We recently had a visit from our Consultant Vet Dr Elliott Simpson-Brown, who came to have a look at some of our captive birds as well as to sign off some of our Raptor Hospital patients, who were ready for release.
Phyllis is anaesthetised so that x-rays can be taken of her injured foot.
Of the captive birds, Elliott was required to examine Phyllis the Spectacled Owl. We recently noticed that she was uncomfortable using one of her feet so Elliott was able to anaesthetise her to take some x-rays in order to assess the cause of the problem. Birds in captivity generally outlive their wild cousins by a considerable margin, and with Phyllis being an older bird, we were concerned she might have arthritis. In the wild, this would cause a long and painful death as the bird wouldn’t be able to hunt as successfully, but in captivity we can detect the problem before it becomes too severe and start treatment to halt its progression.
While Phyllis was under anaesthetic, we took the opportunity to cope her beak. This is a common procedure required by captive birds, whereby their beak overgrows and needs filing down so that they can still feed. In the wild, birds will do this naturally by rubbing their beaks on rocks or hard woods. This procedure is similar to us filing our nails, but birds generally don’t enjoy it much, hence using the opportunity while she wasn’t aware of what was going on.
Using an electric Dremel file to cope the beak is much easier when the bird is sedated.
Elliott was also asked to investigate a favourite amongst staff, Bob the Kestrel, aka Can’t Fly, Won’t Fly. Bob was brought into the Raptor Hospital last year as a young bird after being found in a field. Although there were no obvious injuries, he was unable to fly. Under normal circumstances, this would unfortunately lead to the bird being euthanised, as it is deemed unfair to keep a wild bird captive if it can’t exhibit natural behaviours. However, there was something about Bob that made us think he was worth persevering with, so we applied to DEFRA for a licence to keep him as a wild disabled bird. Over the next 12 months, Bob gained confidence working with our team and he went from needing a climbing frame to reach his perches, to flying the full length of our flying arena! Everything was going really well and everyone was very pleased with his progress. Then we had local cases of Avian Influenza and were forced to stop flying our birds outdoors. We took the opportunity to give all our birds a rest so that they could moult their feathers, so Bob was moved to one of our off-show aviaries. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, when he had finished moulting, he was just as reluctant to fly as he had been when he first arrived.
Elliott had initially assessed Bob, and has given him several checks over the time he’s been with us, but we have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the issue. On his most recent visit, Elliott x-rayed Bob so we could see if there were any changes in his joints from his last check.
Bob being anaesthetised for his x-rays.
As a result of this visit, Phyllis was booked in for a CT scan so that we can determine the best course of action in her treatment. Both birds received some pain relief to help them with their ailments and will be monitored closely over the coming weeks to see if things improve.