# Guilty over putting a baby bird out of it's misery.



## Mikey1981

Before reading this post, please think before judging me.

I am a animal loving bloke who has over the years been ridiculed by friends who don't understand the empathy I have for animals. I care more for animals than i do most humans.

Last night I looked out of a window in my house to see my cat "playing" with a baby bird. I rushed outside and shooed my cat away, much to her dislike!

I picked up the small bird which was half the size of the palm of my hand. It was visibly shocked and completely vulnerable and had a small cut around it's throat area, but it didn't appear to be a puncture wound that would be life threatening. It must have only been a couple of weeks old at most. I immediately thought about leaving it where it was so that it's mother may come and find it, but our neighbourhood has cats everywhere. I decided to put it in an open container and place it in a tree which would be kept out of reach of praying cats, in hope that the mother would come and pick it up.

After a couple of hours it was clear that the mother was nowhere to be seen and it was getting dark and cold. I decided I would bring it into the house to keep it warm and attempt to give it some food. I spent a fair bit of time online looking at ways to help young fledgling birds. Unfortunately my town doesn't have any Animal charities that would pick up the bird a this time of night so I was pretty much on my own to deal with this. My idea was to try and help it through the night and then drop it into the vets the following morning, if it had survived.

I had a syringe which I had used to feed one of my now departed cats so i mash up some cat food with water and fed the paste through the syringe. I kept on doing this every 15 minutes for a couple of hours. The young bird was hungry and appeared to be surviving. I made sure I kept it in a room away from my cat, However, later in the evening I went out of the house for a smoke. When i came back in I noticed my cat had somehow gained access to the room and had the baby bird in it's mouth. When I eventually wrestled the bird form her it was clear that the poor bird had another bleeding spot on it's neck. I panicked, looked at the poor creature and decided It would be more humane to put it out of it's misery, rather than allow it to die of starvation/dehydration which is what a lot of internet sites said would happen.

The bird was clearly in distress and I toyed with numerous ideas of how to put it out of it's misery. Eventually I summoned up the courage to place it under water. I didn't think it had a lot left in it, considering what it had been through.

HOW WRONG I WAS!

The bird took over 3 minutes to pass away, I felt every desperate movement it made to cling on to life. Eventually I pulled it up from the water and it was still breathing slightly. I placed it under the water again until it had stopped breathing completely. Then I broke down. The feeling of having something else's life in my hands and making a decision to end it's life has had a serious effect on me. I blacked out soon after and was physically sick. I couldn't sleep for most of the night and woke up this morning feeling terrible guilt. Maybe i was wrong to end it's life prematurely? I also feel that I caused it a huge amount of distress in "drowning" the bird which so clearly wanted to live. I can't seem to get the feeling of it's desperate attempts to survive out of my head. I buried it in garden last night.

Can anyone help me with this huge sense of guilt? What would you have done? Was I right to put it out of it's misery or should I have waited until the morning?


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## Dingle

You did what you thought was for the best... it's not like you took pleasure in torturing it etc... personally i would have left it with the cat & let nature take it's course.


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## poohdog

For Christs sake..a sharp rap on the back of the head with a metal object if you have to kill a bird..or a mouse ...or a rat.But to drown anything is a bloody awful way to kill.Not a good choice for the poor thing.


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## SammyJo

poohdog said:


> For Christs sake..a sharp rap on the back of the head with a metal object if you have to kill a bird..or a mouse ...or a rat.But to drown anything is a bloody awful way to kill.Not a good choice for the poor thing.


I agree

How awful 

:nonod: :nonod: :nonod: :nonod: :nonod:


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## AlexArt

Why would you drown the poor thing? - for future reference a smack on the back of the head is all it takes, I've bumped off tons of things that cats have caught but are too far gone/damaged to be fixed, or car casualties on the side of the road - anything from a deer a lorry had hit but not killed, to birds and rabbits. Another easy way is just hold the animal/bird with it facing towards you and smack the back of it's head on the side of a table or something hard and fast so it's quick, drowning is a slow scary way for anything to die especially a bird as they don't just have lungs like we do but air sacs in their bones so can survive off the air in those for a minute or so!


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## suewhite

You asked HOW WRONG WAS I the only answer I can give is VERY that is no way to kill a bird you caused it more suffering


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## tincan

I don't come down here as a rule .... but my god drowning , and you want sympathy for your deed ..... sorry but none from me ....... My cocker once got a rat in the back garden , round the neck , it was in distress ( i don't like rats ), and i have never killed anything other than spiders/roaches ..... however the rat was in distress/pain ..... i sent my dog away then hit the rat over it's head with a spade ..... i felt sick , but it was quick and put it out of it's misery ....... would you like your head held under water till you went


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## Grace_Lily

I'm sorry that you have had to deal with this. I've had to nurse baby birds a couple of times and it's stressful in itself. I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to put the bird out of it's misery - I just couldn't. Not necessarily the best thing for the bird, I know.

As a result I was unaware how humane drowning was as a method of euthanasia until this thread. It's upsetting to read so must have been very traumatic for the bird and yourself. Please don't beat yourself up about this; you did what you thought was kindest in a stressful situation. It's obvious you are an animal lover and were only trying to do the right thing.


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## jill3

If a cat catches a Bird even though there are no visible marks that you can see it is best to either take it to the nearest vet where they will check the bird over and give an antibiotic injection (there is no charge for this) or take it to the nearest wildlife Hospital where they will look after it.
If nothing can be done then they will put the poor thing to sleep humanly.
All birds caught by cats need an antibiotic injection.
I have only recently learnt this by taking a baby blackbird to the wildlife hospital.

If there are no wildlife hospitals in your area look in the yellow pages or on- line for Bird breeders. 
You did what you could but drowning is not the right way but I think you know that now.


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## JANICE199

*Let this be a lesson. When you find a wild bird out of its nest, imho leave it to nature.*


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## WeirdGuySaysStuff

Jeez you guys, shut up. This person feels horrible and I understand how much guilt can hurt so stop being so inhumane yourselves and provide some sympathy for someone who was ONLY TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING. They KNOW what they did was wrong, so stop thinking you need to tell them.

You're right to be sad, because drowning wasn't the best way to go, but know this, the bird is not in pain anymore, its soul, energy, being, whatever you want to call it, is at peace and moved on. That is how the universe works.
Just as you did what you naturally felt might be the least painful form of death, the bird did what it naturally does which is try to survive even if it is making things worse for itself.

You both made mistakes. Bleeding out for hours would have been far more painful than drowning for a few minutes, so you did some good.

The point is you learned your lesson, so take comfort in knowing that this will never happen to you again because you now know better.  Be sad because you have to be, then move on, wiser than before. Maybe use the guilt to help birds if you still feel terrible after awhile.


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## birdgirl

Ive just joined and read this post. Drowning would not have been my choice of putting anything out of its misery


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## Phoenix24

All methods of euthanasia are horrible in their own way, it is only a difference of degrees of horribleness. Having tried a few different methods myself, including letting nature take its own course, I can honestly say none are particularly nice. Last time I broke down and sobbed for hours afterwards, and still can't think about it now.

I suppose the real lesson to be learned here is, for goodness sake if you have a murdering cat don't leave its victim within reach! Sorry, stating the obvious, and hindsight is a wonderful thing and all.

Whoever said about cat bites and antibiotics - only 2 weeks ago a vet called me up to take on a blackbird fledgling brought in by a cat. Assuming they had at least given it an antibiotic injection, I took it and fed it and so on, until 3 days later it stopped eating, a lump grew on its throat and it was struggling to breathe. Another vet looked it over and said it was full of infection, and put it to sleep. Lesson: make sure the vet gives cat victims antibiotics.

As for the general care of fledglings, the OP (apart from not protecting it from the offending cat) did the right thing in waiting to see if the parents would return, and then feeding a cat food mash through a syringe. In addition, you should keep casualties warm and in a quiet place, make sure they get fluids, and feed approx every 20-30 mins (depending on size of bird) as much as it will take without overstuffing it.

Always try to get it to a wildlife friendly vet as soon as is possible - even if its just to get it checked over before either release, or being taken into care by someone who can do it. If this is you personally - you have to be prepared to feed them dawn til dusk and clean up their mess every day (or each feed if small nestlings), and provide the necessary space to transition them into being fit for release. You also have to be prepared for the likelihood that no matter how hard you try, sometimes they still just don't make it. The hardest lesson of them all, I think.

And that concludes my soap box sermon for today. In case you are outraged at my disdain for cats - I do like cats, the problem is there are so many and they cause so much damage to wildlife. A simple bell collar is the minimum people should try, or having a house cat kept inside during the vulnerable fledging months.


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## Tango007

Was it really that close to death when you killed it? Was it bleeding profusely? If not, then you shouldnt've killed it in the first place. you should have tried to get to the nearest vet while putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. And even still you didn't have to DROWN it. You could have just broke its neck, if you REALLY had to. :nono:


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## MissyThePony

The other day, my cat was outside and brought home a live bird. It's leg was broken and the bird was dying. I couldn't kill it so I brought it inside and held it in my arms. For the next two hours, I stroked the bird and sang to it and eventually it took it's last breathe and died in my arms. I wish I put it out of it's misery as it must have being in agony but I couldn't do it. I am glad you put it out of it's misery but drowning was the worst way possible!! Over 3 minutes to die? That's sickening, poor thing must have suffered. RIP bird


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## Phoenix24

That figure for 3 minutes is probably more suitably attributed to humans (or larger animals) which have large lungs. A smaller creature with a higher metabolism would probably 'run out' of air much sooner, plus with the stress and the blood loss its body would have already been shutting down. If the water was cold that would have also speeded things along - small birds use a lot of energy to keep warm, and a young bird without a full plumage (yes even fledglings are thin on feathers) would have chilled very quickly. I doubt it was anywhere near 3 minutes, and it probably slipped into unconsciousness after seconds, not minutes. (what might have seemed like struggling may have been death throws).

Unless you get a clean hit and smash the poor thing's skull to smithereens on the first go - imagine the suffering at half-hearted attempts to bludgeon the bird to death. I have seen that go horribly wrong too (not at my hands, I must add).

Nature is a cruel thing, birds die every day in all manner of ways and 99.9% of the time we never even see it. I monitor nests every summer and have seen chicks starving to death in their nests, or the nest washed out and the chicks drowned or chilled. I have seen young birds ripped to bits by magpies and cats (and then discarded). And birds hit by vehicles, exploding in a puff of feathers and guts.

So really, in the grand scheme of things, putting a young bird that probably would have died anyway out of its misery is just as/no more terrible than the many other ways it might have died. Being consumed by infection from the cat's bite - or subjected to weeks of stressful treatment to try and save it (with a very small likelihood of success)? Or saving it from going through all of that? Hmmm, I know which I would rather.

Killing anything is a horrible business, like I already said, and you either grow hardened to it (I suspect most farm-related animal deaths - slaughter houses for example - and people who go out and shoot things for pleasure [lets not forget how long it can take for something to die of a bullet/shotgun/pellet wound, especially if it escapes being hit on the head by the hunter or grabbed by the hunting dog] fall into this category) or you never do. At least the OP cared something - enough to brave the inevitable torrent of disdain/admonishment for admitting having done it.


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## auspiciousmind

Phoenix24 said:


> That figure for 3 minutes is probably more suitably attributed to humans (or larger animals) which have large lungs. A smaller creature with a higher metabolism would probably 'run out' of air much sooner, plus with the stress and the blood loss its body would have already been shutting down. If the water was cold that would have also speeded things along - small birds use a lot of energy to keep warm, and a young bird without a full plumage (yes even fledglings are thin on feathers) would have chilled very quickly. I doubt it was anywhere near 3 minutes, and it probably slipped into unconsciousness after seconds, not minutes. (what might have seemed like struggling may have been death throws).
> 
> Unless you get a clean hit and smash the poor thing's skull to smithereens on the first go - imagine the suffering at half-hearted attempts to bludgeon the bird to death. I have seen that go horribly wrong too (not at my hands, I must add).
> 
> Nature is a cruel thing, birds die every day in all manner of ways and 99.9% of the time we never even see it. I monitor nests every summer and have seen chicks starving to death in their nests, or the nest washed out and the chicks drowned or chilled. I have seen young birds ripped to bits by magpies and cats (and then discarded). And birds hit by vehicles, exploding in a puff of feathers and guts.
> 
> So really, in the grand scheme of things, putting a young bird that probably would have died anyway out of its misery is just as/no more terrible than the many other ways it might have died. Being consumed by infection from the cat's bite - or subjected to weeks of stressful treatment to try and save it (with a very small likelihood of success)? Or saving it from going through all of that? Hmmm, I know which I would rather.
> 
> Killing anything is a horrible business, like I already said, and you either grow hardened to it (I suspect most farm-related animal deaths - slaughter houses for example - and people who go out and shoot things for pleasure [lets not forget how long it can take for something to die of a bullet/shotgun/pellet wound, especially if it escapes being hit on the head by the hunter or grabbed by the hunting dog] fall into this category) or you never do. At least the OP cared something - enough to brave the inevitable torrent of disdain/admonishment for admitting having done it.


I've read this thread every time I saw it was commented on but I wasn't sure what to say. You've summed it up perfectly.

I don't think the OP needs to be beaten over the head on this forum for doing something that they thought was right. This obviously wasn't malicious and was done to end suffering.


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## MissyThePony

auspiciousmind said:


> I've read this thread every time I saw it was commented on but I wasn't sure what to say. You've summed it up perfectly.
> 
> I don't think the OP needs to be beaten over the head on this forum for doing something that they thought was right. This obviously wasn't malicious and was done to end suffering.


Yes, I agree with this. Sorry for my outburst, OP. I realize what you did wasn't malicious


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