Care for the Most Critical Patients

Tales from the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Animal Hospital ICU

Birds are among nature’s most high-stress animals. Most birds are a prey species, so they’re are always on guard. Birds are even adapted to hide signs of illness so they don’t look like easy pickings to a predator. But this unique adaptation makes it hard for caretakers to know when birds are sick.  

And when they do get sick, things can go downhill fast. Primarily because birds unique respiratory system – which contains extra air sacs throughout their body to help them fly – also makes them susceptible to respiratory disease. On top of that, birds have extremely high metabolic rates. So even a day of not eating can very quickly lead to low blood sugar and dehydration.  

With these risk factors, when caretakers realize a bird is sick, it is often critically ill and needs immediate medical care. 

Denver Zoo’s Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Animal Hospital, which opened earlier this year, gives our world-class veterinary team the best tools in the biz for bird care.  

Sick birds are treated in our Small Animal Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which has everything we need to care for critical patients - such as individual units that are temperature and humidity-controlled so the patient can be housed in the most comfortable conditions. Each unit is equipped with supplemental oxygen - which helps patients under respiratory distress - and a camera that allows for continuous monitoring. Remember, sick animals try to hide their illness so we can better understand their condition when they don’t know they’re being monitored.  

The Small Animal ICU has housed 14 patients to date of which over 80% of them are - you guessed it - birds!   

Bruce Lee