This is Zorro's story, and I will let his Mum tell it, these are her words.
This photo is of Zorro before the accident, he would play so hard that he would litteraly fall asleep while playing! Here he is kipped on the couch...
Prayers for Zorro
Zorro is a nanday conure. He is a wonderful bird who has been my constant
companion and best friend for almost four years. He was a gift for the
family and introduced us into the world of birds.
On February 27, 2003 Zorro was bitten in the head by my Umbrella Cockatoo.
His skull was badly fractured. I never let them play together. Zorro was
quite aggressive to the U2. But this night Tyler jumped off my son and Zorro
flew from me and attacked her. I was right there but to slow. Another two
seconds my hand would have been between them. I heard his head crack............. It
was one of the most heart wrenching sickening things I have ever heard. I
knew right away what it was. I scooped Zorro up in my hand and he laid
there, his eyes rolling. He had two massive wounds in his head. One around
where the ear should have been and one on top of his head. He had a lump
behind his eye almost as big as his head itself.
I called the vet frantically thinking the only thing to do was put him to
sleep if he survived the trip. But the vet wanted to see him right away and
he told me to coat Zorro's mouth with honey. I didn't have honey in the
house and wanted to use sugar water. No he said find HONEY! Honey can be
absorbed through the mucus membrane. Giving him the much needed sugar that
he was losing to shock. Sugar water or anything else could have aspirated
him if I tried to trickle it down his throat. I sent my kids to the
neighbors for honey and one came back within thirty seconds honey in hand.
We rushed to meet the vet at a halfway point a gas station a half an hour
away from me. When I handed him to the vet I said he has no chance. The
vet blew in Zorro's face and Zorro blinked. He might have a chance the vet
says. So he gave Zorro injections of anti inflammatory and steroids and took
Zorro home with him to put him in a dark warm incubator.
I called my friend in California on my cell and begged her to get online
right then and there and put out a plea to pray for Zorro to a list we are
on together. She put out a request to that list and they put out requests
to other lists. When I first put up my prayers for Zorro album with in eight
hours there were over one thousand hits from people praying for Zorro.
Friday and into Saturday Zorro remained pretty much the same. He blinked
when someone walked near but that was about it but he was stable. I went in
Saturday afternoon to discuss if we needed to put Zorro down or not and
whether I could afford to save him. When I opened the box he was in he
picked his head up and then stood on one leg. I decided right then and
there he was going to be saved.
We gave him through the weekend then we decided Monday he was going home.
I had to learn to tube feed and give injections. It was hard but with help
from all our Internet experts I learned proper ways to inject and restrain.
By day three Zorro was eating and drinking again. Only to slide back to tube
feedings the next day. We found out it was an infection brewing in his head
and once he was started on Baytril again he started eating and drinking
again.
Tomorrow (3/28) will be one month since the accident. Zorro is eating and drinking,
he knows his family and his toys. He knows his flock and wants to interact
with the other conures. He is blind in one eye and one side is weak.
He can walk , fly and hop. Though I keep him grounded right now since his
depth perception is off and he is quite clumsy. We have no ideas of how
much more he will recover. He has gone alot farther and faster than either
the vet or I came close to expecting. His head is still quite deformed. You
can see and feel the ridges of bone from his massive skull fracture. It is
enough to make people shake their heads and ask how a bird could possibly
live through this.
I attribute a few things to saving Zorro. One was getting Zorro to the vet
quickly in under an hour, the second was a devoted and wonderful vet, but
the third and most important was the prayer and thoughts that Zorro
received. I was never one to much believe in the power of prayer but now I
do.
Zorro and I have both come out of this changed.
Some for the good some
not. I have come out of this with alot more confidence in myself. I never
thought I could do injections and tube feedings. I knew for sure I was
either going to aspirate him, stab him in an internal organ or injure his
head more trying to restrain a resistant bird. But it was to the point I
HAD to learn to save my bird. I know now that I am capable of more than I
give myself credit for. I also found out their are alot more incredible
people out there than I knew. I got the strength to believe in myself from
their prayers and letters of encouragement. It was not just the Vet , Zorro
or I that saved Zorro. It was a thousand bird lovers who though busy with
their own lives stopped to think about Zorro and I.
To see the album and daily diary A Prayer for Zorro go to
http://community.webshots.com/user/lynjupiter1
learn the restraint method I used for Zorro @
http://lmkandtux.homestead.com/Rbook4Urestraint.html
Lynda
Zorro and Diego (nandays), Duke the blue crown conure,
Tyler U2, Oliver the brown throated conure, Cosmo Pi,
and Stormie, Mango and Boomerang (tiels)
As of 3/28/03 we think that Zorro is having petite maul siezures, and there is some question as to how much Zorro will recover.
3/30/03 Update: Zorro is doing good today. No more seizures that we have noticed.
I left Zorro's cage opens since he was staring out the window and ran into
the bathroom for five minutes. Came out and Zorro was gone from his cage.
I was like oh goodness where can he be. I was searching the floor and under
the couch. Where did I find him eventually? On top of the entertainment
center fast asleep LOL Zorro don't let nothing stop him from getting around
LOL. Here he is. I woke him up while trying to get a picture of him sleeping.
We have a vet appointment in the beginning of the week.
Hugs,
Lynda
UPDATE 4/15/03
Zorro is doing good. He looks good and is staying awake more. I have got to
get him to the vet this week though. He's scratching his scabs alot.
When he
scratches Zorro starts these yawning fits. They go on for minutes after he
is done scratching.
He is eating. But I feel the scratching and yawning
might be a sign of another infection brewing.
I do have a tendency to get
paranoid about Zorro though LOL
Hugs,
Lynda
As of 10/25/2003 Zorro has made an almost complete recovery! He is almost his old self, and we are all thrilled!
Links
Escape
Zorro's Web Shot's Pages
How To Restrain A Bird
Disabled And Handicapped Birds And Parrots
