A PSA on "Catted" Birds

Here's something I learned yesterday: If your cat captures a bird you should never release it back into the wild, even if it appears completely fine, because the bird will most likely have been infected by bacteria in your cat's saliva and will end up dying from infection within a day or so anyway.

My cat captured a bird in the yard yesterday. As far as I know this is only the third thing he’s ever captured in his life. When he was probably only about six months old I saw him in my West Chester front yard with something gray and fuzzy in his mouth, but he ran off into the bushes so I never found out what it was or what became of it. At my old Wissahickon studio he caught a cicada and brought it inside. And now, we’ve reached bird status.

My cat immediately ran into the house with the bird as I chased after him, probably shouting like a crazy person. I then grabbed his neck and tried to pry the poor thing, which I thought was surely either dead or horrifically injured, out of the mouth of my once sweet and innocent but now instinct-driven and evil pet, as he growled and hissed at me even as he refused to drop the bird. I had to stick my fingers into his mouth (probably not a good idea in hindsight) and finally he released the bird, which hopped away and allowed me to lock my cat in the bedroom. I scooped up the bird and examined it; surprisingly it looked completely fine, albeit obviously traumatized, so I took the little guy out front and placed him under the bush from where he’d been kidnapped.

I then went back inside and Googled what to do when a cat catches a bird (though I'm not really sure why I waited until after the incident… maybe for future reference?). Well it’s either a good or bad thing that I did this research depending on how you look at it, because I learned from at least three different sources that one should NEVER release a “catted” bird back into the wild, even if it appears to be OK, because cat saliva is filled with bacteria that will most likely infect the bird and kill it within 48 to 72 hours. So then of course I freaked out and went looking for the bird but I couldn’t find him. I went back inside and continued Googling, further freaking myself out, then called the local wildlife clinic and left a voicemail on their emergency line, which promised to call me back in a half-hour.

Well I didn’t wait the half-hour for the phone call. I went out looking for the bird again until I found it and had to chase it into the neighbor's yard before finally re-capturing it. I placed it in a shoebox with a blanket and was on my way to the Schuylkill Center's Wildlife Clinic when they called me back and confirmed the dreadful facts that I'd learned from the internet. I drove up to the designated wildlife drop-off area and very nervously filled out the required paperwork. I left my contact information with a request for an update on the bird's status, and checked the “Yes” box that asked if I would like to be present when the bird is released, if (hopefully) applicable. A worker came out, took the bird, thanked me, walked back into the clinic and that was that. I went back home and cracked open a beer as my cat looked decidedly proud of himself, if not a little angry with me for taking away his prize. I can only hope that in a few weeks I'll have some good news regarding the little victim.

And that is my bird story and my lesson to you: Don't trust your cat (no matter how sweet and innocent), and donate to your local wildlife clinic!

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Wildlife Clinic at the Schuylkill Center - This is the wonderful center for environmental education in Philadelphia that so graciously took my little bird on a Saturday afternoon, when the workers/volunteers would probably much rather have been sipping a daiquiri on a deck somewhere.