Health and Healing

Holistic Kit  
Rescue Remedy
2-3" wide elastic bandage for wrapping
2x2 or 3x3" sterile gauze
Towel for restraint
alcohol wipes
Band-Aids
Adolph's Meat Tenderizer for stings
Homeopathic Ledum for puncture wounds
blunt-nosed scissors
safety pins
mild soap (Dr. Bonner's)
snake bite kit w/venom extractor
hydrogen peroxide
Pot Marigold (Calendula) cream/ointment for cuts and scrapes
Comfrey ointment to speed healing of *clean* wounds
Chickweed cream or black ointment to draw splinters, and (chickweed) for
insect stings, and burns
arnica cream or gel for bruises & sprains
tea tree oil in a carrier oil for antiseptic/antifungal use
arnica 6X tabs for shock or accidents
Aloe mixed with St. John's Wort for burns
comfrey oil for sprains
ginger powder caps for nausea
cayenne pepper or Yunan paiyo to stop bleeding
50/50 mix of goldenseal and garlic powder for antiseptic on clean wounds
aloe Vera gel
vit. C & E
GSE can replace many of the antiseptic products
Items that come in large bottles can be transferred into smaller containers. Baby
food jars work well. All  fit nicely in tackle box 

Conventional Kit  
contributed by Dee H.

Most of the following can be found at Hornbecks
Plastic critter carrier for hospital run, enclosed completely with slits for breathing but will hold heat better than open bar/carriers

Hot hands warmers..these non toxic packets last up to 18 hours..need to cover them well with heavy cloths as they do heat up..shake to activate (heat is usually needed immediately in cases of shock and blood loss)(a rubber glove filled with hot water and fastened securely will work also)

Have plenty of white, fluffy washcloths and several large towels in your emergency bag.

Duffel Bag which will hold carrier securely..leave open

Number of your Avian Vet, Emergency Center and someone to call to transport you if possible

Cornstarch, styptic powder, silver nitrate stick to stop bleeding (use styptic and silver nitrate on beak and nails only)and/or Quik stop

These are all lifesavers: blunt tip scissors, nail clippers, nail file, blunt end tweezers, pen light, eye dropper, syringes, cotton swabs hydrogen peroxide, saline solution for eyes,basic bandages, gauze pads and gauze rolls, masking tape (won't stick to birds' feathers) vet wrap,

Pedialite or orange juice for quick energy/(check out ornalyte and others which are available to rehydrate quickly )

All of these supplies will fit in a tackle type box or medium size drawer. When seconds count you can be ready!

Heat, dark calm spot in carrier, and quick trip to vet or emergency clinic gives all of our fids the best chance to survive when illness is FIRST suspected.
Pull blood feathers completely and apply corn starch or quick stop to control bleeding...rush to vet if bleeding does not stop
Don't panic, your bird will feel it...handle as little as possible..
Always remember, if you know your bird, you know when something is not right with them... Don't second guess it. Birds and all prey species survive in the wild by NEVER showing sickness. Usually by the time you see exaggerated symptoms it may be too late!

Herbal Remedy Kit
 

My favorite things to keep on hand: echinacea, astragalus (both are
immune system boosters. Echinacea is cooling and astragalus is warming.
Astragalus leans toward respiratory and digestive disorders but
echinacea covers those also.

Slippery elm and marshmallow.  Both are cooling and soothing to
respiratory and digestive problems.  I'll be eliminating slippery elm,
though, because it comes from the inner bark of elm trees and they are
harvesting the tree to extinction much as they are doing with golden
seal.  I stopped using golden seal because of this.  The only golden
seal I will use is if it says on the bottle that it was not wild crafted
(harvested from the wild) I will only use cultivated golden seal.
Oregon grape is a golden seal substitute. Both contain similar phytochemicals.

Garlic, dandelion, Pau d'arco, St. John's wort, & Milk Thistle added to the others mentioned compose  the top herbs I wouldn't be without and which I rely on the most often. I keep echinacea and St John's wort both in liquid (glycerine extract) and in powder form.  I use the liquid on any ailing adults that I want to dose directly.

gloria

Dealing With Broken Blood Feathers 

If the feather shaft is just partly broken because it has been bent,
then it's easy to  just hold the shaft  in the correct position until
the blood coagulates and forms a good hard clot around the break.
Bending the shaft back into position also stops the bleeding.  Then I
just brush on some Nu skin. Sometimes it needs a small strip of tape
along the break.  You have to wait until the blood has dried before the
tape will stick.  If the feather is broken all the way across, I pinch
the end until it clots...depends on how hard it is bleeding.  If it's
bleeding very hard, it might have to be pulled.  In that case, you still
have to apply pressure to the follicle because it will bleed from there
too.

I once used a hemostat to pinch the end of the feather shaft while
waiting for it to clot, but the bird panics from that more than
from fingers, and it's also harder to release if the bird pulls than it is to release your own pinch.

Some people using rubber cement and some have used superglue.  Someone else once posted about keeping molted feathers around and using tape or glue to provide support for the break...like a splint.

If using glue, you have to wait until the clot has formed before applying the 
superglue because otherwise it might get into the bloodstream.  That is
pretty much the case with the other glues as well.

gloria

Well, since she had liver disease her blood wouldn't clot (clot time of over 3 hours once, vet was doubtful it ever would've clotted) & the vet gave me Nexaband to put on it to stop the bleeding & seal the follicle.  Nexaband is the sterile version of super glue that they use in surgery to glue internal/external tissue.  He told me when I ran out to just by super glue because I didn't need a sterile glue for these follicles.

However, I would check with a vet before using it on blood feathers, just in
case.

Remember you can always stop bleeding with cornstarch, flour, etc.  I loved
the idea about using molted feathers as a 'splint' for a bent one.

I now keep super glue in my first aid kit. 

Leanne

Usually the feathers will clot on their own.  I had this experience last
September.  I went away for the weekend and left my husband with the
birds.  Pierre broke a blood feather.  Scott found the feather on the
floor and saw a tiny drop of blood on the end of the broken feather.
He called the emergency vet and took Pierre to the clinic.  J

ust by chance I called him to see how things were going and he told me what was going on.  First of all, I asked how much blood.  Scott said, none was dripping from Pierre and explained about finding the feather.  Scott then told me that the vet was in the process of pulling the feather, taking him to surgery and
needing to put him to sleep, you know the rest. 

Anyway, immediately I told Scott to take the bird home. Pulling blood feathers hurts,  not to mention it is totally unnecessary in most cases.  If you have a healthy bird with little bleeding, it may not be necessary to pull the blood feather. Just ensure that the it clots so the bleeding will stop. 

Needless to say Pierre was just fine and his feather was never bleeding in the first place.  The best thing to do is watch your bird and ignore the rumors and horror stories and  remain calm.   

Cyndi

Bleeding

Yunnan Paiyao

From: "Cal and Margie Adams"
I had a tiel bite her feet badly and we couldn't get the bleeding stopped.  We tried flour, Quik Stop, but finally went to a Chinese herb capsule that a gal shipped to me, called Yunnan Paiyao.  We just stuck the toe into the
capsule, and no more bleeding.  It was instant and never bled again.  This
is a definite "must have" for anyone's ER kit.  

Another time I used it for a baby that I assisted hatch.  There was a bit of bleeding when I opened the egg (I thought it was a dead in shell0, but surprise there was a live baby it there.  I put the YB on the place where the bleeding was and it stopped immediately.  No harm to the baby.  It is now with some foster parents and doing great.  It hatched out in the incubator with a little help from me.

Margie  

From Denise:
I use powdered Yarrow the same way.  You can buy it in capsules & keep them forever in your medicine chest to use in place of styptic powder.

Denise

Silver Nitrate

I prefer to cauterize a broken blood feather with a silver nitrate
stick. I do not use silver nitrate on the wing itself. I use it to "seal" a
broken blood feather. Once cauterized, it is important to wipe off any
excess silver nitrate.

I had a bird who was continuously fussing with a new flight feather as it
grew in. I would pull it, it would grow back, the bird would chew it, it
would bleed. It was becoming a vicious cycle. I tried the silver nitrate,
the feather was cauterized in a second. The feather grew out beautifully
with just a small brown spot on it.

Karen

Check out this site http://www.exoticbird.com/gillian/bleeding.html>
According to Gillian Willis, silver nitrate destroys skin, and Kwik-Stop can cause tissue damage. These can be used on toenails, but should not be used on  wings.

Linda

Yes, silver nitrate can burn skin. I had a young bird with a bad injury to
its leg. Nothing helped (wound powder, flour, etc.). I cauterized the
wound, then phoned the local emergency vet clinic for advice. They said I
had done exactly the right thing, just to make sure to wipe off any excess
silver nitrate with a damp cotton ball. The wound was completely healed in
just a few days, and was checked by my vet.

Silver nitrate is especially useful for a bleeding beak. Using styptic
powders risks getting the powder in the bird's eye.

Any substance or treatment should be used responsibly. And of course you
have to use your best judgment.

Karen