first aid for budgies

Fuinseog

does anyone know what every day items can be used if budgies have any ailments. I used to be on an american budgie forum and the standard answer they gave to any question was 'take it to the vet' but this is not always feasible.

Sigma Force

Check out cockatielcottage.net it's for tiels but the same info can be for budgies too.

Obviously vet care is the only thing to have in an emergency or if a bird is ill, but for first aid care why preparing them for the trip to the vets or things like stopping bleeding from a cut quickly are things that are handy to know. Flour and water if all else fails to help stop bleeing of a nail for instance.

Irishchick

they gave that answer because that is the correct one! I wouldn't recommend anyone to try and treat a budgie themselves.

Fuinseog

Irishchick wrote: »

they gave that answer because that is the correct one! I wouldn't recommend anyone to try and treat a budgie themselves.

we have become too reliant on doctors and popping pills.

unless I am on Death's door I do not go to the doctor myself. I do not wish to sound cruel but I pay 20 euro for a budgie and can hardly afford to fork out massive money for the vet. very often they do not tell me anything I do not know already.

one of them had a swollen eye and I used I teabag to reduce the swelling and it worked. what would the vet have done but charge me a fortune I can ill afford? I heard savlon could also work.

what did Budgie breeders do before vets came on the scene?

one old book I came across even recommended giving sick budgies whiskey.

Irishchick

very often they do not tell me anything I do not know already.

Right, so you have a vet med /nursing degree do you??

one of them had a swollen eye and I used I teabag to reduce the swelling and it worked. what would the vet have done but charge me a fortune I can ill afford?

Are you qualified to to tell if the eye is infected, whether that infection may be due to gram+ or - bacteria and what antibiotic may be necessary to treat that infection?

charge me a fortune I can ill afford

If you cannot afford professional treatment for your animals then you shouldn't have them. That may sound harsh but its the truth.

one old book I came across even recommended giving sick budgies whiskey.

I am not even going to reply to that. If you think a budgies liver can process spirits then please never ever keep one, or any animal for that matter.

meoklmrk91

Fuinseog wrote: »

we have become too reliant on doctors and popping pills.

unless I am on Death's door I do not go to the doctor myself. I do not wish to sound cruel but I pay 20 euro for a budgie and can hardly afford to fork out massive money for the vet. very often they do not tell me anything I do not know already.

one of them had a swollen eye and I used I teabag to reduce the swelling and it worked. what would the vet have done but charge me a fortune I can ill afford? I heard savlon could also work.

what did Budgie breeders do before vets came on the scene?

one old book I came across even recommended giving sick budgies whiskey.

You only paid €20 for the budgie so that means its not worth taking to the vet? By that logic should I even feed my cats which I got for free?

If the budgie cost €100 would you take it to the vet then? Seriously this is a life your talking about, I don't care how much it didn't cost you when you take it in it is your responsibity.

My mother once paid €50 to put a splint on a canarys leg that had gotten broken, we didn't have the money and the poor fella died the day after but we were happy that we had done it because it was the right thing to do,

Fuinseog

Irishchick wrote: »

Right, so you have a vet med /nursing degree do you??




Are you qualified to to tell if the eye is infected, whether that infection may be due to gram+ or - bacteria and what antibiotic may be necessary to treat that infection?



If you cannot afford professional treatment for your animals then you shouldn't have them. That may sound harsh but its the truth.



I am not even going to reply to that. If you think a budgies liver can process spirits then please never ever keep one, or any animal for that matter.

you could also argue that people who cannot afford doctors should not have children. I grew up in a rural environment where there was a lot of life and death. some of the budgies I have had for several years, others die on me after a few months. If i am personally sick I look for natural remdies before resorting to tablets.Like a lot of people I try to google a remedy. I was hoping for natural cures for the budgies for the occasion where they do get sick.

kylith

I think that the point may be that since budgies are so small any illness can kill them very quickly, and they should be brought to a vet immediately because any delay can result in their death. With a larger animal you could try dressing a wound yourself and then going to the vet if it looks like it's not getting better, with an animal like a bird by the time you realise your home remedies aren't working it's probably too late to do anything about it.

Treat every animal like it's worth €10,000, that's my motto.

loveisdivine

I think theres a little over reaction on here. I think it is quite responsible for any pet owner to try and gain a little pet first aid knowledge.

For instance I know that if I accidentally cut my guinea pigs nail a bit too short, and cut the quick, I can stop the bleeding with a styptic stick, or even flour. Theres no need to rush to the vets. Or the time her ear got torn, I rushed her to the vets only to be told theres nothing you can do because it cant be sewn together, just keep it clean and it will heal. There was no need to go to the vets that time, a simple google would have probably told me the same thing.

I think common sense must prevail. If your dogs gets a small cut, common snese tells you to keep it clean and if it starts to get infected/red/hot etc then you go to the vets.

Theres nothing wrong with seeking a little knowledge.

Irishchick

loveisdivine wrote: »

I think common sense must prevail. If your dogs gets a small cut, common snese tells you to keep it clean and if it starts to get infected/red/hot etc then you go to the vets.

Theres nothing wrong with seeking a little knowledge.

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing but that wasn't the issue. The OP sounded like he just didnt want to spend the money as he thought a vet couldn't tell him anything he didnt know!

I small cut on a dog may be nothing. A small cut on a parrot or a budgie can be very serious so yes there may be a need to "go running to a vet". A birds circulating blood volume is very low.

My parrot nearly bled to death when her toe nail was clipped too short. She slept for 2 days solid after she was so weak.

When dealing with birds or exotics it is always best to go to a vet. These are prey and animals don't show any signs of illness until they are near death.

If a budgie looks/acts sick then it is really ill and giving it whisky is only going to help it on its way faster.

Fuinseog

loveisdivine wrote: »

I think theres a little over reaction on here. I think it is quite responsible for any pet owner to try and gain a little pet first aid knowledge.

For instance I know that if I accidentally cut my guinea pigs nail a bit too short, and cut the quick, I can stop the bleeding with a styptic stick, or even flour. Theres no need to rush to the vets. Or the time her ear got torn, I rushed her to the vets only to be told theres nothing you can do because it cant be sewn together, just keep it clean and it will heal. There was no need to go to the vets that time, a simple google would have probably told me the same thing.

I think common sense must prevail. If your dogs gets a small cut, common snese tells you to keep it clean and if it starts to get infected/red/hot etc then you go to the vets.

Theres nothing wrong with seeking a little knowledge.

thanks for the constructive response.

There is a powder available for shaving cuts, that clots quickly. I can't remember the name of it. Had me some of that and was damn glad of it when my bird Marky cut his foot on a thumb tack he discovered on the floor. He was extremely adept at finding the only stray hidden sharp object in the vicinity to land on. Though generally with budgies, if they get sick, they're gonna die. If they have a bit of a chill, keeping them warm and quiet can usually help them recover, if they get to the stage of needing antibiotics, well, been my experience none of them come back from that. Maybe some people's birds have, mine never did. Because like other people said, they don't show you they're sick until they're really sick. Two of my birds have gone to the vet, because I reckoned with each of them they had a fighting chance; one I thought had constipation, but turned out to be a tumour, which took him; and another had what looked like a foot infection, but was gout, was on antibiotics and keeled over one night for no apparent reason, perhaps it was just his age. But at least I knew I'd tried for them, expensive as it was.

I have all those old budgie books from the 50s too, with some of their crazy remedies!

Sigma Force

I agree that there are a lot of basic first aid things that an owner can/must do at times that save a lot of stress of bringing to a vets and being manhandled.

Rule of thumb though is if in doubt or if a bird is at the bottom of the cage, fluffed up and miserable looking this is no time to mince about if a bird of any kind if obviously ill then they need to see a vet. But you know they actually aren't that expensive to treat at the end of the day if a bird has to go on anti biotics or painkillers etc. it's only a teeny tiny amount that you are charged very little and sometimes consultations aren't always charged at full price depending on how simple or complicated the issue is and obviously no matter how small or how inexpensive a pet is no one should ever get one unless they can afford to pay for basic costs, yes I know some people need help with unexpected costs and they can use various charities and spay/neuter for other animals etc. but there is no point in getting any bird or smallie unless you can afford basic treatments or the occasional emergency trip to the vet.

Saying that many vets don't use natural remedies at times when it's safer to do so so it's a matter of common sense as to who treats the bird and with what but if in doubt in any way the vet is the port of call.