Performing CPR on a bird might seem impossible, even a little strange. However, the procedure can save your bird’s life. Hemorrhages, severe infection, and poisoning can all trigger a cardiac arrest. Or it might even be something simpler, like inhaling a seed. Before taking your pet to the avian vet, you can use CPR to give it a better chance of survival. Read on to learn exactly what steps to take to help a bird in trouble.

How to Perform CPR on a Bird

  1. Look for signs of a heartbeat Put your ear close to the bird’s chest to hear the heartbeat, and you should be able to see if its breast is rising and falling.

  2. Clear Blockage (if needed) You should also open the bird’s beak to check for any blockages. If there’s a blockage, you can clear it with a fingertip or cotton swab. If you use your finger, be careful, as you might get bitten if the bird wakes up suddenly.

  3. Review If Assisted Breathing is Required If there is a heartbeat, but the bird isn’t breathing, position it by tilting its head slightly away from you so you can perform rescue breaths. To do this, seal your lips around the beak and nares (nostrils) and deliver five quick breaths. It’s important to mention that birds are much smaller than humans; use small puffs of air, so you don’t injure their respiratory system. Look for the rise and fall of the bird’s chest to ensure you’re doing it properly.

  4. Determine If You Need to Begin Chest Compressions If the heartbeat stops while you’re delivering rescue breaths, or there is no heartbeat to begin with, you will have to administer chest compressions. Depending on the size of the bird, place one to three fingers on the sternum. Birds have a rapid heart rate, so you’ll have to give 40 to 80 compressions a minute.

  5. Continue Assisted Breathing/Compressions Keep up a consistent pattern of five puffs and ten compressions until the bird regains consciousness or you reach your avian vet. What Do You Need to Be Mindful Of? Most birds have something called a keel bone that shields their hearts. This can make stimulating the organ more difficult. If you pump this keel too vigorously, there is also a risk of damaging the ribs. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation can be dangerous when performed on a wild bird because birds can pass diseases to humans. Vets will use “intubation” because breathing directly into a bird’s beak is risky. They do this by placing a tube inside the trachea. If your bird starts breathing again on its own, place it in a warm, quiet environment, and contact your avian vet for some advice about your next steps.

Final Thoughts Knowing how to perform CPR on a bird might seem like something you will never need, but even if you don’t have a pet bird in your life, you might stumble upon a wild bird in trouble. It’s one of the techniques we hope never to use, but it’s always best to know what to do just in case. CPR on a bird isn’t much different from resuscitating a human, except you’ll need to remember to be gentler because the patient is much smaller! See also: How to Do Cat CPR? (Step-By-Step Guide) Sources

https://www.cprcertified.com/blog/how-to-save-other-pets-with-cpr https://birdtricksstore.com/blogs/birdtricks-blog/how-to-give-cpr-to-a-bird https://www.audubon.org/news/can-you-do-cpr-bird https://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/cpr.html

Featured Image Credit: Rodica Vasiliev, Shutterstock

Performing CPR on a bird might seem impossible, even a little strange. However, the procedure can save your bird’s life. Hemorrhages, severe infection, and poisoning can all trigger a cardiac arrest. Or it might even be something simpler, like inhaling a seed. Before taking your pet to the avian vet, you can use CPR to give it a better chance of survival. Read on to learn exactly what steps to take to help a bird in trouble.

How to Perform CPR on a Bird

1. Look for signs of a heartbeat

Put your ear close to the bird’s chest to hear the heartbeat, and you should be able to see if its breast is rising and falling.

2. Clear Blockage (if needed)

You should also open the bird’s beak to check for any blockages.

If there’s a blockage, you can clear it with a fingertip or cotton swab. If you use your finger, be careful, as you might get bitten if the bird wakes up suddenly.

3. Review If Assisted Breathing is Required

If there is a heartbeat, but the bird isn’t breathing, position it by tilting its head slightly away from you so you can perform rescue breaths. To do this, seal your lips around the beak and nares (nostrils) and deliver five quick breaths.

It’s important to mention that birds are much smaller than humans; use small puffs of air, so you don’t injure their respiratory system. Look for the rise and fall of the bird’s chest to ensure you’re doing it properly.

4. Determine If You Need to Begin Chest Compressions

If the heartbeat stops while you’re delivering rescue breaths, or there is no heartbeat to begin with, you will have to administer chest compressions. Depending on the size of the bird, place one to three fingers on the sternum. Birds have a rapid heart rate, so you’ll have to give 40 to 80 compressions a minute.

5. Continue Assisted Breathing/Compressions

Keep up a consistent pattern of five puffs and ten compressions until the bird regains consciousness or you reach your avian vet.

What Do You Need to Be Mindful Of?

Most birds have something called a keel bone that shields their hearts. This can make stimulating the organ more difficult. If you pump this keel too vigorously, there is also a risk of damaging the ribs.

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation can be dangerous when performed on a wild bird because birds can pass diseases to humans. Vets will use “intubation” because breathing directly into a bird’s beak is risky. They do this by placing a tube inside the trachea.

If your bird starts breathing again on its own, place it in a warm, quiet environment, and contact your avian vet for some advice about your next steps.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to perform CPR on a bird might seem like something you will never need, but even if you don’t have a pet bird in your life, you might stumble upon a wild bird in trouble. It’s one of the techniques we hope never to use, but it’s always best to know what to do just in case. CPR on a bird isn’t much different from resuscitating a human, except you’ll need to remember to be gentler because the patient is much smaller!

See also: How to Do Cat CPR? (Step-By-Step Guide)

Sources

https://www.cprcertified.com/blog/how-to-save-other-pets-with-cpr https://birdtricksstore.com/blogs/birdtricks-blog/how-to-give-cpr-to-a-bird https://www.audubon.org/news/can-you-do-cpr-bird https://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/cpr.html

Featured Image Credit: Rodica Vasiliev, Shutterstock