Introducing Corvid Isle Sanctuary Residents
Magpie Chiara came to us in May 2017 as a juvenile bird after being injured by an unsupervised domestic cat. Chiara managed to escape and was found the next day hiding in a greenhouse. She suffered an extensive fracture of her right wing and a severe injury to her right eye.
Wildlife Emergency
Sadly, Chiara’s case is not unique. In fact, Chiara is one of the few lucky cat attack survivors, who has been found in time before facing a slow and agonising death. Unsurprisingly, cat attacks are often fatal in the first instance. However, even a tiny puncture wound or superficial scratch, barely visible to the naked eye, is sufficient enough to harbour a potentially deadly infection. The is caused by Pasteuralla bacteria, which are found in the cat’s saliva and on contaminated claws.
It should be noted that Pasteuralla bacteria are also present in the saliva of dogs, which means that there is a similar infection risk to expect. The difference is that most dogs are supervised and not freely roaming, which means that the number of dog caught birds is comparably very low.
Cat Contact
Birds are not the only animals being prone to suffer this kind of infection. Mammals and reptiles too are potentially affected. This means that seemingly uninjured cat caught animals must not be released without treatment with suitable antibiotics. It is crucial that cat caught birds are seen and treated straight away. If the animal is left for too long, then there is an exponentially increasing risk of a fatal infection. Due to the high metabolism of birds, the victim has usually a maximum of 48 hours to receive treatment and to have subsequently a good chance of survival.
First Aid for Birds – Cat Caught Birds
Devastating Statistics
In 2006, there were about 10.3 million pet cats in UK households, feral cats not counted, killing about 55 million birds yearly. Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Fatalities due to abandoned nests, injured and escaped as well as released, injured and untreated animals passing away later, have not been counted at all. According to the latest research of the World Animal Foundation, this figure has increased in 2023 to 12 million pet cats living in UK households.
Unsupervised Cats
On a different note, it is also a proven fact, that cat owners, who let their cats roam free, are putting their beloved pets at a considerable risk to be injured or killed in a road traffic accident. Taking all these easily accessible and scientifically proven facts in consideration, the conclusion is rather straight forward. Keeping cats supervised at all times will save the lives of beloved human companions and billions of wild animals.
Cats, Cars and Wildlife (Republished)
Top Reasons to Keep Cats Indoors
Reality
Despite intensive care and all efforts, we were not able to safe Chiara’s injured eye. The complex open wing injury healed well enough. However, due to irreversible tendon and nerve damage Chiara is not able to fly. Chiara settled in very well and befriended our unreleasable imprinted jackdaw Jacky.
Support Our Corvid Isle Sanctuary
Corvid Isle is a small non-for-profit organisation and corvid sanctuary (License Number MAU 016710) based in the Scottish Highlands. We are entirely self-funded and are relying on the kind support from members of the public. Please follow the links below to find out how you can support us. Thank you.