| Question about a near tragedy - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| CarGirl |
Hello all! I am new here and am seeking and answer to a question that
is the result of a sad but miraculous thing that happened this Sunday.
I have a speckled Mousebird named PipSqueak who is very tame and
loves to be rubbed and played with. She lives alone in a cage I have
kept in the same room for about 5 years. She is probably about 7 years
old by now.
I live in Southern California but the weather here is generally mild
to hot, but it has gotten chilly at night recently.
Sunday morning my boyfriend went into the spare room to see
Pipsqueak and he found her on the bottom of the cage on her stomach.
He called me in and I picked her up. I have had pet birds before, and
to me this was the sad circumstance where birds oftentimes can
disguise their illnesses until the last moment and you never even knew
they were going to go. Her body was cold and lifeless...I turned her
over and stroked her stomach and felt for breathing and a heartbeat,
and I felt nothing. She was dead. Her eyes were closed and she was
unresponsive.
I set her down on a towel and prepared myself for the next step of
where to bury her. Again, this was something that had happened before,
for all I knew it was just her time to go.
My boyfriend felt differently. He went back into the room and picked
her up and started rubbing her. A moment later he called me in because
one of her eyes had opened up. I picked her up and we took her outside
into the sun and started rubbing her again, and I swear I cant beleive
what happened in the palm of my hand..she started to move her legs and
open her eyes. She was coming alive again. I got some lemonade in a
small vial tried to get her to drink but she wasnt ready yet..More
rubbing got her to try to stand up, wobbling and weaving in my hand.
She lifted herself up and let out some loud chirps I had never heard
her make before, as if trying to tell me she was feeling uncomfortable
as she awoke from her coma-like state. She then drank some lemonade
which really made me feel good because she was hungry and ready to
continue to live.
Within a few minutes she was up and around, devouring some banana and
essentially back to her old self, singing and responding to me.
This whole thing stunned me and emotionally moved both me and my
boyfriend. I felt terribly guilty, too, because he had suggested that
it had been very cold in that bedroom and maybe she had gotten too
cold..a call to my bird boarding place also confirmed that idea, and
naturally I felt terrible about it, that I may have caused this to
happen to her.
What stuns me the most is that she was for all I knew dead. I mean,
she wasnt breathing, her heart wasnt beating..how did she come alive
again? She was so cold and limp.
I was just wondering if anyone out there know about how bird's bodies
shut down and react to being cold. I know MouseBirds are tropical
birds, but I never thought it would have gotten cold enough in my own
house to cause her body to shut down like that. I had no idea that
they could go into such a closed down state then be revived again.
Yuck! I will never let that happen again. :(
Thank you!
Cynthia
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| Joanne |
"CarGirl" <red_tango@excite.com> wrote in message
news:62eb5862.0311242026.1520c356@posting.google.com...
> I have a speckled Mousebird named PipSqueak
> Her body was cold and lifeless...I turned her
> over and stroked her stomach and felt for breathing and a heartbeat,
> and I felt nothing. She was dead. Her eyes were closed and she was
> unresponsive.
You might find this link interesting regarding a state of torpor. It says
that 4 species of mousebird are known to experience this energy conserving
condition.
http://www.hbw.com/hbw/volume6/famil602.html
I've only seen the mousebird at the zoo. They are a lovely little bird. I
didn't know they were kept as pets.
And, as I may be very wrong about what you experienced, I would take her to
an avian vet as a precaution.
--
Sincerely,
Joanne
If it's right for you, then it's right, . . . . . for you!!!
Play - http://www.jobird.com
Pay for Play - http://www.jobird.com/refund.htm
Looking for Love? - http://www.jobird.com/hearts.htm
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| Chris |
Hello,
Wow that is quite the story. For over all health and wellness check out
this site, www.avianmedicinechest.com
Good Luck
"CarGirl" <red_tango@excite.com> wrote in message
news:62eb5862.0311242026.1520c356@posting.google.com...
> Hello all! I am new here and am seeking and answer to a question that
> is the result of a sad but miraculous thing that happened this Sunday.
> I have a speckled Mousebird named PipSqueak who is very tame and
> loves to be rubbed and played with. She lives alone in a cage I have
> kept in the same room for about 5 years. She is probably about 7 years
> old by now.
> I live in Southern California but the weather here is generally mild
> to hot, but it has gotten chilly at night recently.
> Sunday morning my boyfriend went into the spare room to see
> Pipsqueak and he found her on the bottom of the cage on her stomach.
> He called me in and I picked her up. I have had pet birds before, and
> to me this was the sad circumstance where birds oftentimes can
> disguise their illnesses until the last moment and you never even knew
> they were going to go. Her body was cold and lifeless...I turned her
> over and stroked her stomach and felt for breathing and a heartbeat,
> and I felt nothing. She was dead. Her eyes were closed and she was
> unresponsive.
> I set her down on a towel and prepared myself for the next step of
> where to bury her. Again, this was something that had happened before,
> for all I knew it was just her time to go.
> My boyfriend felt differently. He went back into the room and picked
> her up and started rubbing her. A moment later he called me in because
> one of her eyes had opened up. I picked her up and we took her outside
> into the sun and started rubbing her again, and I swear I cant beleive
> what happened in the palm of my hand..she started to move her legs and
> open her eyes. She was coming alive again. I got some lemonade in a
> small vial tried to get her to drink but she wasnt ready yet..More
> rubbing got her to try to stand up, wobbling and weaving in my hand.
> She lifted herself up and let out some loud chirps I had never heard
> her make before, as if trying to tell me she was feeling uncomfortable
> as she awoke from her coma-like state. She then drank some lemonade
> which really made me feel good because she was hungry and ready to
> continue to live.
> Within a few minutes she was up and around, devouring some banana and
> essentially back to her old self, singing and responding to me.
> This whole thing stunned me and emotionally moved both me and my
> boyfriend. I felt terribly guilty, too, because he had suggested that
> it had been very cold in that bedroom and maybe she had gotten too
> cold..a call to my bird boarding place also confirmed that idea, and
> naturally I felt terrible about it, that I may have caused this to
> happen to her.
> What stuns me the most is that she was for all I knew dead. I mean,
> she wasnt breathing, her heart wasnt beating..how did she come alive
> again? She was so cold and limp.
> I was just wondering if anyone out there know about how bird's bodies
> shut down and react to being cold. I know MouseBirds are tropical
> birds, but I never thought it would have gotten cold enough in my own
> house to cause her body to shut down like that. I had no idea that
> they could go into such a closed down state then be revived again.
> Yuck! I will never let that happen again. :(
>
> Thank you!
> Cynthia
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