Wildlife Patients in Care: Golden-crowned Sparrow 10-2831
This Golden-crowned Sparrow was brought to the PAWS Wildlife Center on December 6 after he was attacked by a house cat.
He suffered multiple puncture wounds and lacerations on his back and rump during the attack and some of his feathers were broken or lost. He was also having difficulty extending the toes on his left foot, likely due to muscle injury that resulted when he was bitten by the cat.
PAWS staff cleaned and dressed his wounds, applied a splint to his left foot and placed him on antibiotics to stave off an infection.
As of this writing he was stable, but not yet out of danger from his injuries.
Golden-crowned Sparrows spend the winter in our state but migrate north to Alaska and northern Canada in spring. Keep your eye out for these winter visitors and keep them safe by keeping your cats indoors or safely contained in an outdoor cat enclosure.
Could we get an update on how the sparrow is doing? Thanks.
Posted by: Susan Mullen | Dec 15, 2010 at 04:57 PM
The sparrow is recovering well from the injuries and now has full function of the left foot and leg. After the wounds resolved, the foot splint was removed and the course of antibiotics was finished, he was moved into one of the aviaries. He flew weakly at first, but from last report is now flying well and hanging out at the top of the aviary. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow and will hopefully be released soon. He may have to wait a while for feathers to regrow, but if he is functionally fit he may get an early release.
Posted by: Dr. John Huckabee, PAWS Wildlife Veterinarian | Dec 16, 2010 at 09:57 AM