# Baby bird help



## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

My cat has brought me a baby bird. It has a slight skin tear under it's neck where the cat's tooth tore through but it seems to be a fairly minor issue. There was no soft tissue damage just the skin was torn. He's a fledged baby and probably out on his own with mom feeding him every so often. Thing is that I put him out and his mom hasn't come back and I don't know where my cat got him from. There are other cats in the neighborhood that will eat him not to mention the resident oppossum and a raccoon or two. I've put neosporin on his injury and he seems to be ok but I don't know what type of bird it is. I think it might be a mocking bird. Can someone help identify the bird and perhaps tell me what they eat so I can give supportive care to this poor little guy.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

LV426 said:


> My cat has brought me a baby bird. It has a slight skin tear under it's neck where the cat's tooth tore through but it seems to be a fairly minor issue. There was no soft tissue damage just the skin was torn. He's a fledged baby and probably out on his own with mom feeding him every so often. Thing is that I put him out and his mom hasn't come back and I don't know where my cat got him from. There are other cats in the neighborhood that will eat him not to mention the resident oppossum and a raccoon or two. I've put neosporin on his injury and he seems to be ok but I don't know what type of bird it is. I think it might be a mocking bird. Can someone help identify the bird and perhaps tell me what they eat so I can give supportive care to this poor little guy.


I could be wrong, but it doesn't look like a mockingbird to me. Doesn't matter. By his beak, he isn't a seed eating bird. He eats insects. If you can get him to take food from an eye dropper, blend some of your cat food, (the canned kind) with a little water. If you don't have canned cat food, Blend the dry kind into a powder, and mix this with water into a paste or pudding consistency.Make it like pudding. Just liquid enough to draw up into the eye dropper. Gently open his beak, and squirt a little bit into his mouth. Not too much all at once. Give him time to swallow it. If he does, then keep doing this until you think he has had enough. If this works, try to feed him every hour or so. Keep him warm, but not hot. Hope it helps. Cat bites are really bad and often cause infection. Good luck.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Sure looks like a Starling to me.
Jay is right in that cat bites or scratches are really bad and can be deadly. The best would be to put it on an antibiotic. Do you have any? 
Google, Starling Talk forum for specific diet and advise on this one. 
Jay is also right that these birds aren't seed eaters. For the time being, you can feed it soaked dry dog food, or cat food, Soak in warm water until it is spongy and discard any unused food. You can also feed minced grapes, berries, hard boiled eggs, cheese. etc. It may not know how to eat on it's own.


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## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

Well I figured he was a bug eater so I cut up some red wigglers I raise for my tortoises and I fed those to him. He won't take them from me but I can open his mouth and place a piece of worm in his mouth and he slurps it down. I did this until he started spitting them out,figuring he was full at that point. After surfing the web he kind of looks like a cat bird maybe. He didn't match the starling pictures. Either way I guess as long as he's warm, fed, and not eaten by the cat he is ok. I do have antibiotics but I couldn't even begin to guess a dosage for this little bird. I don't want to try injections, he's so small I'm afraid I would hurt him. I do have some oral baytril and doxycycline but they are 100mg tablets. For now I've cleaned the wound and put antibiotic cream on it. If you can tell me what dosage I should even attempt that would be fine. I called the rehabbers but no answer as it's the weekend.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Hang on, I'm going to contact another member that may be able to help you with a dosage.


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## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

Some better pics. The humane society lady said to feed him canned dog food and my vet gave me a can of prescription dog food with a high protein content. He's eating that and the worms if I tap his beak and offer some to him.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi LV426! That's definitely a European Starling that you have. It is very nearly grown, and yes, it is an insectivore. You can also feed hard boiled egg yolk or a microwave scrambled egg (no oil, please) and soaked dry dog or cat food for the time being. It almost surely does know how to eat and drink on its own, so you might try providing some of the worms, egg yolk, and dry dog/cat food (in small enough pieces for the bird to pick up and swallow).

The bird dose for Baytril is 15 mg per kg of weight twice per day. I think I would go with the Baytril over the Doxycyline though Clavamox would really be the drug of choice for a cat inflicted injury.

Do you have a way to weigh the bird? If not, we can guess, and I would guess that it weighs around 60-75 grams. If we ASSume it weighs 75 grams, and you dissolve 1/4 of the 100 mg Baytril tablet in 1 cc/ml of water, then the amount of the resulting solution to give each time would be 0.045 cc/ml. The 1 cc of solution would contain 25 mg of Baytril. Do note the decimal point .. this is a very small amount to measure and give.

Good luck with the bird, and please keep us posted. You are most welcome here, but if you would care to join the Starling Talk board, the folks there are starling experts. I belong to that board and also rescue and rehab starlings, so I do have some experience with them .. awesome little birds!

Terry


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

LV426 said:


> Some better pics. The humane society lady said to feed him canned dog food and my vet gave me a can of prescription dog food with a high protein content. He's eating that and the worms if I tap his beak and offer some to him.


The canned food is fine also ..

Terry


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## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

Thanks TA. The little birdy weighs 67g. I will give him a dose of the baytril although I may be able to get some clavamox if that is better. Is this a daily dosage or more? Also I don't mind having another pet I suppose, I mean it's like Noah's Ark here anyway but if he heals up fine will there be any problem releasing him? I never liked birds in cages and always thought they looked better flying outside.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Don't delay in getting the bird on baytril. DO NOT wait for clavamox. Really, with cat scratches you can't get them on antibiotics soon enough. I can't stress enough how urgent this is.


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## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

Antibiotics have been administered.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

LV426 said:


> Antibiotics have been administered.


Great! Thanks for posting the weight of the bird. I'm glad I was pretty close on the weight. The Baytril is twice per day giving 0.045 cc of the solution each time. Generally speaking, if a cat injury is going to result in a pasteurella infection, it happens fairly quickly, and if not treated, the bird typically dies within 72 hours of the injury. If you can get Clavamox, then that is a better drug for this situation, but if not, the Baytril usually works well. If you do get the Clavamox, the dosage is quite different than the Baytril. I'm sure your vet will give you the proper dose if you get the Clavamox. There is a lot of helpful information in our Resources Forum, and you might want to have a look at the Drug Chart thread.

Terry


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## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

Well it's still alive and showing no signs of illness. He? does eat on his own out of a bowl but when he sees me he hops up and down and opens his mouth for me to feed him. I don't have to place the food in his mouth now he takes it from my hand. Cute little bird but very bratty and demanding. He seems to have adapted well to me and my zoo.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

LV426 said:


> Well it's still alive and showing no signs of illness. He? does eat on his own out of a bowl but when he sees me he hops up and down and opens his mouth for me to feed him. I don't have to place the food in his mouth now he takes it from my hand. Cute little bird but very bratty and demanding. He seems to have adapted well to me and my zoo.


Thanks for updating on his progress. Being bratty, is very starlinglike. Now, as long as infection doesn't set in, he should be alright. Isn't it wonderful, all the help you get here from such knowledgable people. Keep us posted.


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## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

Well he healed up fine, there was just a little scabbed over area and he was eating fine and active. I only gave him the antibiotics for 3 days because the rehabber that finally called me back yelled and me and said I could have killed him. /rollseyes She then told me I had to surrender him and that he was going to be put down because starlings are invasive species. Contradiction or what? "You almost killed that baby bird but hey you have to give him to use to kill." WTF? 

Anyway I put him outside in a birdcage with some food scattered around the cage this morning to see if some of the starlings in the neighborhood would see him and come to him and sure enough several came in for a look-see and then I saw one feeding him through the bars of his cage. I figured it was his mother so I went out and let him go. He flew up into the willow tree and the others joined him and then they all flew off together. He was a cute little thing but I prefer birds to belong outside and flying free and not in a cage. 

Thanks for the help everyone.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

That's good news.
Just my personal opinion but that rehabber sounds like she has some issues!


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