Zorro has had many misadventures in his life. One time he flew right into a strand of electrical tape the boys were playing with. Electriocal tape may not stick to much but is sure sticks to feathers. Another time he got rolled on by my ninety pound daughter. Bruised his air sacs and he could not make a sound for a week. But nothing will ever compare to what happened Febuary 27 , 2003
Zorro had lived happily with my cockatoo for three years. The cockatoo is a very sweet good bird. She would never hurt a soul on purpose. But that fateful evening Zorro flew at her. It scared her and she lashed out. She grabbed Zorro by the head. Her top beak entered his left ear, her bottom beak entered the top of his skull and she crushed his head like a nut. I was right there. I heard his skull crack. At that time I thought the crack might be my heart breaking. I love Zorro like no other pet I have ever had.
Zorro fell to the floor. When I scooped him up blood spurted out of his head and he went into seizures. I did not think there was a chance in the world that he would live. Not even humans live through those kind of skull fractures. I called my vet and begged him to meet me even though it was after hours. I figured even if he could not save my Zorro he could take away the pain. He agreed to meet me. He knew how much I loved this bird. And so we met in a parking lot , the rain was pouring down washing my tears away. The vet thought Zorro might have a chance and told me to give him a few days. I gave Zorro what I thought was a last kiss goodbye. I drove home and cried for two days straight
I ended up taking Zorro home four days later. I had to learn to tube feed and give injections. Zorro at the time was blind in the right eye, his right side was weak and limp, his right foot turned in. He could not eat , drink or even swallow. We did not if or when he would get these functions back. Things still looked bleak but Zorro was stablizied and was showing he wanted to live. I was ready to try and give him all I had.
Zorro had a strong will to survive. I think he really knew how much he was loved and it kept him going. Within a few days I had him eating and walking.
We had our ups and downs. Zorro would stop eating and we would find he had a small infection. When the scabs finally came off we found he had nothing but a massive bone mass underneath. No skin. But as time went on he got better. He gained all the sight back in his left eye, his right side grew stronger. He had plastic surgery to cover the bone sticking out of his head. It will be a year since his accident in one month. Zorro is about back to what he was before. He is blind in his right eye, he is very quiet for a nanday and he still has some trouble controlling his right leg. But those are very small problems for such a very big injury. I am very proud of my little boy. He beat the odds over and over He is a very strong nanday
2-23-07 update: It has been almost four years
since the accident. Zorro turns eight this year and is doing
well. I swear sometimes he can see out of his right eye. I don't
know how well, maybe just shadows and movements. Amazing how you see
improvments years after a head trauma.