Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

Weighing options; debating fates

12/14/2014

6 Comments

 
Early last week, the screech owl and I trekked back to Smalley’s Animal Hospital to see what could be done about his ruptured eye. There was no way to save the eye; none of us had any illusions about that. But…there was a procedure, which the vets at Smalley’s had never performed, that would considerably lessen the trauma to the screech. Obviously, anything that will be less stressful for the bird is a good option. Vets Richie Hatcher and Peggy Hobby and I discussed it, and they decided to hold off on any action on the screech until they could consult with colleagues who had performed the surgery.

Richie and Peggy observed Sir Screech’s calm demeanor in the exam room, where he sat unrestrained while we discussed his options and ultimate fate, and agreed that he would make an excellent educational bird. I left feeling that at least we had some options now.
Picture
Picture
However…over the course of the past week, I’ve come to believe there was significant damage to the left eye that’s only now beginning to show. And this is NOT good news for this unusually laid-back little fellow.

He seems unsure exactly where his food is and will often bite hesitantly at air until he finds the forceps, or until I move them closer. This is not cruel teasing; I need to determine if it’s just that his depth perception is off from having only one good eye or if he’s truly having difficulty seeing. What I’ve discovered thus far is that both depth perception and peripheral vision seem off. As long as his food is offered directly in front of his good eye, he can see it. In effect, he seems to have tunnel vision in his good eye.
For an educational bird, this wouldn’t be a problem, as long as he can self-feed from the food provided. But there’s the thorny issue: he doesn’t seem to be able to self-feed. I’ve offered cut-up rodents in a small dish that contrasts with their color, to make it even easier for him to see them, and he refuses to eat them. I don’t think he can see them.

And—and this is probably going to seal his fate—if you’ll look at the two 100% crops of his eyes from one of last week’s photos and one of this week’s photos, you can see marked deterioration in the pupil. See how “clean” the edges are in last week’s image, as opposed to the jagged edges in this week’s image?
Picture
Picture
How could this happen? Just as sometimes it takes weeks or months for an injured bird to heal to the point that we can seriously consider release as an option, injuries—especially eye or soft tissue injuries—can take time to actually show.

What does this mean for the screech? He’ll be making another trip to Smalley’s this week for further examination, but I suspect it’s not going to be good news.
Picture
Picture
Remember that the 2015 LWR calendars are available through Lulu.com (link below) for $16.50 + shipping. US, UK and Canadian holidays are featured, and $5 of each purchase goes toward funding next year’s rehab efforts. Thus far, six calendars have been sold. With just $5 of each purchase actually reaching LWR, that’s not enough to place even a small rodent order.
Support independent publishing: Buy this calendar on Lulu.
Also, those of you who do your Christmas and other shopping online, please remember that when you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Laurens Wildlife Rescue Inc. Bookmark the link http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-1668846 and support us every time you shop. This isn’t just a Christmas promotion; Amazon does this year-round, so keep that link and donate a pittance to LWR every time you shop at Amazon.
6 Comments
Sally Davidson
12/14/2014 08:05:48 am

Poor screech owl! And with his calm demeanor, seemed such a good candidate for an educational raptor. Maybe healing may happen and better news next week? (fingers crossed!)

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
12/14/2014 08:14:13 am

I'm hopeful but not optimistic, Sally, but thanks for the crossed fingers. Mine are crossed too. We'll see...

Reply
Leslie Jackson
12/14/2014 10:48:06 am

Give him some time on self feeding, Vonda. This kid has been TRAUMATIZED, since being slammed by a great big, moving piece of metal. I firmly believe you can get him to self-feed. But it may take some time, allowing him to get really hungry..."training" him to follow your forceps from eye level....down, to the plate of food. Time. Time. Time. Besides would hand feeding him for the rest of his life be impossible? :) Sorry...I'm just so partial to screeches that I tend to go above and beyond for them.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
12/14/2014 10:56:50 am

I'm quite partial to the fierce little snots myself, so he'll have every chance possible. But here's the totally weird thing: I was feeding him just now and it looked like his pupil was normal again, so I snapped a couple of pix to confirm what I thought I was seeing...damned if it's not "clean" again...I dunno what's up with this fellow!

Reply
Suzie Gilbert link
12/15/2014 12:20:28 pm

Vonda, those are amazing photos of his pupil. Going from clean to jagged back to clean again is really something. Will be interested to see what the vet says. Poor little owl! And sympathies to you too.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
12/15/2014 12:46:57 pm

Hey Suzie, weird, isn't it? Vets looked at pix and then at Sir Screech and agreed they'd never seen anything like it. But his appetite remains good and Richie agreed that he can see SOMEthing with his good eye, although his depth perception is definitely off, which is to be expected...Surgery on ruptured eye is scheduled for Wed. AM, so we'll cross our fingers and hope...

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.