Yesterday was a bit chaotic... the animals were all acting nuts. Tico (1 yr old Quaker parrot)spent almost the entire day out of his cage... flying around and squawking endlessly. Koda was running after him and Mikha was running after Koda. At one point in time, Mikha came running upstairs because he heard the commotion and he ended up falling down the stairs and hurt his already bad leg. (Mikha is 10 yrs old and suffers from arthritis in his one back leg.)
Things were starting to settle down, Mikha just laid his grumpy old bones down by Tico's cage and the kids were starting to get their homework laid out. Out of nowhere, Tico (who thinks he's invincible)decided to whiz right by Mikha's head .. or land on it. Either way, grumpy Mikha snapped at Tico. Some feathers flew and Tico made a quick flight back to his cage where he was hardly able to cling on the side of the cage. His breathing was heavy and noisy. I immediately put down what I was doing and asked Dan to grab me a towel. I gently took Tico off the cage and wrapped him in the towel. Now.. this bird is fiesty and would have never allowed me to do this, but he was limp and certainly not fighting. It became apparent to us that he must have a broken rib and a punctured lung as he was aspirating. His breathing was heavy and you could hear the fluids. I peeled back the towel to take a peek and saw a small amount of blood trickle down from the underside of his tail. Dan was giving Mikha trouble - the kids were getting worked up, Muffin was starting to cry and I wasn't sure if I could handle seeing anything more, so I covered Tico up again and passed him to Dan. I ushered the kids out of the room and made them a nice bubble bath. Muffin was still crying at this point, I was trying to console her and prepare her for the fact that he wasn't going to survive long. I asked her to say a prayer for Tico and then snuck out to see if he was still breathing. He was still breathing... but it wasn't getting any better. I held him for a few moments, spoke to him softly and stroked his head... Unable to bear the fact that he may pass at any moment in my hands (I know, I'm a wimp!)... I passed him off again to Dan. I got the kids out of the bath and into their pj's. I sat Muffin down so she could hold Tico for a few moments and say her goodbyes. Dan said it wouldn't be too long as his breathing was very slow now and you couldn't hear it anymore. Muffin sat stroking his head when she made a fast movement and he reached up to bite her finger! What!? Dan reached down to pick him up and he leaped out of the towel onto his cage. Still weak.. and it appeared as though his tail bone was broken as his tail feathers were slanted off to the side. Dan re-wrapped him up as I prepared his travel carrier with some blankets for him to lay in. His breathing was no longer laboured and he was no longer aspirating. Dan slowly put him inside the carrier and he hopped on his perch and stood there. What!? I am still flabergasted by this... he almost appeared normal. I still prepared the children that despite his appearance, he may have internal injuries and he likely will not survive. Well this am. - the picture above is what I found. He was awake, lively and picking at the cardboard. I put him in his cage, where he climbed to his perch. He slept most of the day, but is eating and drinking. We have no idea what the heck happened. Dan is wondering if the noise and the behaviour was due to a great deal of pain... perhaps just a bruised bum? We think the blood came from a plucked feather. In my mind he was dead... if I would have had the medicine to put him down so as not to suffer - I would have! Seriously!... However, I did say he was fiesty... and apparently he is also invincible!
I am still keeping a close eye on him - but it appears that he will be okay! Thank goodness! We also have developed a better appreciation for him and will perhaps let him get away with squawking for the next little while. lol.
* Mikha did not intend to hurt the bird - but we will no longer allow the bird out with the dogs, and it appears that Tico has gained some fear and respect of the dogs - which is good.
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