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I found this site and logged in cuz my bird fell into a pot of water....which had cooled off on the stove. The grease on top of the water was almost solid. I took the advice given on the threads........ and wiped off the feathers with diluted Dawn. I don't believe I got off as much as I should have. The breast feathers are matted. My bird is sleeping in the cage with a heating pad on top and the cover prevents a draft. When I checked with a flashlight, Poochie was quivering. Was it the flashlight that scared him or is he cold. The thermometer in the cage shows 79 degrees


WOW - THIS SOUNDS SERIOUS AND SINCE I AM NOT KNOWLEDGABLE - THOUGHT I WOULD RE-POST FOR OTHERS ASSISTANCE..........PLEASE HELP.

Sorry, I didn't see the original thread.

This is not an expert opinion. I'm just thinking of how I would likely handle the situation.

If it was just cooking grease, I would try using more Dawn and less water. Of course that would make it necessary to rinse even more thoroughly. If the grease was/contained beef tallow, the job would be more difficult.

It sounds like the person had to put the bird to bed wet. The first thing I would do is turn on the house heat. Without dry feathers to keep it warm, it needs to be kept at near the bird's natural body temprature.

Then, I would call a vet right away.

Hopefully, someone with more knowledge will be along soon.

I also missed this and am a bit confused... A cooling pot of water... with almost solid grease on top? I wonder what on earth that would be (soup in the making?), what the grease was and how cold that water was?

Wet birds do tend to shiver, but a healthy bird would probably dry fairly soon, if it's just water. It's not clear to me when this bird was still shaking (how long after the incident, whether it was at a time when the bird normally would be sleeping or whether it was resting after the ordeal, in a covered cage). Maybe, yes, it was woken up from sleep in "the middle of the night" and startled (new owner or not?). So, it sounds a bit vague, but keeping the heat up and calling a vet or wildlife center or whatever sounds like a good thing to me too (79 is definitely not too high I think, but more like a minimum).

Hope he or she did call an avian vet in the meantime. Just helps to actually talk with someone.

Ange

PS
Not sure where this original post was, but von51 may want to direct the newbie to this new thread by replying to the original post, then...

Can you give more details about the grease? If you can't get his body temp up and the grease off I would call the vet.

Ah, found the old post! I posted link there to direct newbie to here. Micki is her name and she was reading in the other thread so she'll show up soon, I guess. Welcome Micki!

Thank you so much Angie for directed the newbie to this link...I got really worried while reading this person's delemia....hope I did not step out of line, but my heart sunk and I wanted to get attention to the posting.

I am just a 2 month fid mommy and still have a lot to learn about my newly made friend....but I read the posts and have learned a lot from this web site......thanks to everyone.

You caught everyone's attention for a bird in trouble, Von; how can that ever be "stepping out of line"? (I didn't know a thing when I got my birds and the web wasn't around either. I coincidentally learned a tremendous lot just in the past 6 months; know what I'm saying? It's a continuous journey and in 3 months you may know more than any of us. The birds teach us.)

Btw, I PMd Micki when I saw she had left the thread. I just hope Poochie is fine.

I don't think any of us would consider it out of line to try to help a parront and save their fid's life.

Sorry- I am new. I don't know the difference between quick reply or add reply. I hope I am adding to the current thread.
ok.....details: For 4th of July, we boiled baby back ribs prior to bbq-ing outside. We left the pot on the stove to cool down in order for the fat to become solid and easier to dispose of. Thank the GOOD LORD that the water was room temperature.
Being fond of himself, Poochie must have been attracted to the stainless steel pot where he saw an image. I suppose he thought he could go down to the bottom of the pot to make friends. Needless to say, we found a very greasy, wet bird. We have no idea how he made it out of the pot!
I googled for help on this subject and found some great ideas from your thread. (Dawn, heating pad on top of cage, etc.)
This morning, I called the vet who was FAR too busy to see our bird and the secretary called back with advice to bathe him in diluted Dawn and rinse VERY WELL. So far, with bloody fingers now, I dosed all but the head in 1% Dawn/99% warm water and to the final rinse, I added some Aloe (drinkable kind). Poochie hasn't dried off enough to see if this second go 'round was successful.
As far as the shaking, he is outside now on the screened porch.....no draft and temp is now 82 degrees and will be 84 soon. Yet, he is still quivering and eyes often shut.
Additional question.......if this reply gets thru ok....is what to do about his stools. His last droppings are watery. Any ideas?

I've been here since last September and I still don't know any real advantage of the quick reply. It doesn't take that long to add a reply anyway.

As far as the poop, I think he is probably just responding to the stress and it will probably "thicken up" soon.

I owuld keep calling vets to find one that can see him. I am just not comfotable with this situation at all.

Micki..

His dropping are more watery because he's really stressed right now.

Have you noticed him eating or drinking. Hopefully he is...If not, you'll need to get him to an emergency vet to have him rehydrated.

If its truly draft free where you have him 82 is a pretty good temp but if his feathers are still wet you may need to assist him in drying off. I would get a hand towel and wrap him in it like a burrito..so that the towel can wick away the water from his feathers...It will also help hold his body temp up... Don't wrap him so tight that he can't wiggle and just keep him close to your body so your body temp helps keep him warm.

If he fell in to the pan he also may have aspirated some water/broth/grease into his lungs...He will most likely need to be on some antibiotics mainly as a precaution to warrant off pneumonia etc.

Has the vet that you called seen your bird before? I can't believe that if they had he would turn you away. If he hasn't been seen by this vet then I would definitely take him to an emergency vet clinic to have them listen to his lungs and get the antibiotics.

If this little guys wings aren't trimmed, I would strongly recommend having them trimmed ASAP so that an accident like this is less likely to happen again.

Something else that you can use as a heat source is a lamp with a 100 watt light bulb. Take the shade off of it and place it close to his cage so that if he is in fact cold he can move closer the the heat so that can get the heat from the bulb, that way he can move away from the heat source as he warms up.

However at Lowes Hardware or Home Depot and probably most any other hardware store or feed stores they have a "drop light" or Trouble Light that has a bowl or cone shaped metal reflector and a squeeze grip to attach it to a rafter etc You can get a heat lamp and fasten it someplace close to the cage but if you use an actual HEAT LAMP you need to keep the light about 2 feet away from the cage so that it doesn't get too hot and so that he has more area to move away from the heat. At the feed store, ask for a Brooder light.


Please keep us posted on how this little guy is doing OK...

We're like a big family here and we all worry about each other's little feathered kids...


Sure hope this little critter is going to be OK.

Poochie is back home!
Thank you all for the wonderful advice you gave me.
I dropped off Poochie yesterday morning on a "drop off and have the vet work him in" basis. Luckily, I did since without getting the grease off his feathers, a bird cannot tolerate fluctuations in temperature provided by healthy feathers. Eventually, he would have died of something, such as pneumonia, etc. That was the reason for Poochie quivering-Birds need healthy feathers.
(I later found out that this wonderful, stressed out and overworked vet bathed Poochie and continued stopping by the clinic for other patients in crisis in spite of his own father being in ICU. The office was trying to minimize his workload during a very sad personal crisis of his own.)
And don't tell me that birds aren't smart! As soon as I brought the cage inside the house, what had been a very quiet and subdued bird became a raging monster hellbent on getting out of his cage! He certainly recognized home and the surroundings.
Last.....Poochie thanks everyone for the input and help given during his crisis. He also promises NEVER TO TAKE A SWIM IN GREASY POTS OF WATER EVER AGAIN!

well I am glad there is a happy ending to this!!!!
stay out of pots of greasy water poochie IMPs orders!!!

So glad that Poochie is ok. I would also follow Connie's suggestion on wing clipping. Next time it could be the toilet and there have been other members on here who lost their birds because of them not being able to get out. Just my opinion.

So happy to hear the good news!!! Glad Poochie is okay. Also, sounds like one heck of a good caring vet! Please consider getting his wings clipped. I know there is a lot of different opinions here on should or shouldn't but without the flying ability his safety is a lot greater.

Oh yes, it's great to hear that he's OK!!!!

Also ,it's heart warming to hear about what that vet did. He clearly cares about much more than the money. Prayers going out for him and his family.

I am so glad and releived to hear this has a very happy ending..Poochie stay out of the pot...LOL