Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:49 am Post subject: Kakariki blind on right eye
Hi, I have a red crowned male kakariki called Kermit who is a year and nine months old. His female companion (about a year old) recently passed away due to an accident and the following day he hit his head on the door while frantically trying to look for her. His right eye was swollen and so we immediately took him to a local bird vet and he was treated the same day. This was on June 24th. They kept him in an incubator. The doctor gave us eye drop antibiotics and oral anti-inflammatory. Kermit's eye and behavior got considerably better and we stopped the medication on the fifth day. He did not like being given medication and fully resisted. He could tell in advance and went to a corner of the cage hard to reach.
About a week ago I saw he wouldn't notice my hand passing over his right eye. It looked fine but he has been scratching it lately (about a few days). Sometimes he rubs it against the cage and other things and sometimes he uses his feet. He squints his right eye and keeps it closed if I look at it from his right side. Yesterday it looked a little watery. At the same time he is eating and talking and moving around.
To my questions now: what can I do here at home to comfort his itching eye and relieve infection if any? Should I request a second appointment with the vet? He misses his companion a lot and we are ready for a new kakariki but I don't want the new companion to catch an infection if that is what he has. Is it possible that when he hit his head he lost vision in the right eye? I have a picture of his right eye attached.
Was that stopped or the medication period finished?
BIG difference, medication usually lasts around 10 days for good reasons.
I Strongly suggest u talk to the Vet again... much depends on what the infection was, if that infection was fully medicated/ cured.
And it may have developed into a cataract .. which can eventually cause blindness in the other eye as well...
And strongly suggest introduce maintenance program of 50/50 vinegar and water and apple cider vinegar in chopped veggies... this is NOT a cure but esstentual to long term resistance to infections, worms, mites, and general good health
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PS only need to post once for a reply. _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
We stopped the medication on the fifth day. I took him to the same vet today and he examined Kermit's eye. The vet's diagnosis was that Kermit does not have an infection. An infection usually has some redness in the eye but he didn't see anything. He suspects that his eye lens may have been damaged when he hit his head against the door and recommended an eye vet.
The vet said he may be scratching it because of pain and discomfort and gave anti-inflammatory for his eye called metacam. We hope the pain and discomfort will eventually settle into a stable state. He's not responding if we bring our finger close to his right eye but immediately responds if the same is done to the left eye.
Maybe he has permanently lost his vision in the right eye. The doctor said it's not uncommon for birds to damage their eyes after banging it. Not sure what to do at this point except to give him love, good food, and the metacam. I didn't realize that kakarikis can be so fragile.
Kakariki are NOT fragile..
IF what the vet is saying is correct such a bang to the eye would mess any animals eye up.. be it a dog human or elephant basic a 'freak accident.
If such damage has been done then a competent vet would be able to tel if the eye has permanent damage and if things like the lens muscles have been dislodged or whatever...
As the Specialist a eye vet... sounds more like milking the situation to me.
Your bird with 1 eye , will be fine... u may find he will not go out of 'eye sight of his cage if that is, in his mind set his safe haven... will fly in circles in the same direction because of a blind side... and consider this when locating his cage as to people visitors, suits his natural perching position on perches... u may find that he becomes more friendly also.
And I again caution that over time couple yrs or so, he may also developed cataracts in the other eye...a clouding over of the lens... which means a very drastic decrease in his quality of life... from unexpected sounds, movement around him, finding food , negotiation around the place
All basic stuff a competent vet would advise u of... and would most probably, if not milking the situation, suggest as the best long term consideration _________________ My Spelling is Not Incorrect...It's 'Creative'
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