We had a pair of blackbirds living in our back garden and the male used to sing beautifully. Sadly, yesterday morning my husband found it unconscious on its back after being mauled by a cat. He put it on a planter in a quiet spot at the side of the house to recover and see if it would fly away again, turning it the right way up before leaving for work. I checked on it about 45 minutes later, and it was perched on the planter but hadn’t flown away. It’s back had a hunched appearance as if there was something wrong with it. It didn’t occur to me until later that it could be a perforated air sac that was shown in a recent RSPB magazine. In the meantime, I rang our vet and took it there to be put to sleep. I wondered if I could have done more to help it, e.g. offer food and water. Does anyone know how long a bird can take to fly again after this injury? I didn’t want it hanging around as the cat would come back to finish the job and I thought it best if it couldn’t fly to end things humanely. Felt guilty when I saw the female on its own later that day.
I believe it needed immediate medical attention and anti biotic as cat saliva is very toxic. A wildlife rehab centre would be a good choice in future.