Rescued Thrush, what to do?

ctrl-alt-delete

Hi there,

Today in work i rescued an injured Thrush from a cat that was mauling it.

I thought at first that it had no chance, it was missing some feathers and had a cut under its wing. I was considering putting it out of its misery,

However i put it in a safe place, and over the course of the day it livened up, i know myself it would not survive out in the wild at the moment,

So i have taken it home and have it in a cage at the moment,

question is, are there any places that would take in an injured bird?

and any tips on what it might nibble on until then?

bigpinkelephant

Hi OP,

First of all, well doen for saving the bird!

I have rescued several of them in the past from the stray cats in the garden.
The biggest thing that kills them is shock. Keep the bird somewhere warm, dark and quiet.
There is a vet in Maynooth called O'Dwyers and they will examine injured wild birds. I have friends who have found the KSPCA to be quite helpful with wildlife. There is very little in the way of dedicated wildlife rescues in Ireland and most of the regular rescues will tell you they only take cats and dogs.
A small amount of warm (not hot!) salty water will help to clean the wound.

seanybiker

Fair play to you for saving the injured bird. Hate seen injured animals. Give him a bit of bread and see what he thinks of it.
Did ya name him at all ? I would for the craic.

Whispered

I would recommend having the cage in a very very quiet and dark room. Bread might swell in its stomach if you give it dry, so soak it in milk first, maybe add a bit of sugar for energy (this may be a myth though, I'm not sure).

Maybe you could ask in the bird watching forum, they might have someone over there who will have some tips for you?

Our man in Havana

If the cat has caused the bird to bleed at all it will die very quickly. Cats have some very nasty bacteria in their mouths and will cause mass infection.

ctrl-alt-delete

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies,

I have the cage in a warm place, its covered with a towel so its in the dark too.

I did soak some bread in milk and mashed it up, its in a bowl so ill monitor how that goes.

I caught it early on in the hunt, id say the cat injured it more with its claws than its mouth, but i havnt treated the cut yet - i will do that now when i get the chance.

It does look in good condition otherwise, its very lively and wants to be out, but i know it wouldnt last outside,

Im not sure what to do, as in i dont know how long it would take to get to a fit state for release, will see what happens,

I havn't named it

2 years ago i found a hen pheasant in the van, i cant remember who i called back then, a crowd took it to a sanctuary.

Morganna

dig some worms for it as thrushs eat worms

Discodog

Avoid bread !. Try worms, fishing maggots - easy to buy, & snails - easy to find but remove from their shells. remember that this bird would normally be eating several times it's own bodyweight !. You need to assess the injury asap. Most vets will be willing to take a look & many won't charge. Fluids are essential so make sure that there is water available. The biggest problem is delayed shock. Often birds will seem fine & then suddenly die. The vet should use a broad spectrum antibiotic to reduce potential infection.

The best people for advice are Tiggywinkles in England - I used to do wildlife ambulance volunteering with them.

http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk

The Sweeper

I was going to say, usually when a cat catches something and has a claw or chew on it, if you don't get a broad spectrum antibiotic into it within 24 hours it's a goner. As Bond states, the infection can run riot very quickly.

John Griffin

Get live mealworms from a petshop or white maggots from a fishing tackle shop or dig some worms. The outlook is bleak, I have dealt with a lot of injured birds, shock and infection usually finish them off and it is often quite sudden. But you never know. If it's still alive in 3 days time and looking fit you should release it, you need to notifiy your local Wildlife Ranger that you are in possession of this bird and that you are going to release it when recovered.

Sigma Force

They like their insects, can you take it to the vet if it's still alive vets usually treat wildlife for free. If the bird is still alive and there's no sign of an infection and the wound is healing it would be better to release the bird the stress of keeping it could do more harm than good.

Just curious why would op need to notify the local wildlife ranger?

John Griffin

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Just curious why would op need to notify the local wildlife ranger?

Legal requirement under the wildlife act, a licence is required to have possession of a wild bird. Link to application form attached below. Its free, the bird may be released or dead before it arrives but at least it was applied for if ever queried. Cover thy ass:)

Under Section 22(9) of the Wildlife Act, 1976 (as amended) the Minister may grant a licence

* to a person to have in possession for a reasonable period of time an injured or disabled wild bird, or one or more than one dependant young of a wild bird which is orphaned with the intention of tending and later releasing such bird or young back into the wild when and only when such bird or young, as the case may be, is no longer disabled or dependant.
* To a person to retain possession of a wild bird, that for reasons of disability or for other reasons deemed reasonable by the Minister, would, if released, be unlikely to survive unaided in the wild.

Applications for permissions are made on a standard application form available below:


http://www.npws.ie/en/media/Media,3694,en.pdf

Scober11

Thrush kicked the bucket last night so it is going to get a burial around now. My cat was pretty cheesed off when he took the bird off her won't look at us all day!

ctrl-alt-delete

Just to confirm to you all that the bird died last night,

Did all i could anyways, but its a shame.

Will keep that form in mind for the next time, thanks for the link

ISDW

Ah thats a shame, but you were always battling against the odds.

Well done for trying.

Rigsby

ISDW wrote: »

Well done for trying.

+1.

bigpinkelephant

awww man that sucks.
At least he died in your care, cats can be very cruel when they catch something.

Discodog

Put an alert collar on the cat & it greatly reduces the chances of it catching birds. Even a bell can make a huge difference.

www.conservationevidence.com/ViewEntry.asp?ID=250

www.willana-lifesciences.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk/environment/new-cat-collar-could-save-lives-of-30-million-birds-737939.html

Scober11

I put a bell on our old cat SADDAM and it made him mental had to take it back off and he settled down again. Surely with a bell the cat wouldn't be able to catch mice or rats and thats the main purpose of having one?

Discodog

I think you will find that many people keep a cat for the pleasure not as a mouse catcher.

The Sweeper

Cats learn to hunt so the bell makes no noise. Anyway, the bells you put on a cat's collar are so crap, the cat's likely to make more noise moving through the grass/bushes than the bell itself will make.

If you want to 100% stop your cat killing birds, keep it either inside or in a restricted outdoor run. This will also stop other things killing your cat.

sorella

I once chased the cat off a robin; poor wee thing lay there.. So I picked it up to give it a decent burial; and realised a bright beady eye was looking at me..playing possum. So glad when it flew away.

I put a collar and bell on that cat; he managed to get one leg through it and almost cut his leg off. Also they can get caught in trees.

Just is nature- but if I can intervene ...

Discodog

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Cats learn to hunt so the bell makes no noise. Anyway, the bells you put on a cat's collar are so crap, the cat's likely to make more noise moving through the grass/bushes than the bell itself will make.

If you want to 100% stop your cat killing birds, keep it either inside or in a restricted outdoor run. This will also stop other things killing your cat.

If you read the report that I linked previously you will see that bells make a huge difference. CatAlert is better than a bell & many cat owners have found it useful in finding a lost cat.

Cat collars have to be the right type & fitted properly. Again if you read the report the disadvantages of the collar is that they come off & get lost. This is a sign that they are properly fitted.

Cat owners should recognise that cats kill a huge number of songbirds.

The Sweeper

Discodog wrote: »

If you read the report that I linked previously you will see that bells make a huge difference. CatAlert is better than a bell & many cat owners have found it useful in finding a lost cat.

Cat collars have to be the right type & fitted properly. Again if you read the report the disadvantages of the collar is that they come off & get lost. This is a sign that they are properly fitted.

Cat owners should recognise that cats kill a huge number of songbirds.

Cat owners should recognise that a collar isn't a guarantee against killing anything and especially not against being killed by anything, and if you don't want your cat to kill things, get lost or fall afoul of the things that normally kill cats, either keep them inside or offer them restricted outdoor access.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Discodog wrote: »

A) If you read the report that I linked previously you will see thatA) bells make a huge difference.
CatAlert is better than a bell
C)Cat owners should recognise that cats kill a huge number of songbirds.

A) That is on a survey with only 68 cats monitored. There are many others long term studies that show bells make little difference except in helping owners locate cats. A light tinkle of a bell is not a natural warning sound in Nature and birds only associate it with danger following learned experiance. Hardly much value in that.

Your own linked report concluded that there was no significant difference between the predation rates Bell V Catalert.

C) At Last! True. The numbers in Ireland alone run to millions each year. 20 Million in Britain and 100+ Million in the US.