longer wanted her. Once officially surrendered, MickaCoo was ready to take her into foster care but most of the avian vets were out of town for the week (in Seattle for the Avian Vet Association Conference) and, while MHS took radiographs, they weren't able to interpret them.


On 8/9, I picked up the little bird from MHS and named her Ava.


While Ava can't use her legs, she's not paralyzed and uses her beak to reach out and dig in and then hunches her wings to use to scoot in the desired direction. I've got her on soft towels in an uncluttered space where she can move around and position herself where she wants to be. She passes the time watching the birds through the window- all the ferals and my backyard coop pigeons give her plenty to see.
I've given her a couple of baths, both to soak her butt clean and to provide a little gravity-free hydrotherapy for her legs. She is very fastidious and will scoot a couple of inches away from a spot once she has pooped.

Ava is an incredibly sweet and beautiful bird who is coping with her terrible predicament with inspiring grace. I hope that we can keep her comfortable and help her regain the use of her legs. Ava is one of quite a few MickaCoo birds that have required vet care in the past couple of months and we need donations to help cover the bills. This DONATE link leads to a page that tells how you can help. Thank you!
Here's Ava using her beak to pull herself forward.
Dr. Ansorge doesn't see any broken bones but she does see a density in the radiograph right under Ava's spine. It might be a tumor pressing on her spinal cord and, if it is, her prognosis is poor as birds don't tolerate chemotherapy well and it isn't in a place where radiation therapy or surgery could be used. It's possible that the density could be fungal plaques and so she is being treated with Itraconazole (as well as Metacam for pain and inflammation) in the hopes that the density can be reduced and she could regain leg function.
Ava is eating, alert and so far, tolerating her condition well. She spends part of her time hanging out with one of her two mirrors; moves in and out of the warmth of the heat lamp; props herself up on her teddy bear and watches all the birds outside. I give her a little bit of physical therapy daily to help keep her leg joints flexible.

Ava is an incredibly sweet and beautiful bird who is coping with her terrible predicament with inspiring grace. I hope that we can keep her comfortable and help her regain the use of her legs. Ava is one of quite a few MickaCoo birds that have required vet care in the past couple of months and we need donations to help cover the bills. This DONATE link leads to a page that tells how you can help. Thank you!
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home