So I just rescued a bluetit from the jaws of my cat...

baldzone

baldzone

baldzone

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So I was in the garden and watching the cat when he bolted towards the bottom of a tree as a baby bluetit fell out of its nest.

The cat ran upstairs with it. I chased him and grabbed him and he dropped it. He's now shut in the bathroom grumbling and clawing at the door (gotta lovemaking 'em!), while baby blue *** is now sitting at the bottom of the tree and looks like its caught its breath.

I didn't touch it, managed to persuade it to get on a bit of cardboard. It looks alright but a fly is making a nuisance of itself on the bird,

So what do you reckon? Left for dead? Should I rescue it or let nature take its course? I won't be letting the cat out until its gone or dead!
 
personally i'd leave it be for a bit but if it hasnt tried to get back in the tree after a while i'd put some water down for it and possibly some food. i seem to remember from a similar thread that they can eat mashed up cat food mixed with a bit of water, but that might be a different species of bird
 
How much of a baby is it? Birds are not the most hardy of creatures in such situations!

tbh i'd have left it to the cat, its death would probably be more timely but that's situation dependent ;)
 
is putting it back in the nest not an option? supposed you could phone the RSPCA, if they've got nothing better to do
 
The others have flown since I put it back under the tree.

The parents are looking for it but it's not responding and appears to be pretty weak. The fly is crawling all over it and not making any effort to get it off. Think it's doomed tbh. Tempted to let the cat have his way with it....
 
Let the cat finish it, chances are it's got internal damage when the cat grabbed it.

Either that or break it's neck yourself.
 
Is the bird at the flying stage or should it still be in the nest being fed?

Keep an eye on it and see if the parents are coming down to feed it.

If they are ignoring it or it does need to be back in the nest then yes rescue it and take it to your local rescue centre.

Putting it back in the nest is an option but make sure both parents are away from it first...may be worth researching to see if that's an option with Blue **** and that the parents won't abandon them all if they see you there.

Finally don't hold out too much hope, if a fly is around it, it's thinking of laying eggs. Flies don't lay eggs on healthy animals, only on the dead and dying, that means the bird is in shock and it's body temperature has dropped.

Whatever you do don't let it become infested with maggots, it's the most horrific thing you'll see happen to an animal, I should know I've had to spend time digging the damn things out of a hedgehog...not nice.
 
baldzone said:
The parents are looking for it but it's not responding and appears to be pretty weak. The fly is crawling all over it and not making any effort to get it off. Think it's doomed tbh. Tempted to let the cat have his way with it....
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Just seen this after submitting my last post...sounds like it's had it. :(

Don't let the cat have it, it'll play with it...can you kill it quickly with a brick to the head?
 
I've got lots of experience with this sort of situation (live in the country with a real hunter of a cat) and there's very little you can do.

If you feel brave you can perform some sort of euthanasia but I can't quite bring myself to do that - though have had to come close at times.

It's a toss up between letting the cat finish it off (if he's not just tormenting it) or moving the casualty somewhere quite and letting it die in peace.
 
Put it out of its misery now. Managed to find a brick. Not pleasant. Especially as one of the parents came and perched 10 feet away and swore at me.

It's one of those things trying to justify being cruel to be kind! Not something I'd like to do again....
 
baldzone said:
Put it out of its misery now. Managed to find a brick. Not pleasant. Especially as one of the parents came and perched 10 feet away and swore at me.

It's one of those things trying to justify being cruel to be kind! Not something I'd like to do again....
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It's not cruel if it was already dying, it wouldn't have known anything about it.

On the flip side, it'll give all the other chicks a better chance now as there are less mouths to feed.

Good on you for caring!
 
I dont understand why people feel the need to intervene with these simple acts of nature. Cats kill birds and small rodents. The bird population is pretty big, so the odd chick noshed on by a kitty wont really matter in the grand sceme of things.

ITS THE CIRRRRRRRRCLE OF LIFFFFFFFEEEEEEE!!! :cool:
 
2bit said:
I've got lots of experience with this sort of situation (live in the country with a real hunter of a cat) and there's very little you can do.

If you feel brave you can perform some sort of euthanasia but I can't quite bring myself to do that - though have had to come close at times.

It's a toss up between letting the cat finish it off (if he's not just tormenting it) or moving the casualty somewhere quite and letting it die in peace.
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Yeah. Birds are really fragile. Even if it's not damaged physically, the shock is often enough to finish them off.

Personally what I used to do when I rescued one from my cat, was to put in in a cardboard box with a saucer of water and some birdseed/hamster food, and leave it in the shed overnight to see if they recover. Most of the time the rodents would buck up overnight and look fine in the morning, but the birds would pass away.
 
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